Toot! Toot!

Who remembers Friends Reunited? More than 20 years ago we had a brief flirtation, but for me the allure of contacting old schoolmates extended no further than half-hearted curiosity, and I was quickly out of its grasp. Then came Facebook. Despite multiple break-ups and reconciliations, Facebook and I are finally done. Instagram? Didn't get past the first date. Twitter though. Oh, Twitter...

A bitter-sweet relationship of several years now. Always I resent its demands on my time and attention, yet cannot deny how much it has given in return. Such a wealth of interest and information, all provided via the slow and steady collection of contacts. Quite a network I have now, and it would be a shame to lose it. Yet talk on the street is that Twitter's days are numbered. Are they? Seriously, how would I know? However, should the unthinkable happen, it might be wise to have a contingency plan. Enter, Mastodon...

On Twitter I can be found here: @NotQuiteScilly

And on Mastodon, here: @NotQuiteScilly

Right now my Mastodon account is just a precaution, but if tooting ever supercedes tweeting, well, I'm all set.

Yesterday morning I spied a small bird land on a roof in the yard beyond our garden. Its distinctive tail-quivering was a dead giveaway: Black Redstart. I didn't bother with bins, but reached straight for the camera. A few shots in the bag, and it was gone. But no, it was back again. Wait a minute, that's another one! Sure enough, two Black Redstarts on the same roof. Two years ago I added Black Redstart to the garden list in exactly the same fashion, with two birds on that very roof. Yesterday's birds were against the light in bright sunshine, and it wasn't until I played around with the photos that I realised one was an adult male...

Black Redstart #1...

...and #2, a gorgeous adult male.

A bit later I came across another on West Bay's East Beach, almost certainly the same elusive individual that has been knocking about for a few weeks now...

With such a prominent white flash in the wing I assume this is a young male.

Some more from West Bay...

Male Sparrowhawk in the late afternoon sun. That eye!

Context shot. Blue gem in the reeds.

This morning I was at West Bay again. Just before 07:30, at the far end of the harbour wall...

Hello again! Two Purple Sandpipers.

Last winter's Purple Sand was a right pig to connect with. Countless efforts, and I think I saw it two, maybe three times. These two have so far been much more obliging. So much so that I was quietly confident I could show them to Sandra later in the day, when we visited with our little granddaughter. Wheeling the toddler's pushchair to the end of the walkway, I pointed at the now vacant rocks and said, 'Well, this is where they were earlier. Let's give them a minute or two, eh?'

I craned my neck and carefully scrutinised every inch of their favoured haunt, to no avail. Sandra said 'What's this then?' and pointed to our right, where a Purple Sand was perched up at point-blank range. She has an uncanny knack of doing this. I wish she came out birding with me more often.

Purple Sandpiper, almost doing purple I think.

Context shot. Lovely.

Always nice to close with a gull...

A gorgeous Med Gull on the river by Rise restaurant.