Lack of time at the mo

The Safari hasn't had a lot of time to get out much over the last few days and our hopes for yesterday were dashed by a poorly Frank but that couldn't be helped and we stayed at Base Cmp attacking the garden and initiating the starts of a project we've been thinking about for some time - a green roof for the garage. Hopefully it'll turn into a huge wildlife haven almost doubling the garden size and not be a calamity ending in a collapsed ceiling and drains blocked with soil..

On Saturday morning we hoped to get up early and do some watching for visible migration but we couldn't get up. Well we did get up to take Frank out before dawn but then went back to bed, we're glad Frank got us up again and good job he did otherwise we might have missed FW and his ringing stint on TV. A great piece it is too well wort ha watch while it's still available.

Not much happened during the rest of the day, a Skylark was heard going over and a little flurry of Grey Wagtails, little being the operative word - just three in five minutes.

Right at the end of the day a couple of Small Tortoiseshell came over the garden in a rather delicate chase and circled around for a few minutes, a mating chase rather than the usual towering rival males 'fight' perhaps.

As we said earlier much of Sunday was spent in the garden but out pre-dawn with Frank there was a notable number of Robins calling from all over the place.

Before breakfast we were hopeful of some vis mig again but it didn't materialise as we hoped it might. just 11 Meadow Pipits, two Chaffinches and a Goldfinch went over, what the 14 things that came fast and low without calling were we'll never know, finchy rather than pipity.

After breakfast we had the very impressive spectacle of about 250 Jackdaws going south at some not insignificant height, their calls filled the mid-morning air - stunning! But there wasn't much else or we had our head down working so hard and missed everything. Just another Skylark and Chaffinch.

A small flock of Starlings flew NE not looking particularly like local birds.

A call from Young Un AB alerted us to three Common Cranes coming our way from the north. We kept a eye out on the western horizon (what little of it we can see). Eventually a Tweet came from Seaforth Nature Reserve, well south of us, saying they's passed over going SSW. The long legged b*ggers must have gone well behind us and not 'coasted'. A bit like this

Thanks to Google Maps for the 'lift'

A similar butterfly experience happened towards the end of the day when a Red Admiral flow over northwards at rooftop height just before dusk.

This morning work didn't allow an early nip across the road to Patch 2 but a mid-morning quick wander round the grounds gave us a Chiffchaff calling, a reasonable Patch 2 rarity!

Lunchtime came round and we did get out but it wasn't really worth it, deadly quiet.

That's all we can muster for today - tomorrow will be better!

Where to next? Again not many opportunities to get out for long again but we will be out and there will be something to see if we look hard enough - or listen hard enough late night Redwings can't be far away.

In the meantime let us know what local 'rarity' appeared in your outback.