...(aka Bittern Galore!)
Friday afternoons are traditionally a bit of a house keeping day - tidying, litter picking and the like and consequently lack some of the romance and allure of active conservation management. However, as alluded to in an earlier blog, the mundane and the magical can and do occasionally meet and have the capacity to make the most humdrum task memorable as I hope the following will illustrate.
Opening the hide this morning I was desperately trying to string a cormorant as an otter (sadly I failed). Just as the bird surfaced with a large roach (too large to swallow it transpired) a bittern flew into the reeds and perched for a while before dropping down to begin foraging just 30 or so feet away. A woodcock then flew past which by and large added up to a very nice start to the day.
This afternoon while engaged in the less that stimulating task of litter picking on Lodmoor, Will and I had great flight views of another bittern for perhaps 30 seconds. Thereafter the litter paled by comparison.
A while later when cleaning the V.C. windows I was treated to a third bittern of the day which bizarrely flew quite high over Swannery Car Park, banked over King Street, over the station, KFC, McDonald’s, Comet et al before disappearing behind the trees of Radipole Park Drive. It was up for long enough to provide VC staff with decent views – but strangely rather inferior to those offered to diners in McDonald’s.
I can state without fear of contradiction that litter picking or window cleaning are not strong motivations for those wishing to pursue a career in conservation but they can bring little treasures and provide some welcome perspective.
Some people get all the luck, no one's asked me to pick litter!!
Isn't that the stuffed Bittern you had in the office the other day!?
Seize the day!