This morning, after an unnaturally early start, I went off over to cornwall in the company of Joe "It's a full and manly beard" Ray*, to try to see the Squacco Heron that decided to make a teeny little fishing pond it's new home. In a radical change from accepted practice, it not only was there, but showed very well, right from the get-go.
I have to say I was a little shocked.
Gorgeous bird, really, another of those 'pictures don't do it justice' jobs. Very cool; it just hung around in the trees on this little island in this fishing pond in Par, pretty much unbothered by the dozen or so birders watching appreciatively. This is the sort of twitch I like - its there. It stays there. It's pretty. Result.
And there was a Muscovy Duck, too.
:D
Kudos to the boss of Snowlands Fisheries, for not only putting up with a heron eating his stock, but also the assorted ne'er do wells who turned up to look at it.
Speaking of.... [kidding] Bun and Karen, of Backwater fame, arrived just after us. When not watching the Heron or extracting mice from Joe, they mentioned something about twitching orchids, so I think they might have been out in the sun too long.... [[How do you twitch a plant? Its there. It stays there. It doesn't overshoot or abmigrate or wander.. There isn't an RPA to page you, or an Orchid 400 Club to tell you which ones count.... Ok, ok, you get the joke ;) ]]
As Joe had to get to work [[shavers aren't cheap, you know]], I was back in time for lunch, and decided a nice stroll to a good viewpoint in the afternoon might net me one of the seemingly hundreds of Kites knocking about the south west. If you want a panorama, go to t' Moor - I picked the south end of Hamel Down. It was rather hazy, though. Ok, it was very hazy, and the one "Ooh, that's not a Buzzard!" I saw was too far off to eliminate Marsh Harrier, never mind decide which Kite... Rats.
A very smart Hobby did make a much closer flypast, and Swifts and Swallows were constantly about. 'Hunt the Skylark' and 'Spot the Cuckoo' were games to be played - though the easterly wind made the latter pretty much impossible... While I may not have had a Kite, it was a relaxing and more importantly cool way to pass the [far far far too hot - 24 frickin' degrees at Par!] afternoon.
*[[He not only found a Black Kite on Saturday, but got ridiculously good views - he deserves everything he gets! ;p ]]
Additional; Forgot to mention that the first fledglings of the year [not counting Woodpigs] arrived on Saturday - House Sparrows up the road got off at least 7. :D
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