A darting speck across a grassy bank, a flick of white in my direction, a pause - that pose.
A relieved smile, I think 'ah, welcome back!'.
And Winter ends like that, with no fanfare, just a traveller returning...
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| Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) (adult male) Seaford Head, East Sussex, 31/3/13 |
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| Another bird (first winter male?) - same location |
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| 'Wheatear alley', Seaford Head looking east to Cuckmere and the Seven Sisters |
It's an established fact that nothing really comes close to the first Wheatear of spring. In fact nothing really comes close to Wheatears *full stop*. Ok, I'm sure the birth of a child might come close, people tell me that's a pretty big deal, and of course doing a number on Spurs...but lets not get bogged down with context.
The thought of getting to April 1st without one was, frankly, a worry, but thankfully I got there with hours to spare. Finding these two cracking birds on the cliffs just past Seaford Head on Sunday, while my Grandma had her afternoon nap, was very satisfying. It takes a special bird to upstage a Bluethroat and a Kentish Plover, two new British ticks I nabbed over the weekend at Dover and Rye respectively, but strangely, that's how it feels. As one of the most worldly of passerine migrants, wheatears have IT, that thing...the mystery of all those miles behind them and all those lying ahead. They're not particularly flash and they don't have a memorable song, but still they make me smile like nothing else.
Have you got yours yet?
Have you got yours yet?
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| Not a Wheatear. Female White-spotted Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica cyanecula) Samphire Hoe CP, Kent, 29/3/13 |
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