Merlin 😢

I had to call the blog Merlin but there is no picture. Fortunately Dave and another birder were in the hide with me at Pulborough when the bird came through and they both confirmed the sighting. If they hadn't been there I would probably have doubted what I saw. This is a lifer for me and one that I have waited so long to see. There have been a couple of possibles in the past but I have never been confident enough to claim the sighting - this time I am.

Strange though I feel only disappointment. I didn't get the picture and my number one target and bogey bird has now disappeared. Probably the right decision though. It went through fast and if I had tried to get it in the frame and in focus I would come away with nothing. No picture and insufficient observation time to make the identification.

Lets just hope the London Buses cliche comes true and now the first one has been seen many more will come along. The next one sat on a post in front of the hide please.

So what else was about at Pulborough. Black-winged Stilt, I saw so many in Spain a few weeks ago but one on the local patch is always good to see even if it was 250 metres away.

Black-winged Stilt and Black-tailed Godwit

Three or four Common Sandpipers were also good to see. They seem to have been in short supply for the past couple of years

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

A pair of Egyptian Geese with six or possibly seven goslings. Spring is definitely here.

Egyptian Geese

Five or six Nightingales around the Pulborough site with lots of people trying to get a view of them. I always wonder why. It's quiet a boring LBJ if you discount the song. Surely a bird to listen to rather than to chase around. Which is probably just as well as most of the spots where you normally get a good view look a little overgrown this year. We had one view of a bird deep in cover but there was no chance of a picture so here is one from a couple of years ago

Nightingale

A few other birds around, a Jay keeping its distance as they do, Cuckoo, Whitethroats, a Wren carrying a white feather in its bill which caused us great confusion but I still haven't seen a Lesser Whitethroat or Garden Warbler.

A few Orange Tips around, the butterfly that really gets the butterfly season off to a start. Pearl Borders next, I will have to start carrying the macro lens.

Orange Tip

To finish off, yet another picture of one of my favourite birds, the Dunnock. A much underrated bird, who needs Bluethroats when these are in every garden?