WELCOME

Welcome to my blog. If you live in Surrey and birding is your obsession (to get out of bed at some ridiculously early time of the morning, no matter what the weather, to go and look at birds isn't normal behaviour, believe me) and you're still a bit of a novice (like me) then, hopefully, this blog is for you.



Monday, 12 July 2010

A QUIET START TO THE SECOND HALF

I haven't left a post for more than a month - basically, my spotting skills have let me down during a quiet start to the second half of the year. I have had an unerring ability to miss a few notables in recent weeks.

After missing two Red-Backed Shrikes and a Hoopoe last month, I also failed to see a Golden Oriole - although this one was just over the border in Kent. The usual thing - the bird was flying about and showing well the day before, but as soon as I arrive (it wasn't just me, two other blokes where on the hunt, too), it disappeared.

Two other birds I have been looking for recently have been Yellow-Legged Gull and Mediterranean Gull. I've been to Beddington three times and Staines Reservoir once and haven't seen either. Mind you, with just a pair of bins it's hard to see, from a distance, if what appears to be a Herring Gull has yellow legs or not. I shall persevere.




Been on a couple of nice walks, despite the lack of new sightings. Leigh Place Pond, near Godstone church last week was very pleasant. Plenty of Goldcrests and a pair of Grey Wagtails were the highlights. I also had a good walk around some wheat fields near Crowhurst, where I saw at least ten Yellowhammers.



As far as my self-proclaimed rivalry on the Surrey Birders listing sight, I am three behind the leader, so the missing gulls and a Black-Tailed Godwit - currently popping up here and there - would bring me back level. Hopefully, my luck will change (don't count on it though).

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