After the Double Days' Dipping, I had Business with a couple of birds who re-emerged at similar sites across Devon last week.
[Yes, 're-emerged' as I strongly suspect the South Huish Black Tern relocated to the Dart...]
No messing about, I was straight out of work and across the county to Bere Ferrers for first thing. I went the straight way up over t'Moor, but received no birdy bonus for it, alas [worth a try].
Upon arrival I found it cold and quiet, but I had a fire inside to keep me warm and was duly rewarded with the first view of the day of the pesky Roller, at 0800 on the dot.
It was.. Not close.
Gotcha!!!
Let us zoom out, so you can see what I mean;
Now, you see that T-shaped pylon,
yes? Right, look just to the left of it...
A whole heap of assorted twitchy types turned up - as if by magic - and after an hour and a half of the bird I decided to take a wander to see if a) I could flank it and get closer and b) stretch my poor legses.
I got the latter not the former.
To add to moderate vexation, I found not a sniff of anything funky on the Tavy [8 Curlew Sand were seen the day before]. But hey.
Getting back, ah look here be that Roller!
Garden Roller
Cue something quite gratuitous...
"Got to look sharp
for the cameras"
Getting the coverts out for
the twitchers...
Ok, avert thine eyes, those of a gripped disposition, this is where it really starts to get rubbed in.. [Heh heh heh]
"Ok, how's this?"
"Yikes, cloud..."
Roller onna wire.
Itsa classic.
Whoosapurdyboyden?
:D
Eventually the Roller tired of posing and I declined to go off on another Wild Roller Hunt, as I'd a) played that one before and b) had aforementioned Unfinished Business
So, to Stoke Gabriel...
Where after paying through the nose to park arriving, I found a couple of familiar-looking birders who were just giving up, having zipped over after much less Roller than me.
Huh?
Ah, it seemed not only had they had no sign but 'It wasn't here yesterday, either and one's at Slapton'....
Oh naughty words.
But I was there and I had paid thr and it was lunchtime...
I toddled out along the shoreline to Mill Point, home of the new yacht club [reachable almost only by water, proper job] and had a look at the Dart ria [it's not an estuary].
Oh hello..
Osprey!
With fish!
Nice start.
I set up the Big Scope and got to scanning.
Looking down to [Upper] Dittisham.*
Very soon, a bouncy little shape cruised through my field of view.
Oh there's the Black Tern.
Well off, alas, and it seemed to sense my camera and rapidly buggered off back downstream [it was loitering about the wide bit off Galmpton, it seems].
I did hit it;
Black Tern, juvenile.
You can see how grey it looks and the contrasting saddle. Honest.
With BHG
Note larger, whiter BHG with less angled wings. [Also tending to fly higher over the water]
More BHGs, [to show that yes that is a BHG and how white they look in said circumstances],
Actual finding of own food..!!
A Kingfisher flew right over my head and eluded the camera with loud glee, but someone at least knew how to pose;
Common Sand
Nothing like a little Middle
Devonian marine volcanics
:)
The tern was showing no sign of coming back, and the tide was rising [you can get nicely cut off in full view of everyone** there, be advised] so I wandered back, took a stroll about StG, which is a far nicer place to visit than BF [having actual shop, open pubs, and public*** loos.. Gasp!]
[I would advise anyone wanting to look for said bird to invest in a kayak - which is how The Boss got his photos, btw - as you can get to all the bits you can't see from dry land without much travelling, also the seals.]
While I would pay for my vengeance - losing the end of the day and all the next, pretty much, to my head - it was worth it.
Oh, it was worth it!
:D
Be Seeing You...
[[* Knowing how to pronounce that is a shibboleth. Also, fond memories of sore feets, there, back in the Innocent Days Of Yore.... ]]
[[** Ie. you get wet feet and politelynotlaughedat, but not needing the RNLI ]]
[[*** As opposed to private loos, which you have to pay for. ]]
