Garden Tick

A glance at the wind indicator told me I should be looking out of the window as I ate my toast on Wednesday morning. The Sycamores weren’t alive with birds but there was a bird flitting among the leaves that I presumed was a Pied Fly and a Wheatear was balancing on the fence. I needed to get outside and take a closer look.

The Pied Flycatcher, or whatever it was, never did show again and the Wheatear moved quickly on. However, a Phylloscopus warbler that momentarily hovered in a little enclave among the Elms held my attention. It was bright. It was very bright. Only after another 30 minutes did it show briefly again and give its identity away. The sparkling white underparts, the lemon tart throat and that supercillium told me I had a new garden tick. Wood Warbler.

Hidden Migrant

We were searching for Shorelark and Snow Bunting the other week when we stumbled upon a late migrant. Among the marram grass in the dunes was this Song Thrush. It sat tight after being discovered and readjusted itself to go a little deeper into hiding when it saw us. We left it well alone to recover from its mammoth journey over the North Sea.

A Blue Tale

Having spent much of one morning after a fall of birds last week trying to find my own Red flanked Bluetail and only turning up a few ancillary birds I decided I would go and photograph the bird seen at Happisburgh. Although a late Spotted Flycatcher (eastern race?), Snow Bunting, Redstart, a heap of Brambling and a nice brown crowned eastern race Lesser Whitethroat are all good to see locally … they don’t hold a candle to a Bluetail.