High's and Low's

We were on Holy Island first thing this morning looking for the juvenile Pallid Harrier which had been seen on Thursday and Friday, unfortunately even though the island was well covered with birders there was no sign of this elusive bird. The island was generally quiet however a slow day was enlivened by several Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs, a Lesser Whitethroat at the excavations was a bonus, however things improved when at the half moon slack we got onto a Yellow-browed Warbler and a Red-breasted Flycatcher. Our day wasn't quite over, on returning home we received a call from a birding friend to say the Franklin's Gull was still at Whittle Dene reservoir, this resulted in a hurried dash down the road. Things didn't look good when on arrival there was no sign of the bird, after about 2 hours we decided to head home, once more good fortune shone on us as the bird appeared in a field next to where everyone's cars were parked, giving good views to all present.