Looking For Shrikes In All The Wrong Places. Pt.1, Going Quackers

While tartily picking up other peoples' birds is all well and good, a proper birder has to at least try to find her or his own. Sometimes.

At the very least, one's Devotions to the Goddess Of Birding are required if you want to see anything other than the ouchy end of a lightning bolt....

Yeah, you think about that.

Anyways, with all the cold weather upcountry [ok, and here, but nowhere near as bad] it Stood To Reason that funky winter birds should be heading our way.

Like Great Grey Shrikes.

Which I need for the year.

And are awesome at any state of listing.

So, off to Fernworthy I did traipse.

Clearfelling.

Bad for Crossbills

[the trees aren't keen, either]

but good for Great Grey Shrikes

Spoiler Alert.

I found no shrikes, great or otherwise.

I did find something of interest,

Zoinks! Thatsalotta Mallards

Just part of a mighty flock of at least 125 [no estimate, proper count done three times :p ] very twitchy Mallard. Cold weather movement from somewhere!

Also 6 Tufted Duck and a Cormorant - which are more like normal numbers - and no grebes, with ~70 Herring and 11 LBB arriving to roost late afternoon. [No, no Glonkus maximus seen this time]

I got around a bit, here's some scenery,

 

Looking over North Teign

towards Cosdon Beacon

 

The Grey Wethers

I suppose another bird is not out of order,

Crossbill

Lovely to be out, even if the felling was right in the wrong place and a long detour ensued... [Notices of felling everywhere, but no indication of where was closed off. {Which would be helpful} Why can't they put a map up? 'We're felling here, plan ahead to avoid insane detours'...???]

So, shrike attempt was a bust.

I wasn't giving up, though.

Hmm, where next to try?

Find out, in the next exciting episode of... 

'Tom Sees Nooothiiiiiiiiiing!'

Ahem.

Be Seeing You...