In the late 80s and 90s, I was using all my work holiday time for foreign Birding. While this was great, it made it awkward for mid-week twitches. But usually, I could get the odd day off in lieu of pay for the overtime I was normally doing. As my British List grew, there were less occasions when I needed time off mid-week. But I can remember Autumn 99 was more problematical. At the time, I was working on a very demanding banking project for IBM. But on a positive, there was always the request for overtime from the team. That Autumn, the Scillies had an amazing run with a Short-toed Eagle, Siberian Thrush and White's Thrush all present at the same time. I had to go and took a Friday off for a two day trip. I connected with the first two species, but the White's Thrush didn't show to more than one or two observers while I was on Scillies. By the middle of the next week the White's Thrush had settled into a routine. I was planning on another long weekend for Saturday to Monday, when a Blue Rock Thrush appeared on St Marys. There was even more need for another discussion with the boss for a last minute day off. Reluctantly, he agreed and I had excellent views of the White's Thrush, but the Blue Rock Thrush didn't stick.
Fortunately, the British twitching quietened down for the next few weeks until the start of Nov, when a Booted Eagle which had been in Ireland that Spring, appeared in the Drift Reservoir area of Cornwall. I decided I wasn't going to wait for the weekend, but that would mean a third day off in lieu of overtime in a month. The boss wasn't impressed with how rare Booted Eagles were, but we compromised that I could go, but he said it would be my last (expletives deleted) day off that year. Fortunately, the rest of the year was quiet. I travelled down with Hants Birder Colin Stephens. We arrived about 08:30 and joined the line of Birders by the car park. The Booted Eagle appeared with Buzzards about an hour later and performed for about twenty minutes. When it disappeared, we drove North of the reservoir and relocated it several times and watched it down to about four hundred metres. By mid-afternoon I was back in Dorset and dropping Colin back at his car. A couple of years' later, the news broke that BOU had decided that the Booted Eagle was going to be placed in Cat D, where it still lingers to this day.
In recent years, there have been rumours that the Irish Rarities Committee is looking to reconsider and accept the Irish record of the Booted Eagle and that might result in more favourable review of its stay in the UK. Over the years, there have been a number of possible, probably and misidentified claims of Booted Eagles in the UK, but none have been substantiated. Rolling forwarding to May 24, a dark phase Booted Eagle was seen and photographed well enough around Cape Cornwall to stand up to scrutiny. But it wasn't pinned down for long enough for more than a few locals to see it. In Oct 24, Cornwall hit the headlines again with a light phase Booted Eagle in the Lands End part of the county, but it was a similar story of a few locals connecting and looking too much of a long shot to make a trip West look worthwhile. A month later, presumably the same dark phase individual popped up on the Oxfordshire-Berkshire border and a few peeps took a punt and connected the next day, when it showed for an hour or two. On all of these occasions, I was waiting and hoping that one of these individuals would be pinned down for long enough for it to be worth making a dash. But that didn't happen and with the rumours that the Drift individual might get re-reviewed, I wasn't in a hurry to dash after a fleeting sighting.
On Sun 12 Jan, news broke of a pale phase Booted Eagle over Pines to the North of Marizion, just outside of Penzance. There was sufficient time that I could get down that day, except I was committed to the monthly WeBS count in Brands Bay. Unusually, I had commitments on both of the following days, so all I could do was look at RBA to see that people were connecting throughout the Monday and on the Tuesday morning. But there were no sightings around the Pines that afternoon. I decided to wait and it wasn't seen the following day, until it flew around the Pines at dusk. Time to set the alarm for an early wake up. I was up at four and after a filling breakfast, I was on the road before five. When I'm travelling down for ORCA surveys, I expect to be on the outskirts of Penzance about three and a quarter hours after I leave. That gets me into Penzance for about half-six, which allows plenty of contingency time for the ferry. But I left later, as I was aiming for arriving about just after seven-thirty. But I hit the West Cornwall rush hour with traffic crawling as I approached the Hayle and for the rest of the journey, on roads that are usually empty a couple of hours earlier.
Eventually, I arrived at the A30 layby near Crowlas where Birders were watching the distant Pines from and I grabbed one of the last parking spots. My concerns were more about parking than if I would see the Booted Eagle, as it was generally being seen several times in a morning from the layby. There had been no sightings that morning for the twenty or so observers. After an hour, there was a shout of a possible sighting, but it was one of several Buzzards that were becoming active. But it convinced me to try another viewpoint one hundred metres East of the layby. Just after ten, RBA said the Booted Eagle had been seen over the Pines from the layby. But it had disappeared from view, by the time we got back there.
When it didn't reappear, I decided to try driving to the Helston road, which was much closer to the Pines to look for a better viewpoint, as I was fed up of looking into the light and haze at one kilometre to the wood. I couldn't find a place I could safely park the car and view from the same spot. Checking the map again, I decided to try a small road heading South of Crowlas to Gwallon. As I passed the layby, the Booted Eagle clearly wasn't on show. Driving to Gwallon at the end of the road, I found a large passing space I could cheekily park the car in. One the first scan with the bins, I picked up the Booted Eagle in flight over the wood. It wasn't much closer than the layby, but there wasn't the light or haze problems.
I watched it for about ten minutes off and on, during which two locals stopped to see if I had broken down or to chat about the Eagle. But neither asked me to move on, which was good. I couldn't relocate it over the Pines after the second interruption. Eventually I picked it up and it must have flown over the A30, as it was heading North towards the village of Ludgvan.
I decided to head in that direction. It took about ten minutes to get there, whilst checking various viewpoints. I found a good viewpoint near the church which allowed me to scan South over the area. No joy, so I widened the search and picked it up to my North East heading towards Nanceddan. Another drive where I tried various viewpoints in the hope of closer views. But as I headed North, it sounds like it double-backed on itself as there was one final view from the layby. I had seen it well and got some distant photos. I decided to head for home and get on with some of the other urgent jobs I was neglecting.
Hopefully, the BOU will look more favourably on this individual, as unlike some other leading Twitchers, I can't consider adding the 1999 individual to my list on the hope it get reviewed and accepted in the future. It has been reviewed and allocated to Cat D and that isn't Tickable, unless the BOU change their decision.
