Friday 7 November 2014

Reculver - Desert Wheatear

Most of my distant twitching is done around talk commitments and I couldn't believe my luck (and an overnight stay) when my West Kent destination coincided with a showy male Desert Wheatear (287) dropping in nearby!

This way to the beach!


And some pretty horrendous squalls were being blown on a near gale force wind!


But it didn't deter the Desert Wheatear!


Although at times it was literally blown over!




The tail comes in handy as a stabiliser :-)


A few different angles.....






Delightful bird whichever way it looked.




Caught at take off.....


Sometimes perched on vegetation.


But the closest views were on the shingle by the rocks




I couldn't believe my luck when two bonus year ticks were on offer. Shore Lark (288) and Lapland Bunting (289) which were loosely keeping company with four Snow Buntings! They were extremely flighty however but I managed record shots of the Shore Lark and one of the Snow Buntings...




The weekend is just beginning, I plan to take in a detour back to Shropshire, via Suffolk and Norfolk!