Eastern Black Redstart and Greater Yellowlegs.

Myself and some of the boys headed north to see the Eastern Black Redstart and the Greater Yellowlegs, first stop the legs. This bird gave us the run around and I only got the briefest flight views before it headed south. We chased but missed it by 5 minutes at Chevington before it flew north. We decided that we should go and see the Redstart and see what the Legs did later on.
The Redstart had taken up residence on the beach near the school on Holy Island. The journey across to the Island was very atmospheric with a glass like sea on both sides and waders feeding just by the causeway. Once we found the Redstart it showed fantastically and seemed oblivious to the assembled crowd. I was struck by how much brown it had on the crown and upperparts and assume this can be attributed to it being a 1st winter bird. Brent Geese flew in close to the shore and Eider and Red-breasted Mergansers were seen from the beach. The island had feel of the Scillies to me and I hope to return soon.
News soon broke that the Yellowlegs had been refound at Cresswell so we had to tear ourselves away from this stunning bird to allow time to see the legs before darkness fell. We managed to get good but distant views of the bird as it feed in amongst the reeds and it was successful at catching small fish on a number of occasions. This was a magic day and the glorious sunshine made it even better.

Eastern Black Redstart.