North Yorks

The main reason for heading up North was not to see the American Robin (above) but to see the Pacific Diver that had taken up residence on a relatively small sailing lake near the village of Farnham. Thinking this first for the Western Palearctic was going to be the "easiest twitch ever" (after being told the bird was showing well on arrival) we were to be proved wrong, as we pulled up to watch it fly over the road, and slowly gain height. After an initial panic, and talks about the birds inevitable return, the bird changed direction and looked set to make a return to the lake. Unfortunately it had other ideas and proceeded to fly around in circles before disappearing as a speck in the distance, never to be seen again. Interestingly 2 further Pacific Divers have turned up in Britain since the Farnham bird so it can only be a matter of time before another twitchable one comes around again. On arrival the American Robin was showing well feeding on the rough area of grass, but disappeared into the nearby gardens after about 15 minutes where it remained for much of the day putting in only brief appearances. Compensation came in the form of a nearby Firecrest which showed superbly next to the canal. Unfortunately the camera was on the wrong setting so the pictures have come out worse than normal. Overall, quite a frustrating day... I was really looking forward to seeing that Diver.