Get Shorty!

The numbers of brambling frequenting the garden this week reached a peak of 6 on Wednesday, but has tailed off to zero today - maybe the unwelcome black cat I flushed out from under the conifer bush on Friday may have something to do with their moving on? A bonus on Thursday was a male blackcap in the hawthorn, and a small number of redwings, though still no fieldfare.

Today we decided to make the most of the sunny morning as rain was forecast for lunchtime onwards, and headed out to Ynyslas. We stopped by the railway crossing and walked along the Leri, almost immediately flushing a short eared owl off the tideline, which drifted across the river to sit on a post, giving us a baleful glare. A lot of teal, wigeon and shelduck in the estuary, but apart from oystercatchers nothing on the wader front. At Ynyslas point Steffi crawled around on her belly to get some shots of golden plover looking resplendent in the sunshine, whilst I picked up on a raft of 15 scoter out on the very choppy sea. Apart from a large flock of greenfinch feeding on the tideline, there was very little else to get excited about until 2 chough passed overhead. Other sightings included 3 skylark, 2 reed bunting, 3 little egret, red kite and 1 redshank.