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Very calm and quite misty this morning. No, tell a lie, very misty. In fact I'm not quite sure which way is up, but there's Meadow Pipits flying over (or under), which can't be bad. Spectacularly calm birdwise too. The Mill sycamores etc were like the grave... oooh spooky. I won't enumerate the Robins, Wrens, etc. But there were some. And a Common Chiffchaff feeding in the willows. That's a bit more like it. Some encouragement to keep going. Very low tide, and a Common Redshank on the beach, with 2 Oystercatchers, 2 Rock Pipits and 2 Grey Wagtails. OK, I'll take you all in pairs. And a Manx Shearwater flying south very close inshore. Bullocks! Am I screwing up here? I was hoping that this hadn't been one of those inexplicable calm misty mornings when seabirds are flying really close in. I almost ran up the beach steps (Common Stonechat) to get up to see what else was flying past close in. But it was a false alarm - a few Gannets, couple of hundred Herring Gulls, and that was pretty much it. :-( but phew! Up to the Community Park, also quiet (Common Whitethroat) and was following some sort of squeaky passerine through dense willows (that makes it sound more interesting than it was - pretty certain it was only a Dun Prunella) (that makes it sound more interesting than it was too), and I turned the corner wondering where this track went and had a bit of a revelation - I'd hit the allotments, never ventured in before, and they look brilliant. Overlooking the sea, with a mixture of fences, sheltered gardens, nice walls, some dense willows, and full of birds (OK only Great Tits, Blue Tits, Blackbirds, Song Thrush etc. today... but one day... Sibe Blue Robin). I've been such a fool, birding here 4 years without finding this bit of habbo. Down the Muchalls Track (another Common Chiffhcaff, and a Buzzard) to Water Valley (dead). I met a couple walking the other way to get their newspaper and rolls in Newtonhill - he'd had a Hummingbird Hawkmoth in his garden the lucky sod. Had a pleasant 20 mins scannning Meadow Pipits and Skylarks in the stubble just south of Muchalls, but time was getting on and couldn't face the twitching curtains, of the village.