Christine's walking & birds blog

I'd been musing on the absence of redpolls this winter when one suddenly turned up around midday. The window was spattered with raindrops but I finally managed to focus past them.


Its bright white underparts and lack of heavy streaking made me think hopefully of common redpoll; but the view from the back, showing brownish mantle rather than grey, buff in the wing bars, and not-particularly-long primary projection, point to lesser redpoll.


The rain was forecast to end around 3pm - and it did, so we took our daily walk. A grey wagtail made its frenetic way along the opposite bank of the river, tail wagging madly, and then stopped to bathe.



Other birds: goosander, merganser, curlew, turnstone, oystercatcher, black guillemot; and, at the end of West Shore Street, a wheatear (possibly two). A strongish wind was blowing but the rain kept off and we walked for a while under blue skies and sunshine; if only everyone could.