The long hot summer of 09

Well it is about 33 C here today and it felt it this morning when Holmes and Hardacre trooped off to Long Valley to search for the elusive............ well anything really. Skittish. That was the word of the day. Well it wasn't Martin H's word when he discovered H2-Oh! had seen and got pics of Pallas's Gropper, when he had failed to lure the little blighter in. But yes, it was well nigh impossible to get within 100m of the egrets, waders, snipe etc before they flew away. JH saw a Grey-headed lapwing and AH didn't- too busy peering down the viewfinder. There was an obliging Fan-tailed wobbler and we saw a pair of Painted snipe. The PS is one of those unusual birds where the sexual dimorphism results in the female of the species being gaudier than the male. Anyway, any day when you see PS can't be all bad, now can it?

The 2 Hs were beginning to suffer from the heat by mid-morning. As they rambled they rambled. I distinctly recall mentioning The Curse on the House of Moriarty (The Hampstead Building Society). Intermittent downpours were a welcoming cooler but only served to make us steam more afterwards. JH was pointing out a flock of munias (yawn) when an LBJ took up the rear. It was the said Pallas's grasshopper warbler and it skulked a while as the flock moved on and then took off on its own. AH took some "record shots" - that is photographer-speak for shots that don't turn out as well as you hoped but these were genuine record shots. JH insisted that I credit him for standing behind me. And he did a fine job of it. Thank you JH. I am sure there will be better in Yunnan. After that the excitement died down and we decided that the heat was going to win. I rambled on about sponsoring Liverpool next year and JH admitted to being a closet 'Pool fan as a lad, when Shanks bestrode the globe like a colossus. Football is not a matter of life and death, he said. It's much more important than that. This is my 2nd favourite footie quote after Best's response to the question, where did all the money go George? "I spent most of it on women, booze and fast cars and the rest I wasted." I of course never supported anybody but Hereford aka The Mighty Bulls, with just a tiny passion for Leeds. I think I sobbed when Sunderland beat them in the cup final. Well we did make it back to the cars with JH rambling again about how our waggies were really Amur Wagtails. Extraordinary what you learn when you are out with an educated birder. And just in case you are interested this is the PGW.