Holy Diver

No birding yesterday as I was busy with other things but you can't fail to see something interesting if you look up. The weather was pretty overcast and dull all day. I was outside for a brief spell and I could hear the Crossbills calling. I spotted a couple of males that showed well but they were pretty mobile in the tree and then I heard another bird calling from behind me. As I turned and looked up there was a WT Eagle just coming into view and the Crossbill was sitting on the chimney! The eagle drifted off as I set the scope up for the Crossbill.....

....result!!

Today was a better day weatherwise but I had a few jobs to do. I didn't bother taking the scope with me and you just know that was a mistake! Most of the things I saw were distant and the scope would have come in handy so the 27 Lapwings, 20 fieldfare and 80 Starling were nice to see. A couple of Kestrels that would have been good shots were just admired. A pair of WT Eagle looked like this...

..but the Blue Tit was just in range.

It was a pleasant run out with some nice encounters and also good not to have the digiscoping kit! I did nip out just before it got dark to count the GN Diver for the first time this year and 38 birds was a good return.