Shameless Twitching

As I said I would yesterday, I went swanning off to the Backwater to have a go for the Temminck's Stint. It was surprisingly quiet when I arrived at Black Hole [being good and not parking at Colyford, oh what a Saint I am...] - only one car. A couple of people were in the Tower, but I didn't detour on my way, via the path [which has neatly kept the squishiest bit gravel and boardwalk free - nice touch.] to Colyford Common. There I found a couple of birders, who hadn't seen the Stint, but weren't giving up just yet. After we gave everything on the scrape a thorough grilling, they decided to try the platform, to get a different angle and to look for the Water Pipit that had been knocking around. Maybe 5 minutes after that, the Lapwing went up, taking with them a few Starlings and a tiny wader with very white rump and tail sides and a delicate bill. It and a group of the Lapwing headed downriver and I lost them when they went behind a partition and I moved to try to get back on them. Yes, the unreliable and unbelieved bloke who says he saw it in flight at 0905 is me. I would have loved for it to reappear on the deck and show off its legs and so on, but you take what you're given.

A lot of other birders started to arrive, and the hide became well-appointed with eyes. Lapwing came and flushed, joined by up to 12 Dunlin, 46 Curlew and at least one Blackwit. A little before 11, [Devon Birder] found a Spotshank, which had gone undetected by all observers since first thing, due to not being on the scrape, but in the maze of channels and wet bits behind it. The Dunlin in particular managed to get in and out [flying, mostly!] without up to 7 pairs of eyes noticing, so a small sneaky Stint would have had no problem, if it wanted to, in coming and going undetected.

I was resolved to stay put, as Better Views were most definitely Desired. The Stint, it seemed, had other ideas. My high count of 517 Lapwing indicates that, as the flock is definitely 700 or more, there were always Lapwing elsewhere. In front of the Tower, in the wet bits behind the scrape, in the fields on the far bank of the river... The sneaking suspicion that it had gone down to near the Tower kept nagging at me, and I decided to head down to have a thorough search after I'd had a bite to eat. [I'd been on the verge of leaving for Black Hole earlier, when the Dunlin's first arrival had stopped me].

However. Things changed suddenly not long after the Spotshank was found, when [Devon Birder] got a call about what had been found at Mansands. He and [Devon Birder] took off at something approaching Mach 3. I'd just taken my first bite of flapjack, with a fresh cup of coffee poured [[Coffee always calls the birds!!]]. I thought hard and yes, very fast. I'd given it nigh on 3 hours, I had seen the bird, it clearly wasn't feeling co-operative. Black-eared Wheatear [as it was then] would be very nice...

Mach 3? More like Warp Speed.....

I surprised myself by finding it without getting lost, despite only having been there via Coast Path and only seeing the road required on a map. Which I didn't have with me. Its a long way down to the coastguard cottages from the car park. A long, slippy, cobbly way. "Its not a Black-eared, its a Desert" and "Its a male" were two useful bits of info I acquired on the descent, from others climbing up. I was undeterred and still happy - 'even' a Desert Wheatear was a Lifer, after all! [[Tart!]] The assembled throng [well, never getting into double figures, but still not bad for a weekday at short notice] included many of Devon's Finest, and the craic was merry indeed.

Especially when I enlightened them on who the 'some bloke said he saw it in flight' was. Oh, the looks on their faces... Worth the yomp back up the hill alone, that :D *

But the Star of The Show could not be denied. Once again a vagrant Wheatear sits up on a roof and catches flies, while wowing all present. Utterly utterly gorgeous bird. Go look at the photos. If its still there when you read this, go look at the bird! I had, for some reason that made sense to someone who'd been up all night, taken my camera and the New Big Lens, so I couldn't resist sticking it on my tripod and trying some shots. When I get the film developed, if any come out, I'll come back and stick one or two on here [[This is likely to be next year, by the way - cost of film and processing means I take shots verrrrry sparingly...]]. My ancient setup attracted quite a bit of interest among the group - mostly disbelief that anyone could be so behind the times, I think! ;) I like using film, it makes things difficult, yes, its cost me greatly in the past, oh so true, it costs a fortune all the time, undoubtedly. But when it comes off, when you get the prints back and something's worked, oh the joy. Its the Patch birding of photography.

[[* It should be pointed out to those who aren't from Devon that I am a Notorious Stringer and Generally Unreliable Observer]]

[[Yes, really. Came as a surprise to me, as well.]]