Late on Monday night, it was announced that Colin Wells had discovered a Hudsonian Godwit at Burton RSPB. Since I was out of town for the week, I was unable to stop its recovery. When the news broke at nine in the morning, there was no evidence of the bird. Then, the dreaded MEGA alert went off, and the bird was still there! We don't often say that, but this was a first for Cheshire and Wirral and a magnificent bird for our county. I had previously seen one in 2015 down in Somerset.
I made up my mind. Since it was almost five hours away from home, I decided not to go and tried to continue with my day. Fortunately, the bird took flight, but it would have been worse if I had started driving. Then word spread that the bird had been spotted at the Connah's Quay reserve earlier Monday. People have been searching for the bird nonstop for the remainder of the week, but they haven't found it.
The bacon is grilling this morning when the MEGA warning goes off, "It's BACK." After a wild five minutes, Jenna and I are in the car. After a fifteen-minute drive, we arrived at the location and proceeded to move quickly around to Border Hide, where it was roosting directly in front of the hide. When the bird finally performed exceptionally well, it spread its wings and revealed its dazzling black undersides. What a grip back after believing the bird was gone, and what a bird!
2020 Eden Estuary, Fife-Eden Estuary, 1CY-3rd November-17th December
2015 Meare Heath, Somerset-3CY+ Female-24th April to 3rd May
1988 Slaine Pools-Collieston, Aberdeenshire-26th September
1983 Blacktoft Sands RSPB-East Yorkshire-Adult, 26th April to 6th May-Presumed same as 1981 individual.
1981 Countess Wear-Exeter-Adult-22nd November to 14th January 1982, photo; presumed same as East Yorkshire.
1981 Blacktoft Sands RSPB-East Yorkshire-Adult-10th September to 3rd October;also in Devon.