The Standlake Birder

         First winter male Black Redstart February is normally a quiet time for birdwatching. Our winter visitors are preparing to leave and we are still a month away from the arrival of our first early spring migrants, Chiffchaff, Sand Martin, and Wheatear etc. Normally I would be busy preparing the vegetable plot for spring but the seemingly continuous heavy rain we have had this winter has rendered the ground totally unworkable.   So on Friday, with a bit of sun in the forecast, I decided to visit the National Trust reserve at Brean Down just north of Burnham-on-sea. This is normally a very reliable spot for over-wintering Black Redstart and recently a rather dapper first winter male has been reported from there.   Its only about an hour’s drive to Burnham straight down the M5 followed by a few miles northwards along a small coastal road. The drive from Burnham to Brean consists of seemly endless holiday parks chocker block with cold grey wooden holiday lodges. Not my idea of a fun

   The Sociable Lapwing curtsey of my friend Ian Bollen, its the one at the front with more white on the under-wing On Thursday last  week a mega rare Sociable Lapwing was found on the river Fal estuary in Cornwall. Social media rumour has it that this first winter bird, i.e. hatched last spring, had actually been present in Cornwall on the Camel estuary since last November but its presence had been supressed by the finder!   Normally,  a bird such as this that I need for my UK list would have me jumping in my car immediately but on this occasion I was in the middle of a major DIY project at home and consequentially the house was in a state of chaos. Even though my ever suffering wife said I should go, I felt it unfair to abandon her in the chaos I created. I hence hatched a plan to drive down to Cornwall on Tuesday night this week, stay in a local  Premier Inn and spend Wednesday birding in Cornwall.   Negative reports on the birds presence on Tuesday had me reassessing this plan. The