Thursday 27 September 2012

Wryneck at Reculver

After missing out on the Wryneck at Reculver the last few days I had another message from Matt Hindle alerting me that the Wryneck was still present at Chambers Wall. Again I was frustrated as I was at work but hoped that maybe I could catch up with it after school. As many know this is the one bird I truly would love to see at Reculver and after work I again met Chidders where luckily reinforcements were also in hand with Steve Ashton and Sue Morton also present for the twitch. We made our way to the area and after making a call to Chris Hindle to find out exactly which bush we were to look in we hatched our plan. Chidders went for a quick wander and seconds later started waving like mad. We joined him quickly only to see a frustrating shape moving through the bushes but not enough to confirm for me what it was. Steve had also seen it fly out of the bush and I again thought this was going to end badly. We carried on and split up and searched all the bushes again when Chidders flushed it again from the floor and it again flew into cover. We gathered around the area and thankfully Chidders volunteered to go into the bush and take a pounding from all the thorns. His great technique worked as the Wryneck flew out and landed in the next bush allowing me to get some views through the binoculars. Wow, wow and wow again. There it was, the bird I have longed for at Reculver in the bush. The Wryneck soon vanished again and with everyone now having seen it, it was time to get an image of the bird, a task quite hard as the bird had never shown well. We carried on getting fleeting views of the bird before as we left it appeared in a low down bush allowing for some dodgy shots but you can see what it was. Thankfully it flew into a tree and for once showed quite well allowing for some more shots of this mega Reculver bird. This was a case of not being bothered by the shots but just thankful for something to look at. Other bits we also managed to glimpse were 1 Peregrine, 1 Kestrel, 1 Reed Warbler and a few Long tailed Tits. The day then ended well with a superb bird seen and some images to look back over. Patch watching at its best! Thanks to Chidders for taking a few cuts and bruises and the help of Steve and Sue. Perhaps it will hang on till the weekend when it will hopefully pose on top of a bush in the sun!!



7 comments:

  1. Jealous as hell Marc....well done Chidders, and congrats on the success of seeing the bird you most wanted to at Reculver.

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  2. I've never been able to catch one on camera. You have!

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  3. Phew! They can be elusive little so and so's can't they! I can remember trying for them every year for 5 years in West Cornwall, always going on other people's news. In Year 6 I decided to stop chasing them, and guess what, I turned when I went for a stroll with my kids near the Cot Valley(see Sept 2007 on my blog for the 'photo').

    Adam

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  4. Got one then Marc :-) Its a good feeling to get a new patch bird, keeps you motivated in the slow times :-)

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  5. Good field craft and patience will get you better views than bush bashing!

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