Abandon Hope..

... Yup, here we go.

Ok, first up, we have all the stuff I haven't gotten around to telling you;

The Traditional Mothers' Day Family Picnic was held at Inner Froward Point [as cunningly recce'd by yours truly - combination of seawatch and picnic site shufti]. Avoiding the frisky showers we enjoyed the sun [ok, they mostly enjoyed the sun..] and kept out of the wind in one of the searchlight emplacements, which were just as good as I remembered. It was unsurprisingly quiet bird-wise, with only a light northward passage of LBBs noteworthy.

Prior to my seawatch at the Nose, I paid a few visits to Yarner, hoping for LSW and failing horribly. I also went to a Secret Place and saw a Secret Bird, if you know what I mean [[I really hate having to be so obtuse.]] [[[No, I really do.]]], though not as well as I have in the past, but them's the breaks. My last visit to Yarner, however, was notable in that as we were leaving [for I was with the Folks] I saw something I've been looking for there for a very very long time. I saw my first ever Mandarin on the car park pool in 1986. On Wednesday I saw a pair there. Yes, that's a 26 year wait. We stopped the car and sat there watching them bathing at a very close range for Mandarin [cars do indeed make handy hides].... Absolutely magical. I cannot express how over the moon I was. I mean, come on, 26 years I've been waiting to see a Mandarin at Yarner. Its not like they've not been there, I've missed them by seconds, some times...

Stuck in among those Yarner visits was a day on't Moor. A Tuesday, no less. I got into Scorhill car park [its very small and fills very fast] - second to last spot - and set off into the brisk westerly. Oh, but it was a good day's walk - most likely the last peaceful day I'll get up there until November, but anyway - with barely a soul in sight. There were still a few Golden Plover knocking around, the biggest flock being 37, and I met Red Grouse twice [ :D ] but other wise the wind and drizzle coming on to light rain kept things subdued. Not that I minded that much, it was wonderful just to be out and up on the tops! From Scorhill I took the usual route out to White Moor Circle, which for once I had all to myself - joy - then it was left hand down a bit, past Hound Tor to Wild Tor for lunch-and-see-what-flies-past. Bugger all was the answer, so onwards up Hangingstone Hill, then right hand down a bit and on to Cranmere Pool.

As you know, I'm old-fashioned, and think GPS is at best not cricket. Map and compass should be all you need, and ideally not even that. So it was with some satisfaction that I got to Cranmere via a route I have never used before, for the first time in several years, using memory alone and hit it dead on. As Cranmere sits in a little depression in the peat and is invisible from any distance, and as there are no paths coming from the east, this was reasonably impressive. I was delighted to find a proper book and a stamp [ok, used to be two stamps, but still] and spent a long while reading through it, admiring the frequently beautiful stamps [where do they get them from??]. Eventually it was time to got, so I looped around Taw Head [just to be able to say I have, its not impressive] and back up Hangingstone, before stopping again at Wild Tor [I really like Wild Tor] for more sitting and waiting. No Hen Harriers. Then I cut down into the Teign valley and looped back to Scorhill. Aside from the bag full of rubbish, it was a very pleasant day.

To the weekend, and Saturday saw the Patch getting an almighty bash from one end to the other. two adult LBBs and a Mipit in/off at the Nose were the only definite migrants. Oh, plenty of singing Chiffs and Blackcaps, too. No Swallows, no Sarnies, nuffin'. Don't even mention sodding Ospreys...

Sunday was Fur Tor with the Folks! Its a favourite for a reason and I won't go on about it again. I will mention one of theose 'interesting' Stonechats, though. A rubicola-type, I believe is the term the kids are using. I wouldn't go any further than that, though, so don't go prowling up the Dart on my account.

Right then, now for the fun. Mine, that is... ;)

First up;

Spot the Birdie!

I know, I know.. But I couldn't resist. You may be able to spot- Nope, not going to say. Instead there's a prize* for anyone who gets the bird [and what its with] right.

Oh sod it, here's another;

Spot the birdie!

That one is doable... and here it is;

Adult Night Heron at Woolacombe.

For comparative purposes, the wonderful photos on Devon Bird News were taken by a chap standing next to me. As was the shot of the 1w. Here's my version. I've had to mess with it a bit as it was the last shot on the film and so I couldn't do my usual spread of shutter speed / aperture / compensation that I normally do to try to maximise my chances...

One final pic from the roll. I'm sparing you the horrific mess I made of the Shorelark, which caused Blogger to crash when I tried to upload them, they were so bad...

Instead, here's a nice if not sharp shot of that wonderbird the Desert Wheatear.

Ok, that's it. You can stop gibbering now!

Until next time....

[[*I am legally obliged to state that this is merely getting your name up in type, with suitably impressive compliments as to your skills. Sorry.]]