New header after MONTYGATE

Had the Hoopoe stayed until 1st May, it may well have been the subject of the blog header at the end of this month. Although the bird isn't as good as the Monty, it still deserves a place at the top of this page, especially after all of the 'controversy' taking the edge off any joy generated by the Monty. Hoopoe was a patch first for me whereas I spotted another Monty in 2013 as a brief flyover at Black Hole Marsh, so I didn't 'need' it for the patch list in any case. Thankfully the Hoopoe stayed beyond its first night as with me being the only birder to see it on the first day, that would have likely been a cause for more unnecessary 'political discussion' from other birders. I have a lot of catching up to do with patch Hoopoe sightings - most of the other patch birders have seen 4 or 5! But then again some of those sightings were from before I was born.

In other news, one (or more) of my pics of the Colyford Common Monty will be in a nationally published wildlife magazine in the next month, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing that!