Seymour Birdies Diary: A Spring Visit to Ivinghoe Beacon and Pitstone Hill

30th March 2024

We arrived at Ivinghoe Beacon on a bright sunny day with scarcely a breath of wind and headed for the sheep pens. There were a couple of Chiffchaffs in the Hawthorns on the slopes below the car park, but surprisingly no Wheatears on the acres of most suitable habitat.

The first thing we encountered was a buzzard flying towards us carrying prey and it was not until it got closer we were able to see the prey was a Rabbit. Most of the time Buzzards feed on carrion or worms, and I far as I can recall this is the first time I have seen a Buzzard actually carrying prey.

There were several Meadow Pipits in the fields, but no parachuting displays just yet. However, they were fairly cooperative when it came to photography, unlike the Sky Larks which kept their distance and were spending more time in the cereal fields looking into the sun.

This pipit actually perched on the sheep pens.

We then walked to the slopes to the east of the car park where a pair of Red Kites were flying lazily over a wood and presumably staking out their territory. Being on a slope we had a height advantage over the kites and at least some of the time were looking down on them which provides a better background.

Now on to Pitstone Hill where it was very busy with many people making the most of the weather to walk The Ridgeway. However, we avoided the crowds by taking a circuler route around the peak where we came across a rather obliging Sky Lark.

The reason he was so obliging was that instead of taking to the air to sing he was singing from the ground and let us get quite close.

We then moved to the east of the hill where there was an area of low scrub with a number of brambles, ideal habitat for Stonechats. There were three birds present and here is the pair.