The night before the twitch had myself and Stringer worried a little, the bird had reported as having moved around a bit making us wonder if perhaps it was still there. However a quick check of either BirdGuides or Turd Boredom (can't remember which) revealed the bird was still present at dusk. Right, lets av' it! Stringer picked me up and the 3 of us; Kevin, Stringer, and myself made it down to Cornwall. I admired Stringer and Kevin for being able to do the mammoth journey from Northumberland to Durham and then to Cornwall....then all the way back!
We arrived at Walmsley Sanctuary in Cornwall for dawn and had to queue to get into the tower hide, however we were informed the bird had been seen and was still present. So although we hadn't seen it yet we could relax...a little bit. After a wait we eventually got into the hide and saw the American Bittern. Superb! We enjoyed some cracking views before leaving, on the way back to the car Stringer suggested we check the smaller hide that no one had bothered with as it looked like the bird might be able to be seen from that hide. On entering someone was already in and had said he hadn't seen it from that hide. About 5 minutes past and the same guy picked it up. It took a short while but eventually all of the 5 people in the hide got onto the bird. It was remaining fairly hidden but then it walked out in the open for a short time and we enjoyed some truly brilliant views of this stunner of a bird! It was close, showing well, and the hide was nice and quiet with a relaxed atmosphere. Brilliant!
(American Bittern - © "Stringer")
(American Bittern - © "Stringer")
After this we headed to the Lost Gardens of Heligan where the Green Heron was present, this bird was in a very bizarre location. A small jungle like pool in the middle of a botanical garden! This bird also showed really well and allowed us some truly excellent views. What a day; great birds, great company, great twitch!
(Green Heron - © "Stringer")
Until next time, Foghorn out!
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