So whats happened in a year ..... I have left my job and Set up on my own Consultancy , The Beast has had a baby Girl (Emily - ahhhh ) The Fop went permanent at work and Wheelspin ...... Finished his bathroom and the Study - Chez Wilson Rocks !
Major excitement in the Bucks listing camp happened @ 15:00 on 13th October , I was picking up Alex from School when I missed a call from Warren - now this is a bad thing .... Warren tends to find things , rare things ! I called him back , but he was engaged , now this was a really bad thing ! So i try him 3 more times before listening to the message .... Hi Simon , Just had a STORM PETREL fly past the first hide @ BBOWT Lake , Calvert ....... "
In shock , i stare at the phone , He said STORM , not Leach's ..... ( there had been a few Inland Seabirds over the previous few days and a Leach's would not have been unusual ) , but a STORMIE ! Jackpot time !
I tried Warren a 4th time and bingo got through to him ( Sorry Alex , I totally ignored you in the car ;-) )
"Did you say Storm Petrel" ,
"Yep ! But I have not seen it since it flew past into the little side bay"
"No worries , I am on my way !"
Dropped Alex off at home , Text alert sent and then the busy task of phoning the Bucks Elite as i travelled safely and carefully towards Calvert lakes ;-)
Upon arriving in the near hide at a run , Warren calmly met me and informed me that he hadnt seen it for abut 30 minutes since it flew past the hide and landed in the far left hand side corner (north) ..... Stressy or what ! I decided to head out into the corner to see if I could see it , trepidation as i pushed my way through the bushes to reveal ..... 10 or so Coots ! no sign of anything petrel shaped ... I started to scan the lake just in case , nothing , then I lengthened my view , there was a small black dot about 1/3 of a mile away at the end of the lake .... Scope up - Petrel ! bingo.
I start running back to the hide where I bump into Venerable Ted , Fop and Mrs Fop and Golden Bins ( Warren is still in the hide ) I shout something incomprehensible as i tear past them into the 1st hide , no use , cant see it from there , out to the 2nd hide , Golden bins is like a rocket and i struggle to keep up !
we arrive in the 2nd hide and the bird is still there ! I struggle to get my Telescope unfogged and for the first few minutes , cant even see through the scope let alone nail the ID
After about 4 minutes of tense watching , it raises its wings ! great white underwing bar ! Yes its the first STORM PETREL in the county since 1827 ! and only the 8th ever
We watch it for a little while more , Rob Andrews, Mike and Rose Collared, Graham Smith , Tim Watts and Steve Rodwell arrive on the other bank to watch and Dave Parmenter arrives in plenty of time , suddenly about 16:20 it gets up and starts flying towards the Gulls - Danger Will Robinson , Those Lessers will rip you apart ! it settles again briefly and then does an amazing fly past of the hide and dances in front of us for about 2 minutes before flying in front of the hide and away to the right
After a general bout of what a great bird etc , Dave P , Warren and myself start to wonder why its not reappeared ..... and it never does ! No-one on the other side of the lake saw where it went and people start arriving ( Robert Norris and Mike Campbell ) and stay looking , but no further joy - by this time its approx 16:30 and the Storm Petrel was "available" for a mere 1.5 hours ! The Sailing lake was checked , but it looks as though it just flew through .....
Cracking find by Warren and a great county tick !
My Pitiful efforts
Tim Watts much betterer pic ;-)
More days out to Follow
Si
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