Saturday 31 October 2015

Hot patch

Firecrest Durness
Firecrest- a patch tick!
As most patch workers will appreciate, sometimes it is easy to go for many a month or even a year or two with very little reward- but still we feed our addiction and keep plugging away in the hope of turning up a good bird on 'our patch'. If memory serves my last 'good' bird on a local patch was a grey phalarope back in 2009! Anyway, this week after getting back into local birding after the autumnal delights of the Hebrides and Northern isles I finally found a new patch bird in the shape of a delightful firecrest! Although not great rarity this is a very significant find in Scotland and particularly in the highland region where it is still a description species on account of it being recorded on less than an annual basis. I have managed to see the delightful bird on 3 of the last 4 days and am hopeful that it may over winter- it is in classic, sheltered habitat that should sustain it through the winter months. Having said that, last night was clear and fine and I couldn't locate it today. By a strange coincidence I had a day birding in the Durness region yesterday where I found another firecrest whilst in the company of Peter Stronach. Two birds, two descriptions and a patch tick! 
Firecrest in Durness


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