Thursday 8 July 2010

News from the Tower

The view from Tower 42
Ohh, I'm loving these hot summer days and nights. There's nothing like sweating, tossing and turning in bed in the baking heat counting shorn sheep. A couple mornings ago whilst watching fledgling Reed Buntings and Meadow Pipits on the grassland at The Scrubs, a female Black Redstart flew fairly low over my head heading for the nearby empty Channel Tunnel depot. It sparked a belief in me that they must be nesting nearby - perhaps in the Channel Tunnel depot itself or maybe in or around the grounds of Wormwood Scrubs Prison on the southern parameter. Either way, it's exciting.

Yesterday, I had a meeting with the Tower 42 Management to discuss the possibility of sustained migration watching from their roof during the autumn. Talks went very well. I showed them a short powerpoint presentation on the story so far regarding observations during the spring as well as what we would be expecting during the autumn.

They were very impressed with how things have gone so far and very generously gave the permission for us to continue our observations from mid-August into November. How cool is that? And as if that wasn't enough, they even agreed for some of the observations to take place over weekends to enable more birders to take part. I tell you, those guys at Tower 42 are truly inspirational.

Anyway, better get back to writing my article on Reykjavic for Bird Watching Magazine. I'm staring the deadline in the face!

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