On this day - Sandhill Crane

I was out the front of the house washing the car, generally wishing I was out birding when Lee pulled up; ‘get in’.

Before I knew it, Mal had arrived too and we were speeding down the A14 towards Landguard. The Sandhill Crane that had previously been sighted down the east coast was now in Suffolk air space!

I’d twitched the Eastern-crowned Warbler with Stu back in 2009 - my first long-haul twitch. Suffolk to the north-east. But this frenetic ‘local’ twitch was a different level all together! 

Whilst Lee drove within all the confines of the law - at all times. Sometimes there was an error on the speedo and people using the wrong lanes/ going the wrong way round roundabouts that had to be overtaken.

We arrived at the Boyton Marshes RSPB reserve just in time to see the trail of corvids tracking the crane over the hill and out of view. 

This prompted Lee to do a 60 mph reverse back up the entrance track, then handbrake turn to see us facing forward to offer chase.

We took a turning up an incline from Boyton village and into farmland. Checking each field through gaps in the hedge as we went...

THERE IT IS!

Brakes slammed on. Tyres screeching. Reverse. Then calm. We were parked up and watching the crane from behind farmers bales and next to farm machinery for cover. It happily fed away in the field and others joined to enjoy our re-find.

Sandhill Crane - Boyton - October 2011 by Lee Gregory

I’ve done a few twitches since - but none to match this one for sheer acceleration. From the front of my house to face-to face with a mega! When we set off we didn’t even know where on the coast the bird was - with rough plans to intercept it at Landguard, Felixstowe.

Sandhill Crane twitch - Boyton - October 2011 by Lee Gregory 

 As it happens things couldn’t have panned out better. What a memory, what a bird...

Sandhill Crane - Boyton - October 2011 by Lee Gregory