How could the Dipper be predicted??

Funny how words come back to (haunt?) you.  I was in Derby on Tuesday, and as I walked passed the City Hotel, one of the Peregrines dropped off the letter Y and flew away.

I was looking skywards (a la David Lindo) and could see the Peregrine circling rapidly high over the river Derwent, and within the 5 seconds of looking back to where I was walking, and then up again he had gone. So that was Tuesday lunch taken care of!!

Saturday 2^nd September. I know I’ve mentioned that I was booked for the RSPB bird trip out of Bridlington, to go out beyond Flamborough and Bempton, hoping to see Skuas and Shearwaters.

A good journey to Brid took 2 hours, and then one hour to find a parking place. Brid is currently chaotic traffic wise, and signs saying, “The Harbour”, send you to roads now closed, with diversions which put you back in the queue you started in. Manic.  Anyway, parking NOT at the Harbour, but at the Coach Station solved matters, and 12.15 saw me visiting a small friendly caf, for an All Day Breakfast (having already had one at home!) and again with Black Pud. But with a pot of tea, £4.50.. don’t knock it.  I even noticed male OAP’s get haircuts for £3.50 in Brid… may only be a mixing bowl and a pair of scissors, but who cares when you put a hat on!!

Sorry I’m rambling.. must be the sea air.

I found myself sitting on not a full boat for the bird cruise at 4.30pm, next to a chap from Anglesey who had the same plans. The difference was that his YTD count was 245 !!!!, so the anticipated additions were important to him.

Well the swell was good, and only one instance was noted of the deck hand getting sea water to swab down (you can guess why!). But boy was it cold, and as a consequence I made my first, and only, mistake.. I went to the Galley for a hot chocolate, exactly at the moment that a Great Skua (a Bonxie) chose to fly over the Bridlington Belle.

By the way, a Great Skua is also known as a Bonxie, a name which is probably of Scandinavian origin and from the Norwegian Bunke meaning something dumpy, which is probably a fair description of such a big aggressive bird.

However I was shivering to death when I did get a good view of the only Arctic Skua, flying towards us and over the ship’s bow, so I did add one for the trip = 199. Mr 245 added nothing, and said he would return to Anglesey on Sunday via Martinmere, and hope to add the Purple Heron. 

Sorry, but this was my 3^rd cruise trip, with trips that were Good v Bad at 1:2, so I think it’s off my future schedule.

Sunday 3^rd September was the usual Carsington walk, and having said I would not be back from Brid, my regulars were surprised to find me at the helm. For a change, we had a small number this week of only 12 people, with 2 newbies from Buxton.

We hit the obligatory 30 species, 33 actually, and a largish flock of Goldfinches got the BOD vote. It was also nice to find a group of 11 small waders off the tip of Stones Island including 9 Dunlin and 2 Ringed Plovers. A distant Great Black Backed Gull got one vote.

 

I may have mentioned that I now do a 5-minute talk at the start of each walk about one selected species. So far, I have talked about Swift, Blackcap and Cuckoo, and today it was the turn of a Dipper, a species never seen at Carsington, mainly because there is no rocky water courses that Dippers favour.

UNTIL TO-DAY !!!!!  Within 5 minutes of my talk, Full time Ranger Dave Drury doing a fun-time litter pick stopped and asked if I had heard about a Carsington Bird Club expert spotting a Dipper at Tail Bay. I said I had seen someone with a scope on the dam wall as I arrived and wondered why.  So, you just never know.

And just in passing, a Dipper is so called, not because it dips into the water, but because of the way it bobs, or dips it's body, much like Wagtails.

I’ve been checking on progress for new entrants to the prospective 200 club, and Mike McDonald (ST Wildlife centre volunteer) and Rob Chadwick (regular on BWB) are both on 171. Rob is booked for the Boston river cruise shortly, so that should help. Mike pops up everywhere, as readers will know.

This is the Boston Belle - a bit different from the Bridlington Belle!

They have got 4 months to go, but it doesn’t get easier.

Happy Birding