Saturday, 22 March 2025

BIKING BIRDER I March 22nd 2010 Chew Valley reservoir and The Most Wonderful Family, The Craigs

On This Day - 2010 Biking Birder I

Sunrise at Chew Valley Reservoir

21^stMarch 2010

We are Family Sister Sledge

I have met them, the most perfect birding family. A family of wonderful, enthusiastic birders with Mum and Dad, Helena and Chris and a most charmingly brilliant seven year old little girl with a British life list of 350, a British year list for 2009 of 324 for 2009 and notebooks detailing her adventures. Well done, Mya-Rose! You are an absolute angel, a delight to talk to and a privilege to have met. For you to have run Lee Evans so close last year was fabulous.

Searching Mya-Rose's year list for 2009, I came across this webpage from Surfbirds and each birder shown has a fascinating story of their year's birding for 2009 and it is lovely to see certain British birders that I now know well...

Surfbirds - World Year Listing Review of 2009

Let's go back to the beginning of the day, waking from my comfortable sleeping bag in a bird hide overlooking Chew Valley Reservoir. A lovely encounter with the local sheep after a Crunchy Nut breakfast.

Its not often that one has lambs climb up to get a closer look at one's face!

Meeting birders whilst searching for a reported Ferruginous Duck. Dipped! (Means didn't see the little blighter.)

I had met Chris at Chew Valley today, whilst spending hours waiting for yesterday's Ferruginous Duck to show - it didn't. (You already said that!)

Swallow [161] did though with over a hundred Sand Martins tazzing around, and an adult Kittiwake.

Invited back to Chris' house for a meal and a bed, kindness of strangers, my amazement level was at maximum for the whole evening as Chris, Helena and especially Mya-Rose regaled me with tales from their Big Year, 2009.

Mya-Rose's notebooks were particularly delightful.

How many British twitchers would love to see a Sandhill Crane in Britain?

Note May-Rose's bird number 317 . . . American Golden Plover. Two of them!!!

The family enthusiastically told of how they had been filmed for a TV programme called Twitchers - A Very British Bird Obsession - BIRDGIRL Cut

In the video, click on the link above, or any of these three photos, to get to it on Youtube, a certain bird is mentioned as having been seen by the seven year old Mya-Rose, which a complaining birder had claimed that Mya-Rose hadn't seen.

Maybe the emailing doubter should have been present during our meal for I asked Mya-Rose what was her favourite bird.

Robin? No.

Blue Tit? No.

Which bird would you imagine that a precocious seven year, old totally obsessed by birds, would like best?

"What's your favourite bird?"

"Black-browed Albatross." stated forcefully.

"Why?"

"Because I saw one!"

The story was told of how a Black-browed Albatross had flown by during a family seawatch at the famous seawatching site at Porthgwarra, Cornwall.

Of course you will all know that I had a Black-browed Albatross cuddly toy, the RSPB's Albert the Albatross, on my bike, sitting with his best buddy, Sid the Rainforest Frog.

So it was that the very first cuddly toy to be given to a child was gone. Poor Sid!

How many hundreds of cuddly toys have I given to other children during my Biking Birder travels? Mya-Rose's albatross was the first.

A truly wonderful family, incredible how a chance meeting at Chew Valley Reservoir led to a fabulous evening with three of the best people.

As for the British Year list rankings for 2009, take a look at BUBO LISTING's list . . .

Britain Year List 2009

I will leave the story of why the difference of one bird more seen by Chris that year at the dining room table!

As for Mya-Rose, Birdgirl, now Doctor Mya-Rose Craig having been deservedly given a doctorate by Bristol University for her work in nature conservation, she has now graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in Human, Social and Political Sciences and continues to bird.

The author of several marvelous books . . .