Heavenly.

One of the supporting cast.

Sometimes the birds and light come together and i cannot think of anything more satisfying.
Not so early on Sunday as i went down to Tynemouth to have a wander around and see a first for me in the form of a Dusky Warbler. I know the area well as i'm a regular visitor and having seen a good number of Blackbirds & Robins i then headed to where the Dusky had been reported. Some prolonged views but getting a decent image was another matter and very quickly i decided to just enjoy the bird and if i did come out into the open would then try to capture it. It could be seen without foliage blocking the views occasionally but always fleetingly and combined with the fairly poor conditions i didn't even tried to capture one image. Thoroughly enjoyed my first sighting and a dozen or so of the lads attending made for good craic. The heavens opened and off i sped. A few hours later, having visited my sister in Cullercoats and been fed n watered by her, i resurfaced just north of St Marys Island in Whitley Bay.
By this time the clouds had cleared and we had nice conditions in the main. A Barred Warbler had been spotted briefly a wee bit north from where a few birders and i were anticipating the sight of the Pallas's Leaf Warbler that had been present from the previous day. The Barred was never seen again as far as i am aware but the Pallas's gave brilliant, if slightly distant views for the next couple of hours. As before quite a few birders came and went, or remained, and the craic was more then enjoyable. To add to the enjoyment of my second newbie of the day dozens of Goldcrests were flitting around the mound like little jewels. One of the best birding afternoons that i have spent i reckon. I didn't manage any decent images despite everything in my favour to capture that superb "keeper" but i'm happy enough seeing the birds without taking a pic. Any images are a bonus in my book and not the be all and end all.
I have to say that the Pallas's Leaf Warbler was by far more stunning than i had expected...an absolute beauty of a bird ! ....and the Goldcrests set it off nicely. It verged on birding heaven yesterday.