more migrant fun

Had a whole day to hoof around Galley and I enjoyed every minute of it! Got off to a good start right away as I banged into a shrike just round the corner from home. It took a while to pin down, as it was booting around a lot & the strong sunlight was making it look really pale, but with a few extra folk looking for it, it eventually gave itself up as another juvenile red-backed shrike - nice!

Tried for a wryneck in Dirk that was seen this morning, but waaaaaaaaay too much cover! However a spotted flycatcher was in there. As the rain began to close in, we picked up another spotted flycatcher on the cliffs, which hadn't been there long - fresh arrivals! Exciting! A male redstart sheltering in a garden was my first for the year - probably just less than annual here, so a bonus for the patch total this year. At least one whinchat was still hanging about around the top lane fields too.

Managed to finally get reasonable shots of one of the wrynecks that has been hanging around for a few days, before we bumped into a new bird on Marsh Lane. Pretty sure there was at least 4 different birds today, and possibly 6 or more over the last week. Reckon I can legitimately count finding 3 different birds so far this autumn - a good year for them! 

A reed warbler and a male blackcap were also in the valley.

With the wind finally going away from the east for the first time in about 8 days, these birds may move off again, but there's a fair bit more rain due tomorrow, so there's still a chance of some more migrant action, once it dries up again - we shall see!