birding never sleeps: Following in the footsteps of others with my stool (Cornwall & Devon, 31 March)

Thursday 1 April 2021

Following in the footsteps of others with my stool (Cornwall & Devon, 31 March)

Wednesday 31 March. With Stay-at-home lockdown over the draw of American Herring Gull in Cornwall and Northern Mockingbird in Devon were too irresistible, but which to go for first. There were also issues around viewing the mockingbird, seen best from a narrow alleyway (what is called a twitten in Sussex) where a step-ladder or similar is needed to look over a seven foot fence. That is where my stool comes in and I set off for the West Country mid evening on 30th with it and a few other bits in the back of my car. On the journey down I was weighing up the pros and cons of where to start, not an issue I've faced since Scilly in October 1999 when the choice between Short-toed Eagle on the Eastern Isles and Siberian Thrush on Gugh was made much easier by seeing the former from the Scillonian as we approached the islands. I decided I'd rather see the American Herring Gull, particularly having seen a strong contender locally a couple of weeks earlier. It would also mean less travelling at busy times and a shorter journey home although I'd see how I felt at Honiton. There, at about 11pm, I was still feeling wide awake and kept going, arriving at Drift at about 2am. I found a pull in on a quiet road and struggled for several minutes maneuvering my stool so I could sleep across the back seat of the car. I was up at dawn and soon in Newlyn although I initially misunderstood where to look for the gull and tried the beach south of the harbour. Quickly realising there were no gulls there I walked back along the road overlooking the harbour and soon saw five other birders looking intently into it. The American Herring Gull was swimming inside the harbour and soon flew onto the beach below us. What a bird! Why don't our Herring Gulls look that good? I watched and photographed it for the best part of an hour - it was on view the whole time, mostly on the small beach (the tide was high tide) south of the base of Old Quay. With news the Northern Mockingbird had been seen I headed straight for Exmouth. Perhaps I should have detoured to look for the Ring-necked Ducks on Dozmary Pool but I was on a mission and they weren't my primary objective. I'd filled up with petrol, Penzance Tescos was 10p/litre cheaper the Shoreham Tescos had been the previous evening, and drove for about 2.5 hours to Exmouth. About half a dozen birders standing by the road with scopes indicated where to stop although they didn't seem to be looking at anything. Three birders I'd seen in Newlyn emerged from the alleyway opposite and told me the bird was being watched from it. I got my stool and walked down the alleyway, much narrower than I was expecting, and set up next to two other birders sharing a stepladder. They quickly put me onto the Northern Mockingbird drinking from a gutter briefly before flying into a holly tree. From my vantage point I had brilliant views, particularly when it flew onto the top of a shorter tree in the middle of the garden. A nice bird but it didn't do a lot and after about 25 minutes I'd had my fill. Returning to the road there was a bit more activity and I assumed the bird could be seen although it had definitely been worth taking the stool. Very satisfied I left and came straight home. It took about four hours, a diversion between Chichester and Fontwell not helping, but I wasn't rushing.