Class act

He may have been doing a little less birding of late but Martin P shows us how it's done and pulls out a corker at Stewartby Lake!

"I had just completed my first scan through the gull roost at Stewartby Lake when I happened across the same "little grebe" just beyond the middle of this large lake as I reported for Wednesday evening. It was 6.25 and this time I looked at it properly! The clue on Wednesday was, of course, that it was alone toward the centre of the lake whereas Dabchicks here generally hug the fringes. It was clearly blackish grey and smoky white with an erect neck and slopy dark crown descending below the eye - classic BLACK-NECKED GREBE!  Unsurprisingly, it was too distant and too gloomy to attempt a thro' the 'scope shot of the BNG at Stewartby Lake.

 Yellow-legged Gull

Wheatear

My pocket Lumix around with me is paying dividends! After Wednesday's Stonechat and Whitchat shots at Woburn Road Wetlands, Kempston, here are a couple of shots of the Northern Wheatear and Yellow-legged Gull from y'day evening. I've even got the A421 roadsign in one shot in proof of location!

It always pays to have something handy in you pocket when you find something unusual whilst out birding!"

Palmer-chats

I found a Whinchat accompanied by a Stonechat c5.30pm y'day at Woburn Road Wetlands - I'd already got Stonechat as a sfyt at this site back in spring of course but Whinchat was a welcome addition.

Its been a long time finding something - June to September busy with family and house improvement reasons have seen me hardly get in more than a couple of hours local birding/butterfling/dragonflying this summer but now that all those nasty tiny singing birds have gone I can get down to finding a nice fat duck or gull for my list!! I've not knowingly self-found a Gypo or a Mandarin this year - yet!

And adding in the Wiles Wood Short-eared Owl (I never did find a Spot Fly this year - just twitched the Tempsford ones when they first arrived).  MJP