August took a while to get going, and even then it was hard work; 20 Wheatear in the fields at the East Cliffs on Portland on 19th, Little Stint at Ferrybridge and a Redstart at Kingcombe Meadows on 20th. Then the stand-out rarity of the month a long-staying White-Winged Tern at Fen Drayton.
I eventually gave in and went on 25th. The usual long walk to its chosen lagoon, this time in baking afternoon sun, and there it was flying around and sitting on a sand spit. I can't complain, it was fine, but it isn't really an achievement, is it? It had a distinctive 'job done' feel about it.
In contrast a trip to Oare Marshes on 14th had a moment of magic. In fact it had two moments of magic as Mike and Dave found a Queen of Spain Fritillary, but I was chatting to a local watcher at the time so missed it, and we could not relocate it. We got the Bonaparte's Gull of course, but otherwise Oare was on the quiet side.
Walking back to the car along the sea wall I heard a Whimbrel call. We'd had a couple of Whimbrel earlier so this was nothing out of the expected, but the call turned into a couple of calls, and then a few more, and I eventually found a large flock circling at a medium height. I counted 45 birds in total! There's something profound about coming across migration on this scale. A sense of movement in a size not normally encountered. A special moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment