Trying

I am attempting to add some logic and rationale to birding, because doing so keeps the carbon footprint as a size 9 as opposed to a big 11.  So the Eastern Black Redstart; 110 mile round trip; only a sub-species etc.  Easy!

Easy my a#s*.  Only the fifth in Britain.  First for Northumberland.  A stunning bird.  And so today I considered going for it but the weather was shown as foggy to noon so I throttled back and tried again to resist.  It's a killer!

Warmed up with 20 Waxwings on Horton Drive at 8 am today, and as I walked up the cul-de-sac to Chez Moi, a beltin' female Sparrowhawk over the wall and between my place and the neighbours.  As Louis Balfour would say, Nice!

And very little at West Hartford at lunchtime.

And so out north at 12:30pm.  First stop, East Chevington, and as I alighted form the car, the geese decided to up-sticks and fly west to the field beyond the conifers along the west side of the south pool.  Bugger!

Mainly Greylags remained with the odd White-front, but not the 180-odd that I had hoped for.  And on the North Pool:

Cresswell was busy with those from far afield looking at the Greater Yellowlegs that was parading up and down the reedbed east of the mud outside the hide.  Very good views, but I'll let the guy from Bristol with the biggest lens I have ever seen do it justice.  And loads of Snipe too - which was nice!

Female Red-breasted Merganser on the little pool too: