Terry Smith's Bird Update

A NEW YEAR

First of all, thanks for your comment on my last entry, Steve. It's nice to think that someone reads my BLOG anyway! I have to correct you though, the first Oriental Pratincole arrived in 1981, not 82 as suggested by your good self, so I'll be dealing with that little gem earlier than what you thought. Let's not run before we can walk - I will cover 1981 first (and there's plenty to be mentioned!) before hitting 1982.
The year started well with Ferruginous Duck and Great Skua in the Weymouth area on the 1st, followed two days later by two drake Ring-necked Ducks at Orchardleigh Lake, Somerset. However, it was on the 4th that I got to grips with my first lifer of the year. I was up at 3a.m. and together with Nigel Warren, Tony Jackson and Phil Delve, journeyed down to Pembrokeshire. The omens were good for the day, we had two foxes in urban Bristol and a Barn Owl on the M32 interchange on the way down, and when we arrived at sleepy Stackpole, we were bombarded with calling Tawny Owls and saw several Woodcock flying around in the semi-darkness. Daylight came and we bumped into Bryan Bland who had come all the way down from Norfolk with a car-load. He generously informed us that the farmer, on whose land the bird was on, was not prepared to let anyone in his fields that day, because he was short-staffed. Undeterred, we decided to try and view the land from a distant hill with scopes, from the other side of the village, so started to walk back down the track. We had only gone about 50 metres, when a sharp call from Bryan drew our attention to the bird flying in and settling down nicely in a field right in front of us. Our first CATTLE EGRET had obviously decided not to disappoint us long-distance travellers! They of course were a lot rarer in those days, (and little did I know I would be seeing hundreds of them in Florida some 18 years later!). The day continued apace, and useful year-ticks were obtained in the form of two Choughs at St Govan's Head, Red Kite, Hen Harrier and Whooper Swan at Tregaron Bog, and of course, we could not help but call in again at Peterstone for another look at the over-wintering Spotted Sandpiper on the way back!
Despite this cracking start to the year, the next big trip produced a DIP, but a bird we did eventually 'claw back'. However, more on that next time.
Bang up to date again, and this week has produced some of the mildest, warmest weather I have ever encountered at this time of year. Just a few days ago I saw a large 'hawker-type' dragonfly - not bad for Nov 24, a couple of late dozy wasps and a bumble bee, hardly the sign of a hard winter to come! There are plenty of flowers out in my garden which should have died off weeks ago and there has hardly been a surge of winter birds entering the area, apart from the usual Brent Geese and Avocets, which seem to arrive no matter what the weather is doing. Most of the time I have been looking ahead to 2005, and planning what local birds to go for, but to be quite honest, there isn't much to follow up yet! Cheers!