Friday, May 22, 2009
I had a rant a while back about the lack of Loxia in my life and the world in general - click
Well now I am compelled to recant. Not because I have seen the damned things of course! Let me explain dear reader....
My mother recently went on a posh walking holiday in Scotland (the home land). While she was there, I sent an entirely innocent text to enquire as to how things were going. The reply, although equally innocent in tone has massive implications to my world view.
It read thus...
"Great ta. Saw pr crossbills on wed. Heard cuckoo but no sight. Just had swim and Jacuzzi. Weather great. x"
It's the second sentence that I have 'issues' with.
How on earth can I continue with this campaign of denial regarding these funny bloody finches when my mother has seen them for fucks sake? If I continue in that vein I am ostensibly calling my own mother a liar. Which is not nice.
So, for the record - I believe that Crossbills exist.
Happy now?
Because I'm not.
Not only does my mother have White Stork on her list (I don't), she also has Crossbills on her list.
"Weather great. x"
For no reason at all, St James' Park Pelicans.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Let me qualify a statement I made on the first post since my return from holiday. (Had I mentioned that I had been on holiday - forgive me if I had let that little snippet pass by).
"I refuse to believe that Crossbills actually exist".
Many birders have a bogey bird, the bird that they really should have seen by now but haven't. Not the kind of bird that you go to a specific reserve to see as the chances of seeing it away from it are slim (Stone Curlew type of effort). Now I have seen lots of common birds, a fair few rare birds and some nice looking and some dull birds. I have been to many differing types of habitat, and have often found the birds there that one would expect to find there. However, I have never ever seen a Crossbill. It is my bogey bird. Loxia is obviously some Linnaean joke about fictitious species to wind up the unwary.
Ever been to Wells next the sea? Tis mighty purdy. There is a great big stretch of PINE TREES FFS that should be interesting to birders. They even have a little sign at the entrance to tell you what an interesting place it is for birders, with a picture of a Redstart on it. With lots of pine trees around you would expect to find some birds that specialise in eating fucking pine cones. Well, you might dear reader, and in my folly I thought that I might too. Twat. Ever been to Holkham? It is especially lovely when the tide is out and the children are at school. It is the other end of the large stretch of PINE TREES that is at Wells. Thought that I might bump into a Crossbill there too. Twat. Ever been to Thetford forest? It is a big forest that is full of fucking pine trees. So much so that Mrs Thing and I got lost because all we could see was PINE TREES! I really thought that I would pick up a Crossbill there. Twat. In the many visits to these places, I did see birds. Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Siskin, Brambling, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Treecreepers etc etc. The list goes on but there is no entry for Crossbill.
This is not a new thing for me - I have been to Thetford forest many times over many years and I have been many other places that a half decent birder would reasonably expect to find a species that specialises in living in that area. Twat.
And we are at the tail end of an irruption.
Avocet's arse to 'em.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
2008 may have been a great year for rarities around the country, and I may have gone to see a small American sparrow in January, and I may also have bumped into a twitch in Runton for a small brown bird that looks just a little bit different to the normal small bird, but that's as far as it went for me. It was also a year of note for irruptives, ie Crossbills and Waxwings. Despite my numerous searches in apposite sites for Crossbills, I was unable to locate any. Anywhere. Which is a bit of a pain in the arse. I even had a conversation with a young twitcher in Wells woods - he was after a Yellow Browned and a Raddes that had been seen the previous day, and he seemed a little confused when I told him "I'm only here to look for Crossbills". I left him to sift through a fast moving flock of tits and Goldcrests. And of course, I didn't find any Crossbills.
And what of the Waxwings? The magazines tell us that they are 'coming to a supermarket near you', which is not very likely round hear as the fat, gluttonous eating machines that are the local bastard Wood Pigeons have stripped the berries from most trees and bushes by the end of September (they are so bloody quick at it that it is tricky to even hang on to a Mistle Thrush for long). But I have one small area left for the Waxwings to drop into (before they have all decided that blighty is no good any more and move on like the berry following whores that they are) - so I present to you a picture of my Waxwing bush. I admit that there are not many berries on the bush. And that a Woodpig could strip it for elevenses, but it is my only hope! Forlornly I gaze upon this bush as I pass, waiting in vain for one of these Bohemian beauties to drop in. But they don't. Yet. A patch birder must be persistent and ever hopeful. If the Waxwings dont drop in, a Med Gull might, a raft of Smew might, a Willet might! Alright, I'm pushing it a bit for the Smew.
