Today at the River Coly and River Axe, and also something new...

After some success with the Dipper on the Coly last week, I thought I'd go out for another try. I won't dream up a witty pun regarding 'dipping' because I did see it. It flew past me a few times but never settled anywhere within sight. I took some TERRIBLE in-flight shots, which will not be appearing in this post! I also saw the two Kingfishers which I'm now more-or-less convinced is a pair as I've seen them both near one of last years nest sights on a regular basis. There were also a couple of Song Thrushes; the first I've seen on the Coly so far this year (I haven't had many trips there though). Other than that, there was nothing of particular interest.
After some lunch I went to see if anything was visible through the mist on the Axe. I didn't realise quite how bad the visibility would be until I got there! Again, nothing to get excited about with only the usual birds present. 2 Redshank in front of Tower hide, along with an Oystercatcher, 2 Little Grebe, a Curlew, and 5 Canada Geese near to a small group of Teal on BHM. There were the usual gulls too, although I confess to being a novice when it comes to gulls. Will have to try and take inspiration from Steve Waite's (Axe Birding) and Gavin Haig's (Not Quite Scilly) blogs and take an interest in them!!
Here's a few photos from today. Please forgive the lack of clarity and bland colours, the mist was far from ideal for taking photos.









Now for the 'something new' part. Having recently started reading the NQS blog, I was inspired to start my first ever (patch) year list of birds. Maybe if I get into it I'll find more time to make an effort to go and see rarities when they occur (by 'find more time' I mean have to take time off work as holiday). Anyway, count commenced! 40 today. Well... it's a start!