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Cod piece
Posted by Graeme Lyons , Sunday, 22 December 2013 14:27
If you can think of a better fish pun, let minnow. At last, some 30 years after I first ate one, I finally caught up with a wild Cod! I was rock-pooling today at St Mary's Lighthouse but it was slow going with only one each of Long-spined Sea Scorpion, Corkwing Wrasse (last time I recorded Ballan), Two-spot Goby and Shanny. I had my eyes on a fella (not in that way!) sea-fishing off the edge of the rocks and I looked up at a time he was reeling in a catch. I grabbed my binoculars and tentatively identified it as a Cod as he landed the fish. Little did he know he was being watched from behind a rock! I legged it around to get a better look. 'Excuse me, did you just catch a Cod?' I yelled as I came running over the rocks. I think he thought I was either very hungry or very strange (I was actually both but he didn't know that nor was it relevant) and after a while he let me take a photo and we were soon exchanging fish-based anecdotes. Not exactly the rarest creature in the world but not something I was expecting to see today. The fish in question went back in as it was too small to take. My 69th fish species and maybe my last new species (4718) of 2013. I hope I'll see a wild Chip soon and complete the set! A couple of Purple Sandpipers were working the shoreline too but they flew off when I asked them what they had caught.
Yesterday I added the Common Starfish Asterias rubens from the rocks at Tynemouth but little else. Ivory Gull Tourette Syndrome has set in this week. I am jumping at every gull, carrier bag, football, ship, even the odd white van that moves. Now that would be a fitting end to a year! I was thinking of going to twitch the bird in Yorkshire but I am some 160 miles and over three hours NORTH of it here. I'd rather have a surprise Cod any day.
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In December 1970, I'd just got home from college and was walking down our front path when my mother appeared at the door and said "Give me your case, you'd better get the bus to the pier, there's an Ivory Gull there. Being an obedient lad, I ran to the bus and was soon legging it towards the pier. I saw two birders running across the sand and shouted, "Have you seen the Ivory Gull?" The reply knocked the wind out of my sails a bit "F**k the Ivory Gull, we've just had a Ross's fly over our heads!!!!!" needless to say, I followed them and we were soon watching a stunning Ross's Gull sitting on the sea. Later on I caught up with the Ivory Gull then returned home still in a state of shock :-)