Duck games

So called spring continues to drag by on Boghall. Willow warbler and swallow were misplaced harbingers a couple of weeks ago, while mallard have undergone a population explosion on the patch, and are on every bit of water they can find. But highlight has been the very welcome return of whitethroats - welcome back boys, I've missed ya. All this bring us to a paltry 64, or 68.1% to those who can do maths (that's you Statto).

This patch is a dive!

There's a little elevated patch on the farmland behind the house where, on a good day, I can see a thin sliver of the Atlantic in the "V" between two hills. It's 4.5 miles away... but hey, it had to be worth a punt right?

I finally lugged the scope up there on a clear, cold morning last week.

After looking for a while to get my eye in I managed to bag gannet -- little (as in far away) white birds wheeling on mass, plunging towards the water and making a splash that caught the sunlight.

Score!

This shot was digiscoped on-patch with my mobile phone hand-held to the scope eyepiece (ahem!), honest guv'nor!

Important thing is gannet puts me at 96.97% -- still moving in the right direction, and falling behind more sedately than I'd expected, given the time of year. It's also such an epic tick for this little patch of mine that I've added it as an "honorouble mention" to the "best finds" list.