Twitchers in the Making

I've been ill the past couple of weeks. What started with a mild sore throat  rapidly became a heavy cold that turned into sinusitis. It was unpleasant, made slightly worse by the need to be in bed right when the country was experiencing a heatwave.

After several days of feeling sorry for myself I began to feel a bit better, so on Saturday evening I decided to go on an adventure with my husband, and my youngest brother and his girlfriend.

Armed with two pairs of binoculars, two good cameras, and a picnic of epic proportions we headed to a village a few miles south of our hometown to go bird watching. We could have been partying. We could have been watching Eurovision. We could even have reinstalled World of Warcraft and been busy raiding. But no, we went bird watching. Because...we are cool.

Cool, I say!

We parked at the end of the village and began to walk along a bridleway that leads to the river. The sun was still pleasantly warm and the sky a clear blue. Luscious green fields and swathes of bright yellow oil seed rape stretched for miles before us, framed by the South Downs on either side of the river valley, the odd church spire poking up through the trees. It was the perfect rural idyll, and I instantly felt all stress and sick-related grumpiness melt away.

My brother and his girlfriend both had their binoculars out almost immediately, after we had spotted some swifts, scanning the horizon for anything of particular note. My husband played with the various fancy lenses on his camera, until he was satisfied that he could capture a fine shot, and I looked slightly mournfully at my less impressive version, knowing it was best for taking flower macros, not epic photos of birds in flight.

It was as I scuffed along the road ahead of the others that I spotted a bird on a power line. I pointed it out to my brother's girlfriend, fully expecting her to say that it was just a wood pigeon, when she squealed with delight. "That's a little owl!"

Suddenly we all had binoculars or a camera to our eyes and were taking a closer look. It was indeed a little owl, looking directly at us. I've explained before that we love owls, but this was the first time I'd ever seen an owl in real life that wasn't in captivity, and I don't care how cheesy this sounds - it was breathtaking.

Little Owl! 

Despite our excitement we were being as quiet as possible, but the little owl appeared to be glowering at us angrily, as if to berate us for interrupting its hunting. We had perhaps alerted its dinner to its fate. After several minutes it flew off, following the power lines north, in search of another small rodent that wouldn't have scarpered at the sound of our boots thumping along the ground.

Overjoyed that within the first few minutes of our expedition we had seen one of our favourite types of bird, we continued on towards the river, stopping every few yards for more bird watching. We eventually found a nice grassy spot at the edge of the bridleway to stop for our picnic, and relish in the peace and quiet of the countryside. Whilst we ate we were serenaded by sky larks and reed warblers, and every so often a heron, little egret, or swan would fly overhead. I'm surprised that the others didn't get indigestion as they continuously leapt up to investigate or photograph various birds, but it was a lovely way to enjoy a warm summer evening.

Shortly after the picnic we were engulfed by a swarm of midges that took to travelling with us all the way up to the river, and then all the way back to the car when we had given up any hope of seeing any more owls. Despite this storm cloud of insects we were still able to witness a stunning pink sunset behind the Downs, and once we were free of the flood plains they abandoned us. We were then treated to the dance of another one of my favourite animals - bats flitting right above our heads as we meandered through the darkened village to the pub for a much needed beverage.

Red sky at night, shepherd's delight

We figured out that we had seen and/or heard twenty-two different species of bird, which I don't think is too bad for a very amateur birdwatcher's first time, especially when one of those species is the Little Owl, squee!

I have to say, I don't know if I am ever likely to take up bird watching as a serious hobby, but I know how much my husband likes to photograph birds, so there's a good chance this could become a more regular thing.

In any case, it was a truly relaxing evening - a delicious picnic in the beautiful countryside with three of my favourite people, and no sound but that of the birdsong and the light breeze rustling the reeds. Sorry Eurovision, as much as I was sad I missed you this year, you can't beat that.

Photos my own.