The Spring Migrant, the Celebrity and the Ear Infection

By C. S. Lewis.

Not really. Terrible pun aside, I decided to brave the big outdoors as my last act of freedom before I return to work tomorrow, see if I couldn't have me some fun over at Wanstead. And fun I had indeed on this, the final day of March, 2011.

The day held a decent temperature (around 16°C) and the winds were very strong and westerly, so I wasn't expecting much in the way of productivity but birding is better than not birding, and I had a couple of nice surprises.

There were, of course, countless Carrion Crows all over the Flats, and the usual Blue Tits, Great Tits, Wrens and Starlings. But there was a high level of Skylark activity, with almost constant song (ah, that beautiful sound of the summer!) and display flights. I spotted a Meadow Pipit in the same area descending from a display flight, and gave myself a metaphorical, well-deserved pat on the back for being able to distinguish it from the Skylarks. Now I hope I got that identification right...

"Chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiff-chiff-chaff" pealed out through every area of scrub, wood and copse! These singing Chiffchaffs (a couple of which I actually managed to locate) are going to be the norm for the next few months so we'd better get used to them. No Willow Warblers or Blackcaps yet but we'll get there; it's still relatively early in migration season yet! There was a surprisingly large number of Cormorants all flying into the wind (west) throughout the afternoon, and all quite distant; perhaps this is or is not strange for Wanstead but it was fun to see. A Lesser Black-backed Gull passed over, several Greenfinches were flitting about making a racket, and I had 3 Mistle Thrushes simultaneously at one stage (with others elsewhere). And a Green Woodpecker.

The highlight, though, was the cracking female Wheatear that I watched for about 20 minutes. There's nothing quite like looking at a bird feeding, preening and hopping about, when you know said bird was doing exactly the same thing in sub-Saharan Africa perhaps under a week ago. It's also exciting to have your first sighting of the year of a real Spring migrant, as it's a sign of things to come. And although you know that it happens every single year in the same way, about the same time, and it's the same birds, you still find yourself somewhat comforted to see that it is underway once again, as if there had ever been any doubt.

And it's especially exciting for me as a new lister as it means that I can now, without any hesitation or pause, state clearly and reliably that I, Steve Torpey, saw my first Wheatear of 2011 on the 31st March. In future I shall be able to consult my Spreadsheet of Joy and Happiness, filter by 'Wheatear', then mutter under my breath, tut and shake my head, because wasn't that unusually early or late for Wheatear, especially given the location etc. etc. etc.

You may be wondering about the title. Well, I have an ear infection (hence "braving" the big outdoors) and as for the 'celebrity' part: I met Johnathan Lethbridge just after seeing my Wheatear. "Celebrity" may not be quite the right word but it was certainly good to meet the man whose blog I have been reading for such a long time, especially since it was this that piqued my interest in Wanstead in the first place. And I pointed him towards the Wheatear so he could get a photograph. He had only had his first Wheatear yesterday. Not that I'm looking to get competitive or anything...

On one final note, I have been interested in the etymology (origin/history) of the word 'Wheatear' for a while and hadn't looked it up. Here is the entry on www.etymonline.com which is supposedly accurate: type of bird, 1590s, back-formation from white-ears, lit. "white-arse". Brilliant. Just brilliant.