I have known that a Snipe has
been seen on the rocks of both the
East & West Warwicks over the last couple of weeks, I was shaken by this news but not stirred into action, until now,
David B had seen it again yesterday. It had to be worth a try, right? I mean,
to actually have seen all the Birds recorded on the whole patch in a year
(albeit an 18 day long year), what a glorious feeling that would be....
The plan was to get up when I got
up, which I did, and walk the edges of the two Warwicks, which I also did. Having
established years ago that there are no worms to be had by getting onto the
patch early I didn’t worry about a late arrival and pitched up just after
10:00. I saw Pete L and Terry & Paul R stood by the hide on the bank of the
East Warwick, they had just seen the two immature drake Scaup and pointed them
out to me. They are getting a bit better looking but one is more retarded than
the other (the Scaup, not Terry & Paul) and neither are a patch on the
adult drake which is commuting between No.4 and the Lockwood. I wonder if they
will all meet up one day?
I tagged onto the ménage and we
all walked toward the West Warwick. We stopped to have a look at some Little
Egrets fishing along the edge and as I wasted my time photographing them Pete
spotted a Snipe which had just left the rocks and was flying across the
reservoir. I must admit it was a sighting tinged with elation and ennui in
equal measure....very strange!
So I had done it (with the help
of just about every other patchworker), I had finally caught up with all the
birds seen in 2015. Thoughts of calling it a day, retiring from birding,
selling my optics, all crossed my mind though Pete said it would never happen,
he’s probably right, still, what a moment! Perhaps I should get a Yellow Jersey
made, a Tee Shirt or even a Bandana?
I had a bit of a look on West
Warwick, and then at the bottom of No.5 before walking through the track
between No.1 and 2 & 3, a fisherman was looking quite pleased with himself
having just caught a Mirror Carp, nearly as pleased as the Heron I saw earlier
with a Perch. I knew how they all felt.
Some interesting(!) Greylags were
on the island of No.2, I couldn’t remember which one was the odd one out the
pink or the orange, we do get some resembling the Eastern race occasionally.
Best of the rest: Immature male
Peregrine on pylon at the bottom of No.2, Kingfisher and Goldeneye West
Warwick, 6 Greater Black-backed Gulls East Warwick, Water Rail along the
Coppermill Stream by the diagonal bridge. As I left Pete texted to say he had
just seen the Cetti’s Warbler in the North-east corner of No.2.
Post script: As I was typing this
Pete texted with the dread news, my tweet says it all....
I guess all Camelot-ian moments
are short-lived.
PW @birdingprof
No comments:
Post a Comment