Black Down for a Great Grey Shrike

7th March 2023

Black Down NR, Sussex

A very successful twitch today.  

With weather conditions almost ideal 5 of us  made the long journey to Black Down at the NW Sussex/Surrey border to look for the great grey shrike that has been present for some weeks.  The car park proved more elusive than the birds but eventually we found our way to the correct one.

What a day we had!

• The great grey shrike was visible from the start and then at regular intervals throughout our visit.  Most times it was distant but we did get some lovely images of the bird at close quarters.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

• By way of a bonus, we also saw at least 4 crossbills including this beauty from close range.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

• We saw or heard 23 species today:  notable ones, in addition to those above, included marsh tit, goldcrest, linnet, lots of stonechat, treecreeper and woodlark.

A great day out - with no rain at all!

2024 species count=130