Sandhill Crane!!!

Well I guess this will never happen again....

The Aberdeenshire Sandhill was tracked from Northumberland to Yorkshire today, hugging the coast - making it pretty straight forward to twitch. An hour and a quarter's wait between Whitburn and us jingled the nerves a bit but It arrived in the end and flew straight past us and through Hartlepool.

Magnificent!

Just over a week to Corvo..... :-)

Corvo 2011....

.... as I bugger about moving house, the first birders have arrived on Corvo for the 2011 season.

I knew there would be stuff to be found following Hurricane Katia and a series of less severe depressions so was prepared.... Even Scillies had scored ;-)

However, the first afternoon of searching produced two birds I could have done without! A Yellow-crowned Night Heron is likely to stay I'd have thought, meaning I wasted a few hundred quid last month with my Madeira twitch and a Dicksissel which isn't, meaning I miss out on a WP mega....

Today will be their first look into the valleys.... god help us!

t-3 weeks!

..... til Corvo

Can't wait! The thought of Yanks hiding in those valleys has me agog already.

In reality, there'll come a year when the weather is wrong and I'll see nowt but let's not entertain such thoughts.... what else is there to look forward to?

To be fair, September at home has been pretty decent birding. Lots of visible migration of Siskin, Redpoll and Mipits and a few nice waders. Two Pecs and a Little Stint were todays offering. I guess the lack of a fall has made it seem disappointing but there's time yet before I leave for The Azores... though last year all hell broke loose after I'd gone (REV, Bluetail, etc, etc...).

Hey ho, you can't be in two places at once. Here's on of the Pecs... Pic by Martyn Sidwell.

They're like bloody buses.....

Two weeks shy of exactly a year ago, I posted here about a ghost laid to rest, when I finally caught up with Sharp-tailed Sand on my Cleveland list. This species had haunted me for 14 years, since I made the awful decision of fitting a game of 5-a-side in before going for the last one, and missing it by seconds....

Well, as the title suggests, you wait 14 years then they all come at once.

Todays repeat performance was of this beautifully marked bird... on exactly the same pool as last year!

Following White-rumped, Semi-P and Wilson's Phal, it's proving a good year for waders :-)

Euro-twitching.....

....can be very rewarding at times.

Desperate for a break and on the point of blowing a fortune on a Bridges of Ross sea-watching trip, I had a last minute change of heart and priced up twitching the long-staying Yellow-crowned Night Heron in Funchal Harbour instead......

The bird performed in its regular spot by the pier at the west end of the marina on each of the three nights I was there.

The beauty of choosing Madeira meant that the sea-watching wasn't compromised either.

Lots of Cory's and Bulwer's and great views of a nailed on (IMHO) Zino's were fantastic. Three cetacean species and plenty of Loggerhead Turtles added to the fun and then there was the warm weather, cheaper beer etc etc....

All in all an inspired choice!

It's been a while......

...... since I last posted.

News of Fish Owls have dominated my summer - especially the fact that I couldn't get over to Turkey to see them! Work has taken over my life but it's all quietening down now in time for some autumn goodies I hope.

Madeira next week to twitch (hopefully) the Yellow-crowned Night Heron then its countdown to Corvo time!

Oct 10-19th on the rock.... let's hope it matches the previous trips.

Just my knee to worry about - up and down those bloody hills will knack it I'm sure but still have time to shed a little weight in advance to give it a fighting chance of survival.

One of these would make it worthwile!

Back of the net!

So the Kelp Gull finally gave itself up, with a close and prolonged fly-by on our second day at Khniffis..... Well, second day this trip :-)

No photos as I was too busy grilling the relevant features through my scope.

A great trip with lots of good birds. CCC's were the highlight for me, some giving excellent views...

Also saw Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, a Moroccan tick and plenty of quality birds throughout, with great company in the form of Tom and Graeme. Thanks to Graeme for the immense driving effort!