In his classic book 1984, George Orwell introduced his Newspeak language, where words were removed from the English language to simply it. But the removal of words were also to control the population from being able to fully express themselves. So, many words like fabulous, tremendous or amazing were replaced with the phrase Double Plus Good. Well here is my use of Double Plus Good.
After a run of grey days at St Aldhelms, the morning started off with the promise of a change in the weather. Still conditions, high cloud, as well as, a lot of clear sky. There were regular parties of a few hundred Woodpigeons on the move and all heading South East towards Durlston. A lone Fieldfare headed North which belatedly was my first of the Autumn. I had just passed the open barn when a Golden Plover flew over calling. It circled on a number of occasions, hoping for some mates below to call back. But as St Aldhelms isn't a wintering site, it didn't get a response & finally moved on. I saw Ian Parsons who is one of the most recent Birders to move to Purbeck & waited for him to catch me up. There was plenty of Skylarks appearing from the fields, but so far nothing too exciting. We carried onto the hedges at the very top of Pier Bottom valley, just North of Trev's Quarry. This is the start of my favourite corner of the patch. It's a migrant trap and it's always worth a good look. There was a party of at least eight Yellowhammers skulking in the bushes. They weren't close, so I set the scope up to check them. All were Yellowhammers, until I saw one with a dark chin and a bit of dark rufous on the mantle. It was tucked well in & I could only see parts of it. I had to move the scope three times before I got a clearer view. My initial thoughts were right: a Male Cirl Bunting. I called Ian to look through the scope, whilst pleased to have finally joined the Cirl Bunting in Purbeck Self-found Club. It flew into the bare field next to the bushes, but it was too far for more than a record shot. But over the next hour it appeared in the closer bushes and allowed a few photos.
Cirl Bunting: Male. Showing its underwing as it prepares to take off. Cirl Buntings have a shorter primary projection compared to Yellowhammers. My perched photos aren't good enough to see this, but it's a feature I will look for in the future. However, this open wing looks pretty rounded
Cirl Bunting: Male. A good view of the white in the tail. However, this can be variable enough to overlap between the sexes and ages of Cirl Buntings, as well as, Yellowhammers
Cirl Bunting: Male. My best upperwing shot
Even better, while I was scoping the bushes with the Yellowhammers & the Male Cirl Bunting in them, I picked up a second Cirl Bunting again tucked well into the bushes. On this occasion, I could see it wasn't an adult Male. Initially, I could see it had a bit of dark rufous flecking in the gorget, as well as, on the wing coverts. Like the adult Male, it appeared in the closer bushes on a few occasions, which allowed me to get some photos. Initially, I thought it was an first Winter Male as, it seemed brighter than a couple of Purbeck Females I've seen over the last two Springs locally. But being in the breeding season and with the possibility they might settle down on territory, on both occasions I didn't linger with those Females.
Cirl Bunting: Female. Note, the rufous flecks in the gorget & the pale yellow spot on the lower ear coverts. After the post breeding moult in Oct, young males should have black feathering on the chin and throat with white tips, unstreaked breast and rufous on the upperparts according to this Spanish ringing guide by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze, which Mike Morse suggested I read. Therefore, this second individual is a Female
Ageing and sexing of non-adult Males is tricky. But after reading up, I now believe it is a Female, albeit I'm uncertain about its age. As these St Aldhelms individuals haven't held territory at St Aldhelms and were out of the breeding season, so I felt more comfortable hanging around and watching them, as well as, putting the news out about them.
Cirl Bunting: Female. The new Dutch ID Handbook of European Birds states that Cirl Buntings have a characteristic dark line in the supercilium. This small dark line is visible in the harsh crop just above the eye. There is also fine streaking in the rear collar, which Yellowhammers don't show
Ian was short on time, so he moved on in the hope that the Pallas's Warbler (see my last Blog Post), that Phil Saunders had found a couple of days earlier might still be around: but it had moved on. Eventually, I managed to get reasonable photos of both Cirl Buntings, albeit the light wasn't great.
Cirl Bunting (right) with a Yellowhammer (left): Note, the Yellowhammer is a bit larger, bulkier and longer-tailed
Cirl Bunting: Female. A close up of the Cirl Bunting showing its crown pattern, not that it's an ID feature
Yellowhammer: A close up of the Female Yellowhammer for comparison. Note, the stronger yellow colours and lack of any rufous feathering on the breast or wing coverts. This individual has a pale yellow ear covert spot, but it isn't as clear as on the Cirl Buntings
Cirl Bunting: Female. A clearer view when it perched in the top of the bush. Now I'm looking for it, I can just see the dark line in the supercilium and the ear coverts spot really stands out
Cirl Bunting: Female. Sexing Cirl Buntings that aren't adult Males is difficult. But I think I've cracked it: Males always fly right and females always fly left, providing you are standing in the right position
Cirl Bunting: Female. Unfortunately, this photo isn't in focus, but it does show the dull brownish-grey rump of Cirl Bunting. Yellowhammers have a rusty-coloured rump
It certainly had been a Double Plus Good morning with my first St Aldhelms Cirl Buntings. The day wasn't over yet, but as Orwell didn't produce a phrase for better than Double Plus Good, I will have to leave the rest of the time at St Aldhelms to the next Blog Post.
