A Saturday morning in Nanko...

I went to Nanko on Saturday morning to get a bit of birding in and to keep my sanity in check...it was a pleasant morning and the form was good. It was very quiet to start with but when the tide started to drop, the waders began to appear. I picked up the lonely Black-winged Stilt easily enough (my first since the Ballycotton birds way back when!) and then 4 Marsh Sandpipers appeared into view!! I was delighted as they were a lifer for me and I was further delighted that I id'd them myself. Smashing waders, very elegant. When they passed by a group of Greenshank I couldn't believe how small they were. Meanwhile, as 2 Terek Sandpipers were busily feeding on the exposed mud, filling my scope view, they shunted out 3 Sharp-tailed Sands from behind a boulder!! I was thrilled to see them in summer plumage. The usual LRPs and Kentish were present and the egret family were well represented. Then the waders got jittery and I took my eye off the scope to see a juv Black Kite float in and land on the mud feeding on a bit of dead fish! Magic. While smiling at that, and as the rain started to pour down, I caught a movement from in front of me and a male and female/juv Bull-headed Shrike were sitting on a branch!! I got a couple of shots off of the female/juv type amongst the rain drops. Not a bad couple of hours for a place that's supposed to be shite for birds. I quite like it there, I know it's birding behind a window but it's better than nothing at all!! It made my week and as birding has always managed to do, washed away all the stresses of work and I felt quiet in myself for the first time this week...

When I got home, despite a few problems at first, managed to download the RAW format-type files of the shrike...am I correct in the id H?? Who needs Lesser Grey Shrikes when I have this beauty (Cronin, you're breaking my heart...you're not allowed to find birds on Cape unless I'm there with you or you're using my scope, some friend you are mate!!).

Anyhoo, must tell you about my trip to Arashiyama on Sunday....read on readers....