O Lucky Me!

29/05/09

In the afternoon, I went to Tarland. I intended only to refill the nut and seed feeders, and have a quick check on the breeding waders. I arrived at the hide at the same time as Professor David Jenkins, the world renowned ecologist and writer. I hadn’t seen David to speak to for a while, so there was a bit of catching up to do. Anyway, after an hour or so, he left, and I got on with the business of counting birds. As I was scanning across the pool, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. It was a stunning female Red-necked Phalarope. This is one of those few species where the female is the brighter of the two, and the male does all the incubating of the eggs. Not that this was a breeding bird here in Tarland. It was probably on its way to Shetland, or further north. I didn’t have a camera of course, so I had to make do with taking detailed notes. After watching it for about twenty minutes, I called home to get a few phone numbers. I got hold of David, and he was soon on his way back. Harry Scott would arrive later. Hans and Jane Kruuk live nearby and they too came along to take a look at this fabulous wee bird. Sorry for all the name dropping, it’s just the way it turned out. When I got home I put the news out, and the bird was seen later that day, and the next day by several local birders. Then it was gone, back on its travels.