Further ramblings....

Autumn can be a lovely time of year and this has been a spectacular one to enjoy outside. Apparently it doesn't happen often. The colours of the trees have been lovely. For me this has been augmented by the number of migrant birds to be seen. I have never seen so many Wigeon: a very pretty duck; both male and female. We have also seen the return of Golden eye - looks like a tufted duck but prettier.

We have also been blessed, apparently, with a Dusky Warbler(DW) from Siberia. Now I'm a bird watcher - I watch all birds and delight in them. If there are 'twitchers' among you, then I apologise in advance for what I am about to say. The antics of this "breed" have caused us angst over the past few days. They turn up in droves, ignore social distancing, point huge telephoto lenses, block paths and churn them up into mud baths. They also complain when we try to squeeze past. A DW is a tiny brown bird; probably the size of a Wren (I wouldn't know for certain because I've never seen one). It bears a remarkable similarity to a Chiff Chaff of which we have seen a few in the area. I was present when a 'positive' identification was made of the beast in dense woodland at a distance of 150 MTRS with binoculars. Now I don't know about you, but I would be hard pushed to identify a heron positively under those circumstances. I know these people are better at spotting than me but I have had both cataracts dealt with and have had my vision declared as 20/20.

Everyone has the right to pursue their interests in any way they choose and I will defend their right to do so to my dying day but when, as a group they make life intolerable for other users and disturb the "normal" bird life it shows what little interest in avian life they really have. They are ticking off bird names in a book and will trample on anyone who gets in the way. Very sad.

C and I were revelling in seeing the Chiff Chaff and talked endlessly, and rather loudly, about the Robin, Long-tailed Tits, Golden eye, Wigeon and Mallard of which there were hundreds. They had a wonderful view of the backs of humans. I wonder if they are human watching and what they make of us!