Yesterday my body decided that it was about time I started
brewing up a sore throat and stinky cold and by this morning I will admit to
feeling less than tip top but drugged and caffeined up I made it in. I took
myself for a walk along the river wall before opening up to try to clear my head
a little and hope for a flyover Tree Sparrow or Woodlark or anything that may
add some points to my faltering Patch Work Challenge attempt this year.
Goldcrests were calling from the burning red Dogwoods with a couple of
Chiffchaffs and ‘tsipp’ing Song Thrushes while there seemed to be more Robins
around.
A pair of Stonechat posed nicely
on brambles and Cetti’s belted out their stake on a winter territory but
although a few Skylarks and Mipits were on the move there was nothing of note
and I reflected that, as discussed with Andy Tweed yesterday, it would be nice
if the Walthamstow Reservoir Glossy Ibis of yesterday relocated to our salubrious
reserve at Rainham Marshes...
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| Phone binned Kestrel in a sea of Hawthorn berries |
Drawbridge down and first punter through the door; ticket
given and a glance over my shoulder and there was a Glossy Ibis flying right
past the window. I had not even got my bins
back out but it was so close I did not need them. I shouted and then remembered that I needed
to do that into the radio and within seconds the office had emptied and all
were watching this all dark flying Gonzo head off down the river wall and
appear to be dropping down onto the MDZ Pool.
I willed it to do so but as with so many birds here it circled back
towards the centre and then made a determined b-line across the Thames and into
Kent (yes Kentish lads it did go east of the Darenth Barrier) where we followed
it to a distant dot on its way to the North Downs and beyond.
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| The Ibis! - Jerry Hoare |
You may laugh but I am very grateful to Jerry Hoare for this
shot of the Ibis - especially as he was on the Northern Trail at the
time....
I know that Ibis are not super rare any more but they are a
cool bird and it is only the second record for the site AND I just checked and
the four points for it on the PWC goes up to a whopping 12 points for finding
it myself!! Whooo hooo! Now that may help me in my Estuarine League
battle against the mighty Lincs Washes RSPB Reserves!
I gleefully put the news out but as the adrenaline wore off it
was obvious that more drugs were required and although I refrained from sampling
the bottle of Sloe Gin that I was in the process of making on reception. I was just saying goodbye to my Dad who had
popped in to make the view better across the Purfleet Scrape from the centre
for all you comfy chair people when in walks Martin Harper our RSPB Conservation
Director and Graham Madge our Senior Media Officer on their way back after a
nearby meeting and me with a snotty nose and huge bottle of homebrew spirit on
the shelf behind my head!
What then ensued for the rest of the afternoon was a game of
musical rooms with radio messages from Gerry and Jamie about Short-eared Owls
extricating people including our VIPs to look for them followed by me shouting
down the radio that another Shortie was just gliding past the window.
This second bird gave the most wondrous of views as it bobbed
and weaved around the attendant Magpies with its glaring yellow eyes before
ditching on the saltmarsh to huge smiles from everyone present – there were
even some visitors by this point!
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| Short-eared Owl - Shaun Harvey |
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| Short-eared Owl - Paul Hutchison |
More drugs and a nice adult female Marsh Harrier and some
swirling Golden Plovers and Lapwing and then a faint message from an excited
Alan Tanner of ‘I am sure I have an Ibis flying behind the Butts Hide’. I hastily
responded and got directions and there it was albeit a long way off but that
shape is unmistakeable. There was more fervent office evacuating and everyone
had their second look at a Glossy Ibis as it traversed Wennington and dropped
down somewhere near the Serin Mound. Unbelievable and I am sure that Martin and
Graham thought I had staged the whole thing!
The interesting fact here is that we had been staring out of
the windows all day and the Ibis in the morning, five hours earlier, had flown
to a microdot in the distance and we had not seen it come back. Alan’s bird came up from the quiet corner of
Aveley Pool near the Butts Hide so could there have been two birds? It is quite conceivable but two sightings or
two birds – either way I am very happy.
To round things up nicely a couple of late Swallows flicked
around the centre and our two Ravens kronked noisily low over the car park on
their way back to their Kentish home.
To the best of my knowledge the Ibis was not seen again on
Wennington this evening but four Short-eared Owls took the day tally to at
least five so let’s hope some linger (along with the Ibis) to give everyone the
opportunity to be balefully glared at by an Asio owl...
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| Short-eared Owl - Paul Hutchison |
My birding mojo and I got to know each other again on Monday
and today we have been on a successful second date.
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