Pratincoles
are enigmatic birds that really get the birding pulse racing. So when the
Black-winged variety turned up at Cley, Norfolk on Tuesday 15th July
I decided my chance to finally connect with this bird had come. I had planned
to leave the office at 4pm which would get me there before 6pm and with enough
daylight to enjoy the bird and perhaps grab a photo or two. My boss and the
bird had other ideas. A 4pm meeting was called lasting 1 hour. I was already
behind schedule but checking my birdguide app along the trip showed the bird
still present so I felt pretty relaxed I would tick the Prat after all it had
been on the scrapes all afternoon and looked settled.
On arrival
at Cley I passed several birders coming the other way all with the news I
wanted to hear. Bird still showing in front of the hides with lapwing. Great!
On arrival at the hide you can guess what happened next. Birders outside the
hide looking south with Bins and Scopes made my heart sink. The bird had flown
2 minutes ago I was told. I had a choice - sit it out till dusk and hope the
bird returned or go for the Great Knot
an hour away at Breydon. I decided that although the BWP was not as rare in
British terms as the Knot the latter just didn’t hold the same appeal as the
Pratincole. Whilst I waited I collected some good birds, Wood Sands, Green
Sands, Spoonbills and a 1CY Little Gull but no Pratincole. I left cursing my
luck. Wednesday the bird had appeared at Stiffkey and by Thursday the bird had
flown west from there.
Where would it turn up next? My hunch was that it could
well turn up in Cambs and what better place than the Ouse Washes. I manged to
finish work early on Friday and headed to the Washes not expecting to see the
BWP but with that hope you always set out with that maybe this time you will
stumble across a rarity. I spent until dusk at the reserve walking from the car
park north to past the railway bridge including an hour spent at a particularly
attractive looking pool just south of the rail bridge. A lovely evening with
Garganey, Spotshank and plenty of Ruff and Blackwits but not the hoped for BWP.
Ah well that was always a long shot wasn’t it.
Saturday
arrived and I knew Ade Cooper usually does the washes so I decide I would at
least get some Pratincole action in Suffolk and try and collect the Collared
Pratincole that was residing in front of the east hide. 4pm just arriving at
the hide and a message on my phone. Ade Cooper had just found a BWP on the pool
south of the rail bridge. Gob smacked! Gutted I hadn’t been fortunate enough to
connect the evening before but in a way pleased my instinct of the bird turning
up there had been correct and if anybody else apart from me should find the
bird then I was pleased it was Ade who puts plenty of effort into the reserve.
I decide to
collect the Collared Prat having travelled the 85 miles or so from my home to
get there. By 4.30 I had seen the bird well on the scrape and was on my way to
Cambs to hopefully finally see the BWP. I was 2 hours away but I was hopeful. I
kept in touch with Ade. 4.30pm preening looks settled, 5pm still there 17.34
the text I didn’t want. Bird had flown NW across the fields. I’d missed the
bird again. I decided that walking the 4 KM to the bridge was not the best
option but instead to check somewhere N of the washes reserve. Welney seemed
the obvious choice. Duncan and Ben had had the same thought. After collecting
the obligatory Glossy ibis I left them to head to March Farmers, the next most
obvious place. Whilst there Mike Weedon turned up with the same thought. But alas
still no BWP. Compensation was in the form of a Wood Sand, 3 Cranes flying
overhead and a singing Corncrake and capped off with a couple of beautiful Barn Owls hunting the washes.
Sunday
arrived. Maybe the bird would be a bird of habit and come back to its pool at
the south of the railway at the washes. I arrived at the pool where Rob Palmer
was waiting. Rob was on site Saturday but had left as Ade had headed back North
to check the Lapwing flock that had dropped on the pool whilst they were in
Cadbury hide. Rob also had some unfinished business. We both were amazed that
no other birders were present. We waited patiently for 1.5hrs seeing Garganey,
LRP, Ruff and Godwits but no BWP. It was 3.30pm I decided to walk 500M or so N
of the bridge to check the pools there. After 15 mins or so of checking the
lapwing flock with no sight or sound of the BWP I became aware of Rob screaming
my name and waving his arms. It could only mean one thing! I started to run as
fast as I could. The humidity and heat and general lack of fitness didn’t help
and by the time I arrived with Rob for him to confirm the news that the bird was
indeed back on the pool, picked up by the other birder who had turned up Hugh
Venables.
I was sweating like a pig in a thunderstorm (an old saying from my
Grandmother I have no reason to believe pigs do sweat in thunderstorms!) I
then quickly and carefully made my way onto the bank erected scope and bang
there the bird was on the pool standing on a spit of mud with lapwing!
Brilliant finally I had caught up with the bird and it was all the more special
for the runaround it had given me! I had little time to take in these emotions
however as literally 10 seconds after watching the bird through the scope the Lapwings got up followed by the Prat. However the show was not over and it
spent the next few minutes hawking above with hirundines and finally coming
right over our heads on the bank before going N toward Welney.
Phew I had come
close to missing the bird again. Missing the bird and being on site would have
been a very bitter pill to swallow but the nomadic nordmanii had finally given
itself up to me. So the weekend had finished with 2 Pratincole sp in the UK. Magic!
Brendan Doe
