Pleasantly Surprised.

I've had two sightings this week which have had my birding motto ring true once again....

Not what you will find but rather what you might

The element of surprise never fails to delight

The Siskin.

Siskin Young. Pete Woodruff.

The first pleasant surprise came in our garden on Monday 30 March in the form of a young fledged and fully feathered Siskin. Right place at the right time had me find the bird looking a little tired in the Willow by the pond. But it was my lucky day, as later it was seen again, this time on the feeder with proof it had already mastered the art of flying.

My enquiries about the significance of this sighting are ongoing, but one thing for sure, I wouldn't have expected to see this bird until around the end of April, the breeding season of the Siskin not starting until early this month....Global warming!

The Black-tailed Godwit.

My second pleasant surprise came the following day Tuesday 31 March, when I had good cause to pay a visit to the Lune floodplain viewed from Bull Beck. Last year I had two excellent sightings here in early April, resulting with my records reading....I found a Little Ringed Plover on the shingle bar, and distant in the sky, there's this large lumbering bird flying upstream, then dropping down out of view....Yep, it was an Osprey.

Black-tailed Godwit. Pete Woodruff. Clik The Pik

No LRP or Osprey today, but an excellent compensation came with at least 400 Black-tailed Godwit distant with 'large gulls' around a flood with Burrow Wood in the background.