Spotted Crake. That's what I saw on Saturday afternoon at the Wetland Centre in Barnes, along with a number of other birders all eagerly training their bins and scopes on the same spot. I think that was the first time I've been in a hide with a number of birders all hoping to get a view of something rare, and there was something comical about the excitement levels going up exponentially from getting just a fleeting look of a small bird from a long distance away.
I had been at the Wetland Centre all day and was thinking of leaving, but knowing that the crake could be seen from that one hide I thought I'd hang around and train the bins on the area it was known to show itself. I was there for a good 20-30 minutes, and saw it a number of occasions, which was lovely. However, it was so far away and so small that even with the bins I couldn't really make out any features and would never have been able to positively ID it without the guys with the scopes confirming it.
However, the Spotted Crake was the perfect ending to a good day's birding at the centre. Plenty of ducks about, although nothing new (apart from Pochards which I'd not seen there for a number of months), and it was nice to see the Snipe again, getting really good views of seven of them. A quiet day on the raptor front, with just one kestrel about, no sign of the Hobbys either.
And I followed up the visit to the Wetland Centre with a trip to the best teashop in London (IMO) - Orange Pekoe. It has 60 different types of tea all in tea caddies on the wall for you to choose from, from your traditional breakfast blend through to the more exotic silver needle or jasmine flower balls (both of which I can recommend highly!). The cakes are well worth it too... And there's a good pub just over the road from the tearoom too, for a good pint! B
Sunday morning I was woken up by the very loud yaffle of a green woodpecker in the woodland out the back of our house. I got up and was watching it when all of a sudden a sparrowhawk came out of nowhere attacking the woodpecker. Cue quick chase round the garden with the woodpecker getting away. What was odd was that the sparrowhawk was smaller than the woodpecker! Whether the sparrowhawk actually saw the woodpecker as prey, or it was merely to chase it off its territory I do not know. All very interesting though!
Life list now up to 93, the landmark of 100 agonisingly close...
I had been at the Wetland Centre all day and was thinking of leaving, but knowing that the crake could be seen from that one hide I thought I'd hang around and train the bins on the area it was known to show itself. I was there for a good 20-30 minutes, and saw it a number of occasions, which was lovely. However, it was so far away and so small that even with the bins I couldn't really make out any features and would never have been able to positively ID it without the guys with the scopes confirming it.
However, the Spotted Crake was the perfect ending to a good day's birding at the centre. Plenty of ducks about, although nothing new (apart from Pochards which I'd not seen there for a number of months), and it was nice to see the Snipe again, getting really good views of seven of them. A quiet day on the raptor front, with just one kestrel about, no sign of the Hobbys either.
And I followed up the visit to the Wetland Centre with a trip to the best teashop in London (IMO) - Orange Pekoe. It has 60 different types of tea all in tea caddies on the wall for you to choose from, from your traditional breakfast blend through to the more exotic silver needle or jasmine flower balls (both of which I can recommend highly!). The cakes are well worth it too... And there's a good pub just over the road from the tearoom too, for a good pint! B
Sunday morning I was woken up by the very loud yaffle of a green woodpecker in the woodland out the back of our house. I got up and was watching it when all of a sudden a sparrowhawk came out of nowhere attacking the woodpecker. Cue quick chase round the garden with the woodpecker getting away. What was odd was that the sparrowhawk was smaller than the woodpecker! Whether the sparrowhawk actually saw the woodpecker as prey, or it was merely to chase it off its territory I do not know. All very interesting though!
Life list now up to 93, the landmark of 100 agonisingly close...
