Year List 2026 - Here we go again!!!!

I started the new Year List whilst in Northumberland on Thursday. By the end of the day, I had managed to spot 50 species, including my first lifer of the year.

The list began before dawn, as I drove down to St Mary's Island, with not one, but two, Barn Owls (1)! No other birds were seen before I arrived (as it was still dark!), but, on arrival, the following birds were seen: Carrion Crow (2), Herring Gull (3), Pheasant (4), Turnstone (5), Mallard (6), Black-headed Gull (7), Magpie (8), Oystercatcher (9), Cormorant (10), Dunnock (11), Redshank (12), Red-throated Diver (1 flew south past the Island - 13), Eider Duck (14), Great Black-backed Gull (15), Rock Pipit (16), Starling (17), Golden Plover (18), Lapwing (19), Dunlin (20), Curlew (21), Sanderling (22), Pied Wagtail (23), Stonechat (24), Grey Wagtail (25), Water Pipit (26), Shag (27), Blackbird (28), Great-crested Grebe (29) and Pink-footed Geese (c.40 in fields behind the Island - 30).

Water Pipit

The next few birds were seen on the drive back to Togston, and in a quick visit to Queen Elizabeth II Country Park: Jackdaw (31), Rook (32), Mute Swan (33), Coot (34), Common Gull (35), Canada Goose (36), Moorhen (37), Kestrel (38), House Sparrow (39), Fieldfare (40), Redwing (41) and Robin (42). A Whooper Swan was also seen here, but, as it is a resident bird, I'm not going to count it in the Year List.

Whooper Swan

The final birds were added in Berwick upon Tweed (numbers 43- 46) and on Budle Bay (numbers 47 - 50): Goldfinch (43), Wren (44), Purple Sandpiper (45), Buzzard (46), Shoveler (47), Wigeon (48), Teal (49) and Pale-bellied Brent Goose - 2 in fields just outside Seahouses (50).

A Tale of Three Pipits - Rock, Meadow and Water.

 I have to be honest, and say that, even as a "birder", I don't often look that closely at pipits. They are, after all, the very definition of an LBJ (Little Brown Job). For the last couple of years, however, I've been trying to find a lifer, in the form of a Water Pipit, so, whilst in Northumberland this week, I had to take notice of the various pipits at St Mary's Island, in order to see this particular species.

We started off on 30th December and spent an hour and a half looking at each and every bird!! Despite taking a lot of pictures, we only managed to find Rock and Meadow Pipit (photos below).

Rock Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Not to be beaten, I returned on New Year's Day, and after spotting several Rock Pipits, I managed to find, and photograph my first "lifer" of 2026, in the form of a Water Pipit.

Water Pipit

Rufford Gulls - 21st and 23rd December 2025

 This last week, whilst off school for the holidays, I had a couple of visits to Rufford to see the Black-headed Gulls. The first visit was on 21st December, when I recorded 21 green-ringed and the Lithuanian-ringed bird P519. A quick, 1 hour visit on 23rd had 12 green-ringed birds, P519 and, best of all, an adult Caspian Gull (thanks Luke!).

The green-ringed birds seen on 21st were: 206A, 273A, 284A, 208B, 272B, 202C, 207C, 269C, 270C, 273C, 298C, 2V10, 2V16, 221F, 227F, 241F, 292F, 200H, 207H, 208H and 225H.

284A - my first sighting since March 2023!

Birds seen on 23rd were: 258A, 208B, 202C, 207C, 273C, 298C, 234F, 292F, 2V16, 200H, 208H, 225H. P519 was also seen again.

208H 

Year List 2025 - The final total

 Over the last two days, I've managed to add another 2 species to my "Year List" for 2025, namely Purple Sandpiper (209) and Waxwing (210).

The Sandpiper was sent yesterday, at St Mary's Island, while the Waxwings (2 birds) were seen briefly at Edlingham, Northumberland. 

As you can see, my total of  210 is quite a high number for me (!), and is one of the best years for a long time. The three lifers were: White-billed Diver, Lesser Scaup and American Black Tern.

Year List Update - 29th December 2025

 Yesterday, Luke and I went across to Lincolnshire to add a few new species to this year's Year List.

We started off at Tongue End, where we added Tundra Bean Goose (206), Bewick Swan (207) and European/Russian White-fronted Goose (208), all feeding with a large herd of Whooper Swans. Unfortunately, the Snow Goose, had done a bunk!!!

Afterwards, we drove to Titchmarsh LNR, in Northamptonshire, so that Luke could add American Wigeon, to his list. Whilst there, we also saw a minimum of 4 Great White Egrets, including this one that posed nicely, next to a Little Egret.

Great and Little Egret

Our final stop for the day was Eyebrook Reservoir in Leicestershire. We stopped off here so that Luke could see his first adult, male Smew. In total, we saw 4 males and a couple of "redheads".

Smew

Linacre WeBS - 27th December 2025

 I wasn't able to get down to Linacre earlier this month for the WeBS walk, so Jayne and I popped down on 27th to do it.

It was a grey, overcast morning and just 7 degrees, but we recorded the following birds: Mallard (73), Tufted Duck (68), Mandarin Duck (36), Coot (7), Moorhen (3), Grey Wagtail (1), Cormorant (2), Goosander (4; 2 males and 2 females), Little Grebe (2), Great-crested Grebe (2) and Black-headed Gull (92 - the highest count of the year).

Year List Update - 23rd December 2025

 Yesterday, Luke and I had a few hours birding in Nottinghamshire. Despite the grey, dreary conditions, we added two new species to our  Year Lists.

The first species, Smew (204), was added at Collingham Pits , a set of working/disused gravel pits near Newark. 2 "redhead" birds were seen.

The next species, Caspian Gull (205), was a very nice addition, especially as it was found (by Luke), at our very own Rufford Country Park! This is the second winter in a row, where we've had this species here, and yesterday's bird was a very good looking adult bird. Here are some photos (first two from Luke).

Caspian (right hand bird) and Herring Gull

Caspian Gull

Caspian, Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Caspian Gull

Other birds seen were: Goosander (5; 3 males and 2 females), Kingfisher (heard), Greylag Goose, Tufted Duck, and Mute Swan (Broken Beak, female and 3 cygnets).