So it was that at 1030am on Friday I was in Accrington, Lancashire not enjoying life at all and Badger was viewing a Common Yellowthroat in South Wales and having a good time. This gem of a species may be common in the USA but is decidedly uncommon in the UK - this being only the 11th ever recorded here and consequently a mega if ever there was one!
I called Ads, a birder friend in Sussex and asked if he was going for it. He told me he was going on Saturday with some other Sussex birders I knew.The weather forecast for Saturday was dire. Sunday would be much better weather wise but would I have the strength of mind to be able to hold off until then? The answer was inevitably no, as after much dithering I decided to go for it on Saturday and to meet Ads and his Sussex mates at the site, which was a place called Rhiwderin near Newport.
Desperately tired after a 400 mile round trip to the North of England I rose at 4.30am on Saturday and headed for South Wales. Badger had told me it took him around two hours to get there from Abingdon and as entrance to the site was only permissible after 7am I reasoned that my timing would be just about right. However, probably due to being tired, I had miscalculated and found myself there at 6am so there was nothing to do but seek a lay by and get an hour's rest before driving the short way to the field that had been set aside to accommodate the large number of birder's cars that were expected.
Desperately tired after a 400 mile round trip to the North of England I rose at 4.30am on Saturday and headed for South Wales. Badger had told me it took him around two hours to get there from Abingdon and as entrance to the site was only permissible after 7am I reasoned that my timing would be just about right. However, probably due to being tired, I had miscalculated and found myself there at 6am so there was nothing to do but seek a lay by and get an hour's rest before driving the short way to the field that had been set aside to accommodate the large number of birder's cars that were expected.
The wind was now strong although there was no sign of the forecast rain. I donned my waterproofs nevertheless and slept fitfully in the car, listening to Clare Balding waffling on about some ramble in Northern Ireland, followed by an even more tedious farming programme.Two other cars, presumably fellow birders, joined me in the lay by.
At the designated hour I drove to the car parking field and was directed into a wet and churned up field but was assured my car would not get stuck in the mud. Already there were between 20-30 cars parked and birders walking hurriedly towards the site which was on the opposite side of the road, over a stile and then down some sloping fields, divided by hedgerows, one of which was where the bird was to be found. I joined the assembled crowd of about one hundred birders staring mournfully but hopefully at a hedgerow in front of us. I met Clackers and two other Oxonbirders.We stood with all the other birders and waited. Tits and various finches moved through the hedgerow but due to the wind all kept a low profile, disappearing into the thick tangle of grass and brambles at the base of the hedge. It began to rain gently but persistently and birders slowly drifted off. By 10am, still nothing had happened apart from an increasing sense of gloom and tiredness entering my body and soul and presumably the same feeling went for the others around me The rain got heavier and the wind stronger.
Eventually it was too much and I gave up as did most of the other birders and we retreated to the shelter of our cars.The rain persisted for around two hours and many birders gave up altogether and drove off but I stayed put apart from moving my car to a more elevated part of the sloping field so as not to get stuck as the field became ever more waterlogged. Clackers and friends remained parked lower down and in the end had to be pushed out of the field. I put the car seat back and resigned myself to a long wait by sitting the rainstorm out.The weather forecast predicted the rain would pass at about 2pm and then would improve with even some sunshine but the winds would get even stronger. I listened to the Test Match cricket commentary from Abu Dhabi on the radio, contrasting the descriptions of weather there with what was happening here. I drifted in and out of sleep and kept half an eye on the weather which was coming from my right. The sky would periodically brighten every so often and my mood with it but then darken as another belt of rain swept in. The rain continued to fall unabated and surrounding car windows steamed up, as did mine.
A bird dropped into a hedge opposite me. At least I thought it was a bird or had I imagined it? I turned on the wipers to clear the windscreen. There was nothing to see but a few minutes later there was a movement in the hedge. Excitement. There was definitely something in the hedge. Bins to eyes. Curse this rain. I engaged the wipers once more and got a clear view though the windscreen. The bird came to the edge of the hedge and was green and yellow. Yes? No! Stupid it's a male Greenfinch!
Now I was fully awake but it was still raining hard. A little while later the doors of a car nearby opened and birders started getting out. Why were they doing this in the rain? Had they decided they had enough? The same happened with the car next to me. It then dawned on me that someone had actually stood out in all the rain and found the yellowthroat and now the news was out and everyone was eager to try and see it. I leapt out of the car, grabbed scope, bins and camera. Where were Clackers and the others? There was no sign of their car so they must have given up and gone home. Why didn't they wait like the rest of us?
Eventually it was too much and I gave up as did most of the other birders and we retreated to the shelter of our cars.The rain persisted for around two hours and many birders gave up altogether and drove off but I stayed put apart from moving my car to a more elevated part of the sloping field so as not to get stuck as the field became ever more waterlogged. Clackers and friends remained parked lower down and in the end had to be pushed out of the field. I put the car seat back and resigned myself to a long wait by sitting the rainstorm out.The weather forecast predicted the rain would pass at about 2pm and then would improve with even some sunshine but the winds would get even stronger. I listened to the Test Match cricket commentary from Abu Dhabi on the radio, contrasting the descriptions of weather there with what was happening here. I drifted in and out of sleep and kept half an eye on the weather which was coming from my right. The sky would periodically brighten every so often and my mood with it but then darken as another belt of rain swept in. The rain continued to fall unabated and surrounding car windows steamed up, as did mine.
A bird dropped into a hedge opposite me. At least I thought it was a bird or had I imagined it? I turned on the wipers to clear the windscreen. There was nothing to see but a few minutes later there was a movement in the hedge. Excitement. There was definitely something in the hedge. Bins to eyes. Curse this rain. I engaged the wipers once more and got a clear view though the windscreen. The bird came to the edge of the hedge and was green and yellow. Yes? No! Stupid it's a male Greenfinch!
Now I was fully awake but it was still raining hard. A little while later the doors of a car nearby opened and birders started getting out. Why were they doing this in the rain? Had they decided they had enough? The same happened with the car next to me. It then dawned on me that someone had actually stood out in all the rain and found the yellowthroat and now the news was out and everyone was eager to try and see it. I leapt out of the car, grabbed scope, bins and camera. Where were Clackers and the others? There was no sign of their car so they must have given up and gone home. Why didn't they wait like the rest of us?
I ran and then slithered down the now swamp like field to the stile across the road. An older infirm birder was following behind me intent on crossing the stile. I could see there was little chance he would get over the stile without assistance. Everyone else had rushed off. A quandary. Did I too rush off after the warbler or assist the old birder? I kept a lid on my anxiety to see the bird and saved any chance of feeling guilt by waiting for him to approach the stile and then held out a steadying arm for him to grab and get over the stile. He clapped me on the shoulder in thanks. Birders were now rushing down the right hand side of the hedgerow opposite us. I started to follow. The infirm birder called to me that the yellowthroat was on the left hand side of the hedgerow. Favour returned,
I got to the spot, still in pouring rain and a strong wind. My glasses kept steaming up and my gloves were soaked through but there was no time for self pity. I had to get on with it.There was now no sign of the bird but it was definitely somewhere in the tangle of vegetation beneath the hedgerow as it had just been seen to pop into view and then disappear again. We stood for twenty anxious minutes. No sign. Then everyone started running again, down to the bottom of the field and back up the other side of the hedgerow. I followed. A lady, abandoned by her male birding partner dithered about jumping over a ditch. No, I didn't push her in but shot around her and hurdled the ditch and ran up yet another slippery slope. Severely out of breath I got to the spot where the yellowthroat had been seen to emerge which was in the hedgerow but on the opposite side to where I had just been standing. I was told by a birder to my left it was right in front of me. My anxiety levels soared and I told him 'Sorry I can't see it.' 'Oh I meant it's there but you cannot see it as it's hidden in the vegetation' he replied. Frustration consumed me but he was only trying to be helpful. The rain had by now ceased and unpredicted by the forecast the wind had dropped. I waited, anxious and edgy, then suddenly a small green and yellow bird flew out of the coarse grass and brambles in front of me, flew along the base of the hedgerow for a short distance and for a second perched in full view before diving into cover.
My fleeting impression was of a bird, olive green above and yellowish below with a blackish face mask and then it was gone into deep cover.
I had seen it which was the main priority but not seen it well enough to feel completely satisfied. Another wait ensued and then it was briefly seen in the hedgerow further to my right and we all moved down the field, leapfrogging other birders already stood further down in the field. Then there was nothing. Great Tits and other small passerines created false alarms and false trails in the hedgerow. Then just as suddenly as before the bird was right there in front of me, low down in the brambles, perched for about ten seconds allowing me to see all its features reasonably well. Now I felt I had got a properly decent view of the elusive bird. The upperparts were olive green maybe with a tinge of yellow, the underparts were bright yellow on the throat and breast shading to olive green on the flanks, then bright yellow again on the undertail coverts and there was a greyish black, bandit like, face mask.
My fleeting impression was of a bird, olive green above and yellowish below with a blackish face mask and then it was gone into deep cover.
I had seen it which was the main priority but not seen it well enough to feel completely satisfied. Another wait ensued and then it was briefly seen in the hedgerow further to my right and we all moved down the field, leapfrogging other birders already stood further down in the field. Then there was nothing. Great Tits and other small passerines created false alarms and false trails in the hedgerow. Then just as suddenly as before the bird was right there in front of me, low down in the brambles, perched for about ten seconds allowing me to see all its features reasonably well. Now I felt I had got a properly decent view of the elusive bird. The upperparts were olive green maybe with a tinge of yellow, the underparts were bright yellow on the throat and breast shading to olive green on the flanks, then bright yellow again on the undertail coverts and there was a greyish black, bandit like, face mask.
A flick of the wings and it was gone again into the tangle of brambles, grass and leaves.Yet another wait and then it popped up still further to my right. I made another frantic dash down the slippery slope and around some large trees running at right angles to the hedgerow and hoped it would come through to where I was now standing. I looked up and along the ditch I had hurdled over earlier which was an extension of the hedgerow I had just run down. I waited. Without warning the yellowthroat appeared in the bottom of the ditch on a patch of unobscured dark brown leaves.
It behaved as if it favoured this area above others, possibly because it was more sheltered and for the next forty five minutes I saw it many times as it fed on the ground or flew up after insects, often disappearing for spells into the rank vegetation but always coming back to this particular favoured location. It was constantly active, feeding avidly on anything it could find. On one occasion it perched still for around twenty seconds allowing excellent views. The crowd by now was considerable, all of us crammed elbow to elbow to get a view of the tiny narrow ditch. Cries of pleasure, groans of anguish came and went as the tiny bird was either seen or missed but there was little rancour. Birders assisted others to see it and there was a comparatively gentle and courteous atmosphere to the twitch.There were, unusually, quite a number of ladies present which possibly kept us menfolk well mannered and reasonable for once.
It behaved as if it favoured this area above others, possibly because it was more sheltered and for the next forty five minutes I saw it many times as it fed on the ground or flew up after insects, often disappearing for spells into the rank vegetation but always coming back to this particular favoured location. It was constantly active, feeding avidly on anything it could find. On one occasion it perched still for around twenty seconds allowing excellent views. The crowd by now was considerable, all of us crammed elbow to elbow to get a view of the tiny narrow ditch. Cries of pleasure, groans of anguish came and went as the tiny bird was either seen or missed but there was little rancour. Birders assisted others to see it and there was a comparatively gentle and courteous atmosphere to the twitch.There were, unusually, quite a number of ladies present which possibly kept us menfolk well mannered and reasonable for once.
I watched the vagrant american warbler until I came to that moment where I felt I had seen it properly and had my fill. One last view and then I would leave. That achieved I relinquished my place and set off up the hill back to the now alarmingly muddy and waterlogged car park.Would I get the car out of this quagmire? I changed out of my wet and muddy waterproofs, jumped in the car and the Audi literally slithered and slalomed through the deep mud and out through the entrance to the field and onto hard tarmac. I headed for home wet, very tired but experiencing the happiness that comes with yet another successful birding adventure.
I went back to see it again on Monday 20th February as it was a bird that took my fancy.There was no wait this time as when I arrived it was already being looked at and we followed it for the next three hours as it moved through the hedgerows. It was often hidden but would always appear every so often and gave excellent views on occasions. I heard it call anxiously when it rose from the hedge bottom and flew up into a small tree and then flew quite a long distance to another small tree in a distant hedge before dropping down into the bracken and grass to resume feeding.
I figured three hours was enough for me and the bird became very elusive after I had left and was hardly seen for the rest of the day. I had a pleasant chat about the celebrity bird with a BT technician in the road where my car was parked and then drove a short distance to Cosmeston Lakes at Penarth to see a drake Lesser Scaup and a Whooper Swan.
To end my day, in yet more rain, I saw a Dipper on the river at Ebbw Vale.
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| Lesser Scaup |
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| Whooper Swan |
To end my day, in yet more rain, I saw a Dipper on the river at Ebbw Vale.
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