The decorator has decorated, and shortly after he left Lyn took a call. Terry H was ringing to let me know there was a Red-throated Diver at Bittell. 'Which Bittell ?" I asked. "Upper Bittell" Lyn replied. That's a shame, I thought.
Its a completely daft reaction to being told about a properly rare bird, but there you go. My Circle includes Lower Bittell, but not Upper.
But still, I thought I'd go anyway. It was raining for most of the journey, but when I parked, it had abated. By the time I'd walked to the dam it was drizzling. Steve Roberts was on the dam and indicated that the Red-throated Diver was with the nearest Great Crested Grebes. I risked one photo before the camera got too wet.
 |
| Red-throated Diver |
After about 15 minutes of watching the Diver, and scanning the distant far bank without much enthusiasm I decided I'd got wet enough.
By the time I'd got back to the car the rain had stopped, and another thought occurred. Might as well have a quick look at Lower. I drove down there and strolled to a vantage point.
I could see Gadwalls, Little Grebes, Shovelers, and Coots. Ho hum. Then I spotted some distant Tufted Ducks, so decided to get the scope out.
Panning to the left of the Tufties I found the BIG ONE. Yes a bonafide #LocalBigYear patch tick. I had reached my target of 140 species with a month to spare. I've never been so pleased to see a Goldeneye.
 |
| Goldeneye |
The light was awful and the bird was distant. I'm on cloud nine.
Strange business, Patch-watching.
No comments:
Post a Comment