14Ingham’s W RLD
AUTUMN is a magical time of year for nature lovers.Well, every time of year is spellbinding if you like finches or foxes or the seasonal kaleidoscope of trees. But autumn, like spring, is when the world’s birds are on the move. So last weekend I went to a local chain of flooded old quarries which are a magnet for passing waders and wildfowl.
A few ducks had arrived for the winter – shovelers and wigeon, possibly from Iceland, and teal from northern Russia – while this year’s little grebes had shed their fledgling stripes to emerge in adult colours.
A buzzard and a red kite idled over, flocks of tits chatted, but exotics there were none.
Back home I was preparing for a spot of gardening when the phone rang. It was Gordon, who patrols these lakes daily. No bird visits without checking in with him first.
“If you get down to Spyne’s Mere you’ll find an adult spoonbill,” he promised.
I’ve only seen these big white herons in the UK once – in Norfolk this spring – so pruning lavender went out of the window.
Ten minutes later I joined
Gordon and another regular, Richard, who had actually spotted the spoonbill. To my relief, it was still there on a muddy island right in front of us. It was performing its party piece of wading while waving its long spatula bill from side to side, sifting out shrimps and small fish from the murky water.
It had lost its springtime breeding mane of white feathers which, with its long bill, would have made it look like a jazz clarinetist. All that was left was a white tuft, a bit like a hipster whose hair is too short but still wants a pony tail.
Spoonbills are part of an invasion of white herons from further south – little and great white egrets, cattle egrets and the like – who seem to quite like global warming, thank you very much.
And then, a shout, and Gordon had spotted a Mediterranean gull in among the black-headed, one that fledged this year. I find that most gulls look pretty much the same until they reach adulthood, which can take up to four years, so I doffed my cap to the expert.
But what a wonderful 30 minutes. Two unexpected wanderers in my backyard.
Autumn has got me in its spell once again.The garden can wait.