For those of you who dont know , I began birding ( properly ) in August last year and so now am nearing my first full year birding ! In this time I have suffered some high's and lows ( more about those later ) whilst also managing to clock up 130+ visits to my local patch , several excurtions to the coast , watch my daughter be born last November and finally , move house ( just four days ago ) !! A busy twelve months by anyones reckoning I should guess ?
Before I get to the question 'how did I get started birding again ?' , I feel I should explain why I stopped . Basically , I began having an interest in birds when I was about 10 but it took me a few years to really understand the complexity of identifying birds and to also understand about the other aspects of becoming a reasonable birder , ie: migration , habitat , where to go and when etc . I soon developed a local patch in the shape of Staunton Reservoir , Leics . I probably visited this site around 200 times in a two year period . I recorded around 130 species here - not bad considering I was very green around the gills and was struggling with even slighty easy birds . I can remember seeing a mid-sized wader once and not knowing what it was I took notes and made sketches and even crawled through soaked grass to try and get as close as I could to it . But , I couldn't make a possitive ID of the bird . One day I was stood on the bridge which overlooked the back part of the reservoir , when a young man in his mid-twenties walked up and looked over the bridge and without even needing to use his very smart-looking bins ( I thought so , anyway ) he turned to me and said " nice Greenshank down there ! " .
I couldn't believe it !! the time and effort I had spent trying to ID this bird and he could do it without a second glance !! After I explained what I had been through with this bird he told me that it was good that I had taken the time to do this and would now always know this bird if I saw one .
Anyway , it was 1987 and my Dad had got a job working in Shropshire and so we had to move . I was 16 at the time and was totally distraught , I was leaving my home , my friends , my family and my local patch . I hated Shropshire already and hadn't even been there yet .
I toyed with a near-by site once we had moved in and were settled but I just couldn't get interseted . My Dad , seeing my interest slip , took me to a reserve just 3 odd miles down the road - Venus Pool !! But I was too far gone . I was working a job I hated in a county that I hated . And so within a year of being in Shropshire I put my binoculars and scope away and there they stayed for 14 years !
And so , with 14 years of far too much time spent in pubs a few failed relationships with girls a career at the power station secured my first home , plenty of new friends and a wife to boot it brings us up to May 2003 . My wife and I had spent two weeks the previous year in Cornwall for our holiday ( Deb had never been before ) and we had loved it , so we had booked to go again . I have no idea why I packed my binoculars this year but I did . We arrived at the beautiful cottage we had rented for the week , unpacked and as it was a nice evening decided to go for a walk along the estuary which ran outside our cottage . We had gone only a few yards when I noticed several white birds on the far bank - I knew they wern't swans . Raising my bins I was chuffed to bits ( and quite amazed , too ) to see they were Little Egrets !! This was the first time I had ever seen one and here were several all together right outside our cottage . We enjoyed the Egrets the whole time we were there , also my wife used to love the family of Shelducks which also regulary swam past . It was probably this holiday which was the catalyst for my birding to be re-ignited .
I think it was probably around this time last year that I went bird ringing with a local expert ( whom I would soon become a good friend of ) who told me of all the stuff that could be seen locally if you knew where and when to go . I was fascinated , I couldn't believe the amount of species that were readily available to me and right on my doorstep . It was on this day that I explained how I was thinking of getting back into birding and told the story of the Egrets in Cornwall . " Well they're are three at Venus Pool right now " , Andy informed me , " you should really go there , it's always worth a visit " .
So , on August 4th 2003 I made my first proper visit to Venus Pool . It was a hot afternoon and I was quite happy watching Oystercatcher , Greenshank , Common Sandpiper , Green Sandpiper and the usual wildfowl , amongst other stuff whilst waiting for the Egrets to drop in ( little did I know it would be almost a year before I'd see a Little Egret at Venus Pool ) . I was about to call it a day and leave when I saw a large brown bird flying in from the south-east . I raised my binoculars and my heart leapt into my mouth as I found myself staring at the unmistakable form of a Bittern !!! This was it !! The exact moment I was utterly hooked on birding . Something I had only ever dreamed about before - seeing something both rare but unmistakable for anything else . I phoned my wife and my parents on the way home to tell them what I had seen , I was in mild shock , I'm certain now , looking back . A few pints of Guinness later in the pub calmed me down no end .
So , Venus Pool became a place where I could be regulary seen , either in one of the hides or walking around the top field looking for something unusual . Within just a few weeks I had seen Golden , Ringed & Little Ringed Plover , Redshank , Spotted Redshank , Red Kite , Whimbrel , Water Rail and Peregrine all at Venus Pool ! However , I also experienced the pain of dipping on a major local rarity as one day I discovered that the day before about an hour after I had left a Purple Heron was discovered over on the near-by Trout pool !! I was shattered by this news and soon discovered that being a part of a group who could keep you informed of what was about was of the up-most importance if I was going to see anything rare or unusual within the Shropshire borders .
Not long after the birth of my daughter Erin , in Novemeber , I found my self at Venus Pool watching a stunning Firecrest which had been discovered just a few days earlier - I had had about 5 life ticks in as many weeks !! It was also around this time that I began posting here - just to let you know !
As 2004 began I was fully-fueled and raring to go , I had already decided to have a go at year listing , something alot of birders seemed to do . This became something of great use as I also tried to stay within the boundries of Shropshire whilst doing it . Therefore improving my local knowledge ten-fold ! I had also by now made a few local birding friends who kept me informed of anything good locally . In January I found myself at Ellesmere enjoying my first ever Black-necked Grebe and just a few days earlier I was at Dudmaston pool watching a stunning drake Smew ! Other birds I also got in the early part of the year were Ring Ouzel on Titterstone Clee , Osprey and Bittern at Venus Pool , Mediterranean Gull at Ellesmere and more recently a fantastic Pectoral Sandpiper at Wood Lane NR .
And so , it leads us up to last week when I was sat at Venus Pool watching two Little Egret sat right outside the main hide and it was then that I thought how far this bird had brought me from just over a year ago in Cornwall . I have managed to see 162 species so far this year , 142 of them within the boundaries of Shropshire . And as for those two Little Egrets , well they became my 130th species of bird at Venus Pool ... and in just a tad under a year !!
Phew ! What is the next twelve months going to bring me , I wonder ?
Good birding , y'all !!
Before I get to the question 'how did I get started birding again ?' , I feel I should explain why I stopped . Basically , I began having an interest in birds when I was about 10 but it took me a few years to really understand the complexity of identifying birds and to also understand about the other aspects of becoming a reasonable birder , ie: migration , habitat , where to go and when etc . I soon developed a local patch in the shape of Staunton Reservoir , Leics . I probably visited this site around 200 times in a two year period . I recorded around 130 species here - not bad considering I was very green around the gills and was struggling with even slighty easy birds . I can remember seeing a mid-sized wader once and not knowing what it was I took notes and made sketches and even crawled through soaked grass to try and get as close as I could to it . But , I couldn't make a possitive ID of the bird . One day I was stood on the bridge which overlooked the back part of the reservoir , when a young man in his mid-twenties walked up and looked over the bridge and without even needing to use his very smart-looking bins ( I thought so , anyway ) he turned to me and said " nice Greenshank down there ! " .
I couldn't believe it !! the time and effort I had spent trying to ID this bird and he could do it without a second glance !! After I explained what I had been through with this bird he told me that it was good that I had taken the time to do this and would now always know this bird if I saw one .
Anyway , it was 1987 and my Dad had got a job working in Shropshire and so we had to move . I was 16 at the time and was totally distraught , I was leaving my home , my friends , my family and my local patch . I hated Shropshire already and hadn't even been there yet .
I toyed with a near-by site once we had moved in and were settled but I just couldn't get interseted . My Dad , seeing my interest slip , took me to a reserve just 3 odd miles down the road - Venus Pool !! But I was too far gone . I was working a job I hated in a county that I hated . And so within a year of being in Shropshire I put my binoculars and scope away and there they stayed for 14 years !
And so , with 14 years of far too much time spent in pubs a few failed relationships with girls a career at the power station secured my first home , plenty of new friends and a wife to boot it brings us up to May 2003 . My wife and I had spent two weeks the previous year in Cornwall for our holiday ( Deb had never been before ) and we had loved it , so we had booked to go again . I have no idea why I packed my binoculars this year but I did . We arrived at the beautiful cottage we had rented for the week , unpacked and as it was a nice evening decided to go for a walk along the estuary which ran outside our cottage . We had gone only a few yards when I noticed several white birds on the far bank - I knew they wern't swans . Raising my bins I was chuffed to bits ( and quite amazed , too ) to see they were Little Egrets !! This was the first time I had ever seen one and here were several all together right outside our cottage . We enjoyed the Egrets the whole time we were there , also my wife used to love the family of Shelducks which also regulary swam past . It was probably this holiday which was the catalyst for my birding to be re-ignited .
I think it was probably around this time last year that I went bird ringing with a local expert ( whom I would soon become a good friend of ) who told me of all the stuff that could be seen locally if you knew where and when to go . I was fascinated , I couldn't believe the amount of species that were readily available to me and right on my doorstep . It was on this day that I explained how I was thinking of getting back into birding and told the story of the Egrets in Cornwall . " Well they're are three at Venus Pool right now " , Andy informed me , " you should really go there , it's always worth a visit " .
So , on August 4th 2003 I made my first proper visit to Venus Pool . It was a hot afternoon and I was quite happy watching Oystercatcher , Greenshank , Common Sandpiper , Green Sandpiper and the usual wildfowl , amongst other stuff whilst waiting for the Egrets to drop in ( little did I know it would be almost a year before I'd see a Little Egret at Venus Pool ) . I was about to call it a day and leave when I saw a large brown bird flying in from the south-east . I raised my binoculars and my heart leapt into my mouth as I found myself staring at the unmistakable form of a Bittern !!! This was it !! The exact moment I was utterly hooked on birding . Something I had only ever dreamed about before - seeing something both rare but unmistakable for anything else . I phoned my wife and my parents on the way home to tell them what I had seen , I was in mild shock , I'm certain now , looking back . A few pints of Guinness later in the pub calmed me down no end .
So , Venus Pool became a place where I could be regulary seen , either in one of the hides or walking around the top field looking for something unusual . Within just a few weeks I had seen Golden , Ringed & Little Ringed Plover , Redshank , Spotted Redshank , Red Kite , Whimbrel , Water Rail and Peregrine all at Venus Pool ! However , I also experienced the pain of dipping on a major local rarity as one day I discovered that the day before about an hour after I had left a Purple Heron was discovered over on the near-by Trout pool !! I was shattered by this news and soon discovered that being a part of a group who could keep you informed of what was about was of the up-most importance if I was going to see anything rare or unusual within the Shropshire borders .
Not long after the birth of my daughter Erin , in Novemeber , I found my self at Venus Pool watching a stunning Firecrest which had been discovered just a few days earlier - I had had about 5 life ticks in as many weeks !! It was also around this time that I began posting here - just to let you know !
As 2004 began I was fully-fueled and raring to go , I had already decided to have a go at year listing , something alot of birders seemed to do . This became something of great use as I also tried to stay within the boundries of Shropshire whilst doing it . Therefore improving my local knowledge ten-fold ! I had also by now made a few local birding friends who kept me informed of anything good locally . In January I found myself at Ellesmere enjoying my first ever Black-necked Grebe and just a few days earlier I was at Dudmaston pool watching a stunning drake Smew ! Other birds I also got in the early part of the year were Ring Ouzel on Titterstone Clee , Osprey and Bittern at Venus Pool , Mediterranean Gull at Ellesmere and more recently a fantastic Pectoral Sandpiper at Wood Lane NR .
And so , it leads us up to last week when I was sat at Venus Pool watching two Little Egret sat right outside the main hide and it was then that I thought how far this bird had brought me from just over a year ago in Cornwall . I have managed to see 162 species so far this year , 142 of them within the boundaries of Shropshire . And as for those two Little Egrets , well they became my 130th species of bird at Venus Pool ... and in just a tad under a year !!
Phew ! What is the next twelve months going to bring me , I wonder ?
Good birding , y'all !!
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