Saturday 5 April 2008

patch tick--what a day





well I fell into the age old trap today and had a lie in after checking the patch just about every day this week and that of course meant that it was certain to be a visitor who found the goody which I did not expect given the dire winter returns forecast; 
answering the phone I was out of bed and down at Far Ings within about 10 minutes where a Night Heron had been seen dropping into a large area of scrub; Night Heron first for the patch and a new patch bird for me hopefully!!! it was a bit of a wait but then it was picked up and flew and landed right out in the open  in a group of sallows but where it was only visible through a thick hedge! so the photos at 60m through the hedge are less than striking but a record of number 250 on the Barton list and 244 on my patch list; the heron then showed on and off but was always partly hidden low in the sallows and virtually impossible to photograph; a first-summer bird it is a classical early spring vagrant-----
also today produced House Martin and the earliest ever Reed Warbler for the patch taking the overall tally to 124 for the year

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