last lap

Checking Dirk for rare american passerines this am really paid off when 2 lapwings flew over! Hell Yeah! Year tickage baby!

Quiet on the american passerine front tho, sadly...

Coot ya bas!

All right! The long lean summer drought of year ticks is over! Yes indeedy its all go for year ticks once again! Seawatching to date has sucked, with only a sooty shearwater to add, but marvel of marvels, on a recent family cycle down by the lake I noticed a moorhen/coot type just skulking into the reeds close-at-hand. No bins but waiting patiently and out it came revealing its white shield - Coot! Score! Once back home, I set up the scope on the same patch and bingo! There it was for the year! 1st record since 2011 too so very nearly bird of the year!! (so far).

And back ahead of Bushveld! Happy Days!

another mig

Despite the great conditions for a fall, digging out the migs at Galley has been hard since those goodies turned up last week - did find another wryneck, which was nice, but the only year tick i managed was a lesser whitethroat as dusk fell last night - still - rarer than ybw here!