Respectable

Bit pushed for time tonite. Well beyond my deadline for picking over the sad corpse of an unidentifiable bird that was probably total bollocks anyway, even if it was what it was meant to be, which it wasn't. Maybe.

1) I was out birding this morning, walking round Newtonhill and to Muchalls on the same circuit as last 2 weekends.
2) I was merrily singing some old Mel and Kim songs to myself at top volume, in order to lure those self-effacing Tarsigers out of hiding. Or was it Tardigrades?
3) and i got to 'Tay tay tay tay t-t-t-t tay tay take or leave us...'
4) When a Eurasian Jay jay jay jay j-j-j-j-jay jay flew across the track in front of me, into the willows at the back of the gardens of St. Michael's road, called once or twice and headed off over the railway line.
5) which was a patch tick, and until it showed up had been completely off my radar, although there is a reasonable breeding population to the west of Aberdeen, and a larger one across the North Sea, so it should have been very much on my radar.

We're not worthy. And we ain't never gonna be respectable.

Otherwise it was disappointingly quiet. Maybe my Mel and Kim impressions put the birds off. I guess it was the dancing, or the hair, or the dress. Please tell me it wasn't the dress. There had been a smallish arrival of thrushes, noticably Blackbirds, which were everywhere, but a few Song Thrushes passing through as well, and the occasional Redwing. The female Eurasian Sparrowhawk was still around down the Elsick Burn, mobbed by a Western Jackdaw.
A pair of Eurasian Stonechats in the bracken up the cliff steps were probably local breeders, but may have been on the move. Allotments were empty apart from the usual crowd of crack-addled happy-slapping ASBO-waving hoodie-wearinng Winter Wren, Dunnock and European Robin trio. And a couple of Eurasian Siskins going over. It was such a nice day there was a Eurasian Skylark singing over the coastal fields, but little else apart from one of thos annoying dogs that 'won't hurt you' but WILL jump up at you and lick, yes LICK, your optics. Thanks for that. Note to dog owners... we don't all love your dog as much as you do.

Water Valley had Coal Tits (plenty of them around today) but no interesting migrants. A male Roe Deer, and another at the Elsick Burn, now I think about it.

Must run. More entertaining wit during the week, hopefully.