Phalarope-less Fairburn

So I've suffered my first major "dip" as they call it in the birding circles. Missing out on a rarity sighting. Although it was a week ago it's still raw. Oh no... I must be becoming a twitcher...

So it turned out my trip to Fairburn was Phala-hopeless. Yes, I'm unashamedly proud of that pun.

At least it was a nice day for it...

Anyway, I got there at about 10 o clock on the Sunday morning after it had been seen the Friday and Saturday before - at half 6 on the Saturday night no less. Now I was tempted to skip lectures on the Friday to see it when it first turned up, but being a good student I resisted the temptation. Then I went volunteering at Harewood on the Saturday so couldn't see it then - or so I thought.

When I got back from volunteering I was telling my flat mate about the Phalarope that I wanted to see and that it would be a great tick off my list. He told me to go then, at that moment (which was about 5 past 5 in the evening). I had checked Fairburn's website which said that the reserve closed at 5 so I told him I couldn't go, but no matter.. it had been seen recently and it would be unlikely to move over night. It was here I made two major misjudgements. One: Phalarope migrate by night. Saying a Phalarope will still be around because it won't move during the night is like saying that the roosting owl you found in the tree one evening will still be there because it won't move overnight.
Two: I could have gone that very evening, when I got there the following morning it turned out the scrape wasn't in the reserve itself but on the side of a road that many people had been parking on to look.

When I got there the next morning there were two main theories being banded about by sorrow filled, too little too late birders. Some thought that the bird had simply moved on. That it wasn't supposed to be here and that it had been feeding frantically over the day before and gone. The other theory was much more mysterious...

A birder earlier that morning had claimed to see it floating head down in the water, dead. This was unconfirmed but the birder himself was sure enough that it was the Phalarope to alert the wardens. A twitcher the previous day had said it was getting constantly attacked by the Black Headed Gulls, so perhaps there is some truth in the birders dark tale.

Either way, I didn't see it. Dead or alive.

But I did use the morning to explore all the scrapes and pools at Fairburn that I wasn't aware existed on what turned out to be a gorgeous early October morning. I did see a bird that I hadn't seen before as well. A nice female Pintail from the hide. Not a Phalarope, but still a lifer. There had also been a lot of talk about a Great White Egret that had been seen for multiple days around the pools which, of course, I didn't see. It could well have been dead as well. One day they'll dredge that pool and find an ancient Indian burial ground of scarcities and rare birds...

So there we have it, I missed out on the Phalarope... But I'll get the next one.

Cassidy doing her best to cheer me up!