A Life(r)line at last! Pilning Wetlands, 23rd May

The last bird that we'd added to our UK life list was pre-Lockdown way back in March, when we managed to see a Laughing Gull during a very frustrating weekend of birding in the south-west. On Thursday a bird that I've been longing to see but have never had the chance before was found on a reserve next to the River Severn, within sight of the Severn Road bridges but I wouldn't get the opportunity to go until the Saturday. The bird in question was a Collared Pratincole. Pratincoles are a bit of an oddity in the birding world, being Wading Birds but which actually resemble a Tern or Swallow species. Collared Pratincoles are the commonest of the family that are encountered in the UK but are only recorded on average once or twice a year. Up until now there had been no reports of any Pratincoles locally (there is a record of one from Otmoor but that was before my time) and all of the recent ones that could have been seen with a bit of travelling had only been present during the midweek when I'd been working. On the 21st when the bird had been found early morning, it had proceeded to show extremely well and some excellent photos surfaced on the Inter-web whetting my appetite for Saturday. On the Friday the bird was still there, my mate Jim went to see it, but the Pratincole had become far less obliging and spent most of the day just standing on the ground at some distance away from possible viewpoints. Pratincoles, contrary to all other Wading Birds, don't wade much at all but instead hawk flying insects above wetlands so are usually extremely aerially dynamic birds. 

Come Saturday and despite a pretty shaky looking weather forecast we headed down to Pilning and the banks of the Severn. Our confidence was as mixed as the weather, would the bird have stayed in the cold and wet spell that had arrived on Friday morning and which would stay with us for a few more days. After all Pratincoles are more accustomed to the Mediterranean region and the warmer climes associated with that area. On the M4 section we drove through several heavy showers and the sky ahead looked fairly foreboding even though the forecast had actually been improved and suggested a more reasonable day although cold and windy. We arrived just before 9 o'clock and squeezed into a parking space on the narrow access road. We knew that the Pratincole had been seen already and a returning birder confirmed it but added, "You'll need your scope" and "It's really hard to hold it steady in the wind mind". We had never been to Pilning before so weren't sure of where to go but as soon as we reached 'The Pill", a small tidal inlet of the Severn, we could see the small group of Birders huddled up (socially distanced of course) on the sea wall and looking eastwards onto the wetlands. We should have come to Pilning last autumn when two Citrine Wagtails had been found but after dithering for too long, because of the fact that the weather that day was really awful and had created major traffic problems, we missed our chance. As soon as we were exposed to the openness of the estuary then we were subjected to the full force of the wind which was billowing in from the south-west. At least it was clear and the sun was shining but I know from experience that wind from that direction will likely bring some precipitation at some point, it was just a case if we'd get away with it while we out in the open.

We joined the five other birders present, a surprisingly low key twitch I thought, but then we were still in partial Lockdown and I guess that locals had already been to see the bird over the previous two days. Because the Collared Pratincole would be a "lifer" I didn't mess around trying to find the bird myself but instead asked for its whereabouts. Pointed to the right spot my initial view of what I'd always imagined would be a startling, dynamic and beautiful species was underwhelming to say the least. The Collared Pratincole was hunkered down against the wind, which I might add was strengthening by the minute, fortunately close to a Shelduck and a couple of Avocets which aided finding it, but was difficult to discern against the mud of its surroundings owing to it being almost identical in colour. The Pratincole was about a hundred yards away so any detail was impossible to pick out with the camera, in fact it was hard to even find the bird through the viewfinder and, like I said, without the Shelduck and Avocets in close proximity it would probably have gone unnoticed. The scope of course allowed more magnification but the strong wind made high zoom usage futile.

A couple of friends of ours, the Polley's, from Oxfordshire arrived and I helped them find the Pratincole which was still taking things easy. Another friend, Colin, followed them in and the "crowd" was now 5/6 Oxon Birders! I happened to glance over my shoulder towards the Severn crossing and saw the mother of all black skies approaching and there was nowhere to hide on the sea wall so we'd all have to weather out the imminent squall. When the mini storm hit we were subjected to a heavy downpour and then a hailstorm as the temperature dropped to near freezing. Thankfully it didn't last for long but we were all drenched. Reclaiming the scope again, none of us could initially find the Pratincole but Colin found it again hunkered even further down amongst the weeds and still as far as away.

After another, thankfully, less severe shower had passed through our patience, stupidity more like, was rewarded with a spell of semi-warming sunshine which allowed us to dry out. It also spurred the Collared Pratincole into some activity as it had actually stood up and was gazing around. Perhaps some flight action was imminent!

I heard, "It's up, flying right", just as I had got bored and was looking around the estuary behind us for Storm Petrels and Shearwaters, of which of course there were none. By the time I had reverted my attention to the job in hand the Pratincole had landed again and I had missed my long awaited flight view! But at least the darned thing was active now and surely it was merely a case of a bit more waiting before it performed its expected aerial dynamics. Colin, again, "Flying left, over the Shelduck", this time I had been enticed by Swifts and House Martins zooming past my head! Mrs Caley asking, "Did you get that?". "Uh, no!". 

   

Okay, time to really concentrate. I was ready the third time when the Pratincole flew all of about ten feet before landing again, this time behind a straggly weed. Over the next half hour or so the legendary flying wading bird flew very short distances and never got more than a few feet off the ground. Underwhelming indeed! Every time it took to flight I just haphazardly fired away with the camera, in the desperate hope of catching a decent image, but I knew that was highly improbable. I did manage to catch the Pratincole in flight but at the distance and against the darker background, none of the images were sharp.

We watched the Pratincole for another half hour but it resolutely refused to perform any better so we gave up. Not the most exciting twitch for a new bird ever and certainly a tad disappointing after our pre-twitch expectations but we'll hopefully get another chance at another Collared Pratincole soon.