Today however it was quite pleasant, and the bird was almost in the south-west corner of the north basin and did not require the endless trek across to the other side. Very striking, with quite rufous upper flanks and the eyebrow noticely bright white contrasting with the small yellow bib. I remember being very surprised to find a Shore Lark in Washington a couple of years ago in arid habitat, and looking it up to find that it was essentially the same bird, but I never thought one would turn up here. I'll let the boffins decide - I am just pleased to be able to add this to my London list after a dip a few years ago out near Tilbury.
Here's a photo (of sorts) of it. I am not very good at phone scoping as you can see, but the white is pretty clear nonetheless. One to tuck away for a few years perhaps? I watched it for perhaps an hour and then drove to pick up a couple of plants in Richmond - always good to be able to combine visits out west with something else that you actually need to do. That said I left early enough that there was no traffic at all, and was home before lunch before it really built up - I've seen worse!
your posts seems to be filled with entertainment. you would be talking about something so ordinary and it will come out as something fun to read. keep posting
ReplyDeleteFinally, a photo that shows the skill and finesse that i strive for and achieve on a regular basis, you've been following my twitter feed all to intently
ReplyDeleteThe last and only time I was at Staines was August 1976 dipping on a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. We scored later that day with a Black-winged Pratincole in Reading. I remember it well, the irate farmer had exhausted his supply of pig shit on Clive Byers et al. To get rid of us he just set fire to everything.
ReplyDeleteThose fences certainly weren’t there back then.