A quick walk round a very quiet Westport saw little change, then it was onto that birding hotspot - Fenton Park for the
Lesser Whitethroat. I stood in the pouring rain for this yesterday and not surprisingly I didn't see it. Today we hadn't been there long when it came into view, drinking nectar from the yellow flower bush. A bit darker than I expected, but whether it will ever be racially id'd, I doubt it. Still, a nice December tick. We weren't planning a full day out today, so we decided to head to Upper Longsdon. We parked up, and I had walked to the edge of the lay by and there was the
Great Grey Shrike sitting in front of me. Good views were had. All a bit too easy!
Great Grey Shrike at Upper Longsdon
And that was all for the day. I returned home and did a few jobs. Just as we were sitting down,
PJ rang to say he'd found the ICELAND GULL again on the Void. I hurtled down and we were soon watching the
juvenile Iceland Gull roosting/preening with a good number of other larger gulls. We had a 4w Yellow-legged Gull, two GBB's, c50 Herring Gulls and 190 LBBG's.
The Iceland Gull on the Void
Not too bad a day really. Finally, all the Clayhead boys would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas (except to all of you wannabe Sandwell Valley types. Shame on you. Its not big and its not clever.Santa's watching)
