The past couple of days

I've been working on a roof with my dad all week down on the seafront, the promising winds on Friday had me out on Rocky Island on Saturday morning, where I bumped into  BrianB. He'd had a good sea-watch. Myself and BD continued on to check the island for migrants, which consisted of a single male Stonechat, and a Wheatear which I missed.

The dene was the next location on the cards, only Blackcap, a few Bullfinch and a Tit party with a few Willow Warbler and Chiff Chaff here. Towards the pond the Beehive flash was quiet.

Not until I reached the pond at 12:00 did things begin to liven up. BrianB was already in the Public hide on my arrival. Not long after I sat down a couple of Ruff headed into the the Bay, but never had the chance to land as they were chased off by a Jackdaw, unfortunate. It was clear the ponds wildfowl had recently had a boost, with 37 Wigeon, 26 Teal, 11 Tufted, and a few Pochard present, it seemed to give a new life to the quiet pond. The number of Black Headed Gulls, and the 400+ Lapwing moving between fields and pond to bathe helped add to this lively feeling. 

BD had arrived, and soon got his eye onto a strange looking bird over the far side of the pond which had us all stumped, until it gave a better view being chased by a couple of Black Headed Gulls. It was a Cockatiel! The Gulls and corvids drove it into the willows by the public hide, were it voiced it disapproval loudly for the rest of the afternoon. 

The Cockatiel's lyme light had soon been pinched as a stunning Spotted Redshank graced the shores. It fed solely on small fish, catching quite a number and staying for a good few hours, plenty time for SP to get down and see it.

Back home for a quick tea and I was out again with Stephen, heading for Peter's patch, in search of Owls. We weren't disappointed. The pleasure of 3 Long-Eared Owls, and up to 8 Short-Eared Owls gave brilliant views from arrival, the rest of the night was spent filming their antics, and chatting with a few familiar and unfamiliar faces. A great evening, not to be forgotten.

This morning a quick look for Little Owls proved fruitless, but Holywell added a Dunlin to it shore.

Tonight and the Owls were revisited, this time with my dad, Stephen and Phil. Again they didn't disappoint. Here's a short bit of footage, you can hear the mass of local photographers in the background! Excused the focus at some points, these beautiful birds are difficult to keep track of manually, although I am getting better :)

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