banging them in

 Yes indeedy, its been slow and steady on patch the last couple of weeks - not amayzing but just knocking off some regular and not so regular waders and seabirds for the old year list. Wader highlights have involved a single bar-tailed godwit the other evening, plus a few flyover ringed plover, dunlin  and sanderlings. A dodgy attempt to string two distant dark-looking small waders into turnstones was later deemed unnecessary after stumbling across a good 'un thusly...

blurred and on the huh, yesterday

To seabirds then, and while great shearwater  and cory's shearwater both fell back in july/august, I have managed to further glean a total of nine (count 'em) long-tailed skuas, five (count 'em again!) grey phalaropes and a fine 1w little gull over the last couple of days which moves me on nicely.

It must be nearly time for some migs now tho hey?

Grape Lover

 I've been grafting away on patch over the last few days - a slave to it in fact. Persistance is paying off though, particularly with waders, including such wonders as a flyover, calling (tho unseen) spotted redshank and just yesterday a fine grey plover on the deck, courtesy of Old Spoons....

majik

Non-numenids

The year list tally continues to trundle slowly on at Galley - the stiff & cold NE breeze isn't really helping but did manage 3 (count 'em) whitethroats this am, which was new, along with 2 blackcaps, 3 willow warblers and at least 10 (!) wheatears, which weren't.

Strolling back to the office after lunch, I set up the scope to scan the lake, and as luck would have it, picked up a mixed numenid flock in the lakeside fields - imagine my surprise when I clocked that two of the birds werent numenids at all, but were in fact bar-tailed godwits! A scarce visitor to the patch, and one I didn't get last year!

Rattled off a quick proof-of-life phone-scope body of evidence shot and rushed to put the news out herewith!

Non-numenidic evidence

Onwards & upwards!

waders on da move

been a few bits going through Galley lately - managed dunlin and black-tailed godwit yesterday, and then had 7 (count 'em) sanderling on the beach this am. Back ahead of Bushveld! Result!

Seppy's Last Hurrah!

Must admit I've not really being going for it on da patch since November rolled around. Yet today I managed to bang in 2 year ticks without really trying! A family walk down the beach netted only my 3rd record of purple sandpiper on patch ever, whilst a sunset scope of the fields surrounding the lake produced 8 (count 'em) black-tailed godwits feeding with the curlews.

Sadly, all this action still wasn't enough to move up the leaderboard - all it did was make it harder for next year! Bollox!

kak all at sea

Another lame seawatch yesterday am, with tystie once again the highlight, however a fine sanderling on the beach at Long Strand on the way home was a worthy year tick. Result!

wader day!

Maasseeeeeeeeeeve flock of waders on Long Strand this am, mostly dunlin and sanderling, the latter of which was a year tick! Also gleaned a fine (and tricky to get) bar-tailed godwit for the year, plus 2 knot, 3 turnstones, 6 ringos and a curlew! Kwality!

unsound approach

Had a flyover little stint er, fly over the gaff the other day. Calling away it was, which when I checked the old campo rojo website confirmed it, innit. Garden tick no less (From the house list now 144), and only my 2nd on/from patch, although I'm not sure I really saw the first one from the patch - may have been off it. Lost in the mists of time in 2006  - its declared here anyway. Up into 3rd place too! Crazy scenes!

ooo wader x 2

Just had a sconce at the lake, and while perusing a common sandpiper, my razor-sharp hearing detected a wader call - on the third call it finally clicked - turnstone! And they were, both of them! Just one more species needed to leapfrog Boghall into 4th spot! All going on!

ooo wader

Green sand on de lake edge! Boom! Never guaranteed, its always a kwality wader to get on de patch! Plus bonus tufted duck on the lake this evening. Its all going on!

Early gold for the patch... but no spring migs

All very slow on patch lately... but a fly-by flock of eight (count em) golden plover last week was a welcome addition to the 2014 list, and takes me up over the 70% mark (71.15% to be exact), so all good.

But, seems Seppy is already bleating about the arrival of wheatears at Galley Head he'll be racking up the scores and creeping up the leaderboard -- as will all the rest of you high-mig locale patchers.

No sign of spring migs up here. In fact I still have winter migs, in the shape of fieldfare and redwing flocks, dashing about the patch. Consolation there is that Seppy still needs both for the year -- every cloud, and all that.

blackwits

3 flyover black-tailed godwits were swiftly dispatched to the year list over breakfast - skills!

patch tickage

two (count 'em) spotted redshanks on the lake on monday morning were a full fat patch tick. Interestingly they were there the previous night too but I considered them to only be common redshanks then - but no! Also 3 redpoll flying over this am keeps me nicely ahead of Shakey, by a whopping 0.01% - hoo hoo!

nae ears

no wheatears yet, tho its still officially a week early. 6 blackwits was de best i could manage today, and its goin shitty again tomorrow! Arse! Still, puts me level with Costner, so i put my score above his, for the laugh!

blackwits

A quick sconce at the lakeside curlew flock has just produced 2 black-tailed godwits! Huzzah! And with south-easterlies blowing today for the 1st time this autumn, all is good hereabouts!

ooo waders

Galley is pretty crap for waders. This is mainly cos it isn't an estuary, its a headland. So a flock of 16 bar-tailed godwits high-tailing it south over the house this eve was pretty good. Well worth getting wet socks for, certainly. Though why they were going south is anyone's guess - probly to do with large circles or something - or is that only off Flamborough?