Last Monday I shot off to the UK, not on a birding trip but to see a sick Mother and time was of the essence. A week later she’s still with us and I’m waiting to come home, so I thought it was time for a post.
Some of you will know that I’m from Nottingham, a town that sits within Nottinghamshire and is perhaps best known for the outlaw Robin Hood, as depicted in Shrek. When I left the UK to brighten up Canada in 2003, I was the leading Notts lister. Since then a succession of unlikely rarities have conspired to throw me some way down that table although not that far down if you consult Bubo.
Obviously, being no longer resident I conceded my top spot with good grace and wish them all well but, if I have the chance of a Notts tick on one of our infrequent visits I’ll take it. In the past I’ve driven past (well a few miles past) a second county Penduline Tit. Curiously both records have come from Attenborough and I think that it is cruel to call the location of the first, a one observer only job, Fantasy Island. Both were good records and I can’t really say why I didn’t detour when I had the chance.
This visit, complicated though it was, coincided with the presence of a Glossy Ibis in Notts. The ibis arrived last November and took up residence as they sometimes do. During its stay it had been relegated to being of only casual interest, as everybody who wanted to see it had done so, almost. It was seen the Tuesday I arrived back in Notts but even I don’t put a county tick before a sick Mother and so I made plans to look Wednesday with John Hopper. We did, it was very wet and very ibis-less.
I was back again on Thursday morning. I checked all the known spots but again came up wet and empty listed. Friday, John and I were on a tour of the county. My Mum preferred afternoon visits and so we checked again for the ibis, all to no avail. We were at a place on the Notts county boundary in the north, just about as far as you can physically get from the ibis fields, when we learned that another birder, Dave, had seen the ibis Wednesday afternoon – he knew it was Wednesday because it was pie day at the pub.
Saturday I had the day off from visiting as they were stacking ten deep around he bed with it being a weekend and so I decided to try again for the ibis before heading off out of county to Bempton RSPB reserve on the Yorkshire coast. I fancied seeing Gannets and Razorbills etc and the weather had perked up a bit after being truly horrible. Needless to say, I didn’t see the bird and so off I went. Bempton was busy but i had a good look around before heading off. I had just left Bempton when John called – the ibis was back! Decision time, I’d already sent my friend Victoria a text asking another friend’s cell phone number, it went Txdyhvanmbrfrlz – translated it’s Tx = Thanks – do you have a number for Liz. She didn’t understand it and I suspect I haven’t quite got the hang of texting, so, with no way to contact Liz the only logical option was to hare it back to Notts!
Two hours and ten minutes later I was watching the ibis as it did ibis-like things at the east end of a gravel pit at Hoveringham. Ten minutes later everything spooked and the ibis left east – perhaps never to return. Actually I did see it again from a distance and its location suggests that it has a new favourite spot although for how long is anyone’s guess.
I only got record shots but they are record shots of a Glossy Ibis and it is in Notts which is all that counts. The next post will be bit more varied, promise.
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