Today was a little bit of a frustrating visit to the patch. It started well enough in calm cloudy conditions as I located the Black Redstart immediately on arrival at the church. I took a couple of distant shots while I waited for Dave to arrive.
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| Cropped image taken before I zoomed in |
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| Blast ! |
The above shot rather set the tone. Just after Dave arrived I heard a Yellow Wagtail call twice as it flew over (going north!) I shouted to Dave but he didn't hear it well enough.
We made our way down the Millennium Way and located two Whinchats in the distance, and a Falcon on the even more distant pylons. We eventually established that this was just a Peregrine.
Then the heavens opened and for the next hour we got absolutely soaked while sought refuge under various bushes and later the trees overlooking the nearest flash.
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| Good weather for ducks |
We eventually counted 68 Teal, four Green Sandpipers, three Snipe and six Shovelers, (the latter all being on the furthest flash). Three Stonechats were perched on the tree-guards.
Eventually the rain stopped and the sun came out. But our trials were not over. We could see a distant blob on some telephone wires. It was too far away for the camera, so I had to erect my scope, half expecting I would be looking at some finch. But it was a Pipit. We obviously wanted it to be a Tree Pipit, and it was certainly pumping its tail encouragingly. We moved closer, but never got close enough before it flew away.
It felt like we had missed out today.
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