Three new species on a day!

Incredible day on the East coast yesterday. Daurian  (Isabelline) Shrike  Flamborough and a flock of 40-50 Twite. Siberian Stonechat at Scalby Mills. Finally up to Hartlepool for the Western Bonelli's Warbler. Bonus of the day was a Pallid Swift that was spotted by birders viewing the warbler and gave good views as it circled overhead. Or so we thought! Now been identified as a juvenile Common Swift. Aaargh!! Several Blackcap and Goldcrest were also seen feeding with the warbler.

Blue headed Wagtail or possible Channel Wagtail

Spotted an interesting Yellow Wagtail at Audenshaw today.Initial thoughts were it was a Blue Headed Wagtail but the head is on the pale side and with this amount of white on the throat it could be a hybrid between Yellow wagtail and Blue headed wagtail- A so-called Channel Wagtail. Also present were nominate British Yellow wagtail, White Wagtail, Wheatear the first Swifts of the year, Great Crested Grebe and  Common Sandpiper

Four species of tern at Audenshaw

I braved the showers at Audenshaw this lunchtime hoping some of the reported 150 arctic terns seen last night were still around. There were around a dozen Arctic Terns on the water intermittently flying up and feeding or being mobbed by gulls. Also present was a winter plumage Little Gull, 2 Little Terns and a fine looking summer plumage Black Tern. I also saw a couple of Swifts which are the first I have seen this year. No photos as they were all distance and the weather was just too wet for me to bring out any gear!