First on Wednesday morning I decided to pay a visit to Whitacre Heath and have a couple of hours in the feeder hide hoping to point the camera at some Willow/Marsh Tits, Redpolls and Siskins. I should have known that things wouldn't go to plan when battling with the coded padlock on the entrance gate.I'd been warned you needed to use some force opening the lock but when I did so my hand slipped and smashed against the gate.A lot of swearing ensued.
As soon as I sat down in the hide the sun went in and it became too gloomy for decent shots but it did not matter because in an hour's stay I saw no decent birds at all.I then gave up and being very careful with the padlock I left for Marsh Lane.
On route to there I stopped in Meriden to cheer myself up with a session with the Waxwings but they were nowhere to be seen.Marsh Lane did have a Stonechat present but I couldn't find it.I then left for home having not taken one shot.
On Friday morning, as soon as I heard the weekend was going to be very wet, I thought I'd better go out somewhere so, although it was gloomy,I set off for Brandon Marsh.When I walked down the path from the centre it was damp, dank, dismal, depressing and dull.So OK for getting some decent shots then!!!
I walked all the round the reserve and saw nothing of interest to point the camera at and it wasn't until I had been there for well over an hour that I bumped into another birder.The EM hide was empty with no Bittern watchers present which means they must have left the area (the birds not the watchers).The Carlton hide was particularly depressing with no birds present or birders to chat to but it wasn't a total loss because being there did give a glimpse of what it would be like if all life was wiped out except for you.
The visit was not a total loss because I did see the leucistic Lapwing although it was a long way off. Also I did cheer up a lot when in the cafe a much needed cup of tea was served with a smile by the very attractive waitress.
2 comments:
Wow! Max - you must have really enjoyed these birding trips! I suppose this is par for the course locally, which is why I had a trip up to Derbyshire to get some good birds on my life / year list. The reason for the poor weather is that I am off until next Thursday - you have been warned!
Kevin.Can you go back to work early?
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