The last week has
been quiet for most part. I have spent a few mornings at the Farm, taken a walk
around Holmethorpe with very little on the rarity front to show for my efforts.
I had been toying with the idea of renewing my RareBirdAlert (RBA) subscription
and finally succumbed to that temptation! This I knew would be a bad move, not
because RBA don’t provide a first rate service but it meant I would start
looking beyond the boundaries of Surrey Vice County (SVC).
I think it took precisely
two days of membership and a Forster’s Tern was found and photographed at
Mistley Essex. This journey is a couple of hours drive for me so I began
watching RBA website for developments. I do not consider myself much of a
twitcher these days but this bird did catch my attention!
I was on the road at
around mid-day having convinced myself the bird was there to stay for the day!
The journey was straight forward with only a few moments pondering if the bird
would still be there when I arrived! I found the group of birders that were
staked out along the quay but had missed the bird by some 20mins. At least it
was still here and the tide was on its way in which would mean a movement of
birds from the sinking banks of exposed sand/mud.
I stood fast and
scanned the area noting the antics of the island hopping Black-tailed Godwits.
Turnstone had to be wary as a misplaced leg might force it to regurgitate what
it had recently consumed! Redshank were also scattered in amongst this small
mass. Goldeneye and Shelduck and a sizeable group of Mute Swan accompanied a
scattering of gulls. A Kingfisher was also busy navigating the channel closest
to the quay wall.
The Forster’s Tern
appeared but took me a while to get onto the bird. Then came the tricky bit
getting a picture in poor light which was fading fast! The tern did fly around
for a short while giving me good views of it and of course some sort of a
picture!
The journey home was as easy with the Chelsea
game on Five Live! Happy days!
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