Mod SW 5, dull and rainy.
Boulmer. Dismal. 13 Bar tailed Godwits were the highlight on the shore and an Arctic Skua flew north. At 9.10 I was interrupted by that incessant beep...beep...beep...that signifies a MEGA in the far off reaches of the UK. Still keen to see what it is, the word at the top of the screen, 'Northumberland' brings about a certain frisson of excitement. Then the species - WHITE-RUMPED SWIFT flew SW at Cresswell Pond!!!!
Oh my lordy. Now this was a first for Britain, not on Foula or St Agnes but 15 miles down the road. Hopefully the observer will have been either Mssrs Wallace, Vittery or Holloway then we can all pull it to pieces as being the most stringy sighting since the Loch Ness Monster or the Cresswell Western Sandpiper. With clammy shaking hands I ring Andy McLevy ( Mr Cresswell!) to find out the crack. Has the bird been a House Martin seen by a myopic schitzo? Worse than that it was found by Andy himself and 'lucky' Alan Jack and Richard Dunn. All good lads with a track record of rarity finding, just makes things even more depressing, knowing that a Britsh first has been found by your mates only half an hour away but remaining untwitchable ( Can you imagine the chances of catching up with a Swift with a half hour head start flying south ' somewhere'? I think not.).
Later on a text from IDR said ' QEII on the patch list'.(See Druridge Blog).
Great. Not only am I a castaway in a rarity free zone, I can't see Great Shearwaters, Sabine's Gulls, White rumped Swifts or even bloody great ocean going liners on my patch...
Well, there's still tomorrow ...
Oh and my blogger has turned German. Excellent.
1 comment:
Yeah mine has turned german too..... don't mention the war....
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