Gary Howard's birds and wildlife

Wednesday 17th February

Ouse Washes WWT

A gloomy, damp start slowly lifted to give a brighter afternoon.

We walked across to the main hide soon after the centre had opened and found plenty of floodwater but not many swans.

A few dozen Whoopers were out in the middle distance and over 700 Pochard.  A swan feed was due around noon and a WWT chap duly appeared but announced that as they'd had a major ringing session that morning he doubted many would come in! He wasn't wrong but a few family parties of Whooper's did and hundreds of Pochard.

We walked to a few other hides and found a few Bewick's, hundreds of Wigeon and Teal and c200 Black-tailed Godwit.

Back at the information centre a Water Rail was feeding under the bird table which was attracting a handful of Tree Sparows.

Ouse Washes

Whooper Swan

Pochard

Titchwell RSPB

Mid afternoon we left Welney and drove north to the coast arriving at Titchwell around 4.30. It was overcast, grey, damp and miserable but we walked to the beach anyway. Apart from a couple of Spotted Redshanks we saw little of note. The main interest was the new earthworks that have been built as part of the plans to protect the freshmarsh.

Thursday 18th February

Holkham Gap

The day dawned fine- sunny, bright and dry. After a lazy breakfast we drove east to Holkham, getting fantastic point blank views of a Barn Owl just outside Burnham Deepdale.

Parking on Lady Anne's Drive we watched as several hundred Pink-feet flew off with a Greater Snow Goose for company - good start !

We walked through the gap in the pine belt onto the familiar sandy expanse of Holkham Bay and headed east to look for the Shore Lark.

They took a while to find but after an hour or so we were watching 5 feeding happily on a stony expanse just short of the dunes.

The boys got bored and spent a good while rolling down the dunes and then filled their wellies up with water in a creek.

Shore Lark

Wells Boating Lake

Whilst the kids dried out and  warmed up in the car we drove to Wells and took a look at the Scaup that have been present for a few weeks now. A nice party of 4 birds; an adult drake, 1st winter drake and 2 females.

It was now mid-afternoon and we decided to head to Salthouse to finish but just outside Wells found the A149 closed for road repairs and decided the diversion might take an age and instead headed back west to Titchwell.

Scaup

Titchwell

We got to Titchwell soon after 3pm and set off to the beach with the temperature dropping and grey clouds rolling in. In the ditches at the start of the path to the beach 2 Water Rail gave great views and we spent a while getting the boys on the birds whilst I tried to get some photos in the gathering gloom. On the freshmarsh we had a few Spotted Redshank and several skeins of Brent's came in. When we got to the beach the cold soon hastened our return to the car though we spent a while in the information centre chatting to the staff about the plans for the reserve whilst the boys tried to spend their pocket money.

Water Rail

Friday 19th February

Salthouse

Snow Bunting

Saturday 20th February

Titchwell

Water Rail

Spotted Redshank

Black-tailed Godwit

Turnstone -feeding on a dead fulmar

Bar-tailed Godwit

I left home and drove in heavy rain towards Sheppey wondering why I'd bothered to step outside. Luckily, as I crossed the bridge over the Swale onto the island I left the rain behind and as I drove further east the sun came out.

I spent a while looking through the waders and gulls at Leysdown before driving towards Muswell Manor. A Barn Owl flew towards me from the Swale NR and over the car towards a large patch of rough grass below the sea wall. I turned the car around and watched as the Barn Owl hovered, dived into the long grass  and then a male Kestrel appeared and flew off with a prey item - presumably having robbed the Barn Owl!

The Barn Owl continued to hunt over the grass and I parked and got some reasonable pictures.

Soon after the Barn Owl flew off skeins of geese appeared over the fields behind Muswell Manor and I drove over to check them out.

They settled in the fields adjacent to the reedbed which stretches to Capel Fleet. There were around 350 White-fronts, 50 Greylags and lots of Brents which were still coming in. Eventually about 1100 Brents were settled on the ground and I scoped them systematically until I found 3 Pale-bellied's amongst the Dark-bellied's. The geese were disturbed by walkers but soon returned and on another search I found a Black Brant. Several Marsh Harrier's quartered the reedbed and a flock of 12 Ruff  fed in the flooded fields. A few other birders dropped by and scoped the geese. Soon there were 2 Barn Owls hunting over the rough grass by the sea wall.

With the sun setting I drove out and bumped into Barry Wright and Louise. We chatted for a while before driving along to Capel Fleet where we spent the last minutes of daylight scanning for birds from the hill above the Fleet. A few Fieldfare was about all we saw.

I wasn't birding today but then again birders are never really "not birding" it's just that sometimes we have to put up with just looking at what presents itself wherever we may be - walking to work, digging in the garden or cycling with the kids -  get that wrong and it can really hurt!

I digress.

Well today was spent at grandma's who lives on the coast at Elmer, near Bognor in Sussex. It was a bit windy and overcast at times but not bad enough to keep the kids off the beach. After a long lunch with family and friends some of us took the kids onto the beach to run off some steam. As they all set about ignoring the adults requests to stay out of the sea and deeper rock-pools I lingered on the shoreline with bins mostly preventing frostbite and drowning but occasionally searching for birds. Just offshore I counted at least 40 Red-breasted Mergansers, often in little groups, sometimes displaying. There were a few Great-crested Grebe's but not much else - a distant auk escaped identification.

On the beach a few Sanderling, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover and Dunlin did their best to feed and avoid the humans and dogs.

I had brief but good looks at an adult Yellow-legged Gull feeding on the beach for a short while - not sure I've seen one here before.

Eventually the cold and fading light drove us indoors but for a very short while it had been rather good birding.

 I sometimes take a walk around St James's Park at lunchtime but I had n't been for weeks. A pager report of a Med Gull last week was enough to tempt me and yesterday I'd found the bird quite quickly and it was rather showy so today I returned with a camera.

I was in luck; sunshine and even better looks.

Mediterranean Gull  - 1st winter

It didn't start too well today. My mate Paul Matson was expected to arrive just before 07.00 but at 06.30 he 'phoned to say that he was stuck on the M23 and no idea why there was a jam. He updated me regularly but having eventually driven onto the M25 got stuck in the aftermath of yet another accident.  He finally rocked up at just before 10 ! Our thoughts of a trip to Norfolk / Suffolk were now rendered fairly pointless so we headed into East Kent and as luck would have it had a very good day.

Before Paul arrived I did the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch with the kids. On Tuesday I'd seen 5 Lesser Redpoll in the garden and it was pleasing to see 2 still present today. We also had a male Siskin, and Nuthatch.

Lesser Redpoll

Long-tailed Tit

Our first port of call was the paddock adjacent to Walmer Castle where a Tundra Bean Goose had been present for several days. It sounded rather odd but when we arrived we found a large well fenced paddock of rough grass and a very wary Bean Goose which quickly walked further away when we got out of the car. We kept our distance but a guy who was walking along the fence line with a camera caused the bird to take flight. Luckily I'd already taken a few digi-pics or else I'd have been even less pleased. The bird did return according to later pager reports.

Tundra Bean Goose

We drove through Deal and out onto the Ancient Highway alongside Worth Marshes and spent a couple of hours birding from the road. The weather was lovely ; sunny, dry and cold.

There were hundreds of Redwing present and quite a few Fieldfare. A ringtail Hen Harrier caused regular havoc and we saw a distant Peregrine. Corn Buntings were foraging amongst the cattle feed.

It took a long while to locate the 3 Bean Geese that had been present for the past few days at least and when we did we found them in company with 2 Pink-feet and a White-front! 

Paul picked up the Great-white Egret showing distantly by the main drain on Worth Marshes.

Just when we thought we could n't get any luckier 23 Snow Bunting appeared on the adjacent golf coarse and after a brief spell on the grass flew about and then off towards the sea wall.

Hen Harrier

Redwing

Corn Bunting

We had a look at the Restharrow scrape and dune meadow but it was very quiet so we headed out and onto Pegwell Bay.

It was mid-afternoon and the tide was dropping. Around 650 Golden Plover were on the mud flats together with c300 Dunlin, 200+ Curlew and small numbers of Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank and Ringed Plover. As we reached the new hide 4 Twite flew in calling and dropped into the vegetation on the edge of the mud flats, they gave brief  views but were soon off again. A male Sparrowhawk quartered the marsh and we also saw a ring-tailed Hen Harrier and a superb male.

Happy that we'd done well at Pegwell we decided to finish at Grove Ferry and duly made our way there and walked up onto the viewing mound.

As the sunset we notched up Cettis Warbler and Water Rail but little else of note but we'd had a good day.

Oare Marshes near Faversham is one of my favourite spots in Kent and makes a great destination for a family walk, then again the kids are still at that easy-to-please stage so the fact that there is more than mud and puddles goes down very well.

Highlights today were a "redhead" Smew, c 90 Snipe and 21 Ruff  - presumably all to a greater extent present because of the cold snap.

A Short-eared Owl appeared at dusk. Rather oddly I saw no Little Egret's today.

Pintail  - adult male and immature male.

Teal

Golden Plover

Looking up Faversham Creek towards the mouth of the Swale

Turnstone

James Hunter, Andy Lawson and I spoke during the week and after the fantastic views of Bittern last Sunday in the Lee Valley in rather trying circumstances voiced the idea of a dawn run with photography very much in mind. We met up in the Bittern hide just before dawn and set up in spendid isolation. Water Rails were quite vocal and we soon started getting views of two of them but sadly no bitterns appeared and we gave it two and a half hours before giving up and heading off.

Shoveler -  Lee Valley

Little Grebe - Lee Valley

We ended up back at Rainham. Firstly we visited the stone barges but could not find any water pipits on the falling tide. Then we set off to scan the gulls or should I say Andy and James did and I tagged along. The birds were a bit distant but a couple of good candidates for Caspian Gull were soon spied - a 1st winter and adult. We couldn't find any glaucous gulls. The novelty of watching distant gulls soon wore off for me and I jumped into my car and headed back to Kent.

It  was grey, dull and overcast but I headed to Sheppey and drove along the track to Elmley - Curlew, Golden Plover and Lapwing but little else. My next stop was Capel Fleet where I found a large herd of swans strung out across the fields south of the fleet; 155 Mute and 43 Bewick's. That's a very good count for Sheppey, though sadly not one was an immature which points to a poor breeding season last year.

Marsh Harrier's are now a very familiar sight year-round in Kent though you don't have to go back far to remember when they were quite rare in winter. Sadly the once quite common Hen Harrier's fortunes have gone in exactly the opposite direction and so I was pleased to see a sub-adult male but not surprised to see no others. I saw a Buzzard along the fleet and then set off to explore Harty Marshes. It was generally quiet with the damp, cool, grey weather doing little to help. Despite another drive out along the Elmley track I saw no owls today.

Serin, Caspian Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Bittern, Smew, Great-northern and Black-throated Diver and Black-necked Grebe. What a list of birds! Yet that was not the full story today; the birds were undeniably great but some of the sites and circumstances were less than aesthetically pleasing and well wide of my ideal.  I was out with Andy Lawson, James Hunter and Josh Jones.

Our time at Rainham was spent adjacent to the tip and as the sun rose over the Dartford crossing the smell began to rise too! We saw the long-staying Serin well and Andy picked up a distant Caspian Gull. It started to get rather busy by mid-morning so we headed off to Westcliffe on Sea.

We'd found Rainham busy but Westcliffe in the sunshine was on a different level altogether - mobbed ! Eventually James found the Ring-billed on the roof of the casino and we scoped it surrounded by curious on-lookers.

Next stop was the Lee Valley Country Park where the bittern hide lived up to it's name and provided us with fantastic looks at a Bittern despite a packed hide which included a kid on a trike, prams, noisy kids and noisier birders. A drake Smew was scoped on the main pit.

With daylight fast running out we left and sought out William Girling Reservoir. After first getting lost and then stuck in traffic James 'phoned a friend and we were guided onto a small park on a hill overlooking the reservoir but in all probablility a good half-mile from the water! That was as close as we could get so we cranked up the magnification on the scopes and eventually sorted out 2 Great-northern Divers, a Black-throated Diver and some specks which were apparently Black-necked Grebe's...............  

Good birds, great company, lets leave it at that.

 sunrise over the Dartford crossing

Serin

Bittern

After a couple of hours sledging in Knowle Park with the kids (no posh sledges for us just plastic rubble sacks filled with cardboard !) we were all rather chilled and decided to head home. I opted for a quick diversion to Bough Beech Reservoir especially as a pager report had mentioned 14 Whooper swans.  Just short of the reservoir we had about 10 Bullfinches close to the roadside and a few Yellowhammers.

Onto the causeway we parked up as it began snowing and joined Miles to scope the swans. They were in fact Bewick's - still rather smart and the biggest flock I've seen at Bough Beech. There were 6 juveniles and 8 adults, one of which was sporting a neck-collar. I'm in the process of finding out when and where it was ringed.

Little else of note on what ice-free water we could see.  A quick look in the orchard was disappointing with many blue tits and chaffinches but little else. Looks like a poor winter for brambling.

Ide Hill looking down onto the Weald.

Bough Beech Reservoir

Bewick Swans

Bewick Swan with neck-collar

 Jenny and I took the boys on a four-hour circular walk around Stodmarsh this afternoon. We started soon after mid-day and walked along the Lampen Wall, alongside the Stour and down towards Grove Ferry before turning right and coming back via the marsh hide and then spent half an hour after sunset in the bittern hide. Blue skies, cold but dry and rather beautiful. We saw just a handful of people and the boys were happy in the ice covered puddles and made it round without too many moans.

All of the smaller bodies of water were frozen and the edges of the main lake on which we had around 500 Teal.

We'd only been walking a short while when we were rewarded with great views of a Bittern as it flew towards us from the main reedbed area and then just as it looked as if it might fly over the Lampen Wall it turned and dropped back down.

There were at least 6 Marsh Harrier's in the area and just before we walked off the bank of the Stour at the Grove end we had a superb adult male Hen Harrier.

I heard around 15 Cetti's Warblers which was encouraging - I wonder how they will survive if this cold snap goes on much longer.

The marsh was very quiet and there was little to see from the hide.

 Towards dusk the gathering roost of thrushes, largely Fieldfare, was spectacular. As we walked from the marsh hide they were all around us in the air, pitching into bushes and calling constantly. Once in the marsh hide I tried to make an effort to count them and estimated that at least 2,500 Fieldfare were involved, more than likely more. A few Bearded Tit's called as dusk came and then Water Rails became quite noisy. As the mercury fell below zero we trudged back to the car and finally drove out in the dark.  

  River Stour.

Flooded meadows between Stodmarsh and Grove Ferry

Bittern   

 Dusk at Stodmarsh

Andy Lawson, James Hunter, Richard Bonsar and I set off at 0600 to try our luck and gather a big-list on New Years Day. The freeze looked to have wiped out our chances of a really good tally but we still fancied getting out and starting the year with a serious birding session.

Our first port of call was Bedgbury and it was rather magical walking in moonlight over snow covered ground listening to Tawny Owls soon after 0700.   

Bedgbury did not disappoint and we'd recorded Redpoll, Siskin,Hawfinch,Crossbill,Brambling,Bullfinch,Marsh Tit and Treecreeper before we headed off at 0830.

We drove into a blizzard at Flimwell but kept adding common species and stopped briefly at Northpoint near Rye as the weather cleared. Soon after 0900 we stopped at Scotney and added another dozen species before we headed down to the sea across the ranges.  At Galloways Common Scoter, Gannet and Red-throated Diver pushed the tally to 70 and it was barely 0930.

Onto Romney Marsh we found the Bewick flock but failed to locate the reported Bean Geese nor any Corn Bunting or Tree Sparrows and began to loose a bit of enthusiasm. Driving back across the marsh towards Dungeness we drove down Caldicott Lane and then towards Belgar Farm where we stumbled upon 2 Ravens at point blank range! Buzzard, Corn Buntings and Stock Dove quickly took the count to 85.

Onto Dungeness and a stop on the road between the ARC pits and New Diggings turned up Smew and Goosander and a few more wildlfowl which saw us hit 90 species as we neared midday. Ray Turley told us that the snow bunting were still at the point and we headed that way but as we arrived Andy's phone rang and everything changed.

Barry Wright rang and said he'd had a probable Gyr Falcon in the flooded quarry adjacent to the Bluewater Shopping Centre. It was a no-brainer. We were on target for a reasonable count but our mate had probably had a bird that everyone needed for their Kent list!

About an hour later we'd swapped the relative tranquility and rugged wildness of Dungeness for a slip-road overlooking a water filled pit next to one of Europe's largest shopping centres. My wife would struggle to get me near Bluewater and here we were after a mad dash!

Suffice to say nothing more was seen of Barry's Gyr Falcon.  We added Scaup, Sparrowhawk and Yellow-legged Gull to the day count but failed to cross the 100 mark. 

We didn't stay until dark but instead spent the last few minutes of useful light checking an equally depressing bit of Dartford wasteland looking for Woodlark that had been present yesterday but we failed there too.

It had all started so well........

24 th December  '09

Bough Beech Reservoir

A brief stop in the grey late afternoon gloom.

The north lake was iced over and the main body of water whilst ice-free was largely devoid of birds. It was misty and dull but a search with a scope revealed few birds and little of note.

I called in on the orchard and watched the feeders for a while but again little of note.

Far from a memorable visit!

25th - 26th at home

The garden was well baited though it was the berry bushes that were of most interest attracting up to 10 Redwing. Nuthatches are still present and on Christmas Day I saw male Blackcap, my first this winter, and both Green and Great-spotted Woodpeckers. 

On the afternoon of the 27th a Siskin was present.

27th December

Five Arches, Footscray Meadows

I took Alexander and Edward out to Footscray for a couple of hours for some fresh air before we got hit with another round of relatives and food!

There was still a bit of snow on the ground but it was around 5C and quite pleasant.

I saw Water Rail, Grey Wagtail, 7 Little Grebes and most notably 1 drake and 3 female Shoveler.

28th December

Burton Mill Pond, Sussex

We met up with our friends near Petworth in Sussex and set off on a walk around Burton Mill Pond in beautiful weather.

We had a good romp around the eastern side alongside the pond and into woodland and farmland.

On the pond we had 2 Kingfishers and a few ducks but no bittern. In the woods we had Bullfinch, Siskin and Marsh Tit.

29th December

Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve 

We'd planned to go for a long walk today but the weather was simply foul. We drove to Westerham to start the walk but it was pouring down so we headed into Sevenoaks and the wildfowl reserve where we spent a couple of hours dodging the rain going from hide to hide.

Of note were at least 31 Snipe, 40+ Teal and a redhead Goosander.  Passerines were in short-supply and many areas of water were frozen.

Blue Tit

Redwing

Jay

Collared Dove

An afternoon wander with Jenny and the kids.

Two inches of snow on the ground and ice on smaller ponds but a windless bright afternoon.

It was rather quiet with no siskin and few passerines generally though I had a Nuthatch which is not a bird I often see here. Several Treecreeper's, a few Goldcrest and plenty of tit's included a good number Long-tailed. I had a male Sparrowhawk and as usual both Green and Great -spotted Woodpeckers.

On the pools I saw just 6 Snipe and average numbers of Teal, Shoveler, Pochard, Tufted and Gadwall.

Jenny and I took the kids for an afternoon walk around Cliffe Pools. We walked from near the Radar and did a clockwise circuit of the pools taking close to 3 hours and finishing in the dark.

It was very overcast, dull and grey with the odd light shower but not too cold.

Highlights were a female Merlin, 2 Brent Geese, a Greenshank and at least 6 possibly 10 Green Sandpipers. The Green Sands were largely in the dykes between the site of the former coastguard cottages and the Black Barn pool. On the pools we saw 5 Goldeneye, a few Pintail and about 250 Teal.

We bumped into Gordon Allison searching for the shore lark but they seemed to have gone (or moved) and apparently had not been seen since Friday.

We had a Cettis Warbler in the ditch by Black Barn pool and a small flock of about 50 Fieldfare.

Passerines were generally in short supply and we saw no owls or harriers.

From the early '90's onward Mike Cottrell, John Tilbrook, James Hunter and I birded together on virtually a weekly basis and did a ton of twitching together too. In recent years James and I have had kids which has rather changed the dynamics somewhat ! Nowadays we rarely get out together like we did but we made the effort today for a pre-Christmas bash.

Our choice of destination was easy - Dungeness has much to offer on an average winters day but lately it's been regularly the best birding spot in the south east.

We started well with good looks at the 2 Glossy Ibis which seem to have taken up residence on the pools near the entrance of the RSPB reserve. Sunshine broke through occasionally to show off their iridescent plumage.

A few Tree Sparrows were watched around the feeders by the cottage.

Glossy Ibis

After a brief look at the ARC pits and "new diggings" we headed to the point where a couple of Snow Bunting have been present for much of the previous week. They turned out to be very showy and just got closer and closer until it was almost time to switch to macro!

Snow Bunting

As we left the point it started to rain so we drove along the seafront to Greatstone to check out Lade Pits.

Lade held a single Black-necked Grebe and an assortment of common wildfowl but not enough to keep us for long.

Our next port of call was Denge Marsh where we checked out the flood, sheep fields and drove around the pits though live-firing meant the range road to Galloways was closed. James scoped a couple more Black-necked Grebes on the barge pool on the RSPB reserve but otherwise it was rather quiet.

We returned to the RSPB reserve but this time drove to reception, worked our way through crowds of shoppers and cafe visitors (bring back the miserable hut and it's former even more miserable resident!) and walked the circuit.

Just down from Makepeace Hide James found a Palmate Newt on the path.

Eventually we found a couple of Smew - red-heads- from Scott Hide and Christmas Dell. Onto the Marsh Hide and from there we saw the long-staying Great White Egret and 3 Black-necked Grebes.

Palmate Newt

We concluded our visit at the ARC pit from the Hanson Hide with Ray Turley, Dave Walker and Gill Hollamby in attendence.

Kingfisher and 2 Bewick Swans were noted before we called it a day and headed off to the pub.

 An afternoon on Sheppey.

I decided to bird the Shellness area after checking high tide. I arrived to find that it was windier than I'd expected and the tide higher than I'd expected too!

The waders were already roosting but as I reached the blockhouse a Peregrine came in and spooked many of the birds.

 Oystercatcher

Knot

Grey Plover

Bar-tailed Godwit

I walked to the point and checked out the Swale but it was very blustery and I could see very little on the water so I headed back. As I got back near the blockhouse a flock of 12 Snow Bunting dropped in and started feeding along the top of the beach. Superb.

Snow Bunting

From Shellness I checked out Warden beach where I counted a flock of c425 Sanderling but little else.

I finished the day on Capel Fleet where I saw a few Marsh Harriers but in increasingly windy conditions little else of note. As the rain rolled in again I headed home. Can November get any wetter?

Pegwell Bay

Cettis Warbler

Linnet

Reed Bunting

Fan-tailed Warbler

 The news of  an Eastern Crowned Warbler -  Britain's first - broke around 10pm on Thursday evening and too late for me to organize a shot at it on Friday. As I arrived at work just before 8am on Friday morning James Hunter rang to say he and Andy Lawson were going soon and could I  join them but alas I had to wait..........

Barry Wright, John Tilbrook and I set off at midnight arriving in South Shields around 0530 and rather pleased to pass through some mist and fog en-route as we neared the site. It was cloudy when we arrived and we grabbed a couple of hours rest hoping that the bird had not departed.

 We joined a small crowd before sunrise at the foot of the cliffs in the quarry overlooking a tiny patch of scrub and sycamores. It looked so insignificant and doubts began to creep back into my mind. However, they were quickly dispelled when I got a quick glimpse of a warbler and saw an enormous supercilium, it was no yellow-browed! As the light improved we got a few more glimpses and then some longer looks, then clinching views - a crown stripe!

Nice to see so many familiar faces and catch up with a few old ones - and all beaming from ear to ear !

The Leas, South Shields and a very appreciative crowd of birders.

Eastern Crowned Warbler

We didn't leave South Shields until around 11am greedily lapping up extra views of the stunning Eastern Crowned Warbler. Eventually we dragged ourselves away and on a wave of euphoria headed south intending to bird our way home.

Around midday we arrived at Port Clarence where a roadside stop by flooded fields amidst the industrial sites yielded the hoped for Pectoral Sandpiper, Blue-winged Teal and a good selection of waders and wildfowl.

The weather took a turn for the worse and in increasingly heavy rain we drove south through Yorkshire, skirting the moors and then headed out along minor roads east to Bempton Cliffs. In torrential rain we joined a small group of birders behind the information centre to look for a Red-flanked Bluetail in a tiny copse. It showed very well, often quite close though the poor light and rain rendered photography a trial. I got a couple of record shots using ISO 1600!

How times change. Red-flanked Bluetail reduced to a member of the supporting cast.

What a great day.

Red-flanked Bluetail