randombirder

There's been a fair scattering of Ortolan Bunting this autumn, particularly along the length of the south coast that have notoriously difficult to pin down.  Despite clear skies on Saturday morning, the Ortolan that was found the day before just beyond Portsdown Hill remained unexpectedly overnight. The bird flew in over our heads after a short wait and settled distantly on a large Hawthorn that it had been favouring, and remained there for much of the day.  My first sighting of this bird for the UK. Farlington Marsh down the road produced very little except for a Spotted Redshank on the lake, three Yellow Wagtail , and a Common Sandpiper .

The rain had cleared and the morning started fresh, clear and sunny. The coming days would bring some welcome warm spring sunshine to momentarily banish the protracted drabness of the British winter. The morning drive took us to the resort town of Side, 50km east of Antalya. The town dates back to the conquests of Alexander the Great and is characterized by the ruins of an old Roman settlement, and features an amphitheater that was well preserved and presented the focal point of the scattered remains. Walking round the site in warm sunshine interspersed by an extremely laid-back lunch overlooking the bay was rather pleasant before commencing on a pedestrian wander around the ruins. A Whimbrel and Sandwich Tern were seen offshore. It was rather quiet birdwise, but an adult Masked Shrike immediately captured my attention with two seen on our walk through the site. A Little Owl sat on top of a remain of the old city wall before flying off as we approached.  ...