Largely thanks to the birding i've been doing this year my mileages have far & away surpassed what i've ever done before so it was really nice to have hit another milestone today. In anticipation i had decided it was a milestone worthy of something a little special rather than a run-of-the-mill ride to work or the shops - however nice a ride to work or the shops might have been !
So on leaving the house this afternoon it was rather unsurprising to end up at Horsey mill even though my intention had been the wintering harrier roost at Stubb Mill - a further 10 miles round the loop - but i'd wholly underestimated the effect the extra weight of birding scope & tripod had on my speed and stamina during these colder months (and to think i'd carted all that gear for 102 miles round the Norfolk & Suffolk countryside in one day, back when the weather was better) and so the extra 10 miles would have meant getting there too late. But nothing wrong with the roost at Horsey - in fact it's the same roost just viewed from a different place - just as good a place to see what i think is quite a spectacle of the harriers gently gliding back in low over the tops of the reedbeds, before maybe flying round once or twice then dropping down for the night.
With no one about and no lock on me (i wouldn't have needed one at Stubb Mill) i decided that pushing my bike round to the viewpoint would be far easier than unloading and carting scope & tripod etc there and back. Taking the opportunity for some atmospheric photography ...
...(well i tried, but some might just say its crap) along the way i slowly walked along the muddy path and through the marshy fields, though occasional shady areas were dry & crunchy where they'd not thawed from last nights frost.
And luck being what it is, as i was rounded a corner and came into a marshy field so a Merlin lifted off a short way ahead and flew off low across the field in front of me & off over the top of the reedbeds giving me a great view of its orangey underparts and facial "moustache" ... what a great start to have an absolutely definite close view of this zippy little falcon.
On and through the reedbeds onto the path beside a dyke ...
...and i settled down to hopefully a good hour or so's birding though at first the mist seemed to be closing right in and i was concerned that the trip had been for nothing, but that soon settled into a low dense cushion of marsh-mist laying for just 3ft off the ground. Above it was fine and clear, with a mostly-blue sky & virtually no wind to speak of everything was absolutely still and at peace, just the right conditions.
Without going through too many descriptives, the following hour and half was pretty darned good with counts of the following -
c.20 Marsh Harriers (and a max of 8 in the air at one time)
2 Hen Harriers (1 ringtail & 1 male, plus possibly a 2nd ringtail which was too far distant to be sure)
1 Merlin (poss the same bird again ? - as it had come from that same direction)
c.9 Common Crane
c.10 overflying Snipe
a mix of ducks & geese (mostly Teal ducks & pinkfeet geese)
flyovers of Lapwings /starlings / Redwing and other thrushes
2 Wrens, 1 Robin and c.5 Bearded Tits pinging away in the reeds
Until 4 o'clock and it was time to scoot off before the area plunged into complete darkness; because of which i was certainly glad of my second headlight during the 7 miles or so back home.
And to cap the end of a relatively short though quite memorable biking / birding trip i passed my 6000th mile of the year, without doubt the furthest i've biked in any single year.
As there won't be too many more outings in the next 3 weeks that's about it i think, though there's a chance i'll make it to 10,000 km (just to completely confuse the unit measurements) with commuting etc, which would be a nice round figure to get to.
But ... 6000 miles (9654 km) ridden with a bird list of 160, that's ok
24th Dec - with a final couple of 30 mile commutes, along the way netting myself a cracking male Hen Harrier (though not a new addition to the list) near Stokesby last week the total is now 9981 km, and still one week left...
10,000 km is now so close i can smell it !
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