Lets shrike this

 Lots of slog for not much reward this weekend - did bang in redwing & fieldfare on fri & sat and then yesterday grabbed a red-backed shrike out of the dying embers of the south-easterlies - my fourth one on Galley and my first since 2013.

Had brief views again of the shrike this am before it seemingly dizzolved in the rain, which was a bit irksome. A black redstart was a bonus for the year though, which was nice.

Still a bit too far off the podium for my liking - not sure I'm going to get much closer though!

A couple more...

 Squeezed in coal tit and fieldfare this last week.

trying to keep the pressure on the Procs but even if I get the few remaining regulars and jam a few bonus birds, it just isn't going to happen.... bugger.

Happy days

Bushveld

Oh, Canada

 

Continuing to record at home, we were sat on a video call this morning looking out of the window, paying full attention when we noticed nine Canada geese flying over low. They must have come in on the easterlies along with all the redwings that have just arrived. This full fat gank patch tick was later blown out of the water by jack snipe, flushed from the side of a field. If flew off low, but just when I went for a second look, the local farmer resumed muck spreading - jack shit in that field now. 90 species (all time patch record for a year) = 114.9%

Fillers

What with rare birds occurring on every blade of east coast grass over the last week, I've been spending a bit more time than usual stomping around the patch.  Thoughts of Ol' Snowy returning to it's favourite perch on top of my piano have, unfortunately, faded as there was absolutely nothing worthy of its return.  However, I did squeeze in a few patch birds for the year with a total of TEN year ticks:

Redstart

Ring Ouzel

Redwing

Mistle Thrush

Lesser whitethroat

Blackcap

Wood warbler

Chiffchaff

Brambling

Crossbill

Quality birds all of them.  Although wood warbler was a FFP tick and it was only my second ever crossbill.

Still no rares though and I'd rather have been with Roy Castle clearing up Shetland...who wouldn't?

The good news is that, for now, there is hope that the Mallard could remain where it has been for the last couple of years.  

119 species

105.68%

Happy days

Wandering tits

 Its that time of year on Galley when you can bump into a load of tits of all shapes and sizes pretty much anywhere. And so it was this morning, as I wandered down into Dirk hoping for a yank. A distant possible long-tailed tit call gradually came closer and turned into nine (count 'em) of the wee blighters frolicking in the sycamores. 

I gleaned another two kwality year ticks on Sunday, in the form of my first stock dove since 2013 down Marsh Lane followed by two (count 'em) or a brace if you'd prefer, wigeon on the lake. 

Exhibit A - A stock dove

I would still rather be on Shetland though.