Colyford Common - Tue 3 Jan

Around Christmas an Isabelline Wheatear had been found less than an hour from home at Colyford Common, I finally had the chance to go and see it on 27 December, the problem was the bird did a bunk on Boxing Day. I was rather disappointed, but that's how it goes with birds.
Imagine my surprise and delight then when it reappeared a week after going missing. Well I wasn't going to miss out again so I jumped in the car and drove down to Colyford in dismal weather. When I arrived on site it was still raining but that didn't stop me as I headed down to the boardwalk where the bird had been most reliably seen. When I got there I was told that it was sheltering against the boardwalk, and I must say that I didn't blame it at all. Before long I had some nice views of the Isabelline Wheatear looking very sorry for itself but then the rain stopped, the bird perked up and then performed extremely well for the next fifteen or so minutes. It even sat up nicely for a photo or two. My first Isabelline Wheatear in the UK and a welcome addition to my UK life list.

To be honest I didn't really spend any time looking for any other birds as the weather just wasn't really good enough to spend hours in the field. A few Meadow Pipits and a Rock Pipit were seen and a flock of Lapwing contained a couple of Golden Plover. A Blackcap was in the hedgerow as I walked back to the car after a very wet but very successful morning out.