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