Twitchers Revisited

That first pic of the YBW! :heart_eyes:

Ha! You have to turn your patience dial up to 11 and just wait for an opportunity.

All leaf warblers in the phylloscopus genus are hyperactive, Yellow-browed being one of the most. Took over 30 minutes and a lot of near misses before that particular bird posed for more than a millisecond!

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If it’s still there tomorrow you’ll have to see if you can catch it warbling !

Only joking :laughing:.

55 minutes standing almost motionless behind a small wind screen before I finally saw the elusive Hawfinch perched at The Manse this afternoon. Even then it wasn’t exactly showy but at least I managed a couple of record shots.

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Also today: 8 x Yellow-browed Warbler, 2 x Merlin, 1 x Rosefinch, 5 x Redpoll, 3 x Lesser Whitethroat & 5 x Swallow.

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Cool AF :ok_hand:

The Redpolls looked like “Greenland” rostrata race - to me - although it doesn’t particularly matter as they’ve all been “lumped” into one species now - including the striking Arctic versions :roll_eyes:

All the same, I will continue to try and separate the various sub-species where I can.

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8 Yellow-browed Warblers today, this being 1 of 2 in the garden. Hawfinch at Feal, Yellow Wagtail (flyover) at Funzie, 6 Redpoll, Blackcap, 2 Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff and Goldcrest.

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Assuming you didn’t see them all at once in a flock is there some way of knowing that they’re not all the same bird and he/she’s stalking you hoping to get their pic in the papers :slightly_smiling_face: ?

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Yes.

Spread far and wide across the island and by the time I drive from one site to another there’s no chance they could get there before me.

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Hard work in awful conditions today. The only bright spot was finding 4 Yellow-browed Warblers and a Goldcrest in the same tree! at Feal.

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The heavy rain attracted lots of common waders into the recently cut hay fields.

One such field held ~100 Ringed Plover, many of them juveniles, like this one

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Not a lot in terms of new birds in today but still a decent number of Yellow-browed Warblers and Goldcrests.

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A few Willow warblers were around

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And a Lesser Whitethroat in the garden, almost certainly of Siberian (blythi) race.

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Third photo is a belter.:+1:

If nothing else, it confirms that this is 100% a Willow Warbler (i.e. NOT a Chiffchaff - despite the dark legs)

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Walked all the way round the reservoir for first time in ages this morning. Was overflowing due to the amount of rain we have had this week.


A gaggle of geese.


Ugly ducklings

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A crow near a flood

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A lull in migrants arriving, a single Ruff was the only bird of note today.

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Having moved to Kent recently, I’m exploring various nature reserves and birding areas near to where I live.
Today was Oare Marshes, rather beautiful place and saw quite a lot in a short space of time,

Marsh Harrier

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Wheatear

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Kestrel
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