15th October 2011
The place to be for any Norfolk birders with an interest in listing or rarities was Warham (site of the UKs second Rufous-tailed Robin for any foreign readers), and I duly took my place on the concrete pad at dawn, having been given a lift by Gary. Ultimately it was not to be, but a steady stream of commoner birds overhead and on the saltmarsh was some consolation. The cold morning was also a reminder that I need to buy warmer socks. Many congratulations to Rob Martin for finding the bird, and thanks to whoever organised the field for parking. The day promised more birds for those who spent the time looking, but I had a ticket for the Norwich City v Swansea match, so headed back to the fine city. We won 3-1 and played very well, so its all good.
For a finders account from Rob Martin see here: Punkbirder
For an account of the find from James McCallum see here: UK400 Club blog
Alternatively, make up a conspiracy theory about it. Bare in mind it will directly contradict the accounts of the people that were actually there at the time, so make sure its good. Maybe you were flying over in a microlite at the time and heard the whole sordid affair go down? Or maybe a friend of a friend was doing a mole survey for Natural England and was in a burrow three feet below the track and heard everything. There's no prize for the most creative entry. In fact, it might be best to just accept the statements made by Rob & James rather than pissing off two of the people most likely to find the next mega in Norfolk. Just a thought.
