I've always toyed with the idea of charging folk cold hard cash to show them Jack Snipes, but I guess I lack the mercenary instinct when it comes to birding...
So here's how to find a Jack Snipe, and discover if your reactions are as fast as you like to think they are...
Now is a good time to check for them on Taggs Island, the marshy area south of Weld Road beach entrance in Southport, winter migrants have arrived in the last few weeks and are now mixed in with Common Snipe, and the site also holds Stonechats,Pipits and Larks, with shedloads of Gulls worth a check on the sand beyond.
Anyway here are my five steps to Jack Snipe heaven....
Step One:
You find a girl to love....sorry, Wear wellies
Step Two:
Stick to the Velvet Trail footpath (although the Jack Snipe are deep in the reeds, they will flush and head into the dunes if you go in too far). Look for the Jack Snipes on the edge of the reeds and along runnels through the main reedbed.
Step Three:
Be ready _ the Jack Snipe explode from cover like a bullet, so don't worry about getting your bins on 'em (and forget about 'scopes), just enjoy them with the naked eye.
Step Four:
Don't get hung up about flight pattern, although it is diagnostic, look for the Jack's facial disc and short bill as the Snipes take flight.
Step Five:
Try to get down before 10am and the dog walking odyssey that sends most birds here into the deep cover of the slacks. If you are later than 10am, try the low dunes at the Weld Road entrance to the beach, or the vegetation immediately south of the metal fence.
My Daily Post column this Saturday is about cetacean autopsies....I get all the best jobs!
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies.
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