Birding made difficult

Thursday 7th January 2016

'Losing it' is a frequently used expression.Today the expression came to mind as I wandered around the Coop car park in Atherstone. Earlier in the day I had made the decision to go for the Bittern at Ladywalk rather than the Common Scoter at Draycote. After a pile up on the M6 east bound traffic on the A5 was at a standstill but fortunately I was able to sail past mile after mile of static traffic to reach my destination. As I parked up in the car park at Ladywalk the heavens opened and it continued to rain heavily for the next hour or so. With a strong gusty wind as well it wasnt ideal Bittern watching weather or anything else come to that. After an early lunch in the car I moved on to Shustoke Res. The Great northern Diver was still there but rather more distant than yesterday. As the rain stopped I headed back. I needed a bit of  exercise so I stopped at Bentley for a woodland stroll.A Raven croncked overhead as I walked the various paths and then the first of 4 Woodcocks got up from close by the path. At least I'd got some reward for the day's efforts. I decided to celebrate by having a coffee and Mince pie at the Coop in Atherstone. In my excitement I managed to lock my only set of car keys in the Boot. Aghh!  What to do?The drivers door was still open so there's a simple answer if you have a hatchback. But logical thinking was in short supply as controlled panic set in. I started to phone anyone and everyone I thought might be able to give some advice Luckily I couldn't get a signal until I moved away from the car to get through to a breakdown company. As soon as I mentioned the type of car and the fact I could still get in the answer was simple. Even then I went for the tricky option of climbing over the front seats while still giving the RAC guy a running commentary. All in a day's birding.