Wednesday September 15 - birding cure

I've had a bad back lately and it has the potential to cramp my style. But this morning I decided the best cure would be to get out birding. So far so good, but this does require me to haul a pile of equipment; binoculars, telescope, camera, tripod over the uneven terrain of Morton Bagot. On the other hand, they do say keep moving.

It was pretty cloudy to begin with, and surprisingly crowded with other birders. After meeting Dennis and Marion as they were about to head for the flash field, I got distracted by a large party of Blue Tits, plus 14 Chiffchaffs and seven Blackcaps in a hedge bordering the ridge field, so I didn't see them again until I reached the flash.

My main desire was to prove to myself that other warblers were still around. To my delight this hope was confirmed by the presence of a Sedge Warbler and two Whitethroats in the hedge bordering the old pool. As I waited in the futile hope they would reappear, Martin ambled up and we headed to the flash.

So all four of us found ourselves standing at the watchpoint seeing not very much. Three Green Sandpipers, a couple of Snipe, 32 Lapwing, and 45 Teal. Marion mentioned that they had seen a Whinchat, which I guessed had been in the old pool field. So that's where I headed next.

This was where the action was. First, three Stonechats appeared in the back hedge, eventually coming close enough for a record shot.

Stonechat

I then discovered that there were also two Whinchats, another Whitethroat, and a Lesser Whitethroat feeding in the northern hedge. 

Whinchat

Whitethroat

I had texted Martin, and we were able to watch the activity together. I should also mention that there was a constant procession of Meadow Pipits and Swallows heading south all morning. It really was very entertaining, and exactly what I needed (plus paracetamols) to allow me to forget the backache.

Normally this would be the end of the story, but the day was to take an extraordinary turn. 

I had just turned out of the Netherstead access road and was starting to drive home when I went passed a dark brownish lump at the side of the road. My guess was that one of the Moorhens which sometimes stray from a nearby pool had got itself run over, but as I drew level and glanced down and saw a duck shaped bill. I stopped, and reversed back to see what it was.

When did you last find a dead Tufted Duck? I'm guessing never, and certainly I hadn't, particularly not as a road casualty. But that's what it was, the poor thing.

Tufted Duck - deceased

I tried to remember whether I had seen it on the drive in. Possibly it had been there, dismissed as a dead mammal. The last Tufted Ducks here were back in the early part of the year. Usually a pair settles to breed, but this year I hadn't seen evidence of this. However, there are several private garden pools I can't get access to, so maybe it had come from one of those. How it managed to be hit by a car on a fairly quiet country road though is anybodies guess.