YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER at Seaton Marshes

Well done to Steve Waite for finding this little beauty yesterday morning. I didn't go for it at the time as walking is still uncomfortable, although a text this morning saying 'close and prolonged views' got me moving. Warblers are often elusive and this one was no exception; I didn't get any nice pics but it was good to see none-the-less.

DAURIAN SHRIKE In Devon

Having never seen a Shrike in the UK, the opportunity to see a Daurian Shrike in my home county of Devon was too tempting to resist. I rarely twitch off patch but this was an exception. However, the day did not go to plan; not at all to plan. Cutting long story short, the trip cost me my car as well as possible damage to my camera gear (yet to be inspected fully) due to a serious error by another driver. Not only that, this happened on the way TO the bird, rather than the way back - the wait for the recovery truck and a car to pick me up was not an enjoyable one. So now I'm without a car and also disallowed from driving for 2 to 3 weeks due to the effects of medication prescribed to help pain relief for the injuries sustained.

The one positive from the trip is that I did eventually (and rather uncomfortably) connect with the target bird, albeit briefly before it went to roost.

GLOSSY IBIS Colyford Common

A message from Ian Mc had me running down to the hide at Coly Common; two Glossy Ibis were on the small scrape! Apparently they were first seen by some visitors yesterday; it was a good job that they hung around for a second day so the locals could all see them. I've only seen Glossy Ibis on patch once before; my self-found bird from November 2013 SEE HERE. Here's some pics of today's birds:

BLUE FOOTED BOOBY on Seaton Beach

... is what was said in a phone call to me this morning. I wasn't sure if it was a hoax or a misidentification so I popped down to have a look in case it was indeed something of interest. The bird was alert but sat down on the pebbles, between two of the sheds. I'm not sure what's wrong with it; I kept my distance and walked all the way around the bird but couldn't see any obvious injury. Unfortunately some of the people observing it had dogs with them (most of them not on leads) and the bird wasn't too amused by this. Each time a dog approached, the bird stretched it's neck in disapproval. I didn't need to get close either; I was surprised just how big the bird was (not seen one landed before) so it was easy to get nice shots from 30 - 40 ft away. Here's some pics of the 'Booby':

P.s. GANNET. Ahhh if only it were a BF Booby...