Well,
it’s been a funny old week. A right mix of events,
with only 2 birds added to my 2017 list. Mind you I can’t complain, because I
am on 160 (or 80% which sounds better), and that’s the highest I’ve ever been
by the 30th April. And I’ve
still got 7 days left in April with some ambitious plans afoot.
Right, that’s the statistics but I’ve got another
matter that is causing me some angst…. I’m getting messages which suggest that
I need to clarify misunderstandings by my “dedicated followers of fashion” who
need to be put on the right track.
I am a Microtibialist. A Microtibialist is a Small-leg
collector. I am NOT a Small Leg-collector.
(I might be, but that is coincidental.)
(I might be, but that is coincidental.)
By the way, if you google Microtibialist,
I’m currently getting top billing!!
Tuesday
14th April. Did my research
and drove down to Cossington Meadows in Leicestershire, hopefully to see a
Glossy Ibis which had been hanging round for a while. Being a new site, and
quite rambling, I did not know where the wet bit was, until I was put on the
right path by a helpful local birder. But alas no sign. Tried (to find) another
field where it had been sighted, but still no luck.
I got home in time to welcome a couple of Welsh
relatives (Alex and her husband Colin) who were staying for 3 nights. Alex IS
keen on birds, and having just learnt Welsh (which she did not use on us
fortunately) wanted to learn more about birds, so we told them to sleep well,
because Wednesday would be a day at Attenborough gravel pits.
Wednesday
19th April. Having enjoyed a 7am cup of tea whilst
dwelling on what happened 11 months ago to the day, followed by the full
English (our guests declined the Welsh option!) we duly set off for Attenborough.
Alex told me about the time the children at her school in Pembrokeshire found a
Little Auk in her primary school playground in St Ishmaels. The children all
saw the rare bird, but sadly it died before anything further could be done.
The Little Auk, but in a sad state.
The 4 of us had a nice walk around Attenborough and
saw 44 different species. I added Common Tern
on the Trent, but Alex was able to enjoy good views of the following, many new
to her: -
Blackcaps (male only), Willow Warblers and
Chiffchaffs, Nuthatch, Gadwall (a name she will remember!), the handsome male Red
Crested Pochard, Jay, all the birds popping on to the feeding table at the
Delta area after I had added some seed, 2 young Herons on a nest near Tween
pond, Egyptian Geese who had taken over an owl nest box which last week had a
pair of Kestrels, Sand Martins whizzing in and out of the Sand Martin bank, not
even touching the side, and a Little Ringed Plover on the Wheatear field…how’s
that for a good and varied day!
Wednesday
19th April And now for
something completely different, an early start and we went to the Upper Derwent
Valley. The best that can be said is that it was dry, a bit cooler than
Wednesday, and superb scenery, Birding? No Goshawk or Grouse, although they
spotted a Dipper near Slippery Stones.
The bad news (for me) was that we were having a
snack at the Fairholmes Visitor Centre, near the bike wash tap, only for a
young birder to come and show me his photograph of a Pied Flycatcher that had been BEHIND ME on a very close nest box as we stood there. That’s birding for you,
but all credit to the young (14 yrs?) birder. Got my own back. Played the song
on my phone, and the lad did not know where to look!!!
Sunday
23rd April Carsington was
very busy with a dog show and visitors, so I sneaked off to the quiet of Stones
Island to be serenaded by a choir of wrens, ticked off a nice
pair of Bullfinches, then Blackcaps, Dunlin, L R Plover and to make it all
worthwhile Common Sandpiper.
The
remaining April days include Tuesday at Attenborough with Chris, and in the
evening at 6pm, our annual Yellow Wagtail walk at Carsington (29 booked so
far!) and then on Thursday and Friday I’m off for 48 hours, to include a high tide
at The Wirral, South Stack and anything else reported along the North Wales
Coast. Should be fun.
Next
Sunday should (I hope) be a good blog entry.
Dear Microtibialist (small but perfectly formed), my apologies for my tardy comments despite a plethora of wildlife about.
ReplyDeleteI was being badgered to find a document that had somehow been squirreled away. Really got my goat as I was completely foxed. It was a lot to swallow when I found it as I realised that it was me who had misplaiced it. Moving swiftly on.........
Good haul at Attenborough, as usual at this time of year.
Playing the Pied Flycatcher song to the lad who had seen it - nice one!
Looking forward to your report from The Wirral and South Stack.