The Inevitable Monday Post

Habits, habits... Tut tut.


I can promise no post next Monday afternoon, but more on that at another time. Maybe.



Anyways..

Sunday started up much drier than forecast - oh, now there's a shock - so I wandered off about the Patch, hoping to catch up with whatever these 'vagrant-rich winds' had brought in, which would hopefully be a little more visible.

I found a few Chiffs, a couple of Blackcaps... Hm. Tit bands were in evidence, so it is autumn, but as for migrants.. Well, some Swallows were passing. North.


I ended up down on the Nose, watching what was passing on the sea. This was much better, with a lovely all-dark Balearic heading South [as were 5 Commic terns and 4 Razorbills] - it showed beautifully at bin range, too. :)  9 Wigeon went North, but despite a careful look, none of them were yankees. [Not that I was expecting it, but you never know...]

Also some drama, with a rescue in the Bay;

Torbay Lifeboat coming to the assistance of a dismasted yacht.

Much wandering produced buggere alle else, so I headed home and tried to decide what to do next..

Oh, look, there's a frelling Grotfinch at Fraggle Rock. It's sticking around but is .....[Oh, that dreadful word].. elusive. It's also pretty much mid-afternoon - by the time I get over there, it'll be getting dark in short order, given the weather..

Oh, fuck it.*


I went for a wander with the Folks instead.

Mamhead was quite nice, though all of Haldon we passed was as cone-less as everywhere else seems to be this year.. That, however, didn't stop us actually seeing a Crossbill. Fly over. Oh well....

They've been very busy there, hacking down trees all over the place [not unlike at Fernworthy and Sousson's - hmm, coinkydink??]. Not just felling sections, but also cutting these weird breaks in the plantations;

Much too narrow for firebreaks

I'm sure there's some reason for it; letting light in, or splitting up different orders or something?

Anyways, a few more hirundines went over - all north, too - loads of Goldcrests all over the shop and a couple of Redpoll lurking near the car park. Finally, the fungi seem to have appreciated the rain, though none had been spared chavs' feet enough to photo..




[[*I'm sure it will be there all week, tarting on a bird table in front of the Obs for all and sundry, before buggering off on Saturday morning!!]]