Here's a bit of a write-up to supplement the pics in the previous post regarding the Dalmatian Pelican in Cornwall. An offer of a lift to Cornwall presented itself (many thanks Brett Spencer) so obviously I accepted. We set off from Seaton at 02:50 (he must have left home at around 02:00) and headed to Drift Reservoir, as the bird had seemingly decided to roost there overnight. Arriving on site at 05:30 the Dalmatian Pelican was immediately visible through dense mist, asleep out on the water. It was very distant, but that's not really a concern when watching such an immense bird! We stayed there until the bird decided to fly 3 hours later; it was worth the chills - seeing what looks a bit like a boat on wings was bloody great. So everything went smoothly! Or so we thought.....
We headed home after eating a massive pasty, dipping on Bowhead Whale and another dip on Serin. The mood of the twitch suddenly changed when we were approaching Exeter and I checked my phone only to discover that the recent LAMMERGEIER was now in Devon! ARGH F%£*!!!!! It was funny really; just the night before I was talking to a friend saying that the Lammer would appear nearby after we'd seen the Pelican, but not for a second did I think there was any realistic chance of this. So after a quick stop to get petrol for the car and an unhealthy quantity of energy drink for Brett and myself, off we went. We approached from the direction that the bird was last seen heading in so this gave us a good chance of 'bumping into it' but alas no such luck. We then headed out on the moors to Avon Dam Reservoir in the hope that it was still in that rough area, but then heard news that the bird had been re-found further North. Typical! By this time we had walked a couple of miles away from the car so much cursing and hurrying ensued.
Long story short, we didn't see it. There was some excitement whilst looking as other birders had reported that they'd seen it, although all sightings after about 15:30 were later re-identified as being of a drone... People saw it from a very long way away so the mistake is fair enough; the main downside is that others were pulled away from various watch-points to see the 'drone' and the actual bird managed to slip through the valleys unnoticed. Fortunately it was seen the following day in the Princetown area so it didn't go all that far.
We really thought we were going to see it! We were always slightly behind the bird, and it flew low and infrequently so picking it up would have been a real challenge despite its size. On the whole it was a fantastic day. We saw the target bird (Dalmatian Pelican) without any trouble/complication so I don't really call missing the others as that much of a dip; they would have been bonuses had we seen them (a very good bonus in the form of the Lammer...).
I've never been a twitcher to drive around after birds, but a few species this year have certainly made me more long-distance twitchy than I thought I ever would be...
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