A Good Start

The forecast for the next few days is not good. As I'm writing, it's snowing heavily. I knew that if I stood a chance of getting a proper view of the Black Redstart, I needed to get out this morning. It wasn't too bad - overcast and with light rain but hardly any wind, so on with the waterproofs and off we went. There was another local couple there that had heard the news of our special visitor so there were 4 sets of eyes to look out. After a short while, the wind got up and it started to rain heavily. The other couple decided to leave and we wouldn't have been far behind, but just as they set off, the woman saw the bird. We got some good views, so I got out my camera and managed 3 shots. Conditions were pretty bad, but when I came to look at the shots, one of the 3 was reasonably sharp - much better than I had expected. The wet and windy walk home was mitigated by the satisfaction of getting to see this delightful bird so close to home, and even more so, of getting a photo. It is a female so the plumage is not as striking as the male bird, but still a lovely sight. It's only the second time I've ever seen one - the first being in Suffolk. It gets its name from its orange tail. As a linguist, I love the fact that often birds' names retain their old forms, red, here, being orange before there was a separate word for orange and start being the old germanic word for tail. (you can just make it out on my photo). Another bird we often see locally in the Spring is a Wheatear, whose name means "white arse".