I'm On Fiiiiiiiiiire........

First of all, I'd like to apologise for that title, really I would. That blimmin' chorus line's been running through my head all afternoon, though.

So, I went back to the Nose to see if I could pin that YBW down. Getting up was always going to be an issue [its so much easier to just not go to bed....] and so I was not down at the crack of dawn. Also its been a sunny [ish] Saturday, so there were always going to be more bods about. I gave it a good bash, ending up not getting home for lunch until mid afternoon, so I can't say I didn't put the effort in.

I found a few tit bands, but the only phylloscs with them were Chiffs. Only one Blackcap, too. But some nice Goldcrests, and best of all I got some really great prolonged and very close views of the Firecrest! :D

Ok, to the tale... After a big but YBW-less band on IMD, I worked my way down the Nose and back up again, with not a lot to show for it, bar a Grey Heron and 32 Oyks on the rocks, plus a flock of about 25 Common Scoter heading south. No Wheatears. As I got back to the Entrance Bushes, a tit band arrived from the North Side. Goldcrests, LTTs, Blue Tits, Great Tits, and a couple of Chiffs. As I was watching them from the lower gate I heard a Firecrest call, but it wasn't feeling showy - the Entrance Bushes are a bitch like that, unless the birds are right on the edge or in the tops you haven't a chance. At this point a group of civilians come up the slope. 'Great...' thinks I. Last lady asks me what I'm looking at, so I tell her about the group of birds and the Firecrest which - ah, there they all go. I'm smilingly philosophical about it. After they've gone on, I follow [I shut the frickin' gate properly. Mutter mutter...]. Reaching the top I see a couple of Blue Tits hanging around the bushes at the start of the footpath over the road. Worth a look... Just by the steps up to the path there's a little pine and in it is the Firecrest. It happily ignores me and feeds there for several minutes, moving on to another pine further on before heading into the Rich Peoples' gardens beyond. WOW.

I'm a happy birder.

[[Oh, I then went on to check a lot of other bits for the YBW and got no joy, though a Nuthatch by the Palace was nice. C'est la vie.]]