Turtle Dove

So far this Spring, I am averaging eight hours and 10+ miles birding per day. Putting this into context, you boys spend about this amount of time working, looking after children/ grandchildren and/or placating other halves. However, despite these hours, I am finding - or not finding - scarce birds about as tricky as advanced calculus at the moment - time plus effort does not equal rares.

Firecrest, Tree Pipit, Ring Ouzel, Arctic Tern and today Turtle Dove are really very nice birds, but they are not exactly SFYL game-changers. So far, Steve's Bar-tailed Godwit and the Green-winged Teal that Richard will undoubtedly find at Meadow Lane or Radwell this week are the only birds that I think could fall into that category.

What someone needs is a Hoopoe, Serin, White-winged Black, Roseate or Little Tern, Montagu's Harrier, Savi's Warbler, Bluethroat or something of that or greater magnitude.

Being 'number one' means bugger all and is not synonymous with 'best' - just ask David Moyes, Sebastian Vettel or Enrique Iglesias or the myriad other shite that inhabits the number one spot in the record charts.

Atb,

DOM