Yesterday was a great day. I decided to go for the Trumpeter Finch at Cley. Trumpeter Finch and I have history. In 2008 I missed out going for the one at Blakeney because I did not know there was a boat service running. This was the same day I dipped a Tawny Pipit at Waxham so not a good day. A week or so later I dipped a Trumpter Finch on the south coast and was gutted. When I saw there was one at Cley I had to go. The problem was that I had my in-laws coming for the day so all I could do was sit tight and hope and pray it would stay. Luckily for me it did!
When I got up I had a text saying that both Y and A had been to see the bird (seperately) and seen it well. So the pressure was on. I had to see that bird. The history of it alone was enough to make it in my top ten but the thought of a pink finch is very appealing in itself! So my Betty (my Satnav) and I set off in the direction of Cley with every thing crossed. Well her wires were in a tangle but I couldn't cross everything really or I would not have been able to drive.
We arrived at Cley which is about an hour from here and could see a nice group of people on the ridge so things looked good. However after flogging all the way down the East Bank from the centre I was told the bird had flown down the coast, possibly to Salthouse. I was not happy! Luckily I walked along a bit and found some people watching it. At last the big pink finch was mine! Well happy!
In the evening I had itchy feet so went out for a walk in the woods at sundown. It was much quieter than during the day. Mostly I just seemed to be scaring Wood pigeon from their roost. That was not nice and did not seem fair although why they were flying off when they were 30 feet above my head is beyond me! Did they think I was going to sprout wings and fly up and get them? Woodpigeon really are dopey birds, even worse than Pheasent and that is saying something. They sit up there where you can't see them and then draw attention to themselves by flying off noisily. Not the best plan.
I had a nice close encounter with a Muntjac. She strayed onto the path I was on and did not see me there until after I had raised my bins. I have noticed that if you have your bins raised they don't seem as scared of you. Maybe its because they can't see your eyes, or don't recognise you as human because your face looks wierd. Anyway this little one looked up and saw me and seemed very interested in me. She kept taking tentative steps towards me while watching me intensely. I could barely breathe with the tension of it! Eventually she must have caught a whiff of me and disappeared into the wood. It never ceases to amaze me how deer can just vapourise into the wood. One minute they are there and the next gone without a trace. It's a bit ghostly really.
Anyway I don't think I will be walking in the wood at that time of day again. Although it was very pleasant it did not seem fair to disturb the birds at roost and I felt guilty for doing it. I was almost glad to get home.
There is no other garden news really. Sunny is still on her eggs, hoppy is barely limping anymore, no sign of any female pheasent and Esmerelda has not been seen for weeks. Still lots of Great Tit and Coal tit, Jay and Jackdaw. No sign of Monty, he is probably still nursing his headache. Butterfly is still a menace (all three of him) but I still smile when I see him. Until I see he has had the lids off all my squirrel proof feeders that is!
No comments:
Post a Comment