Borrowed Powers

Circumstances saw me at Dawlish Warren at lunchtime today, where I would spend some hours looking for a Dusky Warbler that turned up earlier in the week. In very un-Dusky style, it has been tarting about in the grass in front of all and sundry like an Olive-backed Pipit, when it should be hiding in bushes and showing once an hour if you're very lucky.

Today it seemed someone had told the bird that, as after showing it was still present to LC first thing, it then vanished.

Others saw BlackRed and Firecrest while searching the most salubrius bit of the Warren the DW had chosen; right next to the gokarts and pirate golf, by the railway line.  I didn't.

A lovely male Bullfinch did show up for myself and KR, which I will stick a pic of up on butterflies at some point, but the Dusky was not having it, it seemed. We walked a good loop of every possible bit we could think of, but no joy. A Song Thrush and the Bullfinch again was the best that could be found.

 

All others had already abandoned hope, and the weather was closing in with intent, so Kev too called it a day [he has seen it, I believe, a few times to be fair]. I'd wandered back to the car park with him, so did one last loop through the main area on my way back to where I was parked [as I refuse to pay what would be extortionate summer rates in winter; Teignbridge Council can go BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP]. We had cheerily discussed the possibility of it showing for me, with me saying "I can see it popping up and going 'Nah nah, nobody'll believe you!' "..

And so I was slightly faster with the camera than I might have been if I was on my last gasp otherwise. The first view was just get on it and be sure, yes, but then it flew up to hide behind the pirate golf and I got a snapshot off. Amazingly I hit it, wings spread. Unamazingly, it was not at all in focus, but you could see it was not a Robin or a Wren or a Dunnock [or a BlackRed].

Pic [plus the same view without the bird in comparision. This is a Backward Birder record shot......] on the birdie. I will probably inflict it on butterfly, too.

It popped up by the gokarts, coming out of a teeny Pine in a small patch of cover by a sheltered bit of long grass - which is where it had probably been happily foraging while Kev and I were wandering everywhere else.! - zipping over to the corner where Lee had it in the morning. A couple of minutes later it nipped through a gap in the security fencing and into the thick Buddleias behind the pirategolf, along the railway line. I gave it half an hour, then ten minutes more. No further sign.

Time pressed, so I exited, stage left.

Also at least 9 GC Grebes offshore, with assorted divers seen by those who hadn't pinged their backs and could lug scopes about.

[It had been a fun morning]

Anyways, I'm sure there's more to say but now is not the time.

Be Seeing You...

[[Oh, the title? I'd been hanging around with legendary birders, and some of their bird-finding Power had rubbed off on me. I doubt it'll last, but it was fun seeing something and getting any kind of pic. :) ]]