A small and slight gamble of a catch was on the cards for the final day of the SCAN weekend. We set a single net in a field between Llanfairfechan and Bangor at 11.30. High tide was not until 14.53 so there was a rather long and uncomfortable wait in a tent with Matt, Rachel and Dave. (The very crippling noise, whilst in the tent, of a very probable Richard's Pipit was made worse by a text off Chris saying he'd just seen a large passerine that he thought sounded like a Richard's Pipit!) Twinklers included Ian Lees, Chris Bridge plus Dave, Brynn, Phil and Ian. It seemed like an age before we were looking at something other than an empty field when a huge flock of Curlew started circling on the rising tide and several birds landed in the field just out of the catching area. Several times, the birds took to flight, but eventually 90 or so Curlew landed on the field with about 10 or so in the catching area. We took this opportunity and fired. A dash to the net saw that we had caught 15 Curlew and 2 Bar-tailed Godwit. I ringed 2 Curlew on this catch as I was just happy with the changing style of catch on dry land. It was also a huge privilege to be up close and personal to a Bar-tailed Godwit, even if I didn't get to handle it myself.A nice end to a great, albeit tiring, weekend
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