There is a God!
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:37 am
There are times in life when any doubts that there is a supreme being are quashed – this week was one of those times. The week had been particularly dull with my chance for of finding another Afghan tick destroyed when I was twice bumped of an IRG due to lack of manning in the JOC (the RAWO has been stuck in a PB for almost a week). Salutatory lesson there – never rely on SH to get you out within 24 hours.
I had been scrambling around Bastion looking for avian additions to my list and flushing Red-breasted Flycatchers from the most odd of places – air con units, tentage, roads etc and had found little else bar the usual Crested Larks, Tree Sparrows and the odd Masked Wagtail. Tim Cowley had been particularly unhelpful when he let me know that there had been a Brown Shrike at Staines and a Laughing Gull at RMAS – both sites in Surrey, just down the road from Farnborough, and hence additions to my expanding Surrey List. I checked last night and fellow local birding friends had seen the Shrike and strangely I was still second in the Surrey birders list league despite a 5 week absence. Tim redeemed himself however when ID guides for Taiga Flycatcher appeared on RLI and Larus kindly added an additional paper on splitting the species. These papers were to prove pivotal.
Friday, with added vigour, I trawled Bastion looking for Flycatchers; none appeared although there was again a flock of House ‘Bactrian’ Sparrows at the bottling plant and several Feral Pigeons (which won’t be on the list) around the sangars in Bastion 2. I went to bed disappointed and watched an episode of Bear Grylls to try and up morale. Now that is desperate.
This morning I sprang out of bed; sprang is probably a strong word as it took me 30 minutes, and headed to the bottling plant. As I arrived a large flock of Sparrows roosted on the fence and my initial thoughts were of more Bactrians but as I brought up my binoculars I found myself looking at a new addition to Bastion, Spanish Sparrow, and 36 them to boot. Once I had confirmed by looking at several males I headed to the back of the plant to find a Flycatcher feeding on the ground in a drainage ditch. Armed with my new found knowledge I looked at it with keen interest and noted the all black bill, the much cleaner, creamy white flanks and under parts and its preference to feeding on the ground – apparently a useful aid. I was looking at a Taiga Flycatcher. It’s not the first time either as I suspect I had seen them before but dismissed them as Red-Breasted. Sounds familiar? I did it on HERRICK 6 with Booted and Sykes Warbler. I have now had two Flycatchers this year, a couple of years ago it would have been one, but splitting has added to my life list. I will miss the run this afternoon and wander again back to the plant to see what else I can find.
Thanks Tim and Larus – you’ve made me a happier man.
I had been scrambling around Bastion looking for avian additions to my list and flushing Red-breasted Flycatchers from the most odd of places – air con units, tentage, roads etc and had found little else bar the usual Crested Larks, Tree Sparrows and the odd Masked Wagtail. Tim Cowley had been particularly unhelpful when he let me know that there had been a Brown Shrike at Staines and a Laughing Gull at RMAS – both sites in Surrey, just down the road from Farnborough, and hence additions to my expanding Surrey List. I checked last night and fellow local birding friends had seen the Shrike and strangely I was still second in the Surrey birders list league despite a 5 week absence. Tim redeemed himself however when ID guides for Taiga Flycatcher appeared on RLI and Larus kindly added an additional paper on splitting the species. These papers were to prove pivotal.
Friday, with added vigour, I trawled Bastion looking for Flycatchers; none appeared although there was again a flock of House ‘Bactrian’ Sparrows at the bottling plant and several Feral Pigeons (which won’t be on the list) around the sangars in Bastion 2. I went to bed disappointed and watched an episode of Bear Grylls to try and up morale. Now that is desperate.
This morning I sprang out of bed; sprang is probably a strong word as it took me 30 minutes, and headed to the bottling plant. As I arrived a large flock of Sparrows roosted on the fence and my initial thoughts were of more Bactrians but as I brought up my binoculars I found myself looking at a new addition to Bastion, Spanish Sparrow, and 36 them to boot. Once I had confirmed by looking at several males I headed to the back of the plant to find a Flycatcher feeding on the ground in a drainage ditch. Armed with my new found knowledge I looked at it with keen interest and noted the all black bill, the much cleaner, creamy white flanks and under parts and its preference to feeding on the ground – apparently a useful aid. I was looking at a Taiga Flycatcher. It’s not the first time either as I suspect I had seen them before but dismissed them as Red-Breasted. Sounds familiar? I did it on HERRICK 6 with Booted and Sykes Warbler. I have now had two Flycatchers this year, a couple of years ago it would have been one, but splitting has added to my life list. I will miss the run this afternoon and wander again back to the plant to see what else I can find.
Thanks Tim and Larus – you’ve made me a happier man.
