Christine's walking & birds blog

The element of surprise is important in my birding - that's the main reason I stopped twitching. I hadn't expected to see any terns today at Chanonry Point, so when a Sandwich tern flew past it was a perfect birding moment.....

.....especially when two others joined it. We then drove as usual to Udale Bay on the Cromarty Firth. After coffee and cake, I walked away from the lay-by and along the narrow verge to view the pink-foots in hopes of spotting a bean goose, for instance; a man followed me and asked if I'd seen the little ringed plover. It was news to me that a little ringed plover was present - and I said so, rather pointedly. After the man had walked away, I saw it - distant but quite visible - so I have no doubt that I would have got onto it eventually; but that element of surprise had been taken away. I was robbed!

I do regret my short answers to this perfectly polite and probably nice man, but there seems to be nothing I can do about my reaction in such encounters - except to stay away from Udale. I had the uppity jitters all the way home and couldn't "come down" again for some time. Am I going completely bonkers? Will I turn into Donald Trump?