Autumn Patching gets off to good start

Yesterday (22nd August) what seemed like a quiet morning soon turned into a hoped for patch tick in the form of a rather splendid Pied Flycatcher. A long overdue addition to the patch list and a fine specimen frequenting the same area where I have had Redstart and Wryneck in the past. Doug managed to twitch it just before it disappeared!
Today (23rd August) I slipped out to check the scrape and was pleased to see a Greenshank feeding on there and a species I have never seen on the scrape. I then had an urge to do my usual circuit around the "top fields" though I normally don't do this until September when it really feels like Autumn! However, it proved to be a good move as I flushed a Wryneck from the edge of a potato field. It did its usual disappearing act (Wrynecks are so slippery!), but I perservered and finally re-found it after a 2hr slog around the area. Not a patch tick (I found one last year on 4th Sept about 500M away!) but always a pleasure to see and find on the patch. Also had a Whinchat and 2 Stonechat nearby.
Roll on the autumn proper!

Greenshank

Whinchat

Wryneck

Wryneck