The photo challenge creeps slowly forwards.

The Safari hasn't had much time for putting finger to keyboard this last few weeks, we've been down to Southampton, up to Shetland via Belfast and Stornoway working as a guide for Ocean Wildlife Encounters on Fred Olsen's cruise ship Borealis then back down to Devon for a family holiday during May. 

Our bird photography challenge has a distance limit of 75 miles from home this year and all of those lovely places are 'out of bounds'. But in breween our travels have added a few more to our tally. The first was a 'banker', a Whitethroat at nearby Rossall Point.

The next was far from a banker, it was something really special, a Green Woodpecker at Leighton Moss #148. We've not seen one there since the mid/late 1980s although we have heard them in that area a few times since. This one had been seen regularly up to a couple of weeks before our visit and we thought we'd missed it as there had been no mention of it in the sightings book over the previous few pages we looked at. A chance view over the wall into it's favourite field and wow - there it was!

A few Swifts #149 were alos present over the reserve that day but only briefly.

After returning from the cruise job we had a rather dank and dreary safari with CR out to the Trough of Bowland where the weather turned a bit grim and scuppered us a bit. We were hoping for a Cuckoo but although we heard at least two they were staying well out of sight unforunately. But we did fluke a Whinchat for #150.

And that brings you up to date with our progress. 15 to go to reach our target but although that seems a tiny number there's only a handful of 'bankers' left, the other 10 or so will prove a lot harder to get. Still birds have wings and anything can turn up anywhere any time so we'll keep our fingers crossed...and that brings us to another pressing matter, we're due another hand operation in a couple of weeks so might be out of action for a while after that too.

We'll do our best to give you a blog about our travels around Scenic Britain as soon as we get round to processing the hundreds of pics we took.

Where to next? Another safari up north tomorrow with a couple of target species for our challenge but yet again it looks like it's going to be a weather affected affair.

In the meantime let us know who's turned up unexpected in your outback.