Wednesday, 7 September 2022

Holmpton twitch

Today was a good day.

An early walk North was enlivened when I bumped into a nice chap from Bristol. Turns out he'd been staying in the Village. He'd seen the elusive RN Parakeets which I have yet to connect with. I'm not holding my breath!

He set off ahead of me but I joined him on the return. On my way out I spotted a lone, medium sized Wader flying leisurely South along the shoreline. It looked interesting...it was...

Bar-tailed Godwit (H.114)

Really chuffed with the record, view and pic... even though I say so myself lol! Wader context right there. I also had a close group of Wigeon (H.115) and my first Autumn RTD. After saying goodbye to Les I headed home to sort a few things out. 

After lunch I was giving the car a treat when I noticed a flash of red in the hedge. We have breeding Robins in the lane but I was thinking Redstart. A couple of views of Robins diluted my interest and I carried on working on the car. Another flash of red, this time I was sure. I put my bins and camera in the back of the car and waited. Over the next hour or so I enjoyed great views and gained a Garden tick to boot!



A male Blackcap and Garden Warbler were also present. I was initially joined by my neighbour Geoff but eventually there were 4 of us as Richard and Jayne also turned up! The bird became more elusive but everyone saw it, thankfully.

Late afternoon stroll to the Cliff and a scan of the Paddock hedge. Incredibly, there in the plough stood my SECOND Redstart of the day...


My views of the former were better though...


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