The perfect dip

In so far as a dip can be good, today was excellent. It involved not seeing a Leach's Petrel on William Girling Reservoir. Whilst Leach's would be a London tick, at the end of the day it isn't a monster bird and I'm sure I'll see one in London one day. William Girling is also not the patch, nor anywhere I keep a specific list for, so this this isn't a huge grip off or anything like that. It is also only 15 minutes away, so I've have not had to devote hours to driving anywhere. In fact Bob drove, which meant I had to devote no time at all to driving, even easier. So overall a minimal outlay of time and effort, home within an hour or so, pretty chuffed at how it all went really. I mean I suppose it could have been better, for instance if I'd have seen it, but I cannot in truth say I am gutted, depressed, hugely disappointed or whatever. Local dipping knocks long distance dipping into a cocked hat, and I got to see a few London birders I've not seen for a bit, including Andy T and Harry L - who found the bird from his house overlooking the reservoir. All in all a decent morning and I look forward to the next local dip and just hope it is as good as this one. 

Some more happy dippers. Note how Harry, third from the left, looks miserable whereas everyone else looks pretty chipper. There's a lesson there.