Groppers and the law

Male Whinchat (L. Baxter)

I really wanted to get up early before football to sample the avian delights that The Scrubs possibly had to offer for a couple of hours. Instead, I opted stay in bed. Last night's talk must have been more taxing than what I had originally thought. I was donning my football socks when I had a call from a birder telling me that he had just found a Grasshopper Warbler in Little Wormwood Scrubs - a small park directly east of my patch. I've never seen a gropper on my home turf before, but alas, I had football obligations. The pitch was calling.

After a disappointing game (we lost) I got in the car and started to drive back home. Seconds later I had flashing lights behind me. It was the local constabulary. It was a 'routine' stop and one of the first questions the copper asked me was had I'd ever been arrested before. What was that all about?

Later in the afternoon I nipped down to the Little Wormwood Scrubs site (from where a Whinchat was also reported) to try and see if I could hear the Gropper. This park is very small with 50% being municipal parkland that was littered with the local populace kissing, dog walking and playing football whilst the remainder was managed scrubland. I must say that the area looked ripe for a shrike or some interesting skulking warbler - so a Gropper certainly wasn't out of court.

Needless to say I didn't hear the blighter, so it will be an early morning trip there me thinks.

Finally, tonight I indulged in a bit of culture and went to a Jacobean play at the National Theatre. Frankly, I'm a street boy first and foremost so come the interval I was totally confused and had to beat a hasty retreat to the nearby British Film Institute bar further down the Southbank - where I remained. It was all a bit high-browed for me!