A sobering thought occurred to me recently: next year I will have clocked up a decade in Bridport. A whole decade of on/off birding in West Dorset. And what have I got to show for it? Well, quite a lot actually...
And so it was that I decided to compile a West Dorset Birds post, which is currently a work in progress. The intention is to document for posterity what I consider the birdy highlights of my time here. Why? Good question. A couple of reasons came easily to mind. Firstly, it would be a great post to curl up with when the weather - or the birding - was especially dismal. So yes, entirely a selfish reason. However, I wondered whether it might also serve as encouragement to birders whose outings usually involve popular locations to maybe venture off the well-worn paths and seek out some off-piste thrills instead. There are many birdy rewards to be had away from the popular hotspots. So yes, entirely a presumptuously patronising reason.
Anyway, I've had a lot of fun birding my local area, and I hope it shows.
The whole process got me thinking about what I might consider my favourite bird of the West Dorset years. There are a few candidates, but this one is certainly on the shortlist...
What I particularly like about this one is its irony. In October 2021 it was a new bird for Dorset - albeit a subspecies - a Common Redpoll of the so-called Greenland type, Acanthis flammea rostrata, but very soon it will simply be a Redpoll. To be fair, list-wise it was 'worth' very little at the time anyway - unless your list included subspecies - but presently it really will have zero 'value'. But what great fun it was! The detective work involved in its identification played a big part in that fun of course, but the location, the memorably fierce weather, and the bird's endearing tameness all contributed to a hugely satisfying experience. And revisiting the relevant blog posts (here and here) and photos - and video - brings it all back. Wonderful stuff.
Yes, I am looking forward to putting together my West Dorset Birds memory package.
No comments:
Post a Comment