Storming Hartlepool for the Robin

Four days off work and what happens, I go back and news of a mega breaks...sods law. I have an understanding boss so by 10:30 I was heading north for the White-throated Robin. News came in steadily for most of the journey but as we neared our destination news became less and less frequent making for a somewhat nervous atmosphere. Just as we parked up news came that it the bird was showing so off we went only to be told it had flown in to the doctors garden that had a 12 foot wall running round it and no access.  After nearly two hours the bird had still not returned to is favoured area and thinks started to look bad. Suddenly news came that some birders were watching it from on top of a van around the corder. Off we set and we were greeted with a scene more akin to the storming of a fort, people were climbing various vehicles and ladders in the hope of seeing the bird. I was literally like a rat up a drain pipe and shimmied up a lamppost to peer over the wall and saw this cracking female rooting around a compost heap. I then joined a que for one of the ladders and enjoyed views of it again, this time sunbathing in the rose patch. This has to go down as one of the best twitches and one I will never forget. The bird behaved superbly and it too will be forever engrained in the little grey cells.

You can spot me at 1 second, i'm standing under the sign with a black jacket, dark jeans and short hair. Autographs by request.

White-throated Robin - Photos by Lee Woods (Birding Suffolk mastermind)