I am writing this whilst stuck in a chair which I have been in since 09.00 this morning. Not looking at my pager for sometime, late yesterday afternoon whilst getting some house jobs done, I had a look and a Black-throated Diver was at Clayhanger on a pool, the site of the Hoopoe last year. I was up well early and arrived on site at about 07.45. All was well. Coats on, boots on, scope, bins and camera out, bird book off the roof of the car, walk over to scope, BANG, severe pain in my lower back and then collapsing on the floor in a heap. I was there for about ten minutes before I managed to get up. I saw three people but no one came over to see if I was ok. Once up the pain was not too bad so I decided I was not going home until I had seen the diver. Before I left home I checked out the Belvide blog and learnt that there was an opinion that Pacific Diver had not been ruled out for this bird. I saw a Pacific Diver in Farnham in North Yorkshire a few years ago and they gave out big pictures of the bird. I had a copy and I wanted to come up with a conclusion of my own. As I got closer to the pool the pain was starting to get worse. Once I could see the pool up came the scope, a few birds were seen, then I came across the Black-throated Diver. Other birds were seen but until I can get my notebook, this will have to do. As for the bird, the general opinion is now heavily balanced in favour of a Black-throated Diver.
Its a painful hobby this birding. This time last year I was carted off in an ambulance from Belvide. Today lying parallel by my car with my scope towering over me. A couple of twitches I have been on has led to someone passing away through heart attacks. Might take up plane or train spotting, must be easier.
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