no birds then boooooooom! Radde's ya bas!

 Yes indeedy, another seemingly dead slog all around Galley in lovely, calm conditions this am, with nowt to show for it other than a chiffchaff. Figured I might as well slog around shite lane for the sake of completeness, and then my autumn finally came to life for as I neared the allotment, I could hear something tac-ing that wasn't a wren.

When I went round the corner, there it was...

A snow bunting, yesterday #validated

Amayzing - full-fat Galley tick all the way from Siberia with virtually zero supporting cast - what were the chances that I'd pass there when I did?

The bird quickly moved away, and I could no longer hear it call, so when Old Spoons showed up I was fearing the worst. However, luckily we relocated it down Marsh Lane, where we had further views - top stuff!

Royzah has also been out on his patch this am and sent on a pic of a snow bunting that he'd clearly lifted straight off the net, thusly...

A radde's warbler, yesterday #validated

All still to play for!

News from Nowhere

 Yes indeedy, there's been so much happening its hard to know where to even start!

Firstly, after many years of little to show in the finds department, its a big hats-off to the Proclaimers for banging in their very first kwality find on their new patch (of which more anon) at Garlieston. Evidence below thusly....

A turnstone, yesterday

Moving on, Big Royzah has been getting out and about on patch, in between twitches to Shetland, and even blowing his own trumpet now and again with various wild claims such as pomarine skua  (unvalidated), 8 (count 'em) brent geese flying south, again unvalidated, flyover barnacle goose (whatever that really was) and even a slavonian grebe on the river (as if...)

half a slav, yesterday

Shakeys had a lapland bunting and his first redstart for five years, I heard that much. He's also claiming to be over the near-mythical (for him anyway) 100% barrier and beginning to close in on the Prockies top-spot lead! (Unvalidated).

In between missing almost every possible year tick and quite a few impossible ones, I also bumped into a lap bunt, which is only my 4th on patch I think, thusly

A lap bunt, yesterday

I also managed a fine female pintail yesterday but no shots so it must go down as unvalidated. Basil has mostly been on holidays to far-flung places like Wales, and so has also missed a few bits, but he did get greenfinch yesterday so he was delighted with that (unvalidated).

No news either way from Reg (invalidated).

Thats about the size of it now I think

****Message ends****

Ton Up

 At last ... A brambling over the weekend was the 100th species for the year.

Autumnal highlights so far have been A great shear' on 10 September (a FFP tick no less) accompanied by only my 3rd patch sooty shear' and a pom skua. an indication of how little seawtaching I do rather than their true status .  A fly over grey plover on the 30/9 was only my second ever on patch.

With few, if any, other highlights the patch tally for the year does scrape to a 100 and 80.86%.  Still 12 species required to even get past the 90% barrier.

Happy days

Bushveld

News of Big Royzah

 Yes indeedy, in an almost unprecedented scenario, Big Royzah has finally offered up his patch score, along with news that he has recently patch-ticked marsh harrier, although further deets are somewhat lacking. Suffice it to say, he was off-patch, but the harrier was over his patch so he is ok to count it. He also divulged that he had a cory's shearwater a coupe of weeks back. So thats three whole species that we now know that he has seen this year - black redstart, marsh harrier and cory's - not a bad haul.

In other news, Old Spoons played a blinder earlier today by "helping" me get glossy ibis for the patch year list. Probably best to leave out the details but I was very grateful none-the-less.

All to play for!

Faster than a Barolo

 Yes indeedy, so there I was slumped over me aldi crisp and strawberry breakfast cereal at 8.29 this very am, when I got a call informing me that a barolo shearwater had just gone west past Seven Heads close in (approx 17km east of Galley). Quick as lightening, I grabbed me scope & tripod, thermal mug of tae and me wellies and tazzed up the road, but would I make it in time? 

I arrived at the empty seawatching spot at 8.50, but how fast do small shearwaters fly anyway?

After several anxious minutes of scanning, trying to convince myself that there was still time, suddenly I got on a shearwater that was way smaller than the manxies piling past. "Thats tiny" I thought. And it was. As it flew a bit closer, I could make out the white face, and the more fluttery flight, but the size was the most striking feature. 

I clocked the time of the sighting at 9.09 am - just 44 minutes after it had gone past 7 Heads - but luckily I had been faster!

Happy daze! My second on Galley, after the New Old Snowy winning one of last August.

Reg spills da beanz

 Yes indeedy, there has finally been news from Reg. And it's podium-level news at that. A direct quote from the man himself thusly:

"Overall total this year 154 so far, new average working from of 164.58, this years percentage 93.58- stand out self found bird Great Shear , best bird  otherwise Bairds Sand"

So, now all we need is news from Big Royzah, although that might be a while coming, as he's refusing to respond to any comms thus far....

September still just around the corner...

 Yes indeedy, before we can even get to September, there's been some more good stuff turning up at Galley. First off, Old Spoons banged into a hippo briefly down Dirk on Thursday, but we weren't able to get a decent look at it till Friday, at which point it was ID'd as a melodious warbler

A melodious warbler, on Friday

And then this morning, while still half asleep, I was gawking at the lake, when I noticed a nice juvenile black tern flying about - only my 3rd evah on patch, and my first since October 2013!

A black tern, er, today

So there we have it. A check of the totaliser and prediction win-dicator for the rest of the year shows me needing just 21 more species to break the by now almost mythical 150 species barrier - I'd best get back out there!

1/9 am update: 4 (count 'em!) stock doves from the majik patio (tm) - all to play for!