Carrion crow

The last of the backblips.

I've blipped a couple of rooks, and numerous jackdaws, and I've nearly blipped ravens on a couple of occasions. But I've never blipped a carrion crow before.

The main event of the day was Dad's second hospital appointment in consecutive days. This one involved a gastroscopy, not a pleasant experience, but he coped with it well, and the nursing staff as always were wonderful.

After we took him home, we went to Lymington and while Wifie indulged in a bit of retail therapy, I went for a walk to the Pennington marshes, picking up two new bird species for the year (spotted redshank and sandwich tern). I think that takes me on to 143, but in truth I've lost count.

Later we went to Keyhaven and down to the shingle ridge that leads out to Hurst Castle. We watched a little egret feeding in the ditch behind the ridge, while I tried and failed again to get the perfect egret shot. I learned two things about egrets that I didn't know - first, they leave the water to have a poo, and second, they stir the mud up with one leg to dislodge, in this case, small crabs.