1st day of winter: SNOW ALREADY!

More on the snow in a bit...

Started the day back in Cleveland for what turned out to be a very quiet potter around Saltholme and Dormans Pool with Mark and John B. Plenty of birds but little of note...

This afternoon the pace quickened, with a couple of hours back at trusty West Hartford. No harrier today (tho GM did manage a marsh harrier elsewhere in Cramlington today), but a minimum of two short-eared owl hunted the fields. I fear it will be a tricky species to nail photographically speaking...

Every time I locked focus on one it did this...

Into the grass... again!

Still, they're a pleasure to watch. As the first night of winter encroached, one bird settled on a not too distant (but not as close as I'd like) post.

And it was while snapping away at this when the phone range - STH with some exciting news. MH had had a snow bunting on the road leading into the site - luckily West Hartford has a few "marker" points - in this case it was on the road next to the discarded bath! I expect the snow bunting find eclipsed MHs' 1999 short-toed eagle adrenalin rush.

I proceeded calmly to the aforementioned spot and within a minute or two found the snow bunting on the overgrown pathway near the bath - bingo, a Cramlington tick! Light was seriously fading now, so a few record shots were rattle off (albeit not as late in the day as GM ended up taking - check these out!

This is the second snow bunting at West Hartford - Brian aka Northumbrian Birder had one a winter or two back, but it was todays' bird that furnished the Cramlington (ir)regulars with this species. Great end to the first day of winter!