I'd rather Jack / Saxicola – it’s the real thing

A bumper weekend on the patch. A good thrash on Saturday started with a stonechat that must have been pushed to lower altitudes by the snow. Mr Hill from Burnt Island spoilt the moment rather by texting me the news that he was watching waxwings on his beat, but that just drove me on. I spent the next hour targeting the exposed wet flushes which had stayed open, and were covered with a wee bit of vegetation. My thrashing paid off as I flushed a jack snipe from one of the many bogs of Boghall. A full fat patch tick, and the first patch tick for a while. I enjoyed it so much that I went and flushed it again to get another brief view of it. Take that Mr Hill, (and watch and learn Jerry Wilson who’s been searching his patch for this one recently). And to add icing to the proverbial cake I had a flock of waxwings over this morning. I didn’t have them last year, but the bus stop appears to be a regular spot otherwise. All this and mallard takes me to 47, or more importantly 63.51%.