RSPB Old Moor - 5th September 2026

Jayne and I had a trip over to RSPB Old Moor, on Saturday. We had a few hours there, and managed to add another couple of species to the Year List: Wood Sandpiper (194) and Caspian Gull (195).

The Wood Sandpiper was seen from Wath Ings hide, and was feeding close in with several Ruff and a Greenshank. Other birds seen from this hide included: Green Sandpiper (5), Lapwing (50+), Dunlin (3), Black-tailed Godwit (4), Grey Heron (1), Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Canada and Greylag Geese.

Wood Sandpiper and Ruff

Greenshank (and Stickleback)

Our next stop was the Wader Scrape Hide, where we spotted a very confiding Common Sandpiper, Wigeon, Gadwall, Pied Wagtail, Mute Swan (2 ringed birds: Y848 and Y812) Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a single Caspian Gull. The Caspian Gull, a 2nd year bird, was ringed with the darvic number PY1X, and appears to be a Polish-ringed bird. I'll update, when I hear back from the ringers. The final bird species of note was Marsh Harrier. We saw two birds, a male and a "cream crown".

Common Sandpiper

Caspian Gull

Gadwall

Four New Birds

Before we came away, a good friend shared an excellent place to see Stone Curlew, so yesterday afternoon, I set out to have a look at the spot for myself. 

I found the spot easily, and was very pleased that the site was easily accessible. Unfortunately, there was a very strong heat haze, so I didn't see any curlews on that occasion. I did, however, had great views of another Wheatear, and amazing 3 Hobbies (including 1 that was catching and eating dragonflies on the wing!). There were also 10+ Graylings, Red Admirals and a single Wall Brown butterfly. Afterwards, I drove across to Westleton Heath, where I managed to spot a single Dartford Warbler (183), a male Muntjac Deer and a family of Stonechats. 

I went back to the Stone Curlew (184) site (part of RSPB Minsmere), again this morning, with Jayne, and within a few minutes of arriving (at 5.30am!) we saw 3 birds, and managed a very distant, heavily cropped photograph.

Stone Curlew

Whilst there, we carried on around the site, spotting many of the same species as on 22nd, except for a single Little Stint (185), that was feeding with a small flock of Dunlin, and 4 Barnacle Geese (186). Other new species included a single Common Sandpiper, 2 Wheatears (in the dunes), 7 Bar-tailed Godwits, a single Knot and 5 juvenile Shelducks.

Wheatear

Shelduck (juvenile)

Linacre - 11th August 2026

 Today was my first visit to Linacre since the end of July (!). I was very pleased to meet a reader of this blog, in the car park. Hello to you. In all, I was on site for 2 and a half hours, and saw a few nice insects and birds.

First the waterbirds. Despite the low water levels on the bottom, and top reservoir, there were decent numbers of birds around. Mallard (81 - the highest count of the year, so far), Mandarin Duck (30), Tufted Duck (34), Great-crested Grebe (2 adults - no young this year), Grey Wagtail (1), Pied Wagtail (2), Lesser Black-backed Gull (10; 7 adults and 3 juveniles), Black-headed Gull (1 - a nice, early record), Coot (2 adults - no juveniles), Moorhen (3 adults - no juveniles), Cormorant (1), Grey Heron (2; 1 adult and 1 juvenile) and a single Common Sandpiper (2nd record of the year).

Common Sandpiper (heavily cropped)

Grey Heron (juvenile)

 Smaller birds seen were: Swallow (6), House Martin (5), Chiffchaff (1 singing, and others "wheeting", Song Thrush (1 juvenile), Stock Dove and 2 Common Buzzards.

Insects seen were: Painted Lady (3), Meadow Brown (2), Holly Blue (1), Common Blue Butterfly (1 male and 1 female, the first records of 2026), Red Admiral (1), Speckled Wood (1), Large White (2), Migrant Hawker (1), Brown Hawker (1), a Yellow Shell moth and a Grasshopper sp.

Holly Blue

Common Blue Butterfly (female)

Painted Lady

Field Grasshopper?

Seven Hours at Linacre!

 Yesterday (19th), I had a couple of visits to Linacre. The first, from 06.00 - 09.30, was a ringing session, with 3 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, whilst the second from 14.00 - 17.30, was a solo walk, looking for insects and carrying out this month's WeBS walk.

The ringing session was quite a quiet affair, with just 9 birds ringed. Happily, 8 of the 9 birds were juveniles, i.e. born this year, but the low number was quite disappointing, given the time of year. Hopefully, numbers will pick up, as the summer progresses. Bird caught were (new/retrap): Blackcap 1/0 (juvenile), Chiffchaff 4/0 (all juveniles), Robin 1/0 (juvenile), Blue Tit 1/0 (juvenile) and Bullfinch 2/0 (1 adult - born last year, and 1 juvenile).

By the afternoon, the temperature had risen to 22 degrees, so I went back down for a walk around the site. As you can see from the picture below, the bottom reservoir is currently nearly dry. It has been drained as maintenance work is being carried out on the overflow. As a result there were few birds there, but the exposed mud could bring in some waders perhaps.

Bottom reservoir

Waterbirds see were: Mallard (42 - 40 adults and 2 juveniles), Tufted Duck (24 - all adults), Mandarin Duck (17 - all adults), Coot (1 adult), Moorhen (3 adults), Grey Heron (1), Great-crested Grebe (3 adults - no juveniles this year), Herring Gull (1 adult), Lesser Black-backed Gull (5 adults and 1 juvenile),and, the best of all, a juvenile Common Sandpiper!

Whilst on site, I also spent a lot of time (!) looking at the amazing number of butterflies and other insects present. Very conservative estimates of species seen are: Meadow Brown (50+), Gatekeeper (9), Speckled Wood (3), Comma (2), Painted Lady (6 - 5 very fresh looking individuals and 1 very tatty one!), Holly Blue (4), Green-veined White (2), Large White (1), Peacock (3), Small Skipper (1), Silver Y (1), Shaded Broad-bar (1 in the ringing site), Brown Hawker (2), Common Blue Damselfly (100+, including ovipositing pairs), Blue-tailed Damselfly (1 male), Migrant Hawker (6), Volucella inanis (2), Volucella pullecens (3), Myathropa florea (1) and Eristalis sp!

Migrant Hawker

Common Blue Damselfly

Volucella inanis

End of the Trip

 Saturday 4th April was our last day on Fuerteventura. We weren't being picked up until 5pm, so we spent the entire day walking around the town.

Just 1 new species was added to the trip list, when a single Grey Heron landed on the boats in the harbour. 

Grey Heron

Other species seen were: Whimbrel, Common Sandpiper, Turnstone, Yellow-legged Gull, Little Egret,  Spanish Sparrow, Kestrel and  Collared Dove.

Island Tour - Part 8 - Isla de Lobos

 After dropping off the car, Jayne and I had another two days in Corralejo. We decided to take a trip across to the nearby nature reserve of Isla de Lobos (Lobos Island). It is located just off the island, and requires a short, 10 minute ferry trip across the sea. 

On arrival on the island, you will find a small information centre, with details of the now-extinct Monk Seals, that once inhabited the island. The only toilets on the island are also to be found here. Please note, as well, that your visit is limited to just four hours. A permit is also required to visit, which you can buy for free online. We, however,  travelled across with Water Taxis, and they arranged the permit for us.

We set off to walk around the island, heading first to the volcano La Caldera. It was a good 20 minute walk to the base of the volcano, on well marked paths, but the climb to the top was much trickier than our previous walk to the Hondo Volcano, earlier on the trip. It took us a good 30 minutes to walk to the summit! The wildlife was less than I'd expected, but we did see Berthelot's Pipits, Ravens, Yellow-legged Gulls, Rock Doves and Atlantic Lizards on the walk across. The gulls were breeding on the island, with many pairs on nests, just a few metres from the paths.

Walk to the top of La Caldera

Yellow-legged Gull on nest

After the volcano, we walked across to the lighthouse, at the far end of the island. Again, there were excellent paths, but the walk did take us a good 40 minutes. Two Egyptian Vultures were seen on the walk across, and this is the only (heavily cropped) flight shot I managed.

Egyptian Vulture

We also saw a few butterflies on the walk across, including Painted Ladies, Small White, Greenish Black-tip and this beautiful Clouded Yellow, that posed nicely. Here's an uncropped shot, showing the small plants it landed on as well.

Clouded Yellow

After a quick spot of lunch at the lighthouse (picnic, no facilities here), we had a look at a small pond and added Black-winged Stilts (adults and juveniles), Common Sandpiper and a single Grey Plover (trip tick) to the island list. Our final stop, on the walk back to the "little harbour" (el puertito), was a very beautiful area called Las Lagunitas, which were a set of brackish lagoons. The only addition was a single Whimbrel.

Las Lagunitas

Corralejo- March 28th and 29th

 Jayne and I arrived in the resort of Corralejo on Saturday afternoon. We spent the rest of the day, and the Sunday in the resort.

The first species seen on the island was.... Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon. This species was seen on everyday, at every location visited. Other species seen on the journey to the resort were: Kestrel, Yellow-legged Gull, Collared Dove (very common everywhere) and Buzzard (our 1 and only sighting).

On arrival at the hotel, we saw many more Collared Doves, Spanish Sparrow (very common across the island), Barn Swallow and Whimbrel (common on the rocky foreshore, and seen on every visit).

The next day, Sunday 29th, we walked around the town, and recorded the same species, as well as our first "lifer", Plain Swift, with 2 over the hotel. Other species added were: Turnstone (common, in small groups on the foreshore), Common Sandpiper (seen on every visit in 1s and 2s), Ringed Plover (3 seen), Sanderling (5 seen), Raven (1 over) and Little Egret (1 fishing on the shore).

Little Egret

Back at the hotel, we spent time by the pool, and had fly-over Ruddy Shelduck (2), a Kestrel (hunting the Atlantic (Haria) Lizard in the grounds, and, best of all, a couple of Laughing Dove (2nd lifer), that also flew over our heads. Unfortunately, this was our only sighting of the trip, so no photos.

Kestrel and half a lizard!

Year List Update - 20th July 2025

As always, at this time of the year, the Year List slows down, as most of the easier-to-find species have been recorded. I have, however, managed to add a few new species.

The first is Long-eared Owl (179), that was seen in NE Derbyshire in June. Next up was Crossbill (180), that was recorded at Linacre on 5th July. Spotted Flycatcher (181) was seen on a walk in Tideswell Dale, also on 5th July. Green Woodpecker (182) was heard, but not seen, at Hardwick Hall last week, and the final bird, Yellow-legged Gull (183), was seen today, at Ogston Reservoir.

Yellow-legged Gull 

Update: Common Sandpiper (184) was seen at Ogston, on 28th July.

Linacre - 30th June 2024

 It hasn't been a great summer for butterflies so far, but a walk around Linacre this morning got me two new species for the year, along with a new moth and a record count of Common Sandpipers.

The two new butterflies were: Meadow Brown and Ringlet, with 2 of each species seen, on the dam banks and the ringing site respectively.

Meadow Brown

Ringlet

Two moth species were identified: Latticed Heath (2nd record of the year) and a Shaded Broad-bar (1st record of the year).

Shaded Broad-bar

Birdwise, it was a decent morning too, with some very good post breeding counts, a new (for the year) breeding record and, as already mentioned, a new high record of Common Sandpipers. Birds seen were: Mallard (114 adults and 4 broods of 1, 3, 5 and 1;124 birds in total), Mandarin Duck (62 adults and 3 broods of 5,1 and 1; 69 birds in total), Tufted Duck (26 adults), Grey Wagtail ( 7 birds; 2 adults and 5 juveniles), Grey Heron (1),  Moorhen (3 adults - no young!), Coot (1 adult and 3 juveniles), Common Sandpiper (3 flew from the wall on the middle reservoir - my first ever record of more than 1 bird - possible breeding?), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1), Kingfisher (1), Swift ( a nice record of 7 birds over the middle reservoir), Swallow (1 bird!), Common Buzzard (1), Skylark (1 singing), Chiffchaff ( 5 singing), Blackcap (6 singing), Garden Warbler (1 singing),  Great-crested Grebe ( 12 birds; 6 adults and 2 broods of 2 and 4) and Little Grebe (1 juvenile on the middle reservoir - first young of the year).

Little Grebe

Linacre Nestboxes - 27th April 2024

 Yesterday, I had my first visit of the year to check on the nestboxes at Linacre. The initial few boxes didn't bode well, but, by the end of the session, I had 20 boxes with eggs in them. As always, the boxes were checked under licence, and the results will be added to the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. There are still a few boxes to check, so hopefully, there will be a few more to add to the list.

All of yesterday's boxes contained tit nests, including only my second Coal Tit nest. The highest count of eggs was 13 in one clutch! Unfortunately, there weren't any Pied Flycatchers around at all. I'll keep checking, and hopefully, there will be some nests this year.

After checking the boxes, I walked around the rest of the site, recording my first Common Sandpiper (162) of the year. 

Common Sandpiper

There were also approximately 15 Swallows, 1 House Martin and 1 Sand Martin, flying around the top reservoir. The ringed Grey Wagtail was still present, singing on the top reservoir, and was joined by a female bird. Other birds seen were: 1 Grey Heron, 21 Mallard, 7 Mandarin Ducks, 1 Canada Goose, 7 Coots (1 nest on the top reservoir), 4 Moorhens, 3 Great-crested Grebes,  24 Tufted Ducks, 3 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap, 2 Song Thrushes and a calling Great-spotted Woodpecker. Unfortunately, the female Mute Swan, 6Y24, appears to have left the site.

Swallow

In the afternoon, I was down at The Avenue Washlands, and spotted my first Swift (163) of the year.

Linacre - 24th June 2023

 This morning I had three hours walking around Linacre, checking the nestboxes, carrying out this month's WeBS count, and looking at the insects that were out and about in the 20 degree temperature. 

First up the nestboxes. I walked around and checked the last few remaining nests, and the great news is that they had all fledged successfully, including the three Pied Flycatchers- hurrah!! I'll write another blog post about the totals later in the year.

Next, the WeBS walk. Species (and numbers seen) were: Mallard (99; 83 adults and 16 ducklings), Tufted Duck (41 adults), Mandarin Duck (42; 32 adults and 10 ducklings), Coot (22; 12 adults and 10 juveniles), Moorhen (20; 11 adults and 9 juveniles), Great-crested Grebe (8; 5 adults and 3 juveniles), Little Grebe (2;1 heard on the middle reservoir and 1 seen on the top reservoir), Grey Heron (1), Grey Wagtail (1), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1 adult), and, best of all, a Common Sandpiper on the bottom reservoir - the first record of the year!). Other birds seen or heard were: Song Thrush (2 heard), Chiffchaff (3 heard), Blackcap (4 heard) and Garden Warbler (1 heard in the ringing site). 

Insects were the best I've had so far this year, with several first sightings. Meadow Brown (15 - an excellent count across the site, and the first Linacre record of the year), Ringlet (2 in the ringing site - first Linacre record of 2023), Speckled Wood (5), Red-tailed and Tree Bumblebees, Red and Black Froghopper, Common Blue and Azure Damselflies (the latter species, the first Linacre record of 2023), Swollen-thighed Flower Beetle, Volucella bombylans (white-tailed variety), Volucella pellucens (first 2023 record), Latticed Heath (2) and a Harlequin Ladybird larvae.

Volucella bombylans

Azure Damselfly

Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle

Red and Black Froghopper

Dunham Massey - 1st May 2023

 Yesterday, we had a family day out at the National Trust's Dunham Massey. Whilst there, I spotted two new species for the year: Ring-necked Parakeet (156) and, very surprisingly, a Common Sandpiper (157).

We also saw Fallow Deer in the Deer Park.

Fallow Deer

Summer Migrants Arrive

 The sun was out at Linacre this morning and so were the birds!

Between 8am and 10.30am I walked around all three Reservoirs and recorded 12 Chiffchaffs, 4 Blackcaps, 2 Willow Warblers, 1 Swallow and 1 Common Sandpiper.

Common Sandpiper (heavily cropped!)

I also had  my first April record of Herring Gull ( 1 adult - most likely from the increasing breeding population in Chesterfield), 3 Grey Wagtails, 1 Pied Wagtail, the first Mallard ducklings of the year (5 on the bottom reservoir), 1 Common Buzzard, 10 Canada Geese (highest count of the year), 6 Great-crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 30 Tufted Duck, 17 Coot, 13 Mandarin Duck and 7 Moorhens, including the first nest of the year. 

Sunshine and (Snow) Showers

Today was this month's WeBS walk at Linacre. I had a wander round and recorded the following birds: Mallard (45), Mandarin (24), Coot (5), Moorhen (8), Great-crested Grebe (2), Tufted Duck (69),  Canada Goose (1), Lesser Black-backed Gull (2 adults), Goosander (1 female), Pied Wagtail (1) and Grey Wagtail (5). The Grey Wagtails were singing and displaying, and I managed to get this interesting photo.

Grey Wagtails

In addition to these species there were also c.30 Swallows, 2 House Martins and 1 Sand Martin (feeding together over the top reservoir in a snow/hail shower!!) and 4 Buzzards. The best birds, however, were 3 Reed Buntings (2 males and 1 female) that I found feeding in and around the willows by the boardwalk on the top reservoir. This is only my third record of this species at Linacre (1 male ringed in 2013 and 1 male singing in the ringing site in 2019), so you can imagine how pleased I was to see them! Unfortunately, they didn't want their photos taking, and this awful picture, is the best I got!!

Reed Bunting (male)

The last bird of note was seen on Friday 9th, and was the first Common Sandpiper of the year. I usually only get 1 sighting of this species each year, as they pass through to their breeding grounds, so I was very pleased to catch up with this bird. It fed on the wall of the middle dam, and again, this is my best photo.

Common Sandpiper

Colour-ringed Mediterranean Gulls - Cornwall 2019

Last week, whilst in Cornwall I managed to see 2 colour-ringed Mediterranean Gulls on the RSPB's Hayle Estuary reserve.The first bird, an adult with the darvic ring 3PKK, had been ringed on 11th June 2018 on De Kreupel Island, The Netherlands. My sighting was the 8th since ringing, having been recorded in Marazion in August 2018, before moving to Finistere in France over the winter. It was then recorded in Langstone Harbour, Hampshire in March 2019, before my sighting in Cornwall.

The second bird, another adult with the darvic ring 2X3N, appears to have been ringed in Dublin. Details have been sent off, so I'll update as soon as I hear back from the project.

Two other metal-ringed Mediterranean Gulls were also seen. Unfortunately, they were too distant to read. 1 unringed, adult bird was also seen on Porthmeor Beach, St Ives.

Mediterranean Gull

Other birds seen on the reserve were: Dunlin (13), Greenshank (3), Common Sandpiper (3), Little Egret (10), Mallard, Curlew (60), Whimbrel (1), Shelduck (adults and young), Kingfisher and Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls.

Dunlin

UPDATE: Mediterranean Gull 2X3N was originally ringed, as a pullus, on Inish Island, Lady's Island Lake, Wexford, Ireland, on 08/06/2016. Since then, it has been sighted in Brittany;France in June 2017, on the Hayle Estuary in August - September 2018, Vendee; France in April - May 2019, and then my sighting in Cornwall in July 2019.

Linacre Nestboxes - 4th May 2019

Luke and I had 2 hours at Linacre checking the nestboxes for the BTO Nest Record Scheme yesterday. Things had moved on very nicely since last week with 26 active nests (up from 25 last week), including 5 with chicks, one of which (8 Great Tit chicks), I was able to ring for the BTO Ringing Scheme.

Chicks!

The new nest was a very nice find, as it contained a bright blue egg in a grass cup, indicating a Pied Flycatcher nest. There were 3 singing Pied Flycatchers present as well, so hopefully, we'll end up with a few more nests as well.

Pied Flycatcher nest

Whilst walking around we also spotted 3 broods of Mallards (8, 9 and 1), 1 brood of Moorhens (3), 20 House Martins, 10 Swallows, and..... a Common Sandpiper (the first Linacre record of 2019).

I popped back down to  Linacre again this morning for an hour, and managed to find a singing Reed Bunting (first ever record of a singing bird, and my first Linacre record since 2013, when 1 was trapped and ringed (see here), and a singing Whitethroat. I managed to get an awful record shot of the latter bird, showing a ring. We haven't ringed that many Whitethroats at Linacre, so it would be great to retrap it this year to see if it is a returning bird or not.

Year List update:
159 - Whitethroat

Scotland - 19th April 2019

Jayne and I are up in Scotland for a few days, and our first stop, on 19th, was Musselburgh Lagoons, near Edinburgh. We stopped off here to see if we could get a view of a pair of Surf Scoters, that had been recorded from the seawall. We got lucky, and managed good scope views of both the male and female birds - LIFER!!

Whilst there we also got excellent views of Common Scoter (10+), Velvet Scoter (50+), Long-tailed Duck (30+), Red-breasted Merganser (1 pair), Bar-tailed Godwit (c.50 on the lagoons), Oystercatcher (30+ on the lagoons), Ringed Plover (2 on the lagoons), Common Sandpiper (3 on the lagoons), Redshank (c.10 on lagoons) and 2 White Wagtails.

On arrival at our cottage in Killikrankie (20th), we spotted Raven (3), Buzzard (2+), and a Golden Eagle!! The eagle was a very nice surprise, as it's only my 2nd ever record, and my first, self-found bird. No photos unfortunately, but here's one of the Common Buzzards seen at the same time.

Common Buzzard

Year List update:
141 – Velvet Scoter
142 – Common Scoter
143 – SURF SCOTER
144 – Red-breasted Merganser
145 – Long-tailed Duck
146 – Common Sandpiper
147 – Golden Eagle

RSPB Old Moor - 22nd August 2018

Luke and I spent yesterday morning at RSPB Old Moor. We had a few waders, including 1 "year tick" for me, and some very nice insects.

When we arrived we walked around the dragonfly pools where we soon spotted a couple of male Migrant Hawkers, including one that posed nicely for a photograph.

Migrant Hawker (male)

Later in the day we also had Common Blue Damselfly, Common Darter and a couple of male Ruddy Darters, along with Common Blue Butterfly and Speckled Wood.

Ruddy Darter

As well as the insects we also saw Green Sandpiper (year tick), Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Lapwing, Snipe and Black-tailed Godwit, along with the usual waterbirds and Little Egret.

Green Sandpiper

Greenshank

Year List update:
187 - Green Sandpiper