Dartfords

As my seven readers will know, Sunday is not a usual birding day for me. However, today had some pretty strong extenuating circumstances to allow an exception to the rule. The weather was clear and cool overnight and promised bright sunshine through the day. So at five bells into the morning watch I set out for the Sussex commons.  On our secret birding map there is large X and the caption below states "Here be Dartfords". How could you doubt the veracity of such a map as, before the sun had risen above the trees and touched the tops of the heather, the first bird was perched in front of me, albeit at a distance.  I then constructed a makeshift hide, up sun of the likely spot, and patiently waited for the next subject to arrive - and it did.

Having captured two birds I thought I was on a roll, how wrong can you be, a rather cool easterly breeze sprang up and the birds disappeared. I continued to wait patiently, the hide must have been effective as at least three dog walkers passed by and failed to detect my presence. Neither did the dogs, which perhaps says something for my new deodorant.

As the deck watch indicated six bells of the forenoon watch there came a steady procession of cyclists in yellow jackets, families dressed overall in dayglow fluorescent lycra  of both  lurid pink and yellow hues and even more dogwalkers. Time to set a course for home.