(H)owl, I missed!

This weekend is a classic example of missing birds on a grand scale. On Friday, after being brave at the dentist, I thought I would reward myself with an impromptu visit to Brandon Marsh to see the Whooper Swan who had dropped in there. I therefore set off along the famed A46. This was probably my first mistake, to attempt to move more than 2 inches in Less than 15 minutes on that dual carriageway on a Friday night in rush hour. However, I managed to negotiate my way along the highway without too many incidents and flicked my indicator downwards to turn left into Brandon Lane only to be faced by a flashing blue light. It appeared that the lane had been closed temporarily due to an accident and both ends were blocked. I retreated home thinking that I could come by early the following morning on my way to Rutland Water.


The following morning, I crawled out of bed leaving my birder's wife in a comatose state and ventured forth full of anticipation of seeing my first Whooper Swan for the year along with a White Rumped Sandpiper and American Wigeon, both of which had been at Rutland for a couple of weeks. There was as well the possibility of seeing a Short Eared Owl that had recently taken up residence at Brandon (although it had already evaded me 3 times).


As I screeched into the Reserve narrowly missing a Magpie, I noticed that other birders had the same idea as me, as the gate was open. I parked up and purposefully strode to the Wright Hide that overlooks the main pool, nodded politely at the othe birder in the hide and flung open the flap to view the now absent Swan. Being not totally disappointed, I settled down to scan the islands for other birds that could have arrived over night, only to be then disturbed by a member of the conservation team who entered the hide stating that the Short Eared Owl was sitting on a fence post near the golf course. I jumped up hoping to finally see the critter, and rushed over to the spot but was unable to even find a fence post. Eventually, after many minutes, I located the post which unfortunately didn't appear to have an owl shaped body on it - evaded again. Again, undeterred, I proceeded towards Rutland and after a couple of hour was sitting in the hide where the White Rumped Sandpiper and American Wigeon were normally observed from. After about an hour of waiting but kept busy by observing all the other fabulous birds out on the mud, I checked Birdguides which stated that the Sandpiper had been seen at the other end of Rutland Water two hours previously but had not been seen since. Four hours later, having lost all feeling in my feet, I left the hide and headed home after still not seeing the Sandpiper or the American Wigeon. Of course, the White Rumped Sandpiper turned up again the following day, I decided to give it a miss. Moral of this tale, don't go out with too many expectations and just enjoy what you do see.