16th June. Mid-summer surprise.

It would appear that I was a little rash writing off the spring. The appearance of the Royal Tern in North Wales almost tempted me in to taking a day off - but fortunately sense prevailed. The subsequent no show of the Tern left me feeling somewhat relieved and a text informing me of some local 'scarce' at an undisclosed location was an added bonus. Better still was a phonecall from Pete regarding a singing Golden Oriole in the Poolsbrook area mid afternoon. I didn't fancy my chances with the Oriole but surprisingly after just 20 minutes a familiar strangled cat (not that I am in the habit of strangling cats) sound came from some large willows. After a couple of minutes of screeching and the occasional flutey song it gave itself up albeit in flight, never to show again. All in all a pleasant evening in the company of a couple of local ticks though the wearing of shorts was not a good idea!!

After the swelling had gone down!