Better than a Baird's - 199 up! 199 species in total

A fantastic stroke of fortune this morning – a year tick not 300 yards from home!

I was out early am (0750) delivering some paperwork before work, with a few Redwings and Song Thrushes passing low to the west in the gloom, when a rasping chacking had me looking straight up at a Ring Ouzel moving with them! Not exactly crippling views, but quite unmistakeable and firmly ON MY LIST! Much more satisfying (and easier) than cycling for 2 hours to see a poxy American vagrant at Pennington!

Only my fourth Winchester record, after a winter bird back in 1985, a couple of spring males in 198(?)7, and another male in May 1993 on a back lawn. Easily the best value, however, givent his year’s bike effort....

One to go for the 200 – severe weather forecast for Weds, so maybe it’ll be a Sabine’s or a Little Auk?!? We shall see....