The week leading up to Friday the 28th of October, I had been keeping my eye on the news service about an Isabelline Wheatear at Burnham Overy Staithe in Norfolk, and had plans to go for it at the weekend - but them thoughts were drowned out when I had a text message from my mate Dave Gray on the 28th, saying that a Hooded Crow was feeding on the shore of Swithland Resevoir. Brilliant! I thought - a county tick! - but then remembered that the Duchess was over at mums. 'So what?' I hear you ask. Well, the Duchess had the car, so I had to wait for over an hour for her to return. Another mate Neil Hagley did offer to come and pick me up bless him, but my thought was that by the time he had come to fetch me, I would have my own wheels, and would be on my way. As soon as Sue had pulled up on the drive, I was clambering into the driving seat saying something on the lines of 'got to go - Hoody at Switho!' Don't think she had a clue what I was on about! On arriving 20 minutes later at the site, the lads had got the bird in their scopes - well they thought they had, but as they all turned to greet me and then looked back through their scopes, the bird had disappeared! There were a few corvids flying towards the bridge - but not the bird I wanted. It was a good hour or so before the bird reappeared, flying around the resevoir for two or three minutes, before landing in a conifer tree on the far side of the resevoir. It then dropped out of view into a stubble field. Sadly, no images were obtained but a county tick was more important. Waking up on Saturday morning, the weather was not good, so I decided I was not going to drive all the way to Norfolk on my own, and made other plans for the day - only to get a message by my mate Steve James that an Isabelline Wheatear had been found at Wardy Hill in Cambridgeshire. On the Sunday morning Steve called me early to see if I wanted to go for it, and by mid morning we were on site. The bird was fairly distant, but it wasn't long before it was back at a dried up pool it been frequenting earlier
Isabelline Wheatear
The above images are heavily cropped, as the bird was always fairly distant, but what a great bird!
I did not realise how sandy coloured these birds are. We had a good hour with the bird before our stomachs said it was time for dinner. It was a big thanks to Steve for the heads up, and for doing the driving. It was not only a BOU tick, but a lifer as well! Two new ticks in two days can't be bad
As always thanks for stopping by
