Birds, wildlife and travel
… but the first Swallow of the year at home is always special. As well as that, there were loads of butterflies, bumblebees, including our first Red-tailed Bumblebees of the year. Pride of place goes to the smart male Redstart, that eventually gave itself up.
Our first moth trap of the year yielded only four species, but one of them was new on the house list.
On the way down south from Harrogate, the lure of the Lincolnshire Bluethroat was too much. It kept us waiting for nearly an hour, but eventually turned up and put on a show.
A superb afternoon up in the Yorkshire Dales, starting off at Strid Woods (no summer migrants yet, but the usual Goosander, Dipper and Grey Wagtail performed well). Then further north for both Red and Black Grouse. Red performed very well indeed.
I have finally ploughed through the photos from Ecuador. When I sort out a trips folder there will be some there, but for the moment they can be found on my OneDrive.
A Short-eared Owl gave us some nice views at Beeding Brooks and on the way back a very nice sunset over Cissbury Ring
Shoreham Fort at high tide yielded no Purple Sandpipers, but the sea was fun.
A twitch to East Head for a couple of Snow Buntings. How many photos of a Snow Bunting does a man need? Well, thousands and more, it seems.
Back at the car a Mediterranean Gull was hanging in the wind.
