Great Bustard

Great Bustard

What a Bustard

Whilst driving South West along the M5 a quick diversion from J25 to Curry Moor where a Great Bustard was showing well.

I saw pictures of this bird on the Bird Guides site and thought it would be worth a look when I was next travelling to Devon with work. This bird is possibly part of the release project on Salisbury Plain. This can not be confirmed as it's not a wing tagged bird. Indeed Great Bustard has in 2007 bred again in Wiltshire after a gap of over 100 years.

It was showing really well in a field of Mute swans and was certainly not camera shy.

Below is one of the wing tagged birds "Orange 15" that was in a field of kale crop near the Fosse Way, Cirencester during February 2008.

This bird "Orange 15" is a female bird
An internet search found some previous sightings:
Oct. 2007 - Kennard Moor, near Glastonbury (in the company of two your females "Yellow 18" and "Yellow 22"
Feb. 2007 - Butt Moor, Somerset
Dec. 2006 - Butt Moor, Somerset,
May 2006 - sighted near Stonehenge with the monitored Stone Curlew
April 2006 - Westbury (20 km away)
Mar. 2006 - Bleadon Level, Somerset (40 Km. North of previous sighting) where she stayed for about 6 weeks
Jan. 2006 - Westonzoyland, Somerset
2005 - the bird spent most of the year south of the Salisbury Plain re-introduction site, moving to Somerset early winter

More info on the UK Great Bustard re introduction project at: www.greatbustard.com