13/03/07 Rinsey Cove: Sods Law Part 1

Finally, the bitter chill of winter has passed by and what appears to be an air of the seasonal delights known as spring is now upon us. The winter melancholy has gone astray and I can once again kneel down in the freshening mud photographing twigs. The first ‘trip’ out was to Rinsey Cove, a National Trust doodar situated near Praa Sands. This venture was not really meant to be a wholly birding/bugging expedition, but as a ‘let the dog stretch her legs and eat a picnic with the loved one’. Anyway, I am glad it wasn’t the former…

The Bird Report.
A screw came loose on my binoculars making it difficult to spot anything, as the fault caused double vision. Utilising stealth tactics I learnt at the tender age of 10 whilst raiding the fridge at 4am, I eventually came upon a bird I was stalking for a good 5 minutes, which turned out to be robin.

The Bug Report
The worst butterfly in my opinion to photograph close up, due to its 'shy' nature, is the peacock and (as it seems sods law is generally against me today) the only butterfly present was the peacock. The occasional bumblebee flew past and there was one or two hoverflies knocking around, but nothing special. I did manage to disturb a Tiger Beetle (see photo below) and was also pleasantly surprised to find a tick crawling around on the picnic blanket.

…and in conclusion.
It was the first day I could walk around in my combats without the need to wear a coat to keep the nipples warm. Plenty of dogs to stroke, a bird of prey (hitting the glare of the sun and impossible to identify with bust binoculars) and some unattainable birds somewhere else, taunting me with their ‘cheeps’ and ‘chirps’… probably some monotonous tits… The taponade Tracee made was wonderful.