The Lincolnshire Bird Club

That a sighting of Crested Lark in the UK sets birding pulses racing is perplexing, when it's not an uncommon species across the Channel, even given it's mostly sedentary status.

It reminds me of enjoyable years in southern Spain when Crested/Thekla Lark were always a separation challenge. I visited an area in S. Spain, annually,with a Spanish ornithologist whose task it was to survey the nests and subsequent fledgling survival of Thekla Lark on a large Steppe area. As with ground nesting species, predation is high.

The inevitable overlap of the species creates many ID headaches and shadows the recent LBC debate on Marsh/Willow Tit ID.

Richard............

Yeh! What's all the fuss? When I lived in Kent in the 1980s/1990s, Crested Lark nested within 30 miles or so of our house and it was always considered an 'easy' tick for us local birders.

Regards,

Freddy

Having seen plenty abroad I was still tempted down for this little beauty, what a bird, certainly new how not to perform to the crowd. wrapped up the day with plenty of Early Spider orchids. Twitching - cant beat it!

Hi Mark,
You probably realised that what I said (as a former Kent birder) was very much tongue-in-cheek! I'd love to connect with Crested Lark in the UK but, living as I did in Folkestone, we used to drive the 15 minutes to Dover (free parking in the Docks/Seafront area) and c 7.00am take a cheap-day foot passenger return to Calais - tick Crested Lark in the Ferry Terminal -and within a 30 minute walk we were in a desolate scrub and woodland area (and if it was May/June) with nesting Golden Oriole, Icterine Warbler, Nightingale, etc plus some good butterflies...............and it was still only c 10am local time. Happy days.
Since returning from Spain some seven years ago, I've twitched Kent a few times (eg Pallid Harrier Aug '02 and for Heath Fritillary, Silver-spotted Skipper and Adonis Blue)....c400-450 miles usually hassle-free return trip. As you intimated in your post, the Dunge Crested Lark was certainly elusive and mobile and for many birders not at all easy to track down in the Dunge shingle desert. I notice that it hasn't shown for a day or two. Let's hope it hasn't relocated to the vast MOD firing and training ranges in the area for the rest of its natural span - they really are OFF LIMITS! Otherwise, I'm sure local birders and others are flogging the Dunge-Lydd Pits area and hoping.....
I know that some Lincs birders combined the Crested Lark twitch with the Savi's Warbler in Essex - which was again time consuming and frustrating at the stake-out...but they did connect, eventually.
You'll remember we met up with Pete Stannard for the Dingy and Grizzled Skipper plus the Duke in SW Lincs. Pete tells me that there has been a good emergence of the Skippers this year and I'm looking forward to a re-visit when the weather settles down a bit.

Regards,

Freddy