Didn't they want to get their hair wet?Top naturalists call off saltmarsh stroll because of a few drops of rain

 

Not a pair of binoculars between them - nor an umbrella! Has no one heard of Rhianna?

TWO Natural England bosses skipped a walk along a coastal footpath because  . . . it started to rain!

Chairman Tony Juniper and chief executive Marian Spain were scheduled to spend an hour exploring the birds, including redshank, and other wildlife of the saltmarsh in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire.

But five minutes into the walk, there was a brief rain shower so, along with other bigwigs, our intrepid duo scrapped the walk and scurried back to shelter.

Said a spokesperson for the delegation: "We walked for about five minutes but had to abandon the planned hour-long walk into the reserve due to the wet weather."

Did she not regard that as wishy-washy - not to say, a dereliction of duty?

"To be fair, it was a deluge," she responded. 

The purpose of their visit had been to 'launch' the first Coronation Coast national nature reserve on behalf of King Charles III who was unable to be present.

Earlier, at the resort's leisure centre, speeches were made, a buffet lunch was laid on and plaques were presented.

Then, following their aborted walk, the delegates all went back home without so much as having seen a single Cleethorpes redshank.                                              

Unseen by the fair-weather naturalists - this  redshank, a species sometimes known as the 'sentinel of the  of saltmarsh' 

 * Top photo (courtesy DIO) shows, from left: Michael Copleston (RSPB), Deborah Campbell (Environment Agency), Cllr Philip Jackson (North East Lincolnshire Council), Paul Learoyd (Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust), Marian Spain (Natural England), Tony Juniper (Natural England), Cllr Colin Davie (Lincolnshire County Council), Mike Green (Defence Infrastructure Organisation), David Hill (Defra)  

The Wryneck says: A bit wimpish, surely! Admittedly the party members were unsuitably dressed, but for highly-paid professional naturalists to skip 55 minutes of a 60-minute walk because of a rain shower beggars belief.  Did Captain Scott retreat from the Antarctic when it started to snow? Even worse is that, through their timorous response to the elements, the VIPs dishonoured the very habitat and wildlife they had come to celebrate. When the information is relayed to the King, he will  not be amused.