I was minding my own business yesterday when news came out of a Wryneck at Wanstead so I called the Jims and ten minutes later picked them up and headed to Wanstead to find that the bird had just flown. We searched in vain for the Wryneck with no joy but did manage to get the Jims a couple of year ticks with a Spotted Flycatcher at the end of Long wood and two Pied Flycatchers in the birches. A fly over juvenile Cuckoo, two Whinchats and at least three Wheatears made it an enjoyable walk even without the target and it's always nice bumping into the patch workers at Wanstead for a catch up.
Fresh from yesterdays dip I woke this morning and drove back over to Wanstead on a solo run and found a small gathering at the end of Long wood. Marco had just seen the Wryneck so it was now a waiting game. In the next four hours the bird showed briefly on five or six occasions always a little distant but gave decent views through the bins even if it was just out of reach of my 400mm lens. (see heavily cropped evidence below) The juvenile Cuckoo made another fly past and a Spotted Flycatcher performed for a while along with the Wheatears.
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| Wryneck |
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| One of those really elusive Wrynecks |
Nice to bump into Mike and Paul from the Lee Valley who I hadn't seen for a while along with a few of the locals who are always welcoming to us "good bird" invaders to their patch. I just missed the six Curlew which I'm told are rarer than Wrynecks at Wanstead which illustrates well the challenges of patch birding. This was my third Wanstead Wryneck but I've never seen a Wanstead Curlew.
Covid year list now a miserable 218 chasing my worst ever year of 238
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