Tuesday
9th August and I went bird
watching!!! Well it was the first time
for 12 weeks, and I had the urge.
I met Christine and John at Attenborough, and was
even given a “haven’t seen you for a while” look by the lady at the tea bar
which was nice. We chatted about all sorts of bird aspects, and the places that
they have yet to go birding before the end of 2016.
I subsequently got a copy
of Chris’s sightings list for 2016, and after telling her that Guillemot
entered twice is cheating, she was still on an excellent 180 year to date, and
still 4 months+ to go. They have a bird watching break booked in Dorset later
in the year, and Chris tells me that the possibles on that list COULD add 22 to
her year total. I have committed myself (including here publicly) to give her a
Gold 2016 Award if she achieves the 200. I have of course not said what form
the award will take.
Chris tells me that she is now well into keeping records of the number of species she has seen, so as opposed to previously, she knows immediately how well she is doing in the current year. She blames me for this addiction, as I was always asking "what are you on this year?" meaning how many species. But she now gets quite a bit of pleasure as she can recognises that her species count, compared with previous years, is indicative of how her bird identification is improving. Of course the high count is not just due to better knowledge, but, as she now acknowledges, "she gets out more!!"
By the way, for those of you who did not identify the
caterpillar last week, it was a Puss Moth. It is a common species in England
with a wing span of 45-70 cm, an elegant grey colour with black lines, and so
called because it has a cat-like appearance. They can be seen in May - July, and
like Aspen, Poplar and Willow. Worth having a look on the internet for some
good pictures. So much for to-days lesson on Lepidoptera!
Tell you what, here is another poser. Pat, a friend of Mary’s came to check on my
health progress, and brought in the following photo. As a clue, it was taken on Island of Iona in
July 2016. Any suggestions for what this bird is, can be sent via a comment at
the end of the blog.
Well I seem to be progressively getting in a bit
more bird watching as my strength and endurance slowly increases.
I did forget to tell you last week, that the 11
people on the August bird walk picked a Lesser Black Backed Gull, as the bird
of the day. People new to birding can
find identifying gulls a problem, particularly as probably 75% are black
headed. So it was good to have a close view during the walk, and as a starting
key point, people could see that that black gull had yellow legs. A good learning
hint is “The lesser feller has the yeller”. Great Black backs are pink.
So I had a couple of hours at Attenborough, and was
reminded very early on that it was still summer, with Swifts, Sand Martins and
Common Terns still flying round. The tower hide, the limit of my walk, yielded
a Snipe, Dunlin, 2 Little Egrets and one for the year a Green Sandpiper.
I probably told you in May that I was on a YTD of
170, but I have to admit that White Wagtail was on the list as well as Pied Wagtail,
which, as a sub-species does not count as a species in its own right. So I have
had to delete it, but replacing it with the Green sandpiper, I am still on 170.
Now I have a clear conscience.
Bit of forthcoming news. Sunday 4th
September 2016 will include someone on my Bird Watching for Beginners walk at Carsington
water who will be the 2,000th booking in the 11 years of these walks.
This milestone will be reported in local magazines (Images and Village Life)
and Bird Watching magazine. That lucky someone will get a gift of some description
to commemorate milestone. If you wish to be in with the chance of a free raffle
prize (!) Tel 01629 540696, book your place(s) and turn up at 9.55am.
I wanted to ask about drones, but I’ll save that
for next week.
Happy Birding
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