New Scope + Cley - 29.6.13

As i'd had my old Leica APO Televid 77 for 11 years and the fact that the coating was coming off the 2 lenses and the weight of it was not doing my neck and shoulders any good anymore I thought it was time for a change and so I headed up to Cley Spy in Norfolk to part exchange it for a new model. I'd been hoping for £5-600 for my scope but unfortunately the coating issue was noticed as was an un-noticed problem with the eyepiece and so the offer was a depressing £150! Reluctantly I accepted and so purchased a new Leica APO Televid 65. I can't complain about my old scope as in the 11 years I owned it i'd seen 190 new species through it with the first being the Minsmere Alpine Accentor and the last this years Pacific Swift! Thank you for the memories old scope.

Afterwards I headed to Cley and walked around there to test it out. Annoyingly the heathaze was very bad and so spotting anything properly was tricky. I added 3 new birds to the year list with 9 male Ruff, Little Gull and LRP being those 3.Other noteworthy birds were a Marsh Harrier taking a young Avocet, a late Wigeon and 2 summer plumaged Spotted Redshank..