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Hi all
ElAnnie has put a photo in the gallery of a Long tailed Tit and it reminded me of an embarrasing moment early on in my birding life.
I had probably been birding only for a couple of months and was very naive in certan things. I chose a lovely day to visit one of my favourite reserves, Upton Warren. As I got out of my car, in the car park, I noticed a net strewn across a gap between two hedges with a Long tailed tit in it. There was nobody about and at the time I had never heard of, or seen, mists nests before. Thinking that someone was trying to catch these birds illegally I proceeded to try and release this little bundle of fluff but only succeeded in cutting it away with bits of netting tangled around it. Panicking I rushed with it to the nearest hide but there was no one there. I gingerly picked away at the netting and eventually managed to release the bird, possibly slightly traumatised, but generally unhurt. It gave me an amazing feeling having this delightful bird in my hand for a short while and I marvelled at its beauty and smallness.
After a very short while I released the bird through the front of the hide and watched it disappear into the trees at the side just as the door opened by a chap who was mumbling about some idiot cutting his mist nets. "Was it me", he asked. Sheepishly I said yes but explained why I had done it. Thankfully he saw the funny side of it and roared with laughter but I still felt totally embarrassed about it. Thankfully I ran into this chap on a few occasions when he was with other people and not once did he mention it whilst in company, but every now and again he would give me a wink to me let me know that he hadn't forgotten.
What was your emarrassing moment?
ElAnnie has put a photo in the gallery of a Long tailed Tit and it reminded me of an embarrasing moment early on in my birding life.
I had probably been birding only for a couple of months and was very naive in certan things. I chose a lovely day to visit one of my favourite reserves, Upton Warren. As I got out of my car, in the car park, I noticed a net strewn across a gap between two hedges with a Long tailed tit in it. There was nobody about and at the time I had never heard of, or seen, mists nests before. Thinking that someone was trying to catch these birds illegally I proceeded to try and release this little bundle of fluff but only succeeded in cutting it away with bits of netting tangled around it. Panicking I rushed with it to the nearest hide but there was no one there. I gingerly picked away at the netting and eventually managed to release the bird, possibly slightly traumatised, but generally unhurt. It gave me an amazing feeling having this delightful bird in my hand for a short while and I marvelled at its beauty and smallness.
After a very short while I released the bird through the front of the hide and watched it disappear into the trees at the side just as the door opened by a chap who was mumbling about some idiot cutting his mist nets. "Was it me", he asked. Sheepishly I said yes but explained why I had done it. Thankfully he saw the funny side of it and roared with laughter but I still felt totally embarrassed about it. Thankfully I ran into this chap on a few occasions when he was with other people and not once did he mention it whilst in company, but every now and again he would give me a wink to me let me know that he hadn't forgotten.
What was your emarrassing moment?
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