Blue Friday

It felt like a Monday. All day.

Needless to say, having gone straight over to Turf Bend from work, there had been and indeed was no sign of the Bluethroat on Friday.

Figures.


I did my best and was last to leave; I even wandered well about in case it had just decided to move a bit.

Of course, with a small skulky bird and all those bits it could hide in, there's at least a 50% chance of it popping back up tomorrow. Or more likely Monday...

[EDIT: Or not. I suspect a cold night Thursday had seen it either head south or succumb...]

But it wasn't all freeezing torment.

There were Brent Geese. They flew right over me. And didn't crap on me, either.

:D

Right, pictures;

Who needs birds when you have art?

[Ok, yes, yes, I do....]


By Turf Basin, I'd lost count of potential Bluethroat hiding places...

What did show where the little darling should have been?

Stonechat

Robin

Another Stonechat

ID those pipits*

Yup, wonderful.

It was down there...

Brents!

Gotta count them all

Small fry for the Exe, let alone the Fleet, but still lovely.

I also even looked down once or twice,

Not sure what it is, though.

Maybe an Entoloma spp.

There were the usual species about the Exe itself, but no flyover GWEs while I was there. Even the Cattle Egret horde had gone by the time I got to Cockwood.

Yeah.

And I have since come down with the lurgy, restricting my birding to car-borne on Saturday [I had to get out in some form!] and a brief evening stroll on Sunday, when my head finally stopped screaming at me long enough for me to get moving. [I did hear a male Tawny Owl, which was nice - all the ones I've heard from Home so far this Autumn {now Winter} have been females!?!]. Even the Nuthatches seem to have stopped visiting my skygarden. [Though the Robin is still cheerfully beating up the poor tits whenever given half a chance]

[Second Edit: Ah, Nuthatch seen again on Monday and Tuesday. :) Lurgy upgraded to plague, though :( ]


Life. Birds.
What can you do?


Be Seeing You...


[[*Loose mob of assorted pipits - most seen at once [when flushed by Crow] 9 - these mostly Meadow, and those most active close to the cycle path, but at least one Water Pipit present, plus some 'odd' looking Rockits.**]]
[[**Yes, those are Mipits; the Wapit was lurking by a pool close to the railway line - the right arm of the Y-shaped wet bit in the photo up there - and I couldn't get a shot of it. :( ]]