Shorelark at Adswood Tip, Greater Manchester, on 1st February 1990 and again on 28th February, 1st and 2nd March 1990

At 11.15am on 1st February I was walking over a very stony, very weedy area, when a small bird flew up from the ground about fifty yards from me. In flight it appeared somewhere between Meadow Pipit and Skylark and, puzzled, I waited for it to land, which it did, nearby. I raised my binoculars and was staggered to see the very obvious yellow face, black cheek patches and black upper breast band of a Shorelark! I watched it for about five minutes from about forty yards as it ran around, feeding amongst the stones and weeds. It suddenly took wing, without being flushed and gave a quite melodic "sweet e tee, sweet e tee" call, quite unlike the raspy calls of Skylark. It joined three flying Skylarks, having a slightly slimmer, smaller flight profile than them, and I lost track of it. A brief search proved fruitless, being badly hampered by a dog-walker who insisted on talking to me for fifteen minutes before I could escape without being rude to him. In the few minutes that the bird had been on view, I obtained the following description of it:

On the ground, an obvious lark. By far the most striking features were the yellow face, black cheek patches and black upper breast band. Mantle and closed wings a paler "grey" brown than Skylark and less heavily streaked black. White outer tail feathers. Underparts (unmarked?) off-white. Legs dark grey/blackish.

I returned to the site at 2.35pm and as soon as I entered the weedy area I heard it calling "sweet a tee, sweet a tee", and saw it flying, some ten yards from me. I had obviously disturbed it from the ground and it flew around for about thirty seconds before coming down about 100 yards away. I felt that it was a bit jumpy and didn't want to pressure it because I wanted other observers to see it later that day or the following day. I left, happy that it was still present. The bird could not be located the next day and we assumed it had gone.

However, I paid a routine visit to Adswood Tip on 28th February (having visited 5 times since 2nd) and was very surprised and very pleased to relocate the Shorelark in the same area as four weeks previously. It flew up from the ground about fifty yards from me , as I walked across the area. It remained in flight for about a minute, moving a considerable distance away, but I kept track of it though binoculars and it returned and landed about fifty yards from me. Approaching very slowly and carefully, I was able to watch it for 25 minutes, at ranges down to twenty yards- a beauty! It flew and was lost from view behind high soil mounds. I phoned all members of the "local team".

On the following day the bird was seen independently in the same area by Steve and Gill Barber and later gave Cheshire County Recorder Tony Broome brilliant views through the 'scope from twenty yards. The bird was last seen by myself on the following day, 2nd March.

Geoff Lightfoot