August 16, 2004
One Greenish, two Aquatic
How right we all were : first a Greenish Warbler, then two Aquatics. Sadly none of them on our island, so not really that much of an incentive to go and see them. But plenty of incentive to redouble our efforts to find our own, which saw me and JL out at 6 yesterday morning trying to chance upon either. Despite blearily working the tattie patches and reedy ditches of the south end, we couldn't find anything to better a Reed Warbler back at the plantation. Inland we came across the hotbed of native breeding finches (a large patch of fuchsia) with a pair of adult Linnets and three young Redpoll nearby, three or four White Wagtails, and back at the coast another Pied Fly. Bugger all else though. JL found a female Red-backed Shrike below the plantation on Saturday, which was presumably new in, but not much else to fire the imagination.
Went heather berry picking last night with friends (for vodka), and came across a recently deceased Gannet on the moor beside a wire fence. An adult bird, in good condition, so can only assume it got disorientated in the recent fog and came a cropper inland. Spectacular all the same, though heaving with feather mites - how tough must they be to hang on when Gannets are fishing?
Posted by Stercorarius at August 16, 2004 09:12 AM