Things Going Frack To Bont

Very mixed up Spring, this one.

Certainly didn't feel too far past winter this morning, as despite bright sunshine the northerly wind was blimmin' freezing...


I got myself to the Nose, despite said clear skies, and found.. Well, wait and see.


Lurking vocal warbler numbers had shifted from 'many Chiffs and the odd Blackcap' to 'many Blackcaps and a few Chiffs'. What sounded very much like a Garden Warbler turned out to be a Blackcap - plus ca change - which not only made me hunt it for a fair while but then had the indecency to pop up and gloat...

Vismig.. well, it wasn't really. I had a Swallow. Just the one. Yes, this was first on Patch this year [yay], but even so, all these flyover Yellow Wags and Tripits and things seem to be elsewhere [don't arsk about Ospreys or sodding stealth Kites...].

At least the sun was shining.

Sometimes.

Things did perk up, and in a pleasantly surprising way. I was listening to the cacophany of Blackcaps and Wrens in the Top Dell when another call cut through. Shorter and cleaner than the tongue-click Blackcaps; Lesser!
But to see it...? Yeah right. Still, a tiny chance of a bird in the maze of the South Side had me moving around to the Overlook, sitting down on the soggy grass [no pain no gain] and waiting for something, anything to move.

Things moved. Ok, I had to wait about 10 mins for the sun to come out again, but things moved. Wheatears! A nice male there. Oooh, another over there. Hmm, looks to be the same one. Wait, something else moved, no two, no...Four! Four identical males sat for a few seconds on the same bit of scree. A further period of looking found a female sat higher up. Brilliant!

Then a flash of movement, bins up and a small sylvia.. Oh come on! Yes, in defiance of all expectation the Lesser Whitethroat popped out of a bit of bramble, sat side on for a whole 5 seconds, then ducked back out of sight.

Get. In.


Feeling much happier, I went on to find another female Wheatear along the Sole, and then.. well nowt. Well, 5 Mallards [wow!], 330+ Guilles on the Ore Stone* and a few Gannets fishing fairly close in.

No Whitethroats [the Common ones, that is]. Not a sniff of one.

Ok, this chap had some white on his throat;

The Second Slope male.

So, Lesser before Common Whitethroat. Birds, eh?


And now some bugs! Well, beetles, anyways. These two showed up on my window;

Giant ladybird attacks feeders!

Uh oh...

[[*I'm going to have to lug the Big Scope over to get a proper count]]