Yes indeedy - its been all go at Galley with a double full-fat patch tick bonanza and several strange species turning up the last few days.
Friday's excitement was the news that Old Spoons had found a treecreeper down Dirk. Treecreepers are not resident on Galley, and we only know of three previous records, none of which I saw. The bottom of Dirk is full of tall sycamores and is the kind of place that a treecreeper could get lost. A treecreeper heading in there would not be the ideal scenario.
I got down there in minutes and Old Spoons informed me that it had been in the big sycamore on its own, but he'd lost it and he reckoned it was probably in the bottom of Dirk.
Bugger.
However, luck was on my side, as, while slowly scanning the sycamores one by one, I managed to pick it up foraging in some ivy, and got good views as it flitted to the next tree and worked its way up the trunk - absolute scenes! This is what patch birding is all about!
Fast forward to Saturday and I was out early trying to find whatever was about when I noticed a white bird flying in the distance. At first I thought it was a swan, albeit a bit small, but then it turned and I could see it had a big long black beak out the front. Just as it dawned on me that it was a spoonbill, it turned away from me and started heading west, towards Rosscarbery. I tried calling Old Spoons in case he was out and lost the bird altogether. Two full-fat patch ticks in two days - I was on a hat-trick!
Alas, it was not to be, with Sunday failing to produce the full-fat goods. I did glean a wigeon and two lapwings on the lake shore though, and followed them up with a heard-only flyover grey plover today, so not too shabby.
The wind remains firmly in the east for the next few days too...
No comments:
Post a Comment