Next week the cover of Time magazine....

The Fishman strikes again!

Showing well at the Queen Mum

Buff-bellied Fisher showing well, and pipit (pic David H Hatton http://www.art16.co.uk/gallery.html)

Yay! Buff-bellied Pipit

Oh hang about, got one of these on Shetland.  Now all and sundry have got one.  With the bloody Hornemann's last weekend, Shetland is getting devalued week by week.  It'll be a Pechora at the Wetland Centre next week, if they haven't already had one...

Nursing a large bottle of water and an even larger hangover, I wobbled up to the flats to be picked up by Mr L and Henry and whisked over to the Queen Mother ressy on the other side of town.  The bird was a bugger to find, bar the fact a thousand people were looking at it as it marched up and down the concrete beach within spitting distance.  OK, much better views than the one in Spiggy Bay, but not the beautiful back-drop of the Shetland bird.  After rattling off a good few hundred shots, some of which are surprisingly in focus, I started looking for the Red-necked Grebe and the Long-tailed Duck also in residence.

The grebe refused to come over to the London side of the reservoir, so no bonus tick there, and it looked like the duck was being as equally un-co-operative hugging the northern bank too.  Finally it did the decent thing and flew over to the boat club thus becoming the closest view I've had of this smart duck.  A 2 tick day for London, and my hangover got a bit better.

Revenge of a ruddy duck

Seen floating towards Defra's headquarters in Westminster....

Thanks to Shirley for the pic

Horny. Again!

A good weekend, ending on a beach in Suffolk looking at a bird I saw in Shetland not 2 months ago.  Weather was just about the same too.  Cold, windy with the occasional blob of water thrown in. Can't say I was too thrilled at the prospect of seeing a Arctic Redpoll over Penduline Tit at Ouse Fen, but since those birds didn't show today (probably because everyone was hacking down to Aldeburgh), and Hornemann's are such enchanting birds; a good decision by Bradders.

Saturday I wandered down to Rainham to bulk up the somewhat sorry looking year list there. A Lesser Redpoll, a couple of Bullfinch and 3 smart Bewick's meant not a bad result. Met Bradders there, filthily twitching the swans, who informed me of a wader count the next morning at this very spot.  Greedily I thought I'll have some of that, could move the list on a bit.

Our tally 1 Dunlin, 2 Black-tailed Godwit and a Snipe.  Good work.  I think we were probably looking the wrong way.  So then to Aldeburgh and a, stone me, showy and amiable sheep-size finch eating pebbles - they are that hard!