Alex Barter & Richard Southall, Lizard Orchid Appreciation, Sandwich Bay, Kent
22nd February 2010
Happy Birthday to You
Stevie
Wonder
An incredibly special birthday today would have been the birthday of Alex Barter whom everyone knew as the Bear! Alex arrived as a young eleven year old at the school where I was a science teacher; arrived may I add twice the size of anyone else in the class.
Twice as high was
Alex and extraordinarily strong with not an ounce of fat. His class photograph
has Alex towering amongst his eleven year old peers, who all look puny in
comparison. I am only glad that his form teacher was not on the photograph. I
wonder where I was.
Alex fell in love with birds and it just so happened that at that time I was running a YOC, The Young Ornithologist's Club, the young persons' branch of the RSPB, so he started coming to that. Years went by and his love turned into an obsession to try and see every British bird.
Alex, Jason and Richard, enjoying the ice near Frampton, Gloucestershire, mid-80s
One
week Alex did not turn up for school. I knew where he was for we had talked
about it before he left. At the age of fifteen, Alex had caught a train to
Aberdeen, took the Ferry to Shetland and hitch-hiked his way to the isle of Unst,
where he walked to the far northern cliffs of Hermaness. So a long staying
Black-browed Albatross, famously known as Albert, was added to his list. An
immensely popular lad, Alex became one of the most well-liked birders on the
Midlands' birding scene and my memories of him as he grew from boy to man
mostly involved birds. Legendary still, Alex died too young from an undiagnosed
heart condition at the age of twenty nine. His funeral was so well attended at
St Thomas' Church in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton that, with every pew packed,
the aisles were necessarily full of people standing. One noted at the funeral
that there was a marked contrast between the birders and the powerlifters! Powerlifting
being Alex's other passion, their huge bodies were of a slightly different
build to the birders present. Alex was buried besides trees so that he could
continue to see the birds that he loved.
Nowadays only one of the boys from this crew go regularly birding, the previously lapsed due to me, Jason Oliver.
He, I and
other ex-Coppice birders have started a group on Facebook called The Birding
Clams [stands for Clear Lunacy And Madness Society]
and our continued birding exploits, together with current birding and
environmental issues and fabulous photographs can be accessed by all who have
an interest in birds. It would be a pleasure to meet you all there.
OK, back to the story, I had returned to Poole and cycled to Swanage via the Sandbanks ferry. It was great to see Perry, wife of the late Gordon Barnes of Fair Isle and Great Bustard fame. I told her about the previous week's events with Gordon's Fair Isle bird. Perry was thrilled that the bird was still around, albeit stuffed, maybe not in the way that Giles had predicted. Also I saw a fabulous friend, Pete Barrett, who put me up in his caravan that night. The slideshow of the bird photographs that he had taken on Lesvos in 2009, shown to us all in the evening, contained some great images, especially of flying Squacco Herons.
An early morning cycle to
Middlebeare via the back road to Corfe castle from Swanage on Monday. Arriving
at Middlebeare, a group of young Sika Deer came close, being very curious of a
man on a bike. From the hide the tide was coming in well and eight Spoonbills
and hundreds of waders were on view. Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover,
Knot and Dunlin were the most profuse with a few Redshank and Curlew. The best birds
seen however, were ten Bar-tailed Godwits, including a bird in full summer
plumage. When I used to bird frequently at Middlebeare back in the early 2000s,
Bar-tailed were exceedingly rare here.
To Arne RSPB Reserve next, where I met Mark the warden and various other workers, brilliant enthusiastic sunshine people all.
I cycled down to Shipstall Point and just could not make the very distant duck, out in Poole Harbour, into the Long-tailed Duck that had been reported. A closer Black-necked Grebe was easier to see, as were six Red-breasted Mergansers. Up on the viewpoint, a close male Hen Harrier became what was the best birding moment of the year so far. Fabulous bird. A Dartford Warbler buzzed and came close too. Down towards Shipstall hide a group of Sika were feeding out on the marsh and the Shelduck, Wigeon, Pintail etc. settled down after the harrier flyover.
Back towards the centre, a large group of sikas jumped the barbed wire fence, around forty animals and yet another larger group of them were mostly static in a field adjacent to the main path.
Puncture! I will not embarrass myself by going into all of the details on how I eventually fixed it but let us just say it took two hours!
Now Arne RSPB reserve had a few
smaller RSPB reserves nearby which were not listed on their website. The rest
of the day was spent going to these ones; Stoborough and Wareham Meadows,
Holton Heath and Grange Heath before heading off towards Weymouth.
A lovely ride on the rejuvenated bike to Weymouth to the easily found WILTON GUEST HOUSE, where Craig and Claire had offered accommodation for the next two nights. A beautiful B & B in the centre of Weymouth and Craig's chilli con carne that evening was also gratefully received. Craig had heard my radio interview on BBC Solent and being a fellow Aston Villa fan, he had offered comfort and food. Thanks Craig and Claire.
45.58 miles
1843 feet elevation up 1877 feet down
