Grumpy Old Birder
It’s too easy to remember the birds you miss; make sure you celebrate the ones you spot!
There are more than 600,000 breeding pairs of Goldcrests in the UK and an estimated five million that overwinter! How come it took until 1 October for me to see one this year? My 175th year tick? The scrap of woodland near the observatory where I am a trustee has been a guarantied spot. I usually catch up with them there in January when looking for their cousins, Firecrests, which are regular there. Finding Firecrests has always been a matter of looking for a Goldcrest that is a bit less frenetic, then looking for the eye-stripe. When I tried this back last winter I found Firecrests, but no common cousins. Picking the bird-filled brain of the ‘obs’ Warden brought forth a reason for the absence of Regulus regulus – forest fires in eastern Europe led to a poor breeding season, so a lot fewer made it to their winter dachas in the balmy climes of south-east England. By the same token, there were fewer home-grown ‘crests to expand and breed in my locality. So my year list had Firecrest and Yellow-browed Warbler before a Goldcrest made it to my patch.
Bird finding when you are overweight, arthritic and idle can be a challenge. The hotspot where this year you could see Eleanora’s and Red-footed Falcons in the air with half a dozen Hobbies, and four other raptors is just beyond my reach, although I’ve found a spot where I could scope most of it. Some of the migrant traps spread about the area are also a step too far. Even commoner species, that others find with ease, elude me.
Guaranteed Kingfishers didn’t show in the spot I dragged myself to. Ibis and stilt were also beyond me, although my attempts could not have been far short. On a good day, I reckon 300 metres is the limit before joints seize up and muscles cramp (on the worst days, I can’t even walk to the office, and that’s next to the bedroom!). That gets me to a viewing ramp where I can rest and wait until the creaking and wheezing subsides. The Kingfisher hot-spot is 600 metres from the car park, and my two-hour unproductive sojourn was not patience, but the inability to get up and go. Everyone else connects; they have the photos to prove it!
All is not lost as I have Hawkeye to spot the unexpected and even manage a few weird finds myself. Kingfisher was serendipitous in September… while scoping across fields, I found one sitting on a fence in the middle of nowhere! In that same spot, an almost ignored ‘buzzard’ in the grass, only displaying diagnostic features when it rose up 20 feet away, all Honey-buzzardy!
Sitting in the reachable hide (50m along a concrete path with resting benches), I enjoyed the solitude even although the scrape was practically bare. Apparently, the cute Avocet chick got eaten! Breeding waders had flown and the winter ducks weren’t ready to commit, so I enjoyed the dragons and damsels until two raptors hove into view. A Marsh Harrier was really going for the other bird… a Black Kite! My second such county tick in 20 years. It was all over in seconds, as one chased the other off into the heat haze.
Over the years, I’ve lost count of when there’s ‘nothing about’. On the other hand, I’ve never counted up the unexpected finds and the glorious moments either. Like two weeks ago, when I heard the oddest of ‘never heard before’ sounds, looked up, and a Bittern flew over my head! That’s birding – Tales of the Unexpected.
Bo Beolens runs fatbirder.com and other websites. He has written a number of books.