From the sublime to the ridiculous, from superb England bowling to the complete opposite, what a difference a day makes. Hats off to Travis Head who out bazballed England & destroyed our confidence completely in under 2 hours!

What an absolute privilege to spend the day at the first day of the Ashes in Perth. What a great comeback by England in a great stadium. Some decent birds on the walk along the Swan River to the stadium as well. You don't get that at English grounds. Roll on day 2.

Well I might not have seen my second Norfolk BW Kite today but seeing England score 414 and then bowl out South Africa for 72 was way more enjoyable anyway. Archer's opening spell was the best I've seen from an England quick in years. Just hope he can replicate it down under.

Spectacled Bear. Spent just short of two hours watching this wonderful creature ripping bromeliad's apart for its breakfast in the Andes this morning. 😍 Whilst we had dreamt, we didn't dare believe 😁😁

Currently making our way through the Ecuadorian Andes. Well trodden trail but great to see so many ex-farmers turning their pastured holdings to reforesting, nature and birds and changing their lives through small scale tourism. As many will know the birding is splendid.

Two great days of test cricket at Headingley. Frustrating at times on day 1 but a great fightback by England on day 2. Far more satisfying than the Mickey Mouse T20 & the hideous 100.

Credit where credit's due. Superb service from HM Passport Office. Old passport sent back on Tuesday, new passport & cancelled passport back yesterday, 4 days later. Just a shame that thanks to the disasterous Brexit it's no longer the much nicer & far more useful EU passport.

"He bankrolled Starmer, buried Corbyn, and silenced dissent. Meet the secretive oligarch shaping U.K. politics from behind the scenes—for Israel."
www.mintpressnews.com/trevor-chinn...

It was frustrating to miss the Pratincole on route to Manchester but the Santana gig totally made up for it. It was absolutely brilliant & Carlos is still an amazing guitarist. If the first two days of the Headingley test are half as good I'll be very happy.

An incredible experience today. The Agami Heron is a very rare species and one that's difficult to see. But today I made a new friend who discovered a rookery with over 300 of these incredible birds that are on a new property he bought.

Agami Island #CostaRica

#birds #nature #herons #heron

Having seen my last North American grouse last week, great to see Western Screech Owl last night for my last NA owl. Even better to have a superb Poorwill down to a few feet for 10 minutes even if the phone (or maybe that's the photographer) screwed up all the photos.

Also pleasing to see the refreshing Canadian approach to dogs and wildlife. If only UK conservation organisations were as robust in their approach to dogs and cats!

Great to get my last North American grouse, Sooty, with two booming males on Vancouver Island this morning despite the poor weather.

Great to finally find a Cattle Egret on the local patch today. Also had fantastic views of Jack Snipe down to a few feet! So much easier nowadays with thermal imaging.