30/12/2016 Blue Rock Thrush in the Cotswolds

Friday 30 December 2016
Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire

Another early start saw us off to Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds to twitch the Blue Rock Thrush.  Gareth, Paul and myself were about to have a long, hard and eventful day.

Driving conditions were very challenging all day, with fog and mist adding to the already icy conditions.

• We arrived at our destination just on 08.30 only to find that our target bird had not been seen at all! We joined the large gathering of birders searching for our prize.  
• After a fruitless 90 minutes or so we decided to head to the Cotswold Country Park some 25+ miles away to look for the Red-crested Pochard that Paul needed for his year list and await further news about the thrush.  We duly found over 50+ of the Red-crested Pochards on the water, albeit barely visible in the mist.  With no further news from Stow-on-the-Wold we decided to cut our losses and head home.
• As we were passing Reading on the M4, Gareth picked up an alert from Bird Guides - the Blue Rock Thrush had been sighted!  We persuaded a reluctant Paul that we should go back and try again.
• Some 90 minutes later we arrived back at our original destination only to be told the bird had flown off after showing well!! 
• However it didn't take long for the bird to be found again and we finally enjoyed excellent views of the bird on the gable end of a nearby roof.

Blue Rock Thrush
courtesy of Bob the Birder

Blue Rock Thrush - the twitchers

The journey home was long and slow with many hold ups due to the poor visibility.  Just as I was getting into Uckfield my son, Peter, called from the Amex to say the Brighton game v Cardiff had just been called off because of the fog and I could relax and enjoy my fish and chips with Sue at home.

• Only seven times in history has one of these southern European mountain birds been spotted in the United Kingdom.
• As soon as news of the bird’s arrival in Stow-on-the-Wold began to circulate late on Tuesday, a small army of keen twitchers were making plans to travel to Gloucestershire to see the species with its striking indigo plumage.
• An autumn that has seen an unprecedented host of rare birds arriving from the far reaches of Siberia as well as North America now appears to be producing sightings from southern climes.
• By rights, the blue rock thrush should be wintering among the rocky crags and lower slopes of mountain ranges skirting the Mediterranean and North Africa.
• The bird is believed to have arrived in Fisher Close two weeks ago and seems well at home, feeding alongside the neighbourhood blackbirds and robins.
• To a casual observer, a male blue rock thrush  appears smaller but more upright than a blackbird, with a relatively longer bill and dark blue colouring across its head and body.

courtesy of Daily Express



Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:
Blue Rock Thrush   (264)

Addition to BUBO UK Life List:
Blue Rock Thrush   (326)