I've had my foot off the pedal this year, and that includes the local patch. Just a few visits with Barn Owl and Lesser Redpoll the highlights. But with spring migration in full flow I thought it time to get out and walk the well worn path once again.
The walk was predictably quiet and I got to the limit with not much to show. I looked up the rough track towards the local B road and had my usual 'Why isn't there a Wheatear on this track?' thought when I noticed up at the far end a promising blob on an old concrete slab, and a few moments later I was a watching a male Wheatear from a comfortable distance. It's a common enough bird elsewhere in spring (see next post) but is a jewel of a bird in my landlocked area and I spent a happy half hour watching it flick around the patch.
I enjoyed it so much I went back next evening. The Wheatear had moved on, but the field was being ploughed and a scan showed c20 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, no less then 5 Buzzards sat in the field and plenty of corvids. Then on the scan back two gulls flew in with solid black heads and vivid red legs and beaks and whahay 2 Mediterranean Gulls were flying around the field! One a full adult and one a near-adult with a couple of spots on the wing tips. I've had them on the patch twice before but not prolonged views in sunshine like this! A fantastic half hour was spent on this unexpected delight until they drifted high and north. A Treecreeper, Water Vole and Raven completed a spectacular patch list.
The always enjoyable and wise Steve Gale blogged about his local patch with the title Comparison is the Thief of Joy and he is as so often absolutely correct. The ability to enjoy what is in front of you and not think about what its in front of some other birder somewhere else is an essential mental capability for any inland local patch watcher. These two visits delivered the best of local patch watching.
No comments:
Post a Comment