Tonight I went out, and frankly it was dire. The highlight was the reappearance of the Snow Goose amongst a flock of 64 Greylags. I again forgot to pack a spare camera battery, so the photography ended abruptly after one shot of the Snow Goose disappearing behind a Greylag. I was thus left to ponder on what to blog about.
I thought I had chosen well. It had rained all day, and stopped just an hour before I set out. But one ingredient was missing. I still retain a pager from my twitching past, and although it can be seen as an unnecessary extravagance it does have one use. I think it is a good predictor of birding fortune. Today it was pretty quiet as far as Midland localities were concerned, and I should have listened to it.
Another thing I struggle to get right is flowers. As a beginner I find it annoyingly tough to correctly identify even the most ostentatious plant. Here is an example.
This looks pretty identifiable doesn't it. It was in the middle of loads of similar looking, but white, flowers in a field of old Oilseed Rape. It took me ages to figure it out. Eventually Harrap's Wild Flowers pointed the way to Wild Radish, an abundant weed. Usually white (that's what all the others were) but sometimes mauve. The plant is so abundant that the Collins guide fails to show a picture, and so distinctive that Marjorie Blamey's Illustrated Flora shows the flowers as yellow. To be fair they apparently often are, just not at Morton Bagot.
I could go on about Scentless Mayweed v Scented Mayweed, and my unexpected discovery that Ragwort comprises several species. But I think that's enough for tonight.
Hopefully my next outing will produce a few birds.
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