Birding Braunie

March always brings me a premature hope of Spring; and by Spring I mean Spring migrants. While trying to overlook the boring winter migrants, already ticked and captured on camera, I focus on what  might be or could be seen as the earth spins inevitably toward the prospect of rarities and forgotten friends flying back from their winter homes. It is a time for re-remembering warbler call notes and pretending to understand impact of weather systems and logical drop zones of early returners to which I am a poor student. So here is a bad school report for the month of March. 6th March – Rainham Marshes After many attempts at getting a sighting let alone a picture of the long-staying Dartford Warblers on the reserve, my endeavour finally paid off. Thanks to a couple of birders who had the warbler in their sights, I was able to get some adequate images of the birds even though it kept itself at a distance that irritated the photographer in me. Beggars can't be choosers I suppose. ...

What turned out as the warmest day of the year, found me stupidly volunteering to give our sorry internal door a fresh lick of non-drip gloss. I really need to think before I open my gob. With the skies clearing to a colbalt blue, I prepped the doors and swore into my tea. My good lady is more sensible; she had already planned to go on a group walk around Wanstead followed by a historical talk somewhere. Which ever way I tried to look at my task in hand, it was going to take most of the day. On top of all this, I had to go and buy a new toaster from Currys. What a life right? Try and keep up. The math was simple. If I took ten hours to do the doors, I could probably steal an hour or so without anyone asking why I was taking so long to slap a bit of brilliant white on some doors? Okay so the best place for me to get that hour is usually Connaught Water. It has average ducks and stuff on the water and always a teasing nuthatch or treecreeper that draw me to them like a siren does a...