Dodgy duck dip and Red-rumped stunner.......

Well today started with me making the wrong decision to twitch the previous days reported female/1st winter Buffelhead at Covenham Res with it doing an overnight bunk!.This bird could well have been a genuine candidate and no doubt its credentials will be made even better now with its short stay,the only people connecting with it being locals and the retireed lincolnshire birding community,oh well,i have seen one before thankfully.Compensation on the Res included a few year ticks in the form of a very nice 2nd calendar year Little Gull watched hawking insects,my first 6 Swift of the year and 5 very dapper White Wagtail.The White Wag's were a nice surprise and i always like to see them and all in one flock too.So after this i had a brief look at Donna Nook,were the gale force wind and sand blast was too much to take and went to look at West Ashby for the reported male Ring-necked Duck,which also wasn't there,today was turning out to be a bit of a disaster.Thankfully there was light on the horizon and on my old patch at Barton,when Richard Dawkins found a stunning Red-rumped Swallow and thanks to Neil with the phone call,it was a hurried trip over to say the least.Myself along with several other locals enjoyed this Mediterranean beauty as it hawked St.Marks Fly's overhead,at times 10 feet away!.Over the next couple of hours i spent watching this cracking bird,it gave superb views and was watched feeding over the Blow wells and adjacent pit along with several Swallow,House and Sand Martins.After watching this beauty,nearby,a male Ring Ouzel had taken up temporary residence in the field across to Ness hide.Sometimes skulking as they invariably do,but showing nicely on occasion,feeding on the edge of the grass field and also heard calling as well as we walked past roadside.Other birds here included a further 3 Swift and a nice male Marsh Harrier.So in the end a great day,but more crap weather,hopefully there will be a change soon with this our worst April on record.