After moving back to Liverpool - my home away from home - to start a PhD, I have had relatively little time to go birding. However, weaponised by the addition of a car, I now have the freedom of travel without any reliance on public transport. This was exercised on a trip to Burton Mere a few weeks prior which yielded a White Stork (that I refound) as well as Spotted Redshank and Spoonbill. So, when news broke of a stunning male Woodchat Shrike on the Bridgewater Canal in Daresbury, Cheshire, I simply couldn't resist it. With a gluttony of great photos surfacing on Twitter (I refuse to call it X) and the birding seemingly stay put, I hopped in the car with the intention of my first twitch upon returning to Merseyside. Luckily, the journey was short, picking up my good friend Marc on the way also allowed for some top company and some good chats. We soon arrived, after parking up at a local housing estate, we embarked on the walk to the pin point that our trusted BirdGuides had prov...