6th Novemeber. A Merry Lap Dance

Well there I was thinking it was all over, so much so that at Orgreave I'd taken to counting the Canada Geese feeding on the path. Counting a total of 122 I'd by now started to drift off into a daydream (about pie fillings) when I noticed a small passerine flick up and down into the long grass. Walking over I gave an impatient PISH - no sooner had I done so a Snow Bunting flew up, called and circled the lake several times before heading off high to the south. Minutes later I heard the call again and eventually picked up not one bird but two mobbing a Kestrel perched on the viewing pole minding it's own business. Both these birds had obvious amounts of white in the wing but a third bird didn't! These birds dropped down and I lost them. Fortunately the Snow Bunts were very vocal and I soon picked up a bird overhead, not only that but also a calling Lapland Bunting which landed some way away on the causeway between the two lakes. This bird and another (God knows how many individuals were actually involved) were soon located on the ground but typically got up as soon as I raised the camera. As far as I knew this was the last sighting. However when I got in this evening I discovered that Thrybergh birder Mike Smethurst had managed some excellent shots of each.

Both shots by Mike Smethurst

A celebratory pie was called for and prior to another visit to Orgreave I knocked up a trio of these turkey,leek and mushroom pies, ending a rather splendid day for pies and birds.