This rare and secretive winter visitor has only been seen a few times in the last 23 years.
The records since 1983 are:
29th October 1983, in Hawthorns near the pipes at Severn Beach (first live record).
8th March 1984, Dead bird, on the coast road at Chittening Warth.
7th February 1988, Dead bird, on the coast road at Chittening Warth.
18th March 1990, Chittening Warth.
13th December 1990, Dead bird, on the coast road at Severn Beach.
23rd and 28th March 2001, in Hawthorns near the pipes at Severn Beach.
4th November 2001, Severn Beach.
21st April 2006, Northwick Warth.
6th and 9th February 2008, Aust Warth
With almost half the records involving road kills, this is either a very unlucky species or over looked! Perhaps bird watchers should spend more time looking in the Hawthorn scrub in the winter months.
The image below is a scan of a 35 mm print taken on 18th March 1990 using just the standard 50 mm lens, at less than 2 meters range.
