tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-824385241230348874.post4009880835539257434..comments2024-03-29T08:37:59.411+00:00Comments on Not Quite Scilly: Powerful UrgesGavin Haighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17242398421328525578noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-824385241230348874.post-47758671472174305902017-05-08T15:48:53.924+01:002017-05-08T15:48:53.924+01:00There's a story in that, Ric. The day-list att...There's a story in that, Ric. The day-list attempt was in 1985 or 86. The team was Andrew Moon, Pete Naylor, Rupert Hastings and me. We were doing okay (though not brilliantly) when we arrived at King George VI Res some time in the afternoon. The res was partly drained, and lurking among the ducks in the weedy margins had recently been a Teal - not an easy bird to get in early May. We pitched up on the N bank and fixed our scopes upon the NW corner. A couple of ducks were prodding about, but no Teal visible. We assumed it was asleep in the weeds. Someone needed to head over there and chivvy it out. Having been up since about 03:00 we were all knackered. There was a lot of grumbling and unwillingness. In the end AVM drew the short straw and set off. The rest of us sat there scoping the far corner. After a while a few ducks began to swim out. I cannot recall if there was a Teal among them, but I can recall what happened next. Someone looked to see what Andrew was up to. He was waving like a nutter...<br /><br />Yes, he had flushed a Hoopoe off the concrete apron of the res, which had flipped over the top of the N bank and "surely couldn't have gone far."<br /><br />That neatly put the kibosh on our Big Day.<br /><br />I did eventually see a Hoopoe in London - at Kempton Park Res in the early '90s - but spent a long time ruing my idleness that day.<br /><br />I've just had a nasty thought: AVM and myself are the only ones still alive...Gavin Haighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17242398421328525578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-824385241230348874.post-79084980154135782822017-05-08T05:48:44.524+01:002017-05-08T05:48:44.524+01:00Yes Gav. There once was a pair of Mutes on the lak...Yes Gav. There once was a pair of Mutes on the lake but not since a 'run-in' with dogs. My feeling is that any swan would think twice about landing there, since the trees which have grown up, would make getting off the lake a bit awkward.<br />As for Hoopoes vanishing without trace. I remember a day-list attempt by Moon and company going astray as they attempted to trace one that had been flushed off the margins of; was it KG6?, but seen only by one of the party.<br />That one had clearly kept going.<br />I went to BP yesterday. Pretty duff. It isn't the south coast.Richttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02714117508358025668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-824385241230348874.post-72374540689498391872017-05-05T23:08:50.606+01:002017-05-05T23:08:50.606+01:00Ric, that is very surprising. Assuming you're ...Ric, that is very surprising. Assuming you're talking about Bentley Priory, there is a lake after all!<br />I've not seen that many Hoopoes, maybe 8 or so, but when it comes to vanishing without trace they are easily on a par with Great Grey Shrike.Gavin Haighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17242398421328525578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-824385241230348874.post-12402722892258091802017-05-04T17:46:34.780+01:002017-05-04T17:46:34.780+01:00Gav, I read this post of yours first and was think...Gav, I read this post of yours first and was thinking it was you simply finding a Hoopoe on twitter that got you going. Surely twitter isn't that good?<br />Great find.<br />I confess I'm yet to see one at all.<br />Meanwhile, I added a new bird to my local patch which I've wandered around on for over forty years.<br />Not often is the air punched on seeing a Mute Swan!Richttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02714117508358025668noreply@blogger.com