well folks I am sorry that it did not turn up today, as I said it was a sighting I would not in normal circumstances have reported or posted but being such a rare bird in lincs I felt I had to give you peeps a chance. I had very brief views of a bunt that I felt was well worth a second view which unfortunately I did not get, I will explain. I was on the path through the bushes, having already been through there on 2 other occasions that day. on this occasion I disturbed about 6 birds on the floor and they shot through the other side from me eg the buckthorn. I just waited in that area about 10 mins when a kestrel swooped up the foreshore very close. the birds in question then flushed back from the buckthorn they might not even have been the same birds, they settled about 20ft from me and looked to be all r/bunts. the bird in question if you count 1 - 2 - 3 that was the viewing time I had and I was looking from the back and underneath, it was at an approx. 45 degree angle away from me and I caught a view of a very strong head pattern with a slight erect crest but the birds were all in alarm state, never saw any breast pattern because off my viewing angle and just thought it was a different enough from the rest much brighter very pale underneath compared to the rest. there were a lot of calls going on but nothing I could say was that bird and it seemed they seemed to all go to the south off me but I do not know how far because of where I was. i am still very undecided about the bird, i have seen them in Finland and in England. the last i saw in England was the wareham greens bird a few years ago. anyone that knows wareham green woods will know it is a long narrow coastal woodland approx. 30yds deep by 400 yds long, there were about 50 or so birders trying to relocate the bird well fanned out in small groups but i as usual was pretty much away from the maddening crowd. i was stood alone and heard something and just stood there listening and because i was not movind just scanning and listening i attracted the attention of a nearby group who approached, have you got something i was ask, might have, listen, and about six of us just stood absolutely still listening i said its here, very close and you could just here a faint tic tic tic little contact call and it was that close that it was hard to breathe, it was about 6 ft from me in some leaf litter at the bottom of a small tree extremely close and not concerned, it had probably not been near you humans before but was then quickly flushed by an idiots camera flash, was he popular, especially as some had not yet arrived to view. anyway i thought the bird i saw at donna nook was well worth a coat of looking at, that is why i posted, sorry folks
terry whalin
