Oban - 9th - 16th August 2025

 After our week in Anstruther, Jayne and I drove across to Oban, to meet up with the rest of the family. Whilst there, in between the touristy bits, we managed to add 3 new bird species to the "Year List", a new butterfly for the year and add a new species of butterfly and mammal to the Life Lists.

The 3 new birds were: Greenshank (190), when 2 were spotted on the loch near our holiday home, Black Guillemot (191); 2 birds in and around Oban harbour and Manx Shearwater (192), with a flock of c20 seen from the ferry, whilst crossing over to Mull.

Black Guillemot (moulting into winter plumage)

The new species of butterfly was a Scotch Argus, that flew past us on the beach (!) and landed, very briefly, hence the awful photo, on Ganavan Sands, Oban.

Scotch Argus

The other butterfly species seen were: Red Admiral, Green-veined White and Grayling (seen on Isle of Luing).

Grayling

Other species seen, whilst up there were: Common Buzzard, Raven (3 over the Isle of Luing and over the holiday accommodation), Hooded Crow (no longer on the Year List since being  "lumped" back with Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Turnstone, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Gannet, Kittiwake, Herring, Common, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls, Stonechat, Swallow, House Martin (nesting on our holiday home), Starling, a single Skua species (probably Arctic), seen harrying the terns (probably Arctic as well) on the ferry to Mull and some "pigeons" that could possibly be Rock Doves (seen on the Isle of Luing).

Hooded Crow

Mammal wise, we spent an enjoyable few hours out with the Heart of Argyl Wildlife Organisation in the Knapdale Forest on a "Beaver Walk", where we managed to watch an adult beaver swim the entire length of the Loch of Barnluasgan!!

European Beaver

Whilst on the ferry across to Mull, we saw a small pod of approximately 6 Common Dolphins (no photos unfortunately). The final animal of note, was a single Red Squirrel, seen disappearing into the bushes!

Year List Update - 4th August 2025

 Jayne and I are up in Scotland for a couple of weeks. On the drive up, we stopped off at Musselburgh Lagoons, near Edinburgh, to look for some scoters. 

There were 4 species of scoter to find, but, as you can imagine, we only managed to find 2 of them, Velvet Scoter (185), Common Scoter (186). Annoyingly, the White-winged and Surf remained elusive!! Other species seen were: Eider Duck, Razorbill (187), Redshank, Gannet, Sandwich Tern, Herring Gull and Goosander.

Arriving in Anstruther, we spotted 6 species of gull, around the harbour area: Black-headed, Common, Herring, Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed and a single Kittiwake. 2 Kingfishers were also seen feeding in the rockpools, along with Redshank, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Curlew and Turnstone. A single Shag (188) and a single Common Tern (189) were spotted on the nearby rocks.

A walk along the coastal path to Pittenweem added Linnet, Painted Lady and a single Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Linnet

Weekend Birding

 This weekend, Jayne and I went up to RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Teesdale and RSPB Fairburn Ings. Over the two days, we managed to spot 10 new species for the "year list".

The first new species was Gannet (152), followed closely by Kittiwake (153), Puffin (154) and Razorbill (155). Back at the Visitors' Centre, we added Tree Sparrow (156).

Tree Sparrow

Afterwards, we drove up to Teesdale, to visit Langdon Beck and the Black Grouse (157). We had two visits, one on Saturday, and one again on Sunday morning. Black Grouse were seen on both occasions, with 27 displaying (lekking) males on the Sunday visit- a very impressive sight and sound. One bird, presumably a young male, by the look of the plumage, wandered up from the lek, right to the car, from where this photo was taken!

Black Grouse

A short while later, this female bird was spotted, posing beautifully. Again, this photo was taken from the car, at a distance of about 15m.

Black Grouse (female)

Other birds seen in the area were: drumming Snipe (158), a male Wheatear (159), Curlew, Lapwing and lots of Meadow Pipits. Driving back to our accommodation, we dropped very lucky, and saw two hunting Barn Owls, and a Red Squirrel!

Barn Owl

Our last stop was RSPB Fairburn Ings, where we added Spoonbill (160) and Common Tern (161).

RSPB Bempton Cliffs and RSPB Old Moor - 22nd April 2023

 Jayne and I had a trip over to RSPB Bempton Cliffs to catch up with a few "year ticks" today. First up was Tree Sparrow (133), with several birds around the main centre, busy setting up their territories.

Tree Sparrow

After a quick walk down to the cliffs we soon added the other new birds: Puffin (134) (thanks for the spot, Jayne!), Guillemot (135), Razorbill (136), Kittiwake (137) and Gannet (138).

Puffin and Guillemot

Razorbill

When we had finished at Bempton, we checked Bird Guides, and noticed that the male Ring-necked Duck (139) had been reported at RSPB Old Moor. We popped in on the way back, and got great, but distant, views from Wath Ings Hide. 

Ring-necked Duck

Other birds seen were: Shelduck (140), Gadwall, Mallard, Canada Goose, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Starling, Green Woodpecker and Cetti's Warbler.

Wales - 15th - 22nd April 2022

 Jayne and I have just spent a week in Llanbedrog, North Wales. Although primarily a family break, we did manage to do some birding, and added 10 species to the "Year List".

The first new bird was a very nice surprise, a drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (129), that was heard  from our bed!! Unfortunately, we couldn't see it, but we heard it for three mornings on the trot (at 6:30am!). The next two additions were Gannet (130) and Whitethroat (131), which were both seen in Aberdaron. The 132nd species seen was Osprey. We saw 2 pairs of birds at the Glaslyn Osprey Centre, near Porthmadog. 

Yesterday, we had a trip to Cemlyn Lagoon and RSPB South Stack. Cemlyn was very busy with 100+ Sandwich Terns (133) coming and going, along with a similar amount of Black-headed Gulls. We popped in to the old harbour at Holyhead and managed to see three Black Guillemots (134), before heading across to RSPB South Stack, where we added Razorbill (135), Kittiwake (136), Puffin (137) and House Martin (138) to the list. 

Other species seen here included: Chough, Raven, Guillemot, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Swallow, Lesser, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Linnet. 

RSPB Bempton Cliffs - 4th July 2020

Most years, Jayne and I try to get up to RSPB Bempton Cliffs near Bridlington to see the seabird colony there. Normally, we go up around Easter time, but, for obvious reasons, we didn't get there this year, so instead, we went up yesterday.

One of the main reasons for this year's visit was the see a Black-browed Albatross that had been seen on Friday. Unfortunately, there was no sign, so instead, we enjoyed the fantastic Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars, Puffins, Herring Gulls, Tree Sparrows, and two new species for us at this reserve, Long-eared Owl  and  Great Skua.

Gannet (adult)

Gannet (Sub-adult, possibly born in 2019, or 2018)

We don't normally see many mammals here, so a couple of very active Weasels by the side of one of the viewpoints was a very nice sight.

Weasel

Whitby and Scarborough

Last weekend I was up in Whitby and Scarborough with the family. Whitby was quite quiet Birdwise, but I did spot a well known Herring Gull, with a darvic ring 1R1B.

Herring Gull 1R1B

I say, well known, because I saw this bird in exactly the same spot ( the top of a dustbin on the pier) back in July 2015 (see here). There were lots of other Herring Gulls around, along with the odd Fulmar and a pair of Shags. Red Admiral butterflies were present in good numbers (10+), and 4 Small Tortoiseshells were also seen.

Scarborough was a little busier. There were hundreds of pairs of Kittiwakes in and around the town centre and cliffs, including several with growing chicks.

Kittiwakes

Also present were Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls (3 of the latter, including 1 adult in full breeding plumage, on the sea by The Spa).

Mediterranean Gull

Turnstones were seen in the harbour, along with a small flock of 10 Redshank, a few more Kittiwakes and a pair of Rock Pipits that were carrying food to an unseen nest.

Rock Pipits

Birthday Lifer

It was my birthday this weekend, so I travelled up to Teesdale and RSPB Bempton Cliffs with my family for a couple of days. High on my wish list was a bird that I've looked for before - Black Grouse. This year luck, and a bit of research, paid dividends, and I got to watch an amazing 22 males and 19 females at a lek site in Upper Teesdale. The birds were seen (and heard) from the road, with the birds about 500m away. After the lekking was over, a female bird and 2 males flew closer to me, allowing a couple of reasonable shots from the car.

Black Grouse (female)

Black Grouse (male and a Curlew)

Driving back down to our hotel in Barnard Castle I managed a couple of lovely photos of 2 other moorland birds; Lapwing and Snipe.

Lapwing

Snipe

Other birds seen in Teesdale were: Red Grouse, Common Sandpiper (1 on the Tees in Barnard Castle), Dipper, Grey Wagtail, Curlew, Swallow (5) and Red-legged Partridge (year tick).

After Teesdale, we drove across to Bempton Cliffs in North Yorkshire, and added another 4 species (Razorbill, Puffin, Gannet and Kittiwake) to the "year list", taking me to 141. It was pretty windy when we got there, and the Gannets, in particular, were hovering just on the edge of the cliffs, and dropping down onto the grass to grab mouthfuls for  their nests, allowing some decent photo opportunities.

Gannet

Other species seen here were: Guillemot, Tree Sparrow, Skylark, Fulmar and Herring Gull.

Year List update:
136 – Black Grouse
137 – Red-legged Partridge
138 – Razorbill
139 – Puffin
140 – Gannet
141 – Kittiwake

Scarborough, Bempton and Bridlington

I spent yesterday out and about in Yorkshire with Luke. We started the day off in Scarborough, before driving down to the RSPB Bempton Cliffs reserve, and finishing off in Bridlington.

We started off in Scarborough so that Luke could see his first Black-necked Grebe. Luckily the bird was still present in the harbour, and we managed to see it straight away, swimming around the boats. The Turnstones were around (no colour rings today though), as were Herring Gulls, Kittiwakes, and, best of all, a single male Wheatear, hopping about on the sea defences, presumably having just arrived in the country. Luke managed to grab this distant record shot, before it continued on its journey to who knows where...

Wheatear

From Scarborough, we headed off down the coast to RSPB Bempton Cliffs. The weather turned when we arrived, and we ended up being blown about and rained on, as we stood looking over the famous cliffs. Luckily, we managed to spot all the key birds through the rain, with excellent views of Gannets, Kittiwakes, Fulmar, Guillemots, Razorbills and, best of all for Luke, Puffin ( a new species)! 

Puffin

After Bempton, we drove down to Bridlington so we could go for a boat trip out along the coast. We had an hour long ride up towards Flamborough Head. Unfortunately, the weather didn't improve and we only managed to see  a few birds, including Kittiwakes, a couple of Gannets, several Herring Gulls and a winter plumaged Guillemot. The only highlight, though, was a "year tick" for me and a new species for Luke; Common Scoter. We saw about 6 birds flying past in small groups.

After the boat trip we walked around the harbour where we spotted another dozen or so Turnstones, another Black-necked Grebe (!), Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls and a Barnacle Goose.

Black-necked Grebe

Barnacle Goose

Further investigation via Twitter, lead me to find out that the Barnacle Goose is a feral bird that has been around the harbour for about 5 to 6 years. A very strange and unexpected addition to the day's birding.

Year List update:
131- Wheatear
132 - Gannet
133 - Razorbill
134 - Puffin
135 - Common Scoter

Black-necked Grebe and Colour-ringed Turnstones

I'm off for the Easter holidays at the moment, so I decided to head off to Scarborough for the day with Jayne and Lydia. The sun was shining for most of the day, and I managed to add 3 new birds to the "year list", with 2 Black-necked Grebes in the harbour, along with several pairs of Kittiwakes that were starting to nest build on the harbour walls, and a couple of Rock Pipits on the sea defences..

Black-necked Grebe

Kittiwake

Other birds seen around the harbour were Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Peregrine Falcon on the cliffs and Turnstones. In amongst the 20 or so Turnstone were 8 colour-ringed birds.

Turnstones

I've recorded colour-ringed Turnstones in the harbour at Scarborough before, back in 2014, and found out that they were ringed in the harbour itself. It'll be interesting to see if they've been reported elsewhere since then. I'll update with details as soon as I get them from the scheme.

Year List Update:
125 - Black-necked Grebe
126 - Kittiwake
127 - Rock Pipit

RSPB Bempton, Scarborough and Flamborough

I spent this weekend in Scarborough celebrating my up-coming birthday (thanks Jayne!!). We started off at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, then moved on to Scarborough, and then visited The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's Flamborough Cliffs Reserve.  Over the 2 days we added 7 new species to the "year list", enjoyed some lovely weather, great food and company (thanks again Jayne) and stunning views of some of our amazing seabirds.

The weekend trip started at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, where the first birds we saw were the Gannets, followed closely by Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Razorbills and a couple of Puffins. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were singing everywhere, and Tree Sparrows were feeding around the centre.

Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemots and a Razorbill

Razorbill and Kittiwake

After Bempton, we drove down into Scarborough. We had a walk around the town, went on the beach, had a spot of lunch at the excellent  C.A.L.F. vegetarian café, and added a couple more birds to the list, namely Purple Sandpiper (30 roosting on the breakwaters in the harbour at high tide), and a male Scaup, that was present on the lake in Peasholme Park (no photo, it was just too far away).

Purple Sandpiper

Also present in the harbour were about 6 pairs of Kittiwake that were on nests, several Herring Gulls, a pair of Rock Pipits, two Turnstones and a stunning breeding plumaged Redshank.

Pair of Kittiwakes nesting in Scarborough harbour.

Turnstone

Redshank

This morning we left Scarborough and headed down to North Landing at Flamborough Cliffs. We didn't see anything new, but we did spot a pair of Puffins, and I managed to get a reasonable photo.

Puffins

Year List update:

105 – Gannet

106 – Kittiwake
107 – Guillemot
108 – Razorbill
109 – Puffin
110 – Purple Sandpiper
111 - Scaup

Northumberland News

After our holiday in Suffolk at the start of the summer (see here and here), Jayne and I went up to Northumberland for a break last week. Although not a birding trip, we did visit a few regular spots, and also managed to add 3 birds to the "Year List".

The first new bird was an adult Caspian Gull (see here), which had been present in the harbour at Amble for a couple of weeks.

Caspian Gull

As you can see, this bird was colour-ringed, which showed that it had been ringed at a Caspian Gull colony in Poland. Nice and easy to identify!! Other birds seen around the harbour included Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed , Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls, Eider Ducks, Cormorants, Common Terns, Shags, Goosander, Mute Swan, Mallard, Redshank, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Knot , Shelduck and Starling.

On the Tuesday, we went to Bamburgh and Seahouses. Whilst there, we took a "sunset cruise" around the Farne Islands with Serenity Tours. Unfortunately, all the auks had left, but we did see lots of Kittiwakes and Shags, along with several Fulmars one Purple Sandpiper and a couple of Gannets. The Atlantic Grey Seals have also returned to the islands to breed, so we got some pretty good views of them too.

Grey Seals

The final new bird of the week was a Pectoral Sandpiper, that was found on a flash at North Charlton. It was feeding along with 10 Ruff, 2 Snipe, 1 Little Ringed Plover and several Moorhens. Here's a link to a much better photo than I got.

Year List update:
170 - Caspian Gull
171 - Gannet
172 - Pectoral Sandpiper

Coastal Birding

At the weekend I popped up to Newcastle with my wife and daughter, to visit our son and his girlfriend. As always when we go up I pop across to the coast for a spot of "coastal birding" at St Mary's Island in Whitley Bay.

St Mary's Island and causeway

As you can see from the above photo, the tide was out on my visit, which meant that the are all around the island was exposed, providing lots of rocks and feeding areas for a wide variety of waders, most of which were additions to the "Year List".

I always enjoy seeing waders, but there are two species that really stand out for me; Purple Sandpiper and Sanderling. Both species are rarely seen in Derbyshire, and take a little effort to see, so I was very happy to get great views yesterday. The Sanderling, in particular, were great, because I didn't see them at all last year, and also because of the way they feed. Yesterday's birds, which numbered about 80 in total split into 2 small groups, were running backwards and forwards on the water's edge, and looked amazing. Watch this video for an idea of how great they are!

Year List update:

85 – Common Gull

86- Eider Duck
87- Kittiwake
88 – Shag
89 – Oystercatcher
90 – Ringed Plover
91 – Sanderling
92 – Purple Sandpiper
93 – Turnstone

White-wingers!

Every year several so called "white-winged" gulls appear in the UK to spend the winter. Neither of the two species are particularly common, so when I got the opportunity to look for both I jumped at the chance. Both species, Iceland and Glaucous Gull, have been reported on Birdguides at the Fish Quay at North Shields in Newcastle, so whilst visiting my son and his girlfriend, I popped across to have a look.

I spent a couple of hours on site yesterday morning and managed to see both species, a 2nd winter Iceland Gull and a juvenile/1st winter Glaucous Gull.

Iceland Gull

 

Glaucous Gull

 

These species can be quite tricky to tell apart, but luckily the BTO have put together this short video to help.

Also seen on site were over a dozen Cormorants, several Shags, Eider Ducks (make and female), Black-headed, Great Black-backed, Herring and Common Gulls, a winter-plumaged Kittiwake (my first ever) and a Turnstone.

Kittiwake (note the dark smudge on the head)

Year List:
88 – Shag
89 – Eider Duck
90 – Turnstone
91 – Iceland Gull
92 – Glaucous Gull
93 – Kittiwake

Tyneside Kittiwakes

I spent a few days up in Newcastle over the bank holiday and took the opportunity to visit the Kittiwakes that nest on the Tyne Bridge. There must be around 50/60 pairs nesting on and around the bridge. Some, such as these on the photos nest just over the fence and are very easy to see. As you can see there are a few chicks. I wonder who rings them?

Kittiwakes

A view from underneath the bridge

Gorgeous birds!

We had a drive up to St Mary's Island whilst up there, but the tide was out and so we didn't see much at all, just a few House Sparows, 2 Sand Martins, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Herring Gull and a few Starlings (including juveniles).

The Year List moved on 1 species with a Red Kite spotted on the journey up.

138 - Red Kite