Upminster Birder: Its a Linnet not a Pipit you plonker

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Its a Linnet not a Pipit you plonker

Todays blog was supposed to be a happy one,one full of my days birding and first day as a budding Thirty something photographer,well it still is but i have to clear one thing up first,i made a mistake,a mistake i am seriously annoyed with myself for making,almost because i just assumed and didn't look into it properly because i thought i knew better,but i didn't,i am a fool lol.
I mistook a Linnet for a Meadow Pipit and even after seeing a photo,which i didn't really look at as i assumed i was right.
The incident happened at Thames Chase Forest Centre,the new scrape that i am fascinated by at the moment,the place i will get up at 7am for tomorrow in -4c temperatures,the place i will trudge to in freezing cold conditions to see what goes on there first thing in the morning.I was with my good friend Garry Bowden who was showing me the ropes in the world of photography.We took loads of photos of all sorts of birds who visited the scrape during the day,a couple of photos Garry took were of what i just casually assumed was a Meadow Pipit,they were head on photos,i thought i heard it call,didn't really pay attention as i was watching the Snipe and just put it down as Meadow Pipit.When i got home,i looked at the photos,looked at the bill,thought it was odd for a pipit so asked someone who knows more than me,but for whatever reason still thought it was a meadow pipit,for whatever reason i just didn't consider Linnet,despite us seeing a flock of 22 Linnets all bloody day.It may of been me,getting carried away with the photography but i should of known better,its not really an easy mistake to make,not the hardest birds to confuse,oh well!!!
Everyone makes mistakes,i shouted Bittern once when a pheasant flew over a hide at Dunge,got some funny looks but that was more instinct and i knew straight away it was wrong,the hide laughed,oh did they laugh....
Anyway,glad thats off my chest......Me and Garry arrived at Thames Chase,well i arrived first,got myself a pot of tea and a couple of cookies,lovely.We made our way to the scrape after quickly testing his gear,Garry uses a 400m lense,gets good shots but his main gear is away with Nikon at the moment and he let me use his wives camera just to get an idea how to use it,i really am that clueless...On arriving at the scrape,a quick scan revealed Snipe (1),Green Sandpiper (1),Pied Wagtail (3),Lapwing (2) and after a while we found a lovely Grey Wagtail.During the day we were treated to 23 Linnets,a few Long Tailed tits,kestrel,some Goldfinch,a few Greenfinch,plenty of Fieldfares,redwings and another Snipe popped in.
We finished off walking back to the car around 2.15pm with some good shots of the birds (will post below if i can do it).After another pot of tea and a look at some of the photos Garry had to dash for the school run,whereas i made my way back over to the scrape,buzzing from the days work so far.On arriving there were now 3 Snipe,shortly to be joined by another two,a healthy flock of Goldfinch were knocking about,then an Egyptian goose flew past,seemingly following the M25 North.I decided then as it was below freezing to call it a day,on heading back i had a Woodcock over the area called Great Barn,a bit unexpected really but a first for this year,was made up.Got back to the visitor centre to talk about the birds i had seen,lovely birds but no Meadow Pipit lol,silly Robert.
More birding tomorrow but unfortunatly until i get my gear which i hope to be in the next two weeks,more crappy Blackberry photos until then,probably keep me out of trouble though !!!