The Divers back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Birding Trivia.

            Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans out there, particularly of the Comic Opera the Mikado?

If you have a minute, google “The Mikado Lyrics – Tit Willow”, and you will find the song which goes..

“On a tree by a river a little tom-tit

Sang "Willow, titwillow, titwillow"

And I said to him, "Dicky-bird, why do you sit

Singing 'Willow, titwillow, titwillow…………….etc

If you play the call of the Willow Tit on your phone, or computer, whilst not exactly the same, the call does sound a bit like the onomatopoeic word, Willow Tit. Well after a G & T, anyway.

Carsington came up with their own special day on Thursday 24^th November.  Not Black Friday, but Thrilling Thursday, with a Great Northern Diver back, hopefully staying for the winter, so if you did not get it on your 2017 bird list in the Spring, now is the time to add it to the list before the end of the year. Alan Stewardson gets the first sighting credit this Winter.

Black Friday?  Not for me… purple Thursday was my day. Day return, Tamworth to London St. Pancras, £32.  Brilliant eh?... even better…. that was for FOUR people!! Yep, £8 pp, reserved seats and without any Gold card discount. If it helps, it was exactly 35 days before the day we travel.

Meanwhile, with 34 days to go to get the 200 sightings for the year, Amanda, Lorna and I have already crossed the Rubicon.   But I know some birders who are still working towards the 200, and whilst Warblers etc have obviously gone, there are still plenty of sightable possibilities in the next 34 days.

I have yet to see a Bittern, and Great Grey Shrike, the latter I hoped to see this week at Owthorpe, but it seems I have missed the boat, as it has not been reported since last Tuesday. And Hawfinches have been particularly in evidence this Autumn.

A good friend of many years, who seems to always be travelling to and fro between his property near Exeter, and his villa on the Algarve, surprised me when he told me that his world count for 2017 is 137, and he is far from a serious birder. His e-mail stated “so far” which is positive thinking. His haul does include some nice species, including Wryneck, Temmincks Stint, Water Pipit to name just a few. I originally tried to get him into birding, and this now appears to be his hobby for his dotage**!! It is good to know what he recognises, although he is the first to admit that he has had help!!

(Ed: **Did you have to Google that?)

Sunday 26^th November (blimey, this time next month, Xmas day will be over) had a quick visit to Carsington, to collect the bird feed donations, and it was nice to collect 7 old pound coins which we can change and get more bird food.

Pat and Mac were in the Wildlife Centre, and just as I was leaving, Mac spotted the Great Northern Diver in the middle of the reservoir. A group of 16 birders who were on a mini-bus trip from Grimsby, were walking down the path as I left the hide to walk back to the centre. I told them that the GND was viewable, and they all broke into a veritable trot!! (The last time I saw running birders was when Simon Roddis told Amanda that there was a Hawfinch at Shiningford Creek South (more recently called the Wildlife Centre creek), and they both set off at high speed!)

Talking of Carsington, Peter Cartlidge has used one of the press boards in the courtyard for some action photos to publicise the work that Volunteers do, which is good and well deserved. (See photo below) I maintain the second press board with articles and photos from newspapers.

The water level remains very low at Carsington, just 70.5% full, and it is VERY important that people do NOT walk on the foreshore where the mud can be very glutinous and dangerous.

THE Fire brigade was called to the Hopton End recently to recover someone who had got stuck in the mud, and was unable to extract himself. He was in the mud for over an hour, and struggling to get free only made matters worse.  THE Danger signs are not there for fun…. They should be heeded.

This is a photo of the bird box that I bought in Honiton, and it is now up in the back garden. We had an Estate Agent give us a price on our house this week, but the bird bedroom extension did nothing for the price!   Not bad for just £15.

Bit thin on birding news, but don’t forget next Sunday December 3rd BWB 10.00am Carsington

Happy Birding