A tweet sent out this morning at 8:00am was that there were 2 Ortolan Buntings at Fancy Farm, so it was a quick wash and out the front door to see if I could catch up with them. When I arrived at 8:20am there were several cars parked up alongside the fence, but no sign of any birders.
So having no idea where to go, I decided to head to the southern end of the Farm and walk along the track here. I'm glad I did, as I met up with Paul Ward who had already seen both birds along the track I was walking Here. In fact as we chatted one of the Ortolans appeared on the path I'd just walked along and the other flew up onto the fence in front of us.
I managed a quick and absolutely awful photo of one of the birds and was feeling very jealous of the wonderful shot Here which Paul had taken just before I got there.
Unfortunately there were a lot of dog walkers about and a fair bit of noise coming from the farm, which sadly pushed the buntings to the south of our position. Despite an extensive search, along with several other birders, the last time I saw them was at 8:35am.
Other birds here for a short time (they all moved south over the next hour or so) were approximately 12 Wheatears, 4 Whinchats, 3 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 5 Yellow Wagtails and 9+ Meadow Pipits.
Here are a couple images from this morning including probably the worse photo I have ever taken of a bird.
Honest this is one of the Ortolan Buntings. Here's a better shot which Paul took - Photo.
One of the 4 Whinchat heading south.