Dotterel Delight!

At last, a decent morning. There was virtually no wind at all this morning, just a cool easterly gentle breeze. The sunrise at 5.25am was magnificent and a few birds were on the move. 20+ Wheatears had arrived overnight, nearly all Greenland birds, while Siskin numbers were on the up with10+ and a few Redpoll. Three Willow Warbler and a Chiff-Chaff in the limestone hawthorns also gave hope that a few birds might be about. Around the cemetery a fine Garden warbler sang and showed well, while the Mistle Thrushes now have two fully fledged young. It was good to find breeding Coal Tit here too, the first time I have known this species breed on the top part of the Orme.
Nothing prepared me for the five minutes of madness by the Pink Farm though. A single Crossbill was the first for the year up here, calling its sharp notes as it flew over head. Asd I was trying to locate it in the sky, I became aware of a soft pipping rolling call coming from my right - Dotterel! I scanned the sky trying o locate the birds without success, then another call. This time two birds flew from the ridge some 50 yards away from my and passed at eye level over the ields and over the cemetery towarsd the limestones. At last - a bird I'd been hoping for since the middle of April. I'm sure there were more than wo birds, as the first calls I heard certainly came from birds fling north and the other two that I saw followed in that direction. Just as I was feeling smug with myself, a Yellow Wagtail started calling overhead and flew pretty close over the fields. A fine male again and making it one of the best years up here for this species.
The walk back was fairly quiet, but it was great to meet up with big John Roberts, a true gentleman of the birding world and always ready to stop and have a chat. I left the headland at 9.30am, feeling as though I'd done a good days work on the patch.