29th May. Bus, Train and Automobile

Today started off in the usual fashion i.e. 6:30 start on the patch, off to work on the 8am bus and at my desk by 8:20. As the wheels on my chair came to a halt and my knees slid under the desk the bloody mega alert went off "Cleveland  Eastern Orphean Warbler (Though it was later corrected as a Western) Hartlepool Headland" Shit the bed!! I had a problem my usual birding friends were either in South America or old enough to have seen the last bird in 1983 and the car was twenty five miles away at Jo's work!

I had horrible sense of deja vu and was thrown back to 6th June 2011 when I received the mega alert of the White-throated Robin, whilst scanning an area of Spanish Steppe and feeling completely helpless.


Never ceases to amaze me how many birders get out of work in an instant
I was just on the verge of doing something desperate - like begging for a lift via the bird info service and running the risk of other birders thinking that I'm some kind of Billy no-mates (even if it's true, it still hurts) - when I hatched a cunning plan. I was to catch a train to Mexborough, pick up the car and dash up the A1. If all went to plan I would be on site by 3pm.  Actually, and without dragging this out any longer, I left work at 12, got the train, picked up the car and by 2:30 was parked up on Hartlepool Headland. The bird however was skulking and left it almost an hour before popping out in the sun.


Came across this nice bit of birding nostalgia whilst looking for the Orphean.


And as ever the Police were there to ensure that everyone's particulars were taken down...


1 comment:

birdman2 said...

Well done Mark. Whats that in Lees ear?