So what brought about that particular bout of madness? Well, gentle reader, on Saturday I, in despite of all I could do in regards to lie-ins, apathy, utter lack of news, and general tardiness, went over to cornwall to see if I could dip the Little Bunting that had been found knocking about by the Lynher. I try to avoid Plymouth whenever possible, so I was very pleasantly surprised by how smoothly the trip out went [staying on the A38 might have helped, of course...]. At least until I got to where RBA's little indicator said Sconner Farm was. Now, I suppose I should have known better - their ability to miss with their little squares and triangles [especially on the somerset levels] is famous, after all. The fact I don't have a proper map of the area definitely didn't help - my road atlas shows the roads, but not the names, and the eye in the sky wasn't any help either - but there was a farm with a set-aside bit close to the marker, so that would be it, right? Yeah, yeah....
One encounter with chainsaw-wielding locals later, I found the right spot and was pleasantly surprised again by how much parking there was. I was expecting some tight layby-come passing place, but there is off-road parking for more than two vehicles - treat! Wandering down the stubble field [kudos to the farmer for the access] I saw a rather worrying sight - a group of birders looking in all directions.... Oh dear. Little Bunting had been seen by one guy in the morning, for maybe 30 seconds. The set-aside was very nice - pretty much perfect habbo with the hedge to pop up into and preen - but evidently the birds disagreed. Still, there was a large chunk of Lynher to look at while we waited - Spoonbills anyone? Oh, maybe not with the tide low and going down.
Time passed. Quite a lot of it. People gave up, others arrived, and gave up. The field was repeatedly interrogated. Theories were exchanged - maybe its coming here as a pre-roost thing? - maybe its tidal, the birds could be out on the salt marsh? - maybe the thing's just gone somewhere else? Pretty much the usual, in other words. There were 3 Dunnock messing about in the bit of hedge, but that was it. The last chap was leaving when just before 2-30 a bird appeared in the hedge that wasn't a Dunnock - bins showed a bunting sp. but it'd gone before I could get the scope on it. I jogged up to catch the guy, and told him how thin the hope was, but he thought it was enough to give it a bit more. Time passed very slowly with nothing but Dunnock, he moved a bit further north to see more of the hedge... and of course then a bunting popped up on top of the hedge - this time I got the scope on it and bingo! Very very short bingo though - in view for all of 10 seconds total - I didn't even have time to move my hand to zoom in... Frantic hand-gestures proved pointless - the Little Bugger [as I think it deserves to be re-named] had gone back over the hedge and didn't reappear while I was there. Terribly frustrating - and worse, several other birders arrived within 10 minutes of my sighting.
I'm having very mixed feelings about this - yes I saw it, 10 seconds view for almost 4 hours standing - but nobody else got it and that feels almost as bad to me as if I'd dipped it. I was there thinking "Show. Show. Show. It's not fair, you little git". To make matters worse, one, then two Reed Buntings decided to strike poses for us - one had rufous crown sides and very pale ear coverts and at first, half-hidden in the hedge, got us quite excited. A 1w Spoonbill appeared feeding in the channel coming out of Sconner Lake [the saltmarsh of which is where all the finches and buntings evidently were] - I'd never actually seen one feed before - lots asleep, even one in-off, would you believe - but never until now feeding. Yay.
For the unluckiest birder in cornwall and myself, there was a last reward - we having stuck it out past 5-00 were treated to a sudden flood of Spoonbills, a final total of 7, including 2 b/p adults, and an imm. with a numbered ring - left leg above the tarsal joint, it posed so the letters and numbers were obscured [the first was probably 'S' and the last '7' or '9' is the best I can do]. Then, as icing - a Barn Owl started hunting on the far side of the Lynher - after being mobbed by a Carrion Crow, that is.
Yesterday - very briefly. Yarner Wood - again no LSW, I'm beginning to think they've all been abducted by aliens or something... Tits, Nuthatches, and Treeecreeepers put on a very nice performance though. The feeders were again empty - is this deliberate policy? I happened to have a few sunflower hearts about my person, [just in case the Little Bugger'd needed tempting - ahem] and they were very gratefully received.
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