Don't look, don't find

And with all tours cancelled, we have a lot of time to work on new material (lucky you!), and keep an eye on our patch. Last week we had a spotted flycatcher in the garden of the recording studio. We were sat outside strumming away, writing tunes when we picked it up. Then on Wednesday our ears picked up the sound of a calling quail. Second ever for our patch, which was nice (got a message from a mate nearby yesterday telling us he too had one so it might be a good quail year). That and swift takes us to 81 species, or 103.85%. It's going to be a long, long six months now.

Going cuckoo under lockdown

Another full fat patch tick to report from Boghall - a long overdue cuckoo Yes, it should be annual and indeed it is just off our patch, but we've never managed one on the patch. That changed yesterday afternoon. That takes us to 101.28% before the middle of the year. Its going to be a long slog from here on in.

Wryneck

Record shot, almost, of Wryneck on patch today. 94.09% and already ahead of last year. Taking full advantage of a low average after two shit years

Ton up

Yes, jay and grey heron over the past few days have resulted in the magical 100%, or 78 species, being reached at the beginning of may. This reflects the additional effort going into the patch this spring, and does make the next 7 months rather daunting.
But I know that Shakey and Tintin are not far off the pace.