Redstart

The Leicestershire birding jungle drums were beating soundly this afternoon, a real gem of a bird in the form of a Black Winged Stilt had dropped into Rutland Water, although an excellent tick for most county recorders I wasn't able to make the 20 or so mile trip to see it!  

Then another text messages came through with news of a male Restart that was showing well at the village of Froelsworth. Now normally I don't go pursuing "other peoples" birds as I prefer to find my own but as this was very local I was compelled to go and have a look.

After a bit of a mix up and some wasted time as to whether the bird was north or south of the identified location I finally latched on to the three other birders whom were looking for it. Finally we re-located it and I got some superb views. 

It was certainly a handsome bird and although not an owl I really enjoyed watching this little beauty feeding avidly around a pile of horse manure.

I have been lucky enough to make at least an annual sighting of a Redstart in Leicestershire over the  past 4 or 5 consecutive years, the last time was back in August 2011 where a chance encounter was made whilst photographing a pair of Little Owls, see below.