Life on hold!!

At certain times of the birding year life has to go on hold. Anyone who does not share the enthusiasm or understand this great hobby will never comprehend the reasons behind this. But at the end of the day it has to be done to fulfill a passion for our feathered friends!

Northeasterly to Easterly winds have continued and when I got up at stupid o’clock this morning there was a tiny bit of rain! Happy days the Farm has almost ideal conditions (The cloud could have been lower!).

Dodge was already on guard in the hide and the morning progressed with a few Wigeon and later some Swallow. The cloud lifted and the sun poked its head out intermittently. This was not good news!  But as the morning progressed the cloud closed in and a few spots of rain fell. The pager and rbnUK wasn’t helping morale with little movement of birds around the Thames area.

Sutton Utd were away at Whitehawk (Brighton) in the FA Cup and I decided to pack up and make tracks towards this match but then Pinpoint called a Ruff which was observed flying towards the lagoons then round towards 100 Acre. Uh oh change decision time! Phone calls were made as a Rock Pipit was seen by the small group in the hide flying N.

(Northern Pintail)

This was proving to be a bad decision as movements dried up and the sharp eyed in the hide headed home! I was determined to stick the day out and was joined by Derek in the hide. The weather was still looking good with rainclouds moving in.

(Northern Pintail)

The first contender in a small wave of movement was a Pintail that arrived out of nowhere and landed on the N lake. The bird joined some teal and made its way to the S lake where it remained. Derek departed leaving me as the last man standing with Pete keeping an eye out from the Observatory window (His flat!). A ringed Plover flew NE over the lake things were definitely looking promising!

(Common Redstart)

Pinpoint came up trumps from the Obs window finding a male Redstart in the communal garden which has been decorated with bird friendly shrubs and feeders. The Obs window has in the past produced two firsts for the Farm in the form of Common Crane and Long Tailed Skua! A Redstart was not in the same league as these two but what a fantastic bird to see.

(Common Snipe)

That was enough excitement from the Farm for one day with a clear divide between cloud and clear skies! Homeward bound to reflect on how to improve my digi-scoping skills and on a good days birding with six completed McMillan lists!