Lost

In the most shameless piece of corporate placement ever, Tom Hanks' companion in the dreadful Robinson Crusoe inspired 'Cast Away' was an american football called Wilson, the name of the manufacturer.

Equally lost and probably also the victim of inclement weather was another marooned North American of the same name - a Wilson's Phalarope that pitched-up at Martin Mere in Lancashire yesterday afternoon.

Fortunately the birds was still present this morning, so it was straight to the bat mobile for my first twitch of the year.

When I rocked-up at 10:30 the bird was visible from the Ron Barker hide, albeit at a fair distance. Inexplicably, some birders were digiscoping it – must be for one of those ‘record shots’ that they are always banging on about.

Still, it was near enough to identify all the salient features, including that wonderfully delicate needle-thin bill. I was also treated to the fabulous Lancastrian dialect – there is no word better then ‘Phalarope’ to bring out the richness of those wonderful northern vowels!

After twenty minutes or so, the wader flew over to the mere pool with a juvenile Ruff in tow. Here it stayed skulking in the vegetation for an hour, before returning to one of the jheels in front of the Ron Barker hide.

On this occasion, the bird gave excellent views as it fed on insects plucked from the surface of the water.

Although I am clearly no expert, the bird looked like a juvenile moulting into winter plumage. The best person to confirm this would probably be the man himself: Alexander Wilson, the naturalist who the bird was named after. He is long dead though – drowned in a river when trying to track a bird!

Until later.