This bay was full of ducks and geese before these bank fishermen sent everything flying! Prior to them moving onto the shore, I bid them a pleasant good morning. One guy said (due to the fog) you'll need night vision glasses to see the birds. I said there are two things this morning that will prevent me seeing birds one is the fog and the other is the bank / boat fishermen disturbing the birds. His reply was that bank and boat fishermen make no difference to the birds who take no notice of their presence. Needless to say, the area has NO birds!
These fishermen drove their boat to the Farborough Spit sending everything away including a bathing Lapwing that I was trying to photograph. They briefly parked before moving on but again NO birds.
Two boats parked on the island. Again NO birds!
It is also unacceptable to drive boats into flocks of wildfowl causing them to scatter. Toft Bay held a good number of ducks until the fishermen arrived and scattered them with most heading towards Rainbow Corner. When I got back to Rainbow Corner, boats arrived before me sending everything back towards Toft.
I decided to have a polite word with those at the fishing lodge. This was a complete waste of time. I was informed that as the fishermen pay £70 per boat, the WHOLE reservoir is sacrosanct to them! I was told that birdwatchers should confine themselves to the bird hide area in Toft. I was then informed that I could go and look at some birds (Coot!) beyond the boat moorings. They admitted they were not birdwatchers and had NO interest in birds and that they PAID to go wherever they like.
I am sure most fishermen have a genuine interest in wildlife. I bear them no malice, I just ask for them to be considerate and not spoil my enjoyment.
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