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He is also a very keen angler, having come back to the sport five years ago following a break of several years. In this regular column he will tell us about his progress as an angler – his thoughts about the sport, what he learns, the fishing trips he makes, the anguish, the humour, in fact everything he experiences as his angling career develops.
Pilgrim’s Progress – read it every Thursday!
Close Encounters Of A FeatheredKind
I’m sure we all acknowledge that there is more to fishing thanjust catching fish. Sometimes just being out there at the water’sedge is reward in itself. And of course there are things that wewould have missed had we not been out and about. This week’sPilgrim’s Progress is devoted to some of the things of anornithological nature I’ve witnessed while sitting quietly at theside of the water.
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Although I wouldn’t put myself in the ‘twitcher’ category, I’ve always been interested in birds. Growing up in a semi-rural area much of my childhood was spent watching birds in the surrounding fields,woods and meadows. As a kid I would spend hours engrossed in the Hamlyn guide to Birds of Britain and Europe. That was my ‘Bible’ in those days. Of course, the keys to being a successful ornithologist are quiet, stillness and stealth. All of these alsoapplying to when one is seated at the edge of the water. So it’s hardly surprising that we get to witness bird life close at hand.
I think the most unusual sight I’ve seen was a sparrowhawk takedown a pigeon. I was fishing a small river in South Staffordshirewhen the group of wood pigeons in the tree above me suddenlyscattered in all directions. The one that flew right in front of mewas suddenly descended upon by a sparrowhawk that hit it with such aforce, both the hunter and the hunted tumbled to the ground amid anexplosion of feathers. I then watched almost spellbound as the birdof prey spent the next 15 minutes devouring his meal, all thishappening within 30 metres of where i sat motionless, afraid to movein case I disturbed the scene.
I’ve lost count of the nuthatches, treecreepers, woodpeckers, owlsand so on that I’ve had the pleasure to sit and watch forconsiderable periods of time. All of them, of course, totallyoblivious to my presence. My favourite birds are tits andfinches.
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From late summer onwards I’ve found it a common sight to besuddenly surrounded by a large flock of long-tailed tits, flittingaround in the branches overhead, before departing in unison for thenext bush along the waterway. And what can be more magnificent thanwatching the bright red colour of a male bullfinch as he lingers longenough just for you to take in his incredible beauty.
There is one swim that I fish on a Staffordshire river that issurrounded by a high bank of tall trees. Every night, just beforedusk, a roosting common buzzard would circle the clump of trees,emitting his high pitched shriek. It would then settle in exactly thesame spot as the previous times I had seen it. In fact, the arrivalof the buzzard became a highlight of my visits to that swim.
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Not all birds are as welcome though. Even though I don’t haveanything personally against swans, they can be a bit of a nuisancesometimes as far as angling is concerned. They fall into the samecategory as the monkeys in Africa. They are wild creatures that, dueto man’s intervention, have come to see humans as agents of free foodhand outs.
One trip I made to a lake in Worcestershire proved a nightmare. Areally persistent mute swan continually tried to force his way intomy bivvy after food. I even tried talking to him, telling him I wasnot to be confused with St Francis of Assisi or even Dr Dolittle. Butit wouldn’t listen. It reminded me of my kids, they never do what Iask them to.
On this occasion I was fishing with Dave Cooper (Cooperman) and hefound it hilarious. Although we were in the next peg to each otherthe swan didn’t bother him at all, it kept pestering me. In fact, Icouldn’t even leave my swim. The moment I took one step away the birdwas inside my bivvie seeing what he could pilfer from me.
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Other birds that fit into the nuisance category are the divingwaterfowl, such as coots and ducks, that proceed to mop up yourunderwater table of goodies that you’ve carefully laid out for thefish. I even caught one once, on hair-rigged sweetcorn. Certainly oneof the most bizarre catches I’ve made. But I think we have to takethe good with the bad, so to speak. And certainly, as far as I’mconcerned, our feathered friends make fishing trips so much moreinteresting.
As the river season has now come to an end (today in fact is thefirst day of the running water close season) next week’s Pilgrim’sProgress will tell you about my recent excursions to the River Sow inStaffordshire.
Join me, as we go ‘Following In TheFootsteps Of Izaak Walton’.
The Reverend Stewart R Bloor
Sedgley International Christian Ministries
PO Box 1216, Dudley. DY3 1GW.
Telephone : 01384 – 828033
Web site : www.sicm.org
e-mail : missionscentre@sicm.org
