Birder’s Twitter S3E6
- jonnyrankin
- Jul 25, 2023
- 2 min read
Back-to-back, straight up killer episodes! We should be charging for this magnificence! Catch up on Season 3 - episode 6 here:
It's worth pointing out that we had over 1.3k listens to last week's episode featuring Brian McCloskey. Monstrous!
We kick off the episode with our first patch guest from the people’s republic of Essex. Mr. Andy Field who introduces Mersea Island!
Jonny R manages to repair the Anglo-Essex damage caused by DDL and Jonny H over preceding episodes.
Mersea is a true island - cut off by high tides. Jonny H insults the guest almost immediately by calling it ‘Holy Island without the birds’.
Jonny H bangs on about Spurn again - which now has a Pine Marten. Next they are releasing Capercaillie, Crested Tit and Reindeer.
Andy has lived on and birded Mersea for 21 years and tells us about Broad-billed Sandpiper, Dark-eyed Junco, Bluethroat and finding the first Yellow-browed Warbler for the island.
Mersea is 4.5mi x 2mi with the main village of West Mersea, the scattered settlement of East Mersea, lots of farmland and a Country Park. Mersea is tucked-in between the Denge Peninsula and Colne Point. Andy wants some freshwater habitat. If anyone has a digger please DM him.
Andy got the Black-winged Kite from his Mersea patch. What. A. Boss.
Twice this week Jonny R has been recognised by prominent members of the birding community. Which is pretty impressive.
Andy vows to not be in Essex when Jonny R visits in the winter.
Andy doesn’t have a self found list because:
It wouldn’t be very big; and
Self found lists are up your own arse - the bigger the self found list - the more up your own arse you are.
Self found lists are very smug. Very smug.
DDL looks at Egyptian Nightjar and persists in talking about White-cheeked Tern. He has promised to do a spectacular ID photo-essay for the blog. Which we all eagerly await.
Jonny R continues to be a birding beast:
Monday - nice views of Marsh Harrier and a family of Grey Partridge on my way into work
Wednesday - Turtle Doves for breakfast. Dipped Black-winged Kite, but did some excellent birding along Nelson’s Head track, one of my favourite spots. Watching Med Gulls and Sandwich Terns was someone dampened by watching a moribund Guillemot, almost certainly a bird flu casualty. The experience did, however, strengthen my resolve to deliver Tern the Tide II.
Thursday - Black-winged Kite! For breakfast! Accompanied by Cranes, Green Sandpipers, Mediterranean Gulls, Marsh Harrier and Kingfisher! A special memory!
Saturday - patch! 275 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit.
Sunday - seawatch! Big patching. All very civilised really.
We close the show with big bad Luke Nash introducing incoming birding stat-attack OrniStats…
Don’t forget the UK250 Club pin-badges are live and you can access UK250 niceness at the following links:
UK Birding Pins:
Birder’s Space:
Bubo:
Listen again here to S3E6 here - it's a belter:
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