It is rather surreal what happened on this morning's walk with Bruno. Only yesterday, in an exchange of comments with Stewart Sexton (Stewchat blog), he'd said something about looking in places where others don't. It was in reply to my hope of seeing some of Stewart's excellent field sketches of the Northumberland American Pipit and the subsequent discovery that he'd not bothered to "twitch" it. Fair play and I am fully able to empathise with this mind-set. So Bruno and I headed back out onto the flatlands, on the Thanet side of The Stour, to have a wander around some set-a-side fields which are under the control of my, gamekeeper, mate George. With not another soul in sight, we were able to enjoy a superb stroll along the tracks and dykes which create the mosaic of habitat out there. Four Grey Herons flushed from a small ditch as soon as I parked the van and so it would continue. Good numbers of Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings was a very pleasant surprise, yet Reed Buntings (circa 270) Goldfinch (circa 400) Linnet (circa 200) and Chaffinch (circa 150) provided so many distractions as we made our way around the area but, the best was still to come! We'd almost reached the boundary of George's fields when I raised my binoculars in the direction of a group of birds perched up in the distance. WTF? Tree Sparrows, twenty plus, and the first I've seen on Thanet since 2011. Always distant, I am once again indebted to technology within the EOS 90d for the image captured of this landmark encounter.
It seems like the 2024/25 Pike season is doomed to failure due to weather patterns, Bev's health issues and, now, the arrival of Bruno. If birding has to take centre stage, then I'm happy to enjoy whatever it produces whilst I await a change in circumstances.
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