I received a text message yesterday morning from none other than the ‘biking birder’ himself Mr Gary Prescott. For those of you who may be none the wiser Gary spent all of 2010 cycling to each of the 200+ RSPB Reserves in the British Isles and WWT sites too. In total he peddled in excess of 5000 miles and ‘ticked’ 253 different bird species all the while raising funds for ourselves, WWT and Asthma UK. As if that wasn’t enough he visited schools along the route – including three in Weymouth – to deliver assemblies about climate change and green issues.
The Biking Birder, Gary Prescot second left and fellow Midlands birder Jason Oliver second right, for whom the dowitcher was a 'life tick'.
Naturally Weymouth Wetlands formed part of his epic almost 12-months ago to the day, but the purpose of yesterdays visit was rather less involving; namely, to get a 2011 tick of the long-billed dowitcher which has returned to the saltmarsh after brief staycation in Poole Park. The American wader duly obliged and everybody left happy.
Long-billed dowitcher - the second notable sighting of the day. (Picture by Allan Neilson)
Gary’s next mooted expedition is to two-wheel his way to his sole unvisited RSPB nature reserve, Harapan. That is Harapan rainforest Sumatra, SE Asia and not any other Harapan you may be thinking of! You’ve got to admire his commitment to the cause.
To find out more about Gary’s excellent adventure visit. http://bikingbirder2010.blogspot.com/
A fantastic achievement to be proud of. Was going to comment on the photo but best not!
Seize the day!