Had a trip up north with Foghorn today to Holy Island. The main target was Great Grey Shrike which would have been a lifer for Foggy, and the first one I had seen in six years. When we got there though things werent looking promising. It hadnt been seen since early morning, and having searched for more than 2 hours we were losing all hope. In fact the island was pretty much devoid of any birds, the highlights being a Wheatear and a Redstart. But, just as we were about to call it a day a lady waved at us from the dunes area and we wandered over just in time to see the Shrike perched on a fence post. It quickly flew to another post where at stayed long enough for us to get very good views. Needless to say Andrew was ecstatic!
GREAT GREY SHRIKE (TOP) & COMMON REDSTART (BOTTOM)
GREAT GREY SHRIKE (TOP) & COMMON REDSTART (BOTTOM)
Couple of really good shots there, and also throughout the blog Jason. I was nearly with you on island, but had prior arrangements:-( Cheers Brian.
ReplyDeleteCheers mate! I just hope you dont think its me who took the pictures cos that couldnt be further from the truth!!! Nah, they were taken by various different people. I do actually mention it at the top of the blog, just incase people think I'm something I'm not. But you're dead right about them being good! ;)
ReplyDeleteAs for the island, apart from the shrike it was absolutely dead! A barred warbler had apparently been seen early morning but had disappeared when we were there.
Happy birding.