Patch birding at its finest

What a months end...

who needs red-winged blackbird when you've got patch birding?

With the winds turning south-easterly it was definitely worth stretching ones legs around the patch.  My efforts were well rewarded with three mega rares on the patch in the space of a couple of days.

The first, a fine pair of GREY PARTRIDGE, skilfully flushed I think you'll find from some deep cover near the cliff tops; possible migrants I thought? But then... I didn't really care as they were most definitely full fat patch ticks.

Still delighted with my find, I wandered off down to the 'moat' where there's some nice bushes for some nice migs (sometimes).  Ten minutes later with only a willow warbler added to the year list,  two mallard flew off from the moat and behind them, scuttling into to edge of the bank, was a MOORHEN.  Would you believe it? yet another full FFPT... awesome.  What a bird it was.  I sat and admired it, whilst looking forward to the golden mallard winging its way to me at the years end.

Today was bit of let down really, but the pair of mute swan on the great pool were the first ones since 2014...BONUS

What an end to the month.  Although, on reflection, I do think I'd rather have a red-winged blackbird...

At the end of April, patch total of 69 sp, 64.49%

Happy days

Bushveld

late in getting started...

It has taken me a while to get round to this. I could claim I have been busy, what with work in Antarctica and Melanesia but it is really just about priorities.

And the competition this year has been a low priority of late, in part due to an impending divorce. Yes, I am separating from my patch. It has been a good affair lasting nearly three years, but we are moving apartments, the current five minute walk to the patch will be a distant memory and I will be in search of a new patch.

Not that the patch has been without interest. The year list has moved on to a respectable 72 and includes four patch ticks (count 'em). Oriental dwarf kingfisher, orange-headed thrush, dark-sided flycatcher and brown hawk owl. The best image I have is of the dullest of the additions...

Add to this the regular presence of hooded and blue-winged pittas, red-legged crakes with chicks and changeable hawk-eagle a new breeding species for the patch; and life has been good. I will be sad to leave it but new pastures beckon. Well, it won't be a pasture as grassland is more or less non-existent here but...

slow start to the spring

its been slow enuff round these parts of late - banged in willow warbler, golden plover and a fine black redstart in the last couple of days but still no wheatear! Whats going on?

Still, back ahead of Bushveld so happy days!

Buzzin'

Well... not really.

Once extremely scarce in this neck of the deforested Irish countryside, buzzards have been pushing steadily south. In fact I now have it on unquestionable authority that they are classed as "regular and increasing".

Seppy dispensing his ornithological wisdom with characteristic generosity and aplomb

 AKA "gank", except of course when they occur on Galley Head.

Still, they all count... so the one I glimpsed circling over a hillside in the middle-distance yesterday afternoon is duly in the bag, nudging me to 63 for the year, or 72.41% in real money.

Roll on the swallows!

Spring has sprung

The first wheatear of the year was early by North-east Scotland standards and very nice it was indeed.

Better still... A full fat patch tick in the form a of a collared dove got me punching the air with delight and got me singing Tick-a-dee-doo-dah, tick-a-dee-ay.


Happy days

Bushveld

Chiffchaff

Singing away this morning. Great work. And more bad news for Basil is, due to a cycle related injury (a small girl cycled into me, taking me out), we'll be working from the recording studio at home for a few days. More ticks to follow.

He's a **** like that....

There isn't much that will galvanise me into action these days, but news this morning from Seppy that I was slipping down the rankings saw me scrambling to update the blog. The result: devastating news; after tallying my backlog I'd still managed to slip into second place!

Only one thing for it, I thought: a lunchtime pasty up by the lake.

It was a great plan, especially as the tuna and sweetcorn wrap I'd made for lunch had disappeared before 11am. But I digress... what's important in this context is the splendid common gull that was bobbing gently amidst the usual raft of herring and lesser-black-backed gulls. Keen to push on I scanned the rest of the flock, and made a lame, half-arsed attempt to string a ring-billed out of an immature herring gull... but Seppy was having none of it. He's a **** like that.

Still, the "legit" common gull sees me leapfrog the Proclaimers (no mean feat in itself) to reclaim the top spot on a blistering 71.26%.

Bring it!