Wednesday 9 July 2008

The Good Old Days

I don't know about it being autumn already (see previous post), but today feels more like winter! It's pissing with rain and bloody freezing, so I thought I'd indulge in some warming nostalgia...

1999 was an exceptional year for rarities in Britain, and two birds in particular stand out for me. In April, Steve Lister found Britain's fifth (and first twitchable) Crag Martin at Swithland Reservoir. This was so unexpected that when it came on the pager (yes, I had a pager in those days) my first reaction was to assume it was some sort of cock-up. Fortunately sense prevailed, and I got to the reservoir in record time to become only the ninth person to see a Crag Martin in Britain (which then became totally un-noteworthy as thousands of people saw it). This bird surely ranks alongside the Rutland Water Bridled Tern as proof that anything can turn up even in a 'crap' county like Leicestershire.

The only other ticks I had in the first half of the year were the Iberian Chiffchaff at Portland (yawn) and the Baillon's Crake at Stodmarsh, but it was the then annual visit to Scilly in October that made 1999 really outstanding. Just before we arrived for our two weeks on Tresco, both Siberian Thrush and White's Thrush had been found on St Agnes, and the Short-toed Eagle was still hanging around the Eastern Isles. The Siberian Thrush had disappeared by the time we got there, and we spent the first two days of our holiday not seeing the White's Thrush (Rob & Richard saw it briefly). On the 11th we finally got round to having a proper look for the Short-toed Eagle from the southern end of Tresco, and were very fortunate to have it fly right over our heads as it buggered off for good!

And so to the 'Glorious Twelfth'. Not being a huge fan of standing around in a crowd seeing nothing, I decided not to go back to St Agnes, reasoning that I'd see a White's Thrush one day (I was right, although it took me another eight years). I spent a pleasant day wandering around Tresco on my own, but saw nothing of any consequence and ended up back at the Borough Farm chalet at about 16.30. A cup of tea and a 'herbal' cigarette ensued, and that could so easily have been the end of my birding for the day, but for some reason I staggered back out and headed down to the Great Pool.

At about 17.45 I came across a load of small birds mobbing something in the bushes. This struck me as odd, as there aren't any resident owls on Scilly, so I thought it was worth investigating. Finding a convenient gap in the bushes I raised my bins and immediately saw a yellow eye ring and yellowish beak straight ahead of me. In the space of a couple of seconds I thought 'that female Blackbird's doing a good impression of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo' and then 'fucking hell - it is one!!!" as it moved slightly and I saw the whole bird.

Fuck, shit, panic! No digital camera in those days of course, but mobile phones had been invented (just), so I was able to get the news out. RBA pissed me off by putting it on the pager as 'reported' but that was soon corrected once other people arrived and saw it. The boatload that arrived from St Mary's famously included a very pissed John Hague and Mark Skevington, who had somehow managed to get from the Bishop all the way to Tresco, a journey almost as remarkable as the cuckoo itself had made from America.

The remainder of 1999 added three more birds to my list: Blue Rock Thrush on St Mary's on 14th October, Chimney Swift again on St Mary's on the 22nd, and a Red-flanked Bluetail at Rame Head on the way home, which meant that we missed Mark's wedding reception. Sorry Mark.



6 comments:

The Drunkbirder said...

We actually made it from the Old Town Inn or Lock, Stock and Barrel as it was then!

The Leicester Llama said...

If you were at Old Town it's amazing that you even made it to the quay in your inebriated state!

Marcus Lawson said...

With regards missing Mark's wedding reception, just like most of the birds you mention, they'll be another!! Sorry Mark, couldn't resist.

Skev said...

I've never forgiven you Andy, you selfish bastard - I still need Chimney Swift ;-) Mind you, Red-flanked Bluetail was a major tart's tick by 1999 - can't believe you missed the merriment for that!
As for the cuckoo, the only reason me and John got there before any further Guinness intake was that aswell as mobile phones, Scilly Taxis had been invented and I'd managed to summon one before drunkenly kicking the toilet door in to alert John that we were fucking off immediately. Excellent bird, especially the way it kept wobbling in and out of focus and shape-shifting! I'm pleased to say it looked more normal the next day. Along with the eagle, Siberian, White's and Blue Rock Thrushes and Upland Sand. it was a great Scilly trip for me. We even managed an off-island charter (where we dipped a Yellow-billed Cuckoo) a couple of days earlier. The only reason this was worth it was the look on LRG Egos face when he was told 'you're not on the flight' - priceless.

The Leicester Llama said...

There are plenty more 'major tart's ticks' I still haven't seen... because I'm a major tart!

beast said...

Andy, nice to hear you've come 'out the pantry' as a 'Major Tart'!..some birders are so ashamed of their lists. They should stop pretending to be something they're not and tell the world..'yes..I am a tart and I'm proud of it'! 'So what if I still need Dunnock and Dunlin for my British list'? Equal rights for tarts I say...

That bollocks aside, if you're 'Major Tart' then who would qualify as 'Major Disaster' or 'Major Mistake'? [I'm guessing most of us have had disasters and made mistakes at some point...]