Finches

Friday was a good day for finches with two more interesting redpolls which I think are Lessers, one has a gold poll. There were two Goldfinch, the first of the year, on the front niger feeder as well. A single Tree Sparrow remains.

Plenty of digging was done as the last of the tatties got put in and the pea / bean bed was dug and some beans planted out. Rabbit defenses are in place let's hope they hold....

 "I like nicely grown on bean plants, scrummy!"

 Gold top above, to show size against Greenfinch

 Down at the Shunan the Greenshank was still present until Sunday when it was not seen. 9 Whimbrel went over in three groups on Saturday evening and there was at least one on Sunday. A Dunlin on The Shunan was about on time. Late for the year was Arctic Skua, a dark phase flew in to The Shunan at 9 p.m. on Sunday evening.

Record shot

One of the pair of crows grabbed a wader chick by the look of things. In photographing this I realised that the bird is a hybrid, a subtle one though.

 Note the dark feathers in the undertail coverts, also the extent of the dark feather centres on the breast and belly.

 Quite possibkle the right hand bird is also a grey crow hybrid

The Kestrels may have young and a Sparrowhawk paid a visit.

At Palace the Dunlin and Turnstones had mostly disappeared to be replaced by a pile of Ringed Plovers and a single Sanderling. There were two singing Sedge Warblers and a pair of Reed Bunting, hard to find at this site. The Saturday seawatch from the Brough was very pleasant but didn't produce the goods.

This is probably Platycheirus albimanus, I have the speciment though, likely I'll key it out at some point.

 The girls wanted new pets but bad dad said, "NO!"