5th November:
A strange day out to see a dead Fin Whale on the beach at
Reculver. Unsurprisingly for 50 tons of blubber
it was still there. The smell from this
66 foot long monster was pretty ripe but not as bad as pelagic chum. Most of the outer layer of skin was gone and
part of the actual baleen plate had come out and was lying on the beach which
was fascinating and it looked like a giant toothbrush. Two men for the NHM ‘disposal unit’ were preparing
to dismember it and actually walked around the body with us and showed us the
ear which they said they would be carefully opening up to remove the ear wax as
they would be able use it like tree rings to age this 66 foot long female whale. They very kindly removed a piece of baleen filament
and given our genuine interest allowed me to legally take home this amazing object. It was beautifully stratified in blue-grey,
black, white and pink and the ‘hair’ that ran through it projected from the
end.
We decided that hanging around while they cut up the whale
would be rather foolish and the chaps (in full body suits) started putting up
some ‘stay back’ rope and given the rather bloated nature of the corpse we
opted to leave rather than get covered in blubber from the imminent chainsaw
action.
The Swale was very quiet with just a few waders and Brents
and none of the hoped for Little Auks so after a bite to eat we headed south to
St Margarets where two Pallas’s Warblers had been found in a small copse near
the monument and with some perseverance excellent views were had. One was typically plumaged but the other was
quite pale and felt more Yellow-browed like until you saw the rump. The whole bird was very subdued. There were
lots of Goldcrests and some smart Bramblings and with the light fading and
temperature we came home.
19th November:
A typical Essex day out with Pete but Abberton was rather disappointing
and was still ridiculously low but we did see eight Bewick’s Swans and a couple
of Goosander. Mersea held no surprises
but the Brents were in in force and Golden Plover were sprinkled across the
Cudmore Grove fields.
26th November:
A visit to a craft fair in Maidstone gave me the chance to
add a Sidcup Ring-necked Parakeet to my year list!
2nd December:
A totally ridiculous twitch for a bird in a bag to Marton
Mere in Blackpool where the American Bittern was back in ’91. At least we were guaranteed to see this 1w
male Siberian Meadow Bunting as it had apparently flown into a parked car and
been hastily picked up and kept overnight. We arrived at about 0430 and had a
few hours cramped kip in Bacon’s Fiesta before congregating some way from the zoo
car park for an 0800 release. As it
happened they did not release it till 0900 by which time about 500 birders had
arrived. It basically resembled a full
male SMB but the pointed tail feathers were the key aging feature.
It was shown to one and all and then released and was only
seen again after we gave up and left. As
to its origins; who knows? It is a primarily sedentary Asian species that has
long been predicted for some reason as a potential GB vagrant.
Enquiries showed that 1) most Asian Buntings are (including Black-faced) are imported in the spring as adults 2) They are very rarely imported 3) They are expensive at £145 each. The fact that both this and Black-faced Bunting turned up as 1w in the winter seems to suggest that they may both be wild. To get here otherwise would require some very odd importation, captive breeding and subsequent escape. If I can tick Black-faced Bunting in the north west why not Siberian Meadow?
[Eds: Now, regardless of all this blathering, I did
not add SMB to my list despite my rather fluid ticking protocols. I have it in my head that there were even accusations
that the whole thing was a deliberate release of a captive bird for some
bizarre reason and that the whole car incident never happened. Perhaps some of
my readers can shed some light on the matter?
Back then it was worth a punt and a few years later I seem to recall
going to see another in the dunes at Old Hunstanton. I have seen them in the snowy winter fields
of Japan now and know which day I preferred.]
23rd December:
A mid-morning visit to Thorndon CP where some Arctic
Redpolls had been elusively residing with a big flock of Mealies. I quickly found a 1w male with about 200 Mealy
buddies and it soon became apparent that others were likely and by the end the gaggle
of Essex birders present had agreed on at least two definite Arctics and quite
probably four others in with this challenging flock. Only trapping would have provided the true
number as it could have been much higher.
[Eds: It is sad now that most birders will never spend the time to even
look through a large winter Redpoll flock not because it is challenging but
because there are no other ‘species’ to look for anymore. Never give up on looking
for the different.]
26th December:
Another Thorndon CP visit, this time with Dad to look at the
Redpolls. The light was better and the
views superb and a different snowball male Arctic was found. There were dozens of Fieldfares and a few
Siskins, Green and Goldfinches to round up the last trip out of 1995.
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