Day: April 15, 2015

Someone dropped me a line and asked had I abandoned the Birds As Poetry blog.

No not really.

Forgotten about it. Perhaps

Ignored it. Certainly

Too busy to do much.  Probably.

So busy with Flickr.  That’s a fact.

Slowed down by the new WordPress interface for inputting blog pages.  Yep, that would do it to.

But abandoned, is such a, well, final, word.

So a lot of things I could write on have been let go.

We took a day out to Eynesbury to look for specifically “Speckled Warblers”.

In the end we were getting ready to load up the gear and come home when EE said, we should check over in that scrub just near the golfcourse.  And so, we went.

Now this area is actually the pathway for the golfing dudes on their motorised buggies to get from one spot to another.  So its a little gravel track, and a beautifully maintained lawn on either side.

And it just so happens that the grass  had been mowed that very day, and it freed up all the seed for easy access to your average seed eating bird.  And what we found was a large party of  hunting Diamond Firetails.

Now as it happened EE had taken the camera with her. Mr Skeptic had left his in the car. Too heavy to carry the 50 metres and besides lunch was looking the better alternative.

Now of course the dilemma run (well in my case walk quickly) back to the car, by which time said Firetails will be gone, or just sit and watch someone else gleefully photograph the birds.  No much of an option is it?

So by the time I’d arrived back EE and the birds  had become quite friendly, and she was up nice and close. Of course big dude with big lens stomping over the grass was only going to have one effect and that would be “No birds”.  So I sat a few minutes and watched. In that time golfing dudes had trundled their little truckies along the gravel, and the birds had retreated to the trees, but in quick succession returned to feed.  Ah ha! saith I.

I edged over the lawn to within about 10m of the track. Next golfing trio to pass by of course put the birds up, and I moved up the extra 5 metres from the roadside and waited…
And.

Sure enough, trundling truckie disappearing in the distance, the Firetails descended.

Only problem now what which ones to aim at.
Well, that was infact the second problem. I’d lain (laid?) on the grass thinking I would be less conspicuous, but one of the things golfing grounds maintenance staff do, is to water said grass. So here I am laying in the swamp that is the well watered said grass.  Soaking it up.

Still I know about wet.  You eventually get dry, so I got back to the job in hand.

Enjoy.

I certainly did.