(CLICK ON A PIC AND IT WILL GO BIG)
Today a mega star arrived at Shapwick. Adoring fans from around the country swarmed in to catch a glimpse of the legend.
Who is it I here you cry? The answer: A Hudsonian Godwit. Yep, I had never heard of one until today. However I am going to call it Lady Gaga as the amount of excitement generated by the bird was equal to that of the American pop star.
It first erupted on Twitter. Andrew gave me a text and was quite unimpressed. I on the other-hand pretended to be nonchalant but was actually quite interested. Still, I have just moved house and had Televisions to fix and overly expensive light shades to put up.
Anyway after a few hours the boring stuff was over and I took a trip to Shapwick. I wasn't expecting to see Lady Gaga, after all she had been there for most of the day, flaunting to her excited fans and she was no doubt getting a bit tired.
I wasn't prepared for the frenzy of birders, scopes and cameras.
The Frenzy
When I arrived at the scrape, a mass of Godwits flew up including Lady Gaga herself. She put on a quick medley of greatest hits before splitting off with her entourage and disappeared over towards Catcott (no doubt to sign more autographs).
How long did I see her for? About 3 seconds. Still, I had seen the superstar. Albeit rather briefly. Still, the chap who had just arrived had driven 3 hours to see her. Unfortunately he was about 2 minutes to late. .. He was simply gaga travelling all this way.
I strolled over to Noahs hide, admiring the smart Blackcaps hiding in the bushes whilst keeping an eye out for any stray Hobbies that might be flying about.
I didn't get a Hobby but this rather smart Arctic Tern did fly over. Shame about the light.
Arctic Tern
Arctic Turn
At the hide a Heron was busily fishing
Grey Heron
Here I got talking to Graham Hall who got a very nice picture of Lady Gaga this morning. He’s on Flickr (Cosper Wosper). Whilst having a chat this Bittern flew by.
Bittern
Time flew and soon it was going a bit dark. Strolling back along the track, there were still a load of hopeful fans including the man who had just missed her. He stood forlornly. He was clearly depressed and cursed the fact he stopped to long at the motorway services. Graham showed him his pics, which probably made it even worse…
At that point I wondered if twitching was worth it. It was a massive distance for ultimate disappointment. I couldn't travel for more than an hour to see something. But then perhaps that shows my lack of adventure?
The EFRS is more about the day and general enjoyment rather than a single bird. But then everybody’s tastes are different and that’s what makes the world go round.
Still I think he was Gaga though
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