GREAT BLUE BEAUTY

News broke last Tuesday as we were nearly home from Dorset after collecting my almost vintage V70. I'd swapped my day off to allow us to do this. The combination of a long drive and no further days off that week made a journey back south impossible.

My mate Tony Dixon travelled down and went across on the Spewlonian Wednesday morning. Conditions weren't great as fog lingered throughout the day. Unfortunately it flew off from Old Town Bay at 11am before the boat arrived. I can imagine the mood was pretty grim by early afternoon with no further sightings!

2.41pm and a message saying the bird had been re-located in a weedy field in Holy Vale. Tony later told me that the scene was somewhat confusing with birders strung out along the path. Some gaining much better views than others in the still foggy conditions. Fortunately for Tony the bird flew close by him and he was able to confirm that it was indeed the GREAT BLUE HERON. Others weren't so fortunate including both his travelling companions!

Yours truly was working the weekend and through till Thursday (today) so hopes of connecting were slim. I then received a text of Tony saying he was thinking of returning on Monday to try and get some photos. Could I get a shift swap? Managed it at the third attempt!! Otherwise today would have been my first chance.

Tony picked me up Sunday evening and we drove down to Penzance for the Monday morning boat. I reckon there were 100 plus birders on the Scillonian. An inter island boat was waiting for us as we docked and we all piled on.

The journey across was a strange one as we moved very slowly and approached to the west of Bryher. This was obviously due to the tides. It meant however we couldn't land at any of the quays. The boat stopped around 50 metres from the shore. Surely not? Then we saw the dinghy! 

5 trips were needed before we all made landfall. The slow crossing and staged landing certainly added to the tension even though we'd received messages confirming it's presence. 

So, we're on Bryher but is it still there?

A tense 10 minute walk ensued before it became obvious the bird was still present. PHEW!!!

Glorious day with a MEGA bird showing well. Nice.

Some of the following pics in the sequence are not great but I thought it might give a flavour of the day...

There we are then. A great day. As fellow twitchers will know only too well, things don't always go as smoothly as this! The bird even flew by us on it's way to Tresco as we made our way back to St Mary's.

BIG thanks to my workmate for swapping shifts. Also to Tony Dixon for driving both ways allowing me to get some vital sleep.

Rush Bird 4 - Gyr

Strange choice?...not really! For those of you who've read my other Rush Bird anecdotes (see link), the deciding factor for inclusion is exactly that...the russsshhhhhhh!!! Sure it's great to acquire a new tick, especially a LIFER but some birds you're pretty sure you're going to see...right? There's always an element of doubt e.g. flushed, sparrowhawk kill, dies, not easy to connect with! etc but, you do the drive and see the bird. I've been twitching nationally since '89ish and it took me 20 years to connect with a Gyr Falcon. There are good reasons for this...family commitments, marital problems, holidays, to name a few. I would also argue though, that this species can be VERY difficult to connect with and see well...there have been a couple of dots!

So, last winter there was one reported on the Gower at the start of my Christmas holiday. Information was sketchy to say the least. I found some encouraging words on a local site so we rose early on the 19th December and made our way down to South Wales. No news on the way down, but we arrived in the area around 10.30 and stopped at a cafe (how cool is that!?). The area the bird had been seen in was undulating and viewing was difficult (at least were we initially set up shop). We joined around 10 other birders (mainly local) and waited. No joy for about an hour and spirits were sagging somewhat. Then a car screeched up and three birders jumped out saying they had just had a sighting down the road. We all followed (rather quickly) but again no sign?

We then decided to have a drive around the area hoping for a fluke sighting! We drove a few roads then...ah there's a few more birders...c100! We parked up and joined the group and again waited. It was now early afternoon and time was running out.
Then it happened... out of nowhere appeared this magnificent giant Falcon which proceded to fly right across the assembled crowd at 50 yds distance...MAGIC. It was like a goal had been scored, birders were cheering and jumping in the air, even hugging each other? Adrenaline RUSH...
We had three further views of the bird including a brief sighting on a fencepost before we decided to set off on the long journey home. Definitely a day to remember...

Still feel it should be a MEGA!

Rush Bird 3 - White's Thrush

Now the dark nights are here I thought I'd reminisce with a few more of my Rush Birds. All can be found under Labels...

3. WHITE'S THRUSH (Easington, Yorks) - 10/10/2004
I'd decided to go to Flamborough (can't remember why!), maybe to seawatch, which is even more disturbing as I'm not a big fan. Maybe it was a feeble late attempt for my Yorks Cory's? Anyway I'd only been there a few minutes when the pager showed WHITE'S THRUSH!!! My eyes were initially fixed on the bird rather than the location and subconsciously I was thinking Scotland. Then it sunk in...Easington, Yorkshire! It's not a great road from Brid' but let's just say I made good time! All the time I was driving I was still trying to come to terms with an almost mythical bird turning up on my doorstep.
                         
The crowd was gathering as I arrived and the atmosphere was typically tense. Birders were arriving by the minute and were strung out across the target area. The local lads had organised a periodic flush and eventually a time was agreed. There was some furtive activity in the bushes...then...there it was flying across the field in full view...MAGIC! In the next couple of hours I had further brief but quality views of this superb bird. The fact that it was in Yorkshire made it even sweeter. Never dreamt I'd see one in my county. Felt (genuinely) for Rich Willison and Gary Dayes who were on Scilly!
                          
So, there it is. Another red letter day and a further example of the amazing unpredictability of Birding.

Rush Bird 2 - Cliff Swallow

For those of you who have followed for a while I promised I'd tell a tale or two about my best twitches. Been a while now since 1 (see Labels).

So here's number 2...CLIFF SWALLOW at Spurn 23/10/1995

The bird had been seen on the previous day (Sunday) and as it was half-term I decided to give it a go on Monday morning. I arrived about 8am (it was a long time ago!) and joined the small crowd by the Caravan park. There was definitely anticipation in the air and this was well founded when Pete Pirenger suddenly cried "there it is!! You can guess the elation as the bird slowly drifted south right in front of us. Everybody (well most) then jumped in there cars and headed down to the Narrows. Sure enough within a few minutes we could see the bird approaching, again giving, as they say "crippling views". Obviously to see an american swallow in Britain and especially on the east coast was amazing. The rest of the morning was spent looking for the bird as birders in all attires screeched up and asked for the latest but it wasn't seen again that day, although there was a sighting on the 28th apparently.

Pushed into second place by the NIGHTHAWK, but still a tremendous RUSH BIRD!

Rush Bird 1 - Common Nighthawk

For those of you who follow my ramblings I promised I'd give brief anecdotes of my favourite twitches listed in the RUSH BIRDS section of this Blog...So here goes:-
1. COMMON NIGHTHAWK - Scilly (Bryher) 24/10/1999
I'd paid a few visits starting in 1991 (Sora Rail). I'm tied to the half-term holiday, but at least I get one in October so I'm not complaining. I hadn't been every year due to having a young family but I'd managed to see some crackers nonetheless. Had been there a few days and was trying to keep costs down by not spending every night in the pub (it wasn't easy!). So I was blissfully ignorant of the news of the day.
Came down for breakfast chatting to the owners when a friend of theirs casually mentioned that there had been a report of the above flying around the pub on Bryher the previous evening (pre-pager days for me). Scramble!!!
Next thing I was down on the quayside with a boatload heading to Bryher.
We spent the whole day combing the island with no luck. About 5pm most people had decided to stake out the area it was seen in last night (made sense). Time marched on and the sun was setting...then over a CB came the unforgettable cry of "I'VE GOT IT". The bird still wasn't in view to most but eventually was located and seen by all flying around our heads with birders cheering, shaking hands and even hugging each other? A magic moment indeed. News was obviously put out and we had the bizzare scene of another boatload searing across from St Mary's in virtual darkness! After much deliberation this goes down as my ultimate RUSH BIRD.

Memories are made of this

Just added my favourite memories of Rare Birds seen in Britain. Not all of the rarest I've seen but definitely the days that are still vivid in my mind as the ones that hit the spot. I also decided on a top 10. The reasons for this are varied, from last minute connections, through location to obviously cracking birds! I'll never compete with the limitless free time (and money) chaps but this list reminds me of why I do this. What about you?
I'll add some (brief) anecdotes to my top ten when I get to a proper computer...and then there's photos?! At least I sorted one out for the header .