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Sean Dooley wrote:
> And then within
about ten minutes we had mind blowing views of a male Little Bittern right out
in the open, perched above the waterline hunting. After all the grief and
disappointment this bird had caused me all year, I just couldn't believe how
easy it was to see this day.
All that grief and disappointment in just one
year? Bloody 'ell Sean, up until about 14 months ago I was of the opinion that
the Little Bittern was a mythical beastie (much the same as you feel about Grey
Falcon). I must have visited that accursed Sherwood Arboretum on more than three
dozen occasions before finally seeing one. Now of course I can't stop bumping
into 'em.
I'll save further remarks about Sean's feat for the
next Twitcher's Corner. But it was a pleasure to be with him on the penultimate
day (December 30) for what turned out to be the ultimate (703rd) bird of the Big
Twitch. No need to mount yet another defence of twitching and twitchers - only
the most curmudgeonly would deny the magnitude of Sean's achievement, especially
given the circumstances through which the whole exercise came about, and the
great pleasure he has given us all in telling the tale.
To misquote an old rock review, I dub Sean
Birding-Aus contributor of this and every week!
Cheers and Happy New Year to all
Andrew Stafford
(editor, Twitcher's Corner, Wingspan)
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