I'm not proud. I'll admit I was totally delighted to get a wigeon on the lake this afternoon (137). Such are the rewards for the dedicated patch worker! After a couple of hours seawatching, hoping for a grey phal but failing (60 sooty shearwaters was pretty good tho), I resorted to scanning the lake for year ticks. Unfortunately it was too windy on the patio, so I had to find a more sheltered spot - the upstairs jax! Perfect!
There was just enough room for the tripod, and by standing on a stool (no pun intended) I could even see most of the hidden corner! Scanning through the gulls, I got on a duck that made me think "wigeon" but before I could confirm that it wasn't one, a real wigeon walked past in the background! Excellent! Less than annual and hard to predict where to find one, this was a huge bonus to the year list! Now only two needed to reach the 100% in the patch challenge, and just 5 short of a new patch year list record - its all to play for!
