Church Norton to Bardsey Island

Hudsonian Whimbrel.

Another day and another trip to Church Norton  , this time however i managed to get some better photo's of the Hudsonian Whimbrel , the bird showed much better today and certainly has a very  healthy appetite with crab very much on top of it's menu.

I watched this bird for quite sometime then headed off to Siddlesham ferry for a quick scan where i added Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover , Avocet & Black Tailed Godwit to my days birding , the plan today was to try and see some Turtle Doves and so i headed to Wood Mill which is meant to be a reliable site for them , after parking up i spotted a Water Rail with a chick in the nearby dyke , to quick for the camera sadly but great to see.

Turtle Dove.

It didn't take me long to hear Turtle Dove   " Purring " , almost straight away in fact , i eventually managed to see one perched right out in the open , really delightful looking birds.

Turtle Dove in flight.

I had really great views of these increasingly rare birds plus great views of a Cuckoo perched right out in the open.

Cuckoo.

On the way back to the car the Water Rail & Chick put in another appearance and this time i managed a photo or two.

Water Rail & Chick.

Best foot forward.

This is the first Water Rail chick i have seen , lovely little bird it was to.

Fluff ball , Water Rail chick.

I kept getting news that the Cretzschmar's Bunting on Bardsey Island was showing on a more regular basis so plans were put into place and an over night drive to Gwynedd to catch a small boat across to Bardsey was the plan , I arrived in good time at 4 am thinking i would be the first birder there , however the car park already had a few cars in it , so i decided to walk down to the beach to get my place on the first boat which only takes 12 people at a time , when i reached the boat there was already 7 other birders there and luckily i made up the first 12 birders on the first boat .

Adult male Cretzschmar's Bunting.

Whilst waiting for the boat i had great views of two Chough either flying overhead or landing on the cliff , then we were on our way on this small craft passing Puffin , Razorbill & Guillemots as we went across to the island , plenty of  Manx Shearwaters sheared past our boat and then we were on Bardsey Island , an island first for me , i waited about 15 mins for the Cretzschmar's Bunting to come down and feed on the seed the warden had put out for it , cracking looking bird and my second lifer in the last 3 days !!

Cretzschmar's Bunting.

I watched the Cretz Bunting feeding on seed for approx 10 minutes then it flew up and over us , after a while I could  hear it calling then someone picked it out on top of a nearby gorse bush , what a treat .

I  had awesome views of this cracking bird then decided to head back to catch the boat back to the mainland , on my journey home i called into the West Midlands at Marsh Lane NR and had great views of the Melodious Warbler that has been singing in a favoured bush for the last few days.

Melodious Warbler.

In full song.

A really great few days birding  , many thanks to the Warden and volunteers on Bardsey Island for organizing this great birding spectacular.