YBWs

Following yesterdays Bluethroat, I headed to patch this morning. Dipped Bluethroat before I got a chance to see it, but found another Yellow-Brow in the Gut, and also patch yearticked Short-Eared Owl that came in off the sea, brought me up to 149. Not aiming too high, but some flycatchers tomorrow please? Any kind would do!

Yellow-Browed Warbler

Bluethroat please...

As a follow-on from yesterday's post, my last line was "What will tomorrow bring? Winds once again looking very good, Bluethroat please...". This morning my wish was granted, I got up early and found a Yellow-Browed Warbler in the willows north of the wetland. I then left and went to college, only to get a phone call from Alan Curry to tell me Nick had found a Bluethroat on the 3rd Mound, which panicked me! As soon as I got a chance, I was back down! Absolutely cracking views of a female Bluethroat on the 2nd Mound - lifer!! Showing down to about 6ft and showing off to the crowd. I then moved to the island and got some cracking views of at least 4 YBWs on the island, also got a Brambling which was a full patch tick, mega!


Totals from the patch today:

10 YBWs (at least)
Brambling
6 Redwing
6 Goldcrest
Bluethroat
Loads of Chiffchaffs and Robins
Black Redstart (female)
Blackcap etc etc.

Bluethroat

Brambling

Autumn!

It's not autumn until the Yellow-Brows start arriving, and that's just what happened today. After promising numbers building up on the continent, it was only a matter of time before they hit Britain, and the winds overnight and today brought them in. I saw 2 at St. Mary's this afternoon. What will tomorrow bring? Winds once again looking very good, Bluethroat please...

Yellow-Browed Warbler

American Goldie 20-21/9/13

At the start of the year when I said the words 'I fancy an AGP on patch this year', I never thought for a second it would happen, but thanks to James Spencer, I have added it to my British Life List and Patch List. Excellent bird, unfortuantely I couldn't get down for it on the 19th, but was there first thing yesterday and today. Back for more tomorrow! Magic!

My Best Efforts so far.

Also managed to finally patch tick Buzzard this afternoon with 2 hunting over near the railway line, 73 Pink-Feet went over at 11:00 and added Coot to my Patch Yearlist, only my second ever on patch, MEGA! 

Algarve Birding

I have been away in Portugal for the last couple of weeks with the family, but also managed to get some birding in including a bird tour through Simon (The Algarve Birdman), So here goes, I got no less than 17 lifers, including:


• Southern Grey Shrike (20+)
• Caspian Tern (4)
• Little Bittern (5) (Big Target)
• Common Waxbill (Common!)
• Black-Headed Weaver (Common at Quinta Do Lago)
• Cory's Shearwater (seen Scopoli's before but spent hours watching Cory's yesterday for East Coast experience! Also got a lot of experience on Balearic Shearwaters and saw over 300 in 2 hours)
• Black Kite (3)
• Honey Buzzard (3)
• Little Bustard (6, big target of the trip)
• Red-Necked Nightjar (another target species, sitting in the middle of the road at dusk)
• Thekla Lark (everywhere)
• Woodlark
• Short-Toed Lark (3)
• Spectacled Warbler (3)
• Melodious Warbler (4)
• Western Bonelli's Warbler
 • EAGLE OWL (fantastic looking bird! Spent hours waiting when it finally flew across and landed on the opposite cliff where it posed for 2 hours!)
• Roller

Also got endless numbers of Woodchat Shrikes, Blue Rock Thrushes and Black Redstarts. Red-Rumped Swallows were fantastic as well and spent a long time attempting to photograph them.

 Azure-Winged Magpie

 Black-Headed Weaver

 Common Waxbill

 Little Bittern

 Little Bustard

 Melodious Warbler

 Red-Rumped Swallow

Thekla Lark

Eagle Owl

3 Lifer Day 3/8/13

Yesterday morning, Andrew kindly picked me up to go and see the Night Heron in Leicestershire at 7am, and by 10:30, we were standing watching it, a beauty! First lifer of the day! We then decided to go and look for Yellow-Legged Gull as that was another of my 'easy birds' that I still needed. So we went to Albert Village Lake where within 5 minutes, Andrew had picked up an excellent 3rd/4th-summer YLG sitting with the Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, mega! We thought 'that was a good day, 2 lifers!'. And then on the way home we called in for the Two-Barred Crossbill in Lancashire. Fantastic bird showing for about 5 minutes on the feeders, mega day with my 3rd lifer! Last time I did a 3 lifer day, I was watching Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Radde's Warbler and Red-Breasted Flycatcher in Fife!

 Night Heron (Digiscoped Record)

Two-Barred Crossbill

Purple Patch

A good run for patch started on Friday with a HUGE twitch, a Little Egret on the Wetland! Massive mega for St. Mary's and a patch tick!

Great Bird!

It carried on yesterday with a day of Adult Birds on a manic seawatch:
- First bird I saw when I started seawatching was a full adult Black Tern (my 3rd for Patch).
- I then spotted a HOBBY flying north (massive patch tick), it started chasing dunlin around before giving up and carrying on north!
- I then went home, sat down, thought to myself 'ahh that was a nice day, I'll get myself a nice Coke and watch the Ashes', oh no. Andrew Kinghorn rang and told me I had 30 minutes to get to St. Mary's to see the 4 Adult Pom Skuas coming north, and dear me they were good!

2 out of 4 Poms!

175 - Patch Life.
136 - Patch Year.
223 - British Year.