NIGHTINGALE still present!

 

Drake Tufted Duck at Porth Hellick 

  At Porth Hellick, the drake Tufted Duck, pair of Teal and the single Sedge Warbler and snipe, were all still present. There were only small numbers of the common migrants in the area.

 

A single Sedge Warbler was at the beach end of Porth Hellick 

  Also still present, was the NIGHTINGALE at the Garrison that I found four days ago. I finished work late and crossed the track from the Star Castle garden to the entrance of the dead pine walk. Immediately, I put up the NIGHTINGALE up from the path! It flew into the dead pines and made it's way deeper inside. However, it was always on show and when it was almost at the top of the pine, it showed very well before flying low into cover. For the next quarter of an hour, I searched for it and when I returned to the very same spot where I flushed it before, up it got again, but this time I saw a foxy red tail disappear. With Robin and Ritchie, I tried again to relocate it, but somehow I knew we were not going to see it. Tony called Ritchie to tell him that he was watching the male WOODCHAT SHRIKE at Giants Castle that's been present here for the last few days after moving from nearby Porth Hellick when Tony and Big Al first discovered it. It was late when I arrived at the airfield, but from the old runway, looking towards Giants Castle, I spotted the shrike on top of the Gorse, distantly. Tony joined me and told me that there could be 2 male WOODCHAT SHRIKE!! By the time we got down to where I had seen the bird, there was no sign of it and it was thought that it had probably gone to roost.

 

Male WOODCHAT SHRIKE at Giants Castle minutes before it went to roost