Flora Marathon

A yomp around the woods south of Halkyn was a tad disappointing for birds, but what it lacked it fauna it certainly made up in flora.

The undisputed discovery of the walk was this cracking little flower. I’m generally not too clever with things like this, so if anybody has any idea what it is then I would be extremely grateful.

If I am honest, then I hope it is an orchid of some description, but like somebody new to birding who thinks they have found a mega, I fear that my initial enthusiasm at discovering something I believe to be rare will be dampened by the cold reasoning of knowledge.

Opening the confessional, I remember my first Curlew Sandpiper was looking back now in all probability an alpina Dunlin - actually it was as there were around forty-nine others! It seems strange now because in some of my immodest moments I like to think of myself as being pretty good on the old shorebirds. Sea birds too, but it only takes the odd raptor or passerine and my ignorance is restored!

My oft repeated and hackneyed old line is that you only become an expert in something when you realise how much there is you don’t, and can’t know. Donald Rumsfeld was pilloried for his “known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns”, but it actually did make sense.

Applying this to birding, often the best birders are the ones who are confident enough to say when they don’t know because they understand from the knowledge that they have gained that it is impossible to draw an accurate conclusion – the known unknowns.

I bet you weren’t expecting this gibberish were you?

Anyway, back to the walk. As I mentioned it was fairly slow on the avian front. A pair of Bullfinch and a brace of Treecreepers in Coed y Cra was the best of a day dominated by the more common species. Having said that, it was fantastic to hear at least twenty Blackcaps today – a true challenger to the Nightingale in my book.

Nonetheless, the flowers still dominated the day: Marsh Marigold, Colt’s Foot, Wood Anemone, Lesser Celandine, Daffodil, plus many other UFOs (unidentified flowering objects) made for a superb three hours.

Until later.