Wanstead not Birder

I have not raised binoculars to my eyes for about ten days now. I cannot in truth call myself a birder. Accordingly the website will renamed to Wanstead Worker as that is essentially the only thing that is happening in my life at the moment. To be fair this is exactly what I predicted – every February is the same. After the excitement of January, February is just one of those months you have to get through. It is highly unlikely you will see anything new (although Team Wanstead did score a Goldeneye last weekend) and you just have to hang on until March. So that’s where I am at, I cannot honestly say I am missing birding because it would in all likelihood be a bit  rubbish. What I have been missing however is being outside and fresh air. It gets to you after a while, so this weekend I have given myself lots of jobs which involve being outside. Most of them are deathly dull, and some of them will be quite hard work as I am getting various things ready for spring in the garden – digging and stuff - but I am nonetheless looking forward to doing them. Unless it rains in which case I will have to revert to plan B which is basically drinking.

There is birding in sight however, and sooner than March. I am off to Oman with Mick S for a long weekend of bird photography. I’ve been before, but only by mistake and ironically enough also with Mick, where some sub-standard map-reading in the UAE took us into and through one of the Omani enclaves that sit entirely within the borders of the Emirates. I’m not sure that really counts and so this is a new country for us. Targets are Wheatears, the elusive Crab Plover (my third attempt at this species!), and various other waders. Oh, and Gulls apparently. Whatever. 

From last time......