4th October 2020 ; Kilminning Fife
Siberian Thrush 1st winter ♀ Photo by Oli Mockridge.
With no autumn holiday this year due to covid-19 my chance's of seeing any new birds this year were quite slim , however the Siberian Thrush at Kilminning in Fife was being seen most days since it's discovery and would be a new bird for me .
Plans were put into place with RR to leave Saturday evening if the Siberian Thrush was seen during that day.
We reached the car park at Kilminning at approx 8.05am Sunday morning after driving through the night, the local roads were flooded in places which meant there was a great chance the bird would still be there with all the overnight rain (we hoped anyway, birders logic...).
As we were setting up our gear the already assembled birders had a glimpse and then someone said they had got it, well i saw a dark thrush fly but was it the Sib Thrush ?? probably but not tickable on those views.
Evenyually after 3 more brief sightings which i missed everytime the holy grail 1st winter female Siberian Thrush gave herself up to her adoring crowd , thanks to RR who let me look through his scope i could finally add Siberian Thrush to my UK bird list.
Siberian Thrush Photo by Oli Mockridge.
Other birds seen were Common Rosefinch , Yellow Browed Warbler, Brambling & Barnacle Geese (lots).
There were plenty of Redwing, Blackbird & Song Thrush which kept us entertained, i never managed a photo of the Siberian Thrush however Oli Mockridge managed to get a couple and has kindly let me use them on my blog, Thanks Oli.
4th October 2020 : Hartlepool Headland
Masked Shrike Photo taken at Spurn in 2014.
We decided to head to Hartlepool headland on the way home and try to see the Masked Shrike as this would be a new species for RR and a welcome year tick for myself,
We got to the site quite late in the day but managed a really great flight view of the Masked Shrike and another perched view before it flew out of sight , sadly yet again i failed with the camera on this occasion.
Overall a very successful trip and both target birds achieved, at the same time keeping social distancing at the premium.
