What The Cat dragged in...

'My wife is getting suspicious of my frequent trips to Hornsea but it's all in a good cause!' says Graham Catley. Check out his blog for lots more photos...

Mystic Martin

I'm a bit slow off the mark, but over at George Bristow's Secret Freezer, you can read your birding horoscope... for the week 10-16 September.

Mine says:

Leo
Sorry, but you are going to make a complete arse of yourself this week. You should avoid identifying anything in public. Do not attempt to sketch anything and keep ‘Brian’ away from your notebook at all costs. DO NOT PUT YOUR PHOTOS ON SURFBIRDS!
Lucky colour: Octarine

Was yours correct?

Warblers by Habitat: the Twitchers' Guide

'Thanks to Warblers by Habitat: the Twitchers’ Guide, vagrant warbler identifications need never been so tedious and boring again.

'Forget primary projection, call and obscure tail movements; this will help you sort out that tricky b****** bird in seconds.'

Get yourself over to Menzie Birding to solve all your warbler problems.

WeedWorld

This is what Mike 'Weedon's World of Nature' Weedon came up with at the Burnham Red-backed Shrike. As we arrived, he was leaving with Bowell the Younger - to go sailing...

Norfolk again

Migrant fuel

Red-backed Shrike

Great Grey Shrike

Shrike habitat just east of Gun Hill

Storksbill sp

Darren has a 'thing' about shrikes, so when he read that there was a Red-backed AND a Great Grey at Burnham Overy, we had to go to Norfolk, of course. I'm not complaining...

Besides the two shrike species above, we had a few other bits and pieces... Garden Warblers, a Redstart, at least four Whinchats and three Wheatears, and two Peregrines in flight - in the same scope view as the Great Grey.

After lunch at the Stiffkey Red Lion (very much recommended) we tried for the Red-breasted Flycatcher at Wells Wood. And failed. Though a couple of people reckoned they'd seen it while we were there, the vast majority of would-be flycatcher watchers went home empty-handed.

Don't really care; it was a good day out.

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Comma

Comma on Verbena bonariensis

They'll all have disappeared soon, so indulge me, will you?

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Summertime?

Has summer finished or not?

Small Copper (click for a big 'un)

Comma

Sweet Chestnut

ruby-tailed wasp sp.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Close-up Common Darter

You can click on the photos to view big ones.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995