'Like a giant, pale Bonxie'

For background, refer to:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/bedsbirds/conversations/messages/45843

I have been agonising over what to do with this bird throughout today, then this evening, Steve tells me that Glaucous Gull is not even a description species. I find this bizarre but I do not make the rules. I would want a description from me.

When I 'find' a 'tricky' or description species, my thought process is, ''Am I happy with it?'' In this case, the answer is yes. My next question to self is ''Would my description get past a Rarities Committee?'' In this case, I thought not, so I would then enter the record in my own personal database (in this case BirdTrack), then forget about it. However, having shown S my notes this evening, it would appear it would be satisfactory.

I even described the bird as 'being like some bloke who has put a bit of weight on around the middle and so pulls his stomach in and sticks out his chest to compensate.'

So gentlemen, I am afraid that in keeping with my new existentialist finding guidelines, Glaucous Gull goes officially onto my SFYL.

You win some, you lose some...

Please forgive the clumsy similes...

Atb,

DOM

Tawny Owls and Cetti's

This morning, my plan was to leave home at 06:15, in order to arrive at the Ivel Valley for dawn. On my way, a pair of Tawny Owls duetting from a copse at Oak Farm was a splendid way to start my day.

Things were predictably slow at the New Road Workings; a couple of Snipe, but no sight nor sound of the Cetti's. I did manage to convert Wigeon into a zero-carbon tick.

Next, to Warren Villas and the fog descended - visibility was now no more than 50m. On the western side of the nature reserve, I was surprised to hear a Cetti's give a single explosive phrase of song. During 2013, I had CW on six occasions at New Road - always in the same reedbed. This, however, was about 0.5m away on the far side of Warren Villas. The same bird? Well I can't be sure. Strictly speaking, the situation is no different to the Marston Vale birds that people have been ticking, but:

1) I am not so desperate
2) The only person I am competing against is myself

Until I hear a bird at New Road then a bird at Warren Villas shortly afterwards, it stays out.

After converting Teal to a zero-carbon tick, met up with Richard and we had a look at Broom. No rare grebes, but a flock of Shoveler were my first of the year (Steve and I managed to avoid Shoveler during the entire duration of the duck hunt!) However, I can't tick these either because others have already done so.

[Edit. As at 21-Jan:
Year list: 90, SFYL: 88, zero-carbon: 81, BirdTrack records: 619, BirdTrack lists: 16]

Atb,

DOM

Goosander

First tick since October in the form of a smart, adult female Goosander at Warren Villas NR yesterday morning. I should really spend more time in the Ivel Valley next year, but it is a bit of a walk - four miles there and four miles back. Nevertheless, it will keep me fit and I should see an improvement on my dismal waterbird tally of this year.

Roll on 2014. (And that is 'twenty fourteen', not 'two thousand and fourteen'...we didn't refer to dates in the last millenium as - for example - 'one thousand nine hundred and ninety seven', did we?)

Yours,

Resident blog pedant