Oh well. Here now and oh look at the time I'm going to have to be quick. [Well, one day I'll manage it!] Firstly it seems I missed young Master Ray by mere minutes on Saturday last at Yarner - spending a lot more time there than him I did see more [except for Marsh Tits, which were pretty much the same], though not a sniff of LSW; I've no idea where they were hiding! The day after I ticked Mark Darlaston at Beesands [[Didn't you know, Birder Spotting is the latest thing! ;) ]] though only 2 Scaup were visible from the hide. Consolation prize was a male GSW drumming on one of the dead trees opposite - first time I'd actually seen one do it! On the sea off Hallsands were the usual plethora of Shags, a Black-throated Diver, and a raft of 1 female Red-breasted Merganser and exactly 40 Common Fruitbashers. Yes, you read that right. :D [[Its a nickname I learned on Birdforum today, and I have to say I love it. If you don't get it, look at the latin]]
After the Moor's edge and the Coast Path, it was time for a trip further afield. Monday saw me head over to cornwall - morning on Bodmin; Plumage Ticking drake Lesser Scaup [[A practice I started with Long-tailed Duck, seeing as it has 5 different ones!]]. The Lesser Scaup had moved to Colliford due to a slight case of ice on Dozmary, and so proved more of a challenge than I'd expected, but fortunately several cornish birders were also after it, and we relocated it reasonably quickly. In the afternoon it was to The Rumps, to hopefully get some nice views of Corn Buntings and see if anything was doing on the sea in the brisk NW wind. Auks [but no Puffins..], Fulmars, Gannets, and a 1w Kittiwake at sea were pretty uninspiring - to the extent I tried to pick out people on Hartland Point.. On land the Corn Buntings proved frustratingly mobile - find one, scope on, zoom in, focus, ah-gone! The wind probably didn't help, the female Merlin that came within a hair's breadth of grabbing one definitely didn't.... Swings and roundabouts, swings and roundabouts... Good days all, though there seem to be ever-increasing numbers of people who think the National Speed Limit for a road without a central reservation is 35[[Hmm, maybe time for those Ancient Devonian swear-words?]]. Also, while I'm moaning, its been very muddy all around the coast - the seemingly universal practice of letting cattle onto the paths doesn't help this in any way whatsoever...
In the garden, we now have 2 Blackbirds. Wow! [Where were they? Where are the others?] Song Thrush still very evident, 3 Blackcaps with Mr. Blackcap still zealously guarding his fatblock.. Couple of Long-tails have been in and out [very quickly out with that Blackcap on guard] - they seem to have suffered; last few winters you could expect at least 8, often with one or more Goldcrests. The pair of Collared Doves rematerialised from whatever parallel dimension they spend most of their time in on Tuesday. Other highest counts - House Sparrow 10, Greenfinch 5, Chaffinch 3, Dunnock 2, Wren 1, Robin 1, Great Tit 2, Blue Tit 2, Carrion Crow 5 [including one with white-centred remiges], Magpie 3, Herring Gull 8, Woodpigeon 5.
Well, that was a brief, concise, quickly-typed post. Or not. Better luck next time?
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