Nearly Done

 Yes indeedy, there can't be much to add to the Galley year list total, but the last few weeks have demonstrated that you never know what might be out there!

To recap:

Having missed Old Spoon's dick's pipit by having my phone on silent, I was out early doors the next day, before it had even stopped raining! Consequently I was back in the car soaked, about 10 minutes after I'd started. Once the rain really had finally cleared, I was out again. No luck with the pipit, but I did bump into this instead...

a little bunting erm, 10 days ago...(calvin's pic)

Quite an unexpected bonus - it showed well and called a lot, and even hung around long enough for Basil to tear over to get an irish tick - all good!

And that really should have been it for the year. Away the next weekend, and so consequently I wasn't surprised to hear that I'd missed long-tailed tits and a globby at Red Strand, viewable from the patch. Bum. Ah well. Unphased, I had a wee jaunt down the beach last Wednesday am, and banged in a fine brent goose instead - another good one for round here.

So thats 143 for the year, and rather satisfyingly, it works out at precisely 110.28%. I reckon I could still get another two species maybe, which would be 145, my second highest patch score but still 4 below my highest ever. Incidentally, I think if I'd been around a bit more in Sept & Oct this year I'd definately have smashed the mythical 150 barrier, but hey ho, something to aim at another time.

A few bits

 Been oot and aboot a wee bit over the last few days gleaning the odd year tick here and there. A fine green sandpiper over the gaff last week was eagerly ticked off on the year list while a reed warbler on Sunday was my first on the patch for 3 years. With a hint of south-easterlies and drizzly pish last night I was out again this morning nailing a fine pied flycatcher at the Lashers, with spotted flycatcher, blackcap and a chiffchaff as the supporting (non-year tick) cast.  

Fea's Fun

After last years total seawatch flop, this year has been slow enough to start but finally got going over the last couple of days. I managed a wee warm-up 10 days ago or so, with a distant cory's shearwater, arctic terns and a storm petrel but things definately improved yesterday with a bit more movement through the crease. The morning was slow enough, with just a single great shearwater, a couple of sooty shearwaters and a bonxie, but by the evening session things were definately happening, with 48 (count 'em) cory's, another great Shear, and a pomarine skua through.

Seawatching off Galley this am

                                                     

Fast forward to this am, and a truckload of rain. I kept my eye on the Met Error (tm) rainfall radar though, and decided to chance a start at 8.30, when the vis was beginning to lift a bit. By 9 am I'd had 3 cory's and a single great shear, when all of a sudden, out of the gloomy horizon I noticed another "large shear" coming in. This quickly turned out to not be a large shear, and as the bird banked I could see the distinctive dark underwings and bright white underparts of a fea's-type petrel!! The bird continued to work its way west, banking and gliding, but unfortunately didn't come much closer, but still, it was tremendous to get another one - my first since July 2013, so its been quite a while! Majik!

Cory's  and great shears continued to pass for the next hour and half, along with 5 bonxies and a juvenile long-tailed skua, which sneaked through in a rain shower and was most welcome for the patch year list. A great morning's work!

Count 'em! Greats on the left, Cory's on the right

                                               

Putting Bushveld back in his box

Far be it from me to be getting boastful, (particularly this spring!), but even without much in the way of migrants I've managed to get back ahead of Bushveld!

Yes indeedy, even this weekend with very limited free time on patch I managed to glean swift, siskin, mistle thrush and a fine brace of tysties! All very welcome I'm sure you'll agree.

All this excitement keeps me firmly ahead of Bushveld, although my spring is winding down while his is probably only just getting going. Lets hope for a nice run of westerlies for the next few weeks ooop north hey?

To finish, a wee snap of the showy grasshopper warbler that has been frequenting the field by shite lane crossroads all week. Not as close or obliging today as the other night when I didn't have my camera, obvs!

A gropper yesterday

Happy days

Seppy

2016 Final scores

Just so they don't get lost in the mists of time, specially if Basil starts talking p*sh about how narrowly he lost by again, here are the full 2016 final declared patch scores....

Some scores, yesterday

I guess I really should have edited out Nimmo's score for 2015 prior to posting - he's bound to start reminiscing and waxing lyrical about his finest hour etc etc blah waffle drone...

royzah is just short

A busy weekend of drinking for everyone's favourite dead tap-dancer was interspersed with kwality year ticks. Bullfinch was the best of it, and following consultation with several eminent fellow contestants he's retro-yearticking that thayer's/kumlien's  yoke that was knocking about Donmouth back in the winter. So now just half a waxwing short of top spot - major stringing reqd!!

Not another one!

A good morning on Galley - first up was the new magic bush, which is a big patch of knotweed out on Galley. Today this contained (count 'em) one cracking male redstart, one reed warbler, one blackcap and several willows and chiffs. Nice! Whilst grilling it, a green sandpiper flew over calling - another year tick!

Duly fueled up on migs, I set off round the rest of Galley eager for more. However, there didn't seem to be that much more- a couple more blackcaps, several wheatears and a few phylloscs, when all of a sudden I heard an odd phyllosc call at Shite Lane, sounding like a nasal, high-pitched willow warbler. And then this appeared...

Western Bonelli's Warbler, Shite Lane, Sept 2016

This is obviously the same bird that I had here last year - it must have been here the whole time. Or else it popped back for another visit. Great to see it again!