Boom!

Interrupting your wait for the rest of the last week's posting for an urgent piece of news;

The Artist completed his sprite-trick yesterday, a fact I learned only after dark*. This being of particular interest as I have a long and painful history of dipping Hume's Warblers - most messily a hat-trick by The Fleet a few years back.... - and so, with an actual Lifer on the line, I was quite keen to see it.

Thus it was that I got up far too early this afternoon and saw to my surprise [I was expecting a 'no sign'] that it was still around. Cue 'Yackety Sax'.  

Arriving to the Joy that is Berry Head's car park [wait, you paid?!?!? Yes, I did**.] I then scuttled down the road, past the Warden's hut - nearly being run down twice by cars full of Suits - and found the spot with the big Willow, which as I suspected was the 'Budleia Gate'. And nobody there. Cold wind, leaden skies, passing traffic... Oh Bugger.

In there.

[Big Willow on the left]

Then I heard that chewy little call, which had so tormented me over in Dorset [I'd heard it, a LOT, but never seen so much as a glimpse of the bar steward***]. But no views. Oh not again...

But then, as if by magic, there it was, silhouetted in the big Willow. Bins up, YEEEEEESSSS!!!!! I got all those little Hume-y features [wing bar, legs, upperparts, feather contrast, super, the lot]. Right, picture!

It waited until I'd raised the camera, then flick! gone.

Hmm.

Four minutes later, there it suddenly is again, I actually get a shot away.. It's out of it.

I wait longer, as the gloom rises and lightning flashes on the horizon [it was quite atmospheric] and finally a bird pops out and starts going over the Hawthorn right by the road, the sticky-up one.. I try again and actually get hits;

Calling constantly

Not, of course, the Hume's. This is inevitably [with small green things] a Goldcrest. Here it is again;

Nice fringes

But this should give you an idea of how impossible it was to hit something of similar size and even greater speed, three times further away, with intervening greenery. I don't feel too bad at not getting it; after all, people with far far fancier gear than me, in better light and having more time, failed too.


Various other woodland species of an expected nature were also present, and of note, beware horrific roadworks on the Ring Road, AVOID.

Anyway, despite the travails on my travels, I am grinning like a fool.


I got it I got it I got it!!

:D



Be Seeing You...


[[*There was a headlight bulb. It did not behave. I was unamused.]]

[[** Due to time pressing; the onrushing Dark aided by great big thunderclouds.]]
[[*** It got silly, I had three tries at that bird, and two of those had me tracking it by call through the dense vegetation... Yes, this is a species I had a well-earned grudge against.]]