Your letters and photos
A festive European Robin and a memorable ‘selfie’ were in the post bag this month.
I wanted to share my experience of a particularly memorable ‘selfie’ ( Birdwatch 340: 22-25).
It was June 1965 and I was studying for my A-levels. In between bouts of frenzied revision, I took therapeutic walks to clear my head and, of course, to see if there was anything about. One evening, feeling that it was time for a break, I set off to my local patch, the outskirts of Castle Eaton, a village in rural Wiltshire.
I was scanning the hedgerows, picking up the usual Yellowhammers and Linnets, when it happened! What I had taken for a pink dog rose shot into the air, adding black, white and grey to the colour scheme. My immediate reaction was Lesser Grey Shrike. Surely not, I thought. I had observed this species the previous year on holiday in southern France, but I couldn’t believe that one would turn up on my home ground.
The bird vanished into another hedgerow a couple of fields further away. After a nerve-racking 10 minutes or so I relocated it and was treated to excellent close-up views. My initial identification had been correct.
I had to let someone know. John was the only birder I knew in my neck of the woods. He lived at least four miles away and in those days many of us didn’t have a telephone. I ran home, jumped on my pushbike and sped off as fast as my legs could propel me. It was too late to find the bird again that evening and we agreed to search for it first thing the next morning.
To our great relief it was still there and over the course of the day it provided enjoyment for about a dozen people. How that grapevine worked I wasn’t quite sure (communication was a lot more primitive in the Sixties!). As always there were those who missed out, including a minibus load from Marlborough College. Whether they just arrived too late or got lost on the way I shall never know. Martin Latham, via email