Woody and the Hudwits

A possible name for a beatnik retro sixties group or alternatively a summary of last weekends jaunts? Very occasionally the force leaves me and I slip into a state of temporary insanity which leads to me driving halfway across the country to see a rare bird. In my youth the insanity was almost uncontrollable and frequently led to bouts of melancholy as well as much joy and happiness and a (semi) respectable list, much of it pre-pager. Recently the madness has left me almost entirely and has been easier to control, until last Saturday morning....

When in my youth I first subscribed to British Birds the first rarities report from that august journal that I read contained the 1982 Hudsonian Godwit record. For some reason ever since, it has been one of the birds that I have hankered after, so when the news broke on Saturday morning I was keen to drop everything and head off to my date with destiny! Life is never that simple though and with the wife's leg still gammy I had to speed shop her round Waitrose first before picking up Nick and Greg and heading west. The drive was testing, a typical Saturday twitch, however we arrived on site early afternoon and quickly connected with the boy (well actually a girl apparently) feeding with a substantial flock of Blackwit at Meare Heath nature reserve. Mission accomplished we were able to enjoy the bird for getting on for a couple of hours before it suddenly decided to up and off with about 30 Blackwit, fortunately for those arriving later in the afternoon it has subsequently returned.

What a quality reserve though. I have never visited the Somerset Levels before but based on this visit hope to pay them a bit more attention as a destination when in the area. Bittern were seen on 4 occasions while we were on site and were heard booming throughout the afternoon (must be great at night). Great White Egret included the bird pictured left in smart spring white heron attire and Little Egret were also present. Other waders included a Greenshank and a spankmongous Wood Sandpiper in speckledy spiggledy summer plumage. A male Bearded Tit was a bonus for me (thanks Nick) and along with various Blackcap, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Sand Martins etc made for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon out.
The main attraction though was the Hudwit, what a stunning bird, as Nick said not un-reminiscent of a giant Spotted Redshank. I was not expecting it to be quite so striking and when it flew, as it did on several occasions the overall darkness of the plumage along with the striking underwing contrast with the black axillaries and underwing coverts made it very easy to pick out with bins. So to the drive home and a celebratory pint at a little pub in Fontwell which was having a rave. Never mind, can't win them all.