Although no more American birds were found (it was always a long shot!) there were a few signs of migrants on the move, with Long-eared Owl being the pick of the bunch along with a slight increase in Goldcrests and Blackcaps. Lingering rarities included a Citrine Wagtail at Barkland, Great Grey Shrike at Schoollton (which added Tree Pipit to its 'list of migrants that I have eaten') and the Melodious Warbler at Shirva, whilst at least four Yellow-browed Warblers included our third to be ringed this autumn.
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| The Baird's Sandpiper took a liking to the wader scrape, but also gave very good views on the road! |
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| Gerylag Geese heading to Orkney when the wind was a bit stronger a couple of days ago. |
There's a real buzz about the Obs at the minute, with plenty of birders here and the feeling that any rarities will have to try quite hard to escape detection. Hopefully we will get some winds from the east soon (two hours of forecasted SSE tomorrow probably won't be quite enough!), although in the meantime further American visitors would be most welcome.
Away from the birding side of things, it has been very nice to have my parents here for the last week, although they have headed back home today. Despite not being birders, they’ve added a few more species to their lists (although they weren’t that impressed by the Blyth’s Reed Warbler it has to be said), but more importantly Grace, Susannah and I have got to enjoy their company for a few days. Grace particularly enjoys ‘winding Gramps up’ and has come up with some memorable phrases in the last few days including, ‘I’m Grace Parnaby and I'm not sharing my chocolate’, you can’t argue with that!
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| In response to Grandpa's request to 'take that thumb out of your mouth', Grace's replaces it with all of her fingers! |
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