North-east Knockout!

Another triple whammy here: three targets - a potential (British) lifer and two photogenic rarities. All three played ball. The first was hard work (lengthy walk, got lost, narrowly escaped impaling myself on a fence, bird went AWOL, long wait...) but eventually showed at point-blank range (albeit silhouetted). The second was a doddle and performed perfectly - again just a few feet away and the third was very elusive at first but then showed brilliantly (once the crowds and dog-walkers had gone).

I was really chuffed with the Hartlepool Masked Shrike - guile and luck combined for once (after the initial slog, stress and frustration) and having predicted its movements as it worked its way along a stretch of inaccessible bushes, I anticipated its next move perfectly and the bird appeared right in front of me. (Others, I guess, either got poor views or gave up waiting.) The Holy Island Red-flanked Bluetail (only my second ever) put on a real show and was extra-ordinarily tame. It flitted casually from post to bush and back again, posing perfectly in good light, and sometimes came so close that I struggled to focus - a real treat and one of those memorable moments.

The Boulmer Bluethroat proved impossible to pin down in the marram grass but eventually braved the open sand and sea-weed when the crowds had died down. Another cracking bird which I could have watched for hours. So, all in all, another great day out and a sack-full of 'keepers' to drool over... (I also found my own Yellow-browed Warbler at the Shrike site and got great views and shots of a Common Redstart near the Bluetail.)