Been a whirlwind 36 hours.
It all kicked off yesterday morning at 7.11...
East Yorkshire 2 adult white-morph Snow Geese at Swine Moor with Pink-footed Geese
These Birds had been seen on the Humber at Read's Island while I was on Scilly and had also visited Norfolk! There was conjecture over whether they had been IN Yorkshire whilst on the Humber. There is also the inevitable provenance issue!?
Anyway, they were worth a look. Unfortunately by the time I arrived around 9 they had left with what was considered to be c15,000 Pink-footed Geese!!! I could see a few other hopefuls over the River Hull including Steve Lawton and Rich Willison. I spoke to them both on the phone before Steve joined me in my car and we decided to have a drive around the area hoping to get lucky. With the days being short it made sense to hang around and hope they may return to roost if we couldn't locate them? We couldn't...so we returned to Swine Moor just after 1.
Richard was back in position with his mates. A few other Birders arrived as the afternoon progressed and the gloom intensified. Nothing by 3.30. All sorts of theories abounded. Had they moved on...was it just an overnight stop etc etc. Then the first wave appeared...
No white ones!
Then a second wave around 4.10. Still no joy.It was getting dark now and hopes were fading with the light. I said I was going to give it till 5. Then...Andy Holden picked up another large skein approaching!? Remarkably...he had them in his 'scope...at considerable distance!!!
A tense few minutes passed before I had them descending onto the Moor. This could be a candidate for my worst ever record shot...
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| It was 4.32!!! |
We'll see what comes "out in the wash"...BUT they're as good as any for me?
I arrived home around 6.30...rather tired. I checked my messages...
17.46 West Yorkshire SCARLET TANAGER 1st winter male reportedly photographed at undisclosed site in recent days
Interesting!!! VERY Interesting. Thoughts immediately returned to October 2011 when I had possibly my worst ever dip. I've just checked my Blog to recall the events but it isn't there? I must have erased it from my memory lol! So, here's a brief summary...
We were travelling down for our week on Scilly and I'd obviously booked our flights months earlier. We were booked on the first flight across on Saturday the 22nd. Trouble was a SCARLET TANAGER had turned up at St Levan on the 20th and was still present on the 21st!!! For a small fee I was able to change our flight time to lunchtime, to enable me to try for the Bird first thing. A good plan...I thought?!
We arrived at dawn and waited with the other hopefuls. The Bird didn't materialize. However another...or the same(?) did...ON SCILLY!!!!!! Of course, by the time we arrived the Bird had disappeared.
OUCH!!!
This was personal. Would I "get even"? More news came out as the evening progressed and a location was given. Game ON! A strange location and question marks BUT no hesitation from my perspective. Alarm set for 4am.
An early walk for Bud, then car loaded and off West. I arrived at 7.10 via McDonald's after an aborted Greggs! I decided to park on the main road and walk the short distance to the Site. Steve obviously had the same idea as he was getting out of his car as I prepared...so was another mate Simon Slade. Talk about co-incidences! We walked onto the exclusive estate and joined a small group of other "Early Birds"...pardon the pun! The group included Lee Evans...no surprise there! No-one really knew where to concentrate their efforts and Birders were just roaming around scanning in hope as dawn broke. A few rumours circulated but nothing definite. We walked to the end of the cul-de-sac and joined 4 Birders which included Lee. They were looking intently into a distant bare tree. They could see an interesting Bird but they weren't sure what it was. One of them took a photo and enlarged it. BINGO...
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| 7.50 |
This was incredibly fortunate as the area was large and there was plenty of cover. Still I'll take it.
I had my redemption!!!
The Bird soon dropped down into a large garden and out of view. Google Maps came into force with some checking the layout of the immediate area. Apple Tree was mentioned! Time went by and there was still no further sign. Tony Dixon arrived, he'd been caught in traffic and was obviously disappointed to miss the sighting. Anyway, eventually it popped up again into the same tree, although I couldn't get on it this time...but thankfully Tony did!
It was past 9 now and the crowd was understandably increasing as positive news was out. Many familiar faces were seen. Steve had left and I was thinking about it. Then I/We got lucky as the Bird flew across the back of the adjacent house and landed in another tree, albeit still distant...
Then, it moved again to a better spot. Unfortunately my camera starting playing up and I had to restart it. Fortunately the Bird hung around JUST long enough for me to get my pic...
A magic moment and THIRTEEN Years of hurt washed away. The Bird was unringed and is already on my List! It almost certainly arrived earlier in the Autumn and has probably filtered through Britain ending up in West Yorkshire. Handy!
Who'd have thought it?...not me...BUT that's what makes it special. Never underestimate November...
