Monday 19 November 2012

These probables are really winding me up! (19th November)

Didn't go out today, instead the birds came to me (or at least one did).  The only problem being I wasn't fast enough at IDing them.  It was only at about 5-6ish pm with little/no light that I got the first and only bird of note for the day.  I was chatting to friends outside the flats when all of a sudden what could only have been a Woodcock came pelting towards us from over the top of the flat, veering sharply away as it came towards the street lamp and vanished as quickly as it had come back into darkness.  All I could get on it was a brown bared woodpigeon-like bird.  I only saw it for a few seconds (should still have been long enough to get an ID) but it took me by such surprise that I wont count it (this always seems to be the case for this bird always short glimpses as it zooms away from me after being flushed from the undergrowth, never good views, shame).

Here's a list of probables I've had this year which I still haven't managed to nail.  That's right I don't have anything better to do than wind myself up!

Woodcock-one just today, not to mention the numberous others
Velvet Scoter-a scoter sp. with white secondaries flew past Rustington in early January
Pomarine Skua-one past the Lizard after coming down to live in Cornwall, didn't have my scope ready and only bins at hand
Black Kite-one very briefly over the fields behind theRSSKL back in April, strangely this was at a similar time as numerous other records of Black Kite in the county although none of them were records for certain
Melodious Warbler-a self-found bird on Scillies first thought it was Melodious then Icterine then Melodious again (not much chance it will ever resolve itself sadly, would have loved to add it to the life list)
Slavonian Grebe-a very distant bird off Old Hall Marshes when twitching the Red-breasted Goose back in February
Black-throated Diver-also at Old Hall Marshes on the same day as the prob. slav.

1 comment:

  1. Hello Samuel, really enjoying your blog, your adventure stories and writing. You are getting so good at this. I can't imagine any other students knowing their local patch as well. Take good care were you go. Hope to speak to you soon. Much love mum

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