Today...I never been much of a twitcher but a Sibe Accentor at Avoch on the Black Isle proved too much to resist. This may be the 13th (I think?) recorded  in Britain this autumn after none previously but who's to say we will ever get any more, this years influx may be down to an exceptional combination of weather conditions.

So I got up at 4am and drove the three hrs or so north. What I didn't know was that the bird had become more erratic the last few days and was tending to appear briefly after leaving it's presumed roost site and then bombing off somewhere else for the rest of the day...

So got there with plenty of cars already parked up and people even coming back telling me I was fine and it was showing well. Turned the corner and things didn't look promising-people just standing around talking. The bird had just flown off! You couldn't make it up. Now I remember why I hate twitching-I'm rubbish at it. I didn't just give up mind and had a good look round the area and it ended up being an enjoyable day namely because of these beauties......