Lovely day...

A clear sunny day but cold. At 10 am it was still -2 in the shade at home.

In the field behind us this morning were 76 Curlew, 10 Fieldfare and a single Redwing. Some of the Curlews were starting to sing, a great sound to hear at this time of year.

The local Molecatcher has been out this week, but the moles have had the last laugh. He has left a trap, a spade and his metal detector (to hunt for errant traps) along the fence line in the coast fields. If he doesn't hurry up he might well need a new spade...

White...

Like this but with less brown...

Some brief sightings of note this week.

Firstly, on Tuesday on my way home from work, as I approached Howick Hall, a movement across the road in the car headlights caught my attention. Two beady eyes glowed in the dark with a snaky movement quite unlike the expected Rat. As I got closer the two disjointed, moving 'cats eyes' turned out to be a Stoat. Very unusual in the dark, but made even more so by the fact that this was a nearly-ermine. White, all but its black tail tip and a fine buff dorsal stripe, it soon slinked off into the wood.

Less exciting but more anticipated the first Snowdrops of 2011 were in flower on our drive yesterday morning...its on the way...

Sunday...bloody Sunday.

WeBs day today. Walked the coast from Howick to Boulmer counting the water birds.

The highlight of another relatively dull morning was a large group of 119 Pale bellied Brents on the beach at Boulmer. The were soon moved off into fields by another large fishing competition on the coast. Other than that, 27 Grey Plovers, 238 Curlews, 6 Red throated Divers and 23 Goldeneye were the best on offer.

A few large gull flocks didn't hold anything near a  Slaty backed ( thank god, bloody awful thing) and passerines were almost absent. One Skylark was a first this year...

So thats it really....

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

A couple of walks out today, firstly down to the pond this morning then along the coast to Craster and back this afternoon. Its still very quiet here, even though it was quite a pleasant mild day. There was nothing to call home about down at the pond, probably due to a shoot taking place in Village Wood. This afternoon's stroll to Craster wasn't a great deal better but I added three common species to the OFFH list - Greylag, Pied Wagtail and Sparrowhawk.

In the field at our road ends a large curlew flock was noteworthy here with 152 birds striding about with one Greylag and 2 Stock Doves for company. 30+ Fulmars are on the cliffs here now too, but despite a mile walk along farmland and coastal grassland I'm still waiting for my first Skylark and Meadow Pipit of 2011. The large hard weather movements before Christmas must have totally cleared the local birds out of here and I imagine it will be early spring before they return.

I should give the list a bit of a boost tomorrow when I do the count from Boulmer to Howick...

All quiet on the eastern front.

A weekend with nothing to add to the OFFH list. Its very quiet around home at the minute, with not a trace of Skylark, Meadow Pipit or Pied Wagtail let alone some quality. I cant even see a Sparrowhawk locally, although Jane had one sitting in our bird seed tray the other morning...

Still, some moths have appeared. See link in column on the right - The Orthosia Enthusiast...

Today was showery and blustery early on but nice and pleasant with a sunny afternoon later.

I went to do JWR's WeBs count over at Branton Pits, Powburn. That too was slow except for a couple of hundred assorted Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Goosander and Goldeneye. We checked the alders for a Redpoll but all we saw was a flock of small finches fly for the horizon. Could have been owt

The winter doldrums appear to have settled already. Hopefully a Song Thrush will sound out before the months end, a real sign of what's to follow.

They're here....

Winter Aconites.

I often post about the first of the spring flowers to raise their heads above soil. The church at Denwick always produces the goods and this year is no exception. The tiny Winter Aconites are guaranteed to brighten the day. What with the first moths, now the first blooms, it wont be long until the first Chiffchaff is singing... 

Mealies again...

Above - This is a pale bird seen again in the fourth picture.

Above - Mealy Redpoll in front with Lesser Redpoll behind.

Above - Shows the very limited under tail covert streaking. 

Above - Although this was the palest bird, it has a thicker streak under the tail than the one above.

Above - Another pale bird but note the larger 'nearly goldfinch' bill.

This morning was frosty, relatively calm and clear. 

I decided to check around the woods to see if my redpolls had attracted an even more frosty cousin and spent a pleasant two hours just strolling the woods along the lane. 

A few birds were added to the OFFH list before I got a sniff of a redpoll - 1 Snipe in the ditch with a Water Rail, 1+Jay, 2+ Long tailed Tit and 2+ Goldcrests. 5 Woodcock were flushed in here too, then I wandered in on the finches by accident. 

This time only 6 birds were feeding in some tiny alders near a feeder ditch, but there were 4 Mealies and only 2 Lesser Redpolls. When they flew around it was easy to see the two small Lessers with the larger Mealies.

The coast was mainly quiet probably due to the Amble Open Sea Angling competition that had attracted 50+ anglers to the rock edges, where they just about lined our coast patch, shoulder to shoulder. Of note were a nice pair of Red breasted Mergansers close in flying north, 1 Rock Pipit, 7+ Eiders and a scattering of gulls.

It looks as if things will be milder by next weekend so the moth trap might come out...

OFFH List - 65

  

Up to the Holbolls....

Holbolls not illustrated...

Well, I see Alan Tilmouth and Nigel Foggo have put my Mealy Redpolls to shame with a very nice Coues's Arctic Redpoll at Widdrington Tip.

If you are one of those birders poo-pooing the 'Coues's' bit as a new fangled taxonomistic load of rubbish, then look back to my 1938 edition of 'The Handbook' and there we find, not only Coues's, but Lesser, Mealy ( none of this 'Common' nonsense), Greenland, Hornemann's and Holbolls Redpoll. 


Wait a minute, Holbolls? What on earth is Holbolls? In 1938 it is an 'uncertain form' and is retained in brackets as a form of Mealy Redpoll from farther north and east in Scandinavia, Russia and Siberia. Its good to know that one of this form was recorded on Holy Island in November 1923...

Rarer still, at Widdrington Tip this week, have been......some birders. I bet if you had walked into Cresswell hide last weekend and mentioned the tip, more birders would have heard of Holbolls Redpoll before one recognised where this site was.

Some years back myself, Nigel and JWR all used to live at Stobswood, just opposite the old brickworks next to this tip site. We used to see Glaucous Gulls and Hoodies each winter here when the site was still operational, and nearby in the woods wildlife abounded with breeding Willow Tit, Tree Pipit and even Wood Warbler. Woodcocks rode through the village at dusk on summers evenings and all five owl species could be seen annually. Mealy Redpolls were annual too, attracted in by the birch trees and by the calls of captive, aviary bred, Mealies kept by one resident for showing purposes.Some good plants are to be found too in this fragment of ancient woodland with Broad leaved Helleborine, Musk Thistle etc.

Only Nigel is a regular there these days.

It just goes to show that if you use some imagination and do your research there will be little places worth checking out not too far from the well beaten birders track. You don't have to sit in a hide all day just because everyone else does...

Off to a flyer....

Sorry about the lack of an update yesterday, didn't get time, so this will be a two day job.

Out yesterday morning at first light to wander the patch to get things off to a start. An hours seawatch seemed a good way to start the ball rolling. As it turned out it was very quiet but when every species is a new addition it wasn't so bad. The highlight came about 50 minutes in when a Great Northern Diver flew north at about a quarter way out. A great start with a bird that is a tricky one to get in some years.

Other species noted were to be expected, but a lone adult Gannet, a few Kittiwakes, 3 Razorbills, 1 Guillemot, 2 Red throated Divers and 4 Goldeneye kept the interest going. Out of a good northerly movement of Herring Gulls were three or four obvious argentatus types, big brutes with darker mantles and restricted black primary tips.

Later on a walk down to the pond with Jane and Bunty added more of the commoner woodland species plus a Stoat in half ermine pelage. Apparently some residents were out with pitchforks and burning torches as this chap is in the frame for killing a few chickens the night before.

More interesting, on the way back, a flock of chattering finches attracted attention overhead as they dropped into a roadside alder. Consisting of Siskins and Redolls I returned after Jane and Bunty had gone home more prepared to scan the flock. There were 20+ Siskins, 11+ Lesser Redpolls and 2+ Mealy Redpolls. One of these birds was very pale at distance, so this morning I went back for seconds.The flock was now much smaller with only 3 Siskins, 6+ Lesser Redpolls but 3+ Mealies. The very pale one didn't appear to be present today.

While watching these, 2+ Water Rails showed them selves for a change with at least one adult and one first winter, but I suspect a third bird is present on call alone...

I know these pics are poor but they shows enough to id Mealy...

Above -  Shows two distant cropped pics of the very pale bird taken yesterday. This may have been the one below, taken today but I'm not sure?

Above - The two pics above are the same bird. Although it has a nice white rump, it was structurally a Mealy. Not seen here, it had a single large broad streak on the undertail coverts.

 Above - Shows the standard Mealy from yesterday. Now this might be the bird pictured above, taken today, it looks more like it than the very pale one but I can't be sure.

There is a lot of speculation with these birds because they are so mobile. Its like that trick with the three cups and a ball, once they are shuffled around, its hard to find where you were. Fact is, there were a minimum of 2 Mealy Redpolls present, but I reckon there are more in the part of the flock that disappeared.

As its back to work tomorrow they will have to wait until the weekend for further scrutiny.  

How did the patch list go? Well, so far I'm on 57, all within 1km of home.

Here we go....

Not much birding today. As its my birthday, time is usually spent out and about for a walk with Jane and Bunty, usually via a dog friendly pub.

Today was nice and fair with a cool NW breeze blowing. Some hazy sunshine popped through at lunchtime, the first since the milder weather. The landscape is now green all but for isolated patches of dirty snow in the shade.

We drove all of 4 miles, parked up, and did a circular walk around Alnmouth and Foxton today, stopping mid way at a pub in the village for soup and the finest homemade cheescake that has graced my gob (vanilla and gingerbread).

The main natural history event of the day was a new bird for the garden when a duck and drake Goosander flew low, west, right overhead. Those and half a dozen Tree Sparrows at the feeders were about it really. I'll be out for a couple of hours in the morning kicking the OFFH list off proper.

The Last Post...

of 2010.

So, this morning I headed 'off patch' and up the coast (yes, for a change...).

At Seahouses, 70+ Pale bellied Brent Geese flew south over the harbour, but there were very few gulls let alone a white winger. Nowadays most boats from here are pot fishing so there is little to discard to attract the gulls. The days of Ivory Gull here are behind us I think.

Onwards then to Stag Rocks, Bamburgh.

I arrived here at about 9.30am. The weather was very dull and overcast but calm and the sea was flat with a high tide, just right to look for the seafowl that winter off here. I was so engrossed that I stayed for 2 hours, and did very well. Some species only coming into view after an hour and a half showing what I would have missed on a hit and run visit.

Lindisfarne Castle from Stag Rocks

In the 2 hours viewing from the car while drinking tea ( and eating mince pies) I had -

Eider 50+
Common Scoter 56+
Velvet Scoter 5 males together.
Long tailed Duck 4 inc 2 males.
Goldeneye 2
Shag 160+
Red throated Diver 9+
Great Northern Diver 1
Slavonian Grebe 8+
Black necked Grebe 1 rare here in winter these days but nice to compare with the other grebes nearby.
Red necked Grebe 1
Purple Sandpiper 99 roosting on shore with
Knot 71.

The grebes especially were a highlight with some quite close in allowing good views.

2 Porpoises and a bull Grey Seal added to the variety too.

Grebe notes done on the spot without reference. They are not to scale. The Black necked was much smaller and dumpier than the Slav and Red neck...The Black necked seemed too light to get any depth under water. It was like sinking a bottle cork, whereas the other two had no such problems.  

From here I popped down to Budle Bay where there were thousands of birds but the high tide was making them very distant. A Greenshank close in was nice and as a wildfowl sample I counted the Mallard at identifiable range - 220+. There were even more wigeon and shelduck and waders including Grey Plover, Bar tailed Godwits and Dunlins but too far out. Still, a nice morning, just the job to round off a great 12 months...

FTN Hootenanny!

Except without Jools Holland. Most are doing 2010 summaries so why should I be different -

2010 - That was the year that was....

22nd May....

January...

Began snowed in up on Speyside. Temperatures down to -17 degrees and a metre of snow didn't do much for the tourists. 

First highlight of the year at home was the Ravens return on the 3rd. The pair roosted nightly in the Village Wood, a situation that seems not to be repeated this year. The coldest winter for 30 years ensured that Woodcocks were aplenty, and hard weather movements were the order of the day.

Up to 17 Wrens roosted communally in our shed, and on 17th 2 Shorelarks were all too brief at Longhoughton Steel, just down the coast.

My first local Water Rail turned up on 9th and 10th.

Only one moth trapping evening on 17th had 3 December and 1 Chestnut Moths.

On a sad note, Marsh Tit on 7th was to be the last one recorded here. They were a common bird here years back.

February...

Finished off some atlas tetrads in this, the quietest, month. On 16th my only local Shoveler of the year was on the pond.

March...

The Garden Moth Survey started on 5th with a blank session. On 8th a Green Woodpecker was a nice garden tick. The first Pipistrelles and Toads appeared on 13th. My first reasonable moth catch came on 17th with 47 moths of 8 species caught.

The first spring migrants arrived on 20th when 2 Chiffchaffs were singing in Village Wood.

A male Snow Bunting was quite late on 21st at Howdiemont Sands. 

On 27th a 2nd Summer Mediterranean Gull was in the back field. Garden tick. 

April...

After being pipped to 2 Black Redstarts at Cullernose in the morning of the 2nd, I was more pleased with one on our drive and roof in the afternoon. Good Friday indeed.

Another Med Gull was present on 3rd this time a fw on the shore.

Wheatear and Blackcap arrived on 4th, though it was the 10th that brought the first proper sunny summery day. Bee-fly, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies were on the wing. It took until the 11th for my first hirundines of the year with 3 Sand Martins at their Boulmer nest colony. Sandwich Terns and Swallows arrived on 12th and 16th respectively, with Common Sandpipers on 19th..

Red Squirrel was present along our lane on 25th.

May...

Started off quite cold with a  NE wind on 3rd, Bank Holiday Monday. This didnt deter my first Orange Tip on the year in the garden.

The first of several patch rare species proper turned up on 16th with a Quail singing in the back field. 

Garden moth trapping was now in full swing with some nice catches and species. On 19th a cracking female Emperor was the best.

What must be the absolute highlight of 2010 arrived at 9am on Saturday 22nd May. A singing Common Rosefinch toured the village before ending up in my garden on a niger feeder!

June...

The early part of June was spent in Scotland near the Ardnamurchan peninsula seeing Golden and Sea Eagles, Pine Marten, Chequered Skipper and various moths new to me.

Most of my time was now spent catching identifying and photographing moths. Away from the trap though in Village Wood it was nice to see 3 male Gold Swifts 'lekking'.

On 22nd June, an evening gardening was made much better when an adult Hobby flew low over the garden.  

July...

The busiest time of the year for moth trapping. Catches consistently over 200 moths take time to sort out, but the peak date was 24th when 688 moths of 95 species were caught, all in one Robinson Trap!

On 22nd a Roseate Tern was fishing offshore.

On 24th July 11 spikes of Broad leaved Helleborine were in flower in Village Wood.

August...

Started off with a bang when an Osprey flew low over our garden in the evening of the 3rd.

Seawatching began too on 8th when Arctic Skua, Bonxie, Sooty Shearwater and another Roseate Tern were seen. On the same date the first Merlin of autumn flew south along the coast path.

Moths began to take on an autumn flavour now with Sallow, Frosted Orange and Brown spot Pinion all being taken on 22nd.

More seawatching on 30th, Bank Holiday Monday, found a winter or imm Black Guillemot flying north at dawn, closely followed by a Little Egret. A strange combination.

September...

Traditionally a well anticipated month for migrating birds....

A fall on 7th added 3 Spotted Flycatcher, male Redstart and 2 Whinchat to the list. A seawatch on 25th was busy with 735 Barnacle Geese going north.

Another fall on 28th was better with 2 Yellow browed Warblers, one nearly in the garden, 2 Pied Flycatchers and more Redstarts. Bramblings and Redwings hinted of darker days to follow. On the 29th further arrivals included a stunning Hawfinch flushed from the back hedge. 

An unwanted arrival was at the lane end on the same date -  a Grey Squirrel, a county first for me. Also on an eventful day, a tiny plant new to me was growing on our drive, Sweet William Catchfly.

New moths included Heath Rustic, and 2 Butterbur.

October...

Began well with a Barred Warbler lumbering around the sloe berries on the coast path on 2nd. A Lapland Bunting flew north on 5th. Red Squirrels made an appearance too with a dead road casualty on 2nd followed by a live on at the same spot on 5th.

More falls of migrants occurred on 8th - 11th. Highlights on the patch during these few days were 4 Ring Ouzels in the back hedge, and a Raddes Warbler along at Craster.

A good seawatch on 16th had Pomarine and Long tailed Skuas, Black throated Diver and more Sooties all north.

A massive early Waxwing invasion began for me when I bumped into 40 of them at Asda in Ashington on 24th... 

The month ended as it began with another Barred Warbler on 29th, this time in the garden, feeding on elder berries. Possibly the same bird as before?

November ....

More Waxwings at various locations but none on the home patch...

A quiet month was enlivened by a male Northern Bullfinch in the Long Walk on 21st. Maybe he was a harbinger of bad weather to come, because on 24th the first snows came and stayed around until the year end.

On 26th our village was largely snow bound. At last 7 Waxwings flew around the Village, adding to the OFFH list.

Woodcock, Water Rail and Bramblings all arrived locally on 28th.

December...

Thanks to the hard weather, early December was full of birds. On 2nd 2 Twite, a Kingfisher and 2 Woodcock were a starter for the birds on 3rd...

Bitterly cold weather and deep snow resulted in an excellent hard weather movement - 355 Skylarks, 2 Lapland Buntings, 1 Twite, 2 Brambling, 525 Pink footed Geese, 5 Barnacle Geese, 1 adult Ross's Goose, 1 male Hen Harrier, 17 Woodcock, 400 Dunlin all in an hour at our road ends.

After this bird numbers dwindled as they moved out, leaving 2 Water Rails on 12th and 2 Peregrines on 21st along with odd Woodcock to add interest..

Species totals - 

On foot from home, in reality means Howick south to Boulmer pub, and North to Craster, but mostly the 1km sq around Howick Village.

Birds - 161

Mammals - 15
Amphibians - 2 and no frog!
Butterflies - 12
Moths - 12, 161 of 332 species
Plants - Didnt really count them!

Happy New Year!

Still thawing....

Temperature up to 4 degrees today (phew, what a scorcher). A nice fine day with some light mist. Calm.

The view is still mostly white though....

Our walk to the coast path this morning had a few birds taking advantage of the growing green patches of field now showing - 2 Fieldfares, 3 Mistle Thrush and 4 Lapwings were joined by 2 Redshanks. On the shore 2 Rock Pipits chased each other about and 3 nice drake Goldeneyes were feeding just behind the breakers.
A Woodcock flew from the copse next to the garden and dropped into the back hedge.

This afternoon we took a wander down to the pond. On the way, a Water Rail flew from the roadside ditch, across the road, at head height, and into Village Wood where it started squealing for a while. The pond is still wholly frozen so there is nothing to see there, but two 'smooth legged' Buzzards flew over, calling...

Best of the day though, at dusk, I popped out to give the local Robins a supper snack and was very pleased when I got one to finally feed from my hand! Its true I'm turning into a Robin stroker.....

Melting.

No photos today, and very little birding....

A short walk to the coast path first thing had 2 Fulmars investigating the cliff ledges for the first time in months. A subtle hint of spring to come....Offshore 2 Shelducks flew south, also the first for ages, since their return from the heligoland moulting grounds...

The snow is thawing hard today but our landscape is still very white. Tomorrow is supposed to be even milder so maybe we'll see the back of the white stuff. We haven't had a 'green' landscape around here since 24th November and the Dickensian scene is now wearing very thin indeed.

I'm now planning for the New Year....

Merry Christmas ....

Today was bitterly cold and never above freezing. It was clear and sunny with an icy NW4 blowing. Until this afternoon, that is, when the un-forecast snow began to come down again and by 3.30pm it was a blizzard.

I needed to pop down to Amble this morning for  few bits and pieces so took the chance to check out the wildfowl on the Coquet estuary between Warkworth and Amble. There are lots of birds here at the moment being frozen out of their normal freshwater habitats...

R.Coquet below Warkworth Castle.

Wigeon were the most numerous with 340+ present, closely followed by Teal with 200+. In lesser numbers were 3 Goosander, 4 Goldeneye, 10 Mallard, 2 Shoveler, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Coot, 1 Moorhen, 1 Heron, 5 Snipe, 20 Dunlin and 3 Redwing on the bankside.

Wigeon.

Back home, Jane and Heather were cooking stuff for tomorrow. Heather had made us a Christmas wreath, with a slightly different take on it, because the Blackbirds had already eaten the berries and apples from the one Jane made earlier in the week...

Bird Wreath! I'm not sure where she got the Robin from mind you ;)

Then the weather took a turn for the worse...

 Our Village Hall this afternoon...

And they say it wont be a 'white Christmas'...I beg to differ....

Merry Christmas everyone!

Catch up time...

The last two days have seen me 'net-less, mainly thanks to BT/ Yahoo!. Back in October this server became obsolete but I just persevered with it regardless. The other day it finally gave up the ghost leaving me as stranded as an Alnwick Christmas shopper. Its funny, but BT didnt make my bill obsolete...


Anyway, after days of tampering I'm now using Google Chrome as a browser. Its much quicker than the one I had.


So, back to the blogging.


As the snow has continued to fall and temperatures have stayed in the negative, I have stretched my Christmas holidays and am now off until 4th Jan.


Yesterday when I left the house to take Bunty for her morning walk I heard the distinctive call of a Peregrine.


Looking around there was no sign of the hunter so I pressed on to the coast road. As all of the landscape is pristine white I knew I had a canny chance of locating the Peregrine, but not as easily as I did. 


In the centre of our back field there she was, in a drift of pigeon feathers having breakfast. As I got to the coast path more calling, but this time quite agitated so I assumed a crow was trying to get his share of the kill. At the next convenient view point I was well pleased to see not the expected corvid, but two Peregrines sitting next to the food! After some debate as to who was the rightful owner, one bird flew up onto a fence post to watch while the other finished off.


I managed to get three of our non birding neighbours on to the birds, and they seemed quite pleased to get Peregrines on the doorstep...

An Omen...

(Note due to internet issues this was from Tuesday...)


Something is about to befall us...

Today is Winter Solstice, with a full moon AND a total lunar eclipse. If I were a druid I'd be running for cover now. We're doomed....

I tried to take some photos this morning but they were poor. Probably due to being tired (6.50am), bloody freezing (-10) and inept. So heres one I took earlier...

Near totality, a red glow, March 2007

John Malloy has some real pics on his blog of this mornings show...

Speaking of Omens, I was coming home from work after lunch today when, just north of Widdrington, a tiny Bat flew over the snow and ice covered road in broad daylight. The temp was -2.5. I couldnt be sure but it looked like a Long eared Bat with ears curled back, but my view was very brief.

It could be a warning...   

Same old, same old....

Off work again due to snow. This will mean another series of late shifts to make the time back up...

So as it was down to somewhere below -6 and it didnt get any warmer than -3 it was time to get out for a wander.

It was a lovely crisp sunny day, but face numbingly cold.

The coast road looking at Seahouses Farm, Howick.

The main road looking west. As you can see, its well gritted.

Howick Burn Mouth. The south end of my patch. Snow on the shore...

I walked down the Long Walk and back via the coast path...

Woodcock were much in evidence again today with at least 14 flushed. I managed to see three or four on the ground before they moved on...This one was at the base of a Yew and allowed two 'walk byes' to get a photo...

Crouching Woodcock...

Also of note were 38 Grey Partridge, 600 Woodpigeon in one field and some viz migging on the walk back-

Skylark 239 S

Brambling 3 S

3+ Snipe and 2 Redshank were on the small Howick Burn near the frozen pond, 3 Yellowhammers were in the Village and 4 Goldeneye were off shore...

When I went to feed the birds in the garden first thing, a Woodcock flushed from near the log pile. 2 Tree Sparrows and 2 Brambling were at the seed.

I wonder if I get to work tomorrow...

Big Bruiser Bully update...

Remember the Northern Bullfinch we had at Howick the other week, just before the snow came? John has managed to salvage these photos from his phone. As can be expected the digi-scoping qualities of a blackberry are debateable but it shows our bird.

Note the large appearance even though alone, against the rowan berry clumps, the silvery / blue grey mantle, clean and unsullied, bright rose pink breast / cheeks etc, 'wrap around' rump / undertail. In the middle photo you can just about make out the large bill. The clean broad white wing bar looks nice too.

All of these features are difficult to describe to show how different this bully was from his Howick companions. You'll get through a lot of local Bullfinches before you get one as nice as this though thats for sure.

Waxwing Relegation....

Thank god for that. RBA Pager services have dropped the Waxwing to just local status. No more trawling through every single solitary half arsed Waxwing in the UK. I like some reports though - ie Gloucs 300+ Waxwings.....Derbys 121 Waxwings....Worcs 35 waxwings  etc etc until, 95 messages later, Cornwall. Waxwing 1 adult female. Showing well.

It shows how scarce they are down there by the amount of detail a single specimen recieves. But for Scotland and everywhere north of Watford they have been prolific this year. I had real worries that after scrolling through 50 Waxwing messages I might just miss the -  Lothian, Siberian Accentor 1 adult female, showing well...

So, whilst I do still like our crested creatures of the north, I dont want to know that theres an adult female in Truro. I'm just not interested. It costs me batteries....