Year List Continues - 3rd January 2025

 It was Jayne and my last day in Norfolk today, so we made the most of it, and added another 18 species to the Year List.

The first new bird of the day was Egyptian Goose (65), when 2 birds were spotted in a field whilst driving to RSPB Titchwell. Another species, Cattle Egret (66) was also seen, in a field by the A149, as we drove along. I was very pleased to spot this one, as it was, I think, my first self-found, in Britain. It posed beautifully, with the Highland Cattle!

Cattle Egret

We arrived at Titchwell, and, after feeding the local Robins and Blackbirds with a few left over mince pies, and spotting our first Song Thrush (67) of the year, in the car park, we went onto the reserve. We walked straight down the main path and stopped off in Island Hide, where we spotted 50+ Brent Geese, Coot (68), Redshank, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and a single adult Mediterranean Gull (69) with the Herring and Black-headed Gulls.

Mediterranean Gull (and friends)

Continuing down the path, we spotted 6 Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew and a single Spotted Redshank (70). 

Spotted Redshank

Great-crested Grebe (71), Goldeneye - 2 females (72), Grey Plover (73), Ringed Plover (74), Stonechat (75), Avocet (76), Reed Bunting (77) and Linnet (78) were also added at this point. A single Black-winged Stilt was seen, but, as it was wearing a plastic ring, and is an escaped bird, it can't be added to the Year List!

A quick seawatch was pretty tricky, in the freezing wind, and we only managed to spot 6 Sanderlings, 12 Oystercatchers and  3 Turnstones!!

The last species of the day were: Red-breasted Merganser (1 male on the reserve - 79), Rock Pipit (80), Dunnock (81 - 1 in the car park) and Red-legged Partridge (6 seen in a field on the drive back -82).

Northumberland - Day 1

 Jayne and I are up in Northumberland for a few days, so we've taken the opportunity to get a few new birds for this year's Year List.

Our first new birds were seen on the drive up: Red Kite (49), Kestrel (50) and Curlew (51). The next birds were seen at Newbiggin by-the-Sea: Oystercatcher (52), Redshank (53), Ringed Plover (54), Sanderling (55), Turnstone (56), Dunlin (57), Shorelark (2 on the golf course; 58), Twite (23 with the Shorelarks; 59), Rock Pipit (60) and Short-eared Owl (61).

Shorelark

The next few species were seen on the drive from Newbiggin to Shilbottle: Pink-footed Goose (62), Greylag Goose (63) and Mute Swan (64). We also stopped off at Widdrington Moor Lake, where we spotted 2 pairs of Red-breasted Merganser (65), Wigeon (66), 2 redhead Smew (67) and several male and female Goldeneye (68).

Elegant Tern - Cemlyn Lagoon, 26th July 2021

I was out "twitching" again yesterday! This time, I went to Cemlyn Lagoon, a North Wales Wildlife Trust site, to see an Elegant Tern. This North American species appeared in t tern colony earlier in the year, and has spent the last few months attempting to find a mate. It hasn't been successful, and was still presenting fish to the Sandwich Terns there when I saw it.

Elegant Tern

Whilst waiting for the tern to appear, I watched (and listened to!!) the Sandwich, Arctic and Common Terns flying backwards and forwards with food for their chicks. Also seen were: Black Guillemot (2 on the sea), Whimbrel (2), Red-breasted Merganser (1 on the sea), Oystercatcher, Grey Heron and Little Egret.

One of the Sandwich Terns was wearing a darvic ring, KJC (black lettering on yellow). It was ringed on the island of Inish, which is on Lady's Island Lake in County Wexford, Ireland (182km) presumably as a chick, on 21st June 2017. It was seen a couple of times in North Wales in August 2018, and then 6 times at Cemlyn this year. Amazingly, the darvic-ringed Sandwich Tern I had at St Mary's Island last week, KAL, (see here), had also been ringed on his island, just four days earlier (17th June 2017)! This bird seems to like the east coast of England, as it has been reported 8 times at Coquet Island in July and August 2019 and 2020, before my sighting on 22nd July 2021. It has also been reported in Namibia, in a place called Walvis Bay, on 16th October 2019. A well travelled bird!!

Year List update:

156 - Elegant Tern

157 - Black Guillemot

158 - Red-breasted Merganser

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

Year List 2015- the final figure!

So it's just gone 7pm on New Year's Eve, so I think it's safe to say I won't be adding any new birds to the "year list" for 2015. Following on from the Great Northern Diver earlier in the week, I've managed to see another 2 species, taking me to a grand total of 181 for the year. The last species for the year were Red-breasted Merganser and Common Scoter, both seen today in Northumberland.

Red-breasted Merganser

The Mergansers, 2 males and a female, were both seen on the River Coquet in Warkworth, along with 4 Eider Ducks, 2 Grey Herons, a male Goldeneye, Black-headed and Herring Gulls and Redshank. The Common Scoter, a female, was seen by Stag Rocks in Bamburgh, again accompanied by several Eider Ducks.

Jayne and I also visited Cresswell Pond today, where we saw Tree Sparrow, Goldfinch, Curlew, Redshank, Snipe (4), a Peregrine Falcon, Teal, Wigeon, Little Grebe, c.30 Pink-footed Geese, Black-headed, Herring and an adult Mediterranean Gull.

Herring, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gull

Year List update:
180: Red-breasted Merganser
181: Common Scoter

North Berwick and Bamburgh

Last day in Scotland today, so I got up early (again) and had a couple of hours on the beaches at North Berwick. The sun was just rising as I arrived and I got this shot of the beach and Bass Rock in the background.

North Berwick beach

Birdwise it was quite quiet, but I did record my first Turnstones of the trip (20+), feeding with at least 3 Purple Sandpipers (year tick) on the rocks below the Scottish Seabird Centre. Other waders present on the beach were Oystercatcher, Redshank, Curlew and a couple of Ringed Plovers. Both Grey and Pied Wagtails were feeding on the seaweed, whilst Starlings and House Sparrows were present on the nearby houses. Out on the sea were a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers, dozens of Eider Ducks, including several males trying to attract the attention of the females with their amazing "oooh,oooh" calls (listen here), a stunning 43 Shags feeding in the bay, along with Black-headed, Common, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls.

On the drive back home, we stopped off at Bamburgh and had half an hour on the beach by Stag Rocks. I was hoping to catch up with some grebes or divers, and a Bonaparte's Gull that was reported yesterday, but no such luck. I did, however, see 5 juvenile Gannets "plunge diving" into the sea, 20+ Eider Ducks, 40+ Turnstones, 5 Purple Sandpipers and Common and Black-headed Gulls.

Year List update:
186 - Purple Sandpiper

Update: the Bonaparte's Gull was spotted about an hour after I'd left!!!!!

East Lothian Tour and 3 Year Ticks

Got up and out again this morning. First stop was Musselburgh Lagoons on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I visited this site for the first time last October, where I managed some video footage of Velvet Scoter (see here).  Scoters were present again this morning with at least a dozen male bird swimming close to the seawall. Also present were 1 Slavonian Grebe, a female Red-breasted Merganser, Oystercatchers, Dunlin, Eider Duck and Black-headed and Common Gull.

Driving back to North Berwick I stopped off at Gosford Bay in search of Red-necked Grebe, without luck!! I did however add Golden Plover to the trip list, along with more Dunlin, a Great-crested Grebe and a dozen Bar-tailed Godwit.

A quick visit to Aberlady Bay brought me 3 Barnacle Geese, which was very nice as these are presumably wild ones, as opposed to the feral ones seen in Derbyshire. Two Little Egrets were present again and feeding around the bridge and, of course, a couple of hundred Pink-footed Geese flew out to feed in the farmland.

Last stop was Gullane Bents. No Long-tailed Ducks today, but I did pick up a single winter plumaged Red-throated Diver, several Eider Ducks and a group of 10+ Common Scoter.

Gullane Bay (and my thumb!!)

Year List update:

182- Slavonian Grebe

183 – Red-breasted Merganser
184 – Red-throated Diver
185 - Rock pipit (1 in North Berwick)

VELVET SCOTERS!!!!!

I spent two hours at Musselburgh Lagoons on the outskirts of Edinburgh this afternoon, where I had the most amazing views of both male and female Velvet Scoters.

Although I've seen them before flying along the coast, this was the first time I've managed to get them in the 'scope and watch them swimming and fishing. At one point the birds were about 20m away from the seawall - amazing!! Here's a photo and my first You Tibe video.

Velvet Scoter (male)

 

Male and female Velvet Scoter

As well as the scoters I also managed to see another 2 adult male Long-tailed Ducks (that's 4 in one day!!), a pair of Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Slavonian Grebes, Eider Duck  and another Red-throated Diver.

On the lagoons themselves there were 200+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 40+ Grey Plover, 30+ Golden Plover, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Teal, Tufted Duck, Mallards and my first Goldeneye of the winter.

Bar-tailed Godwits and Golden Plover

Year List addition:

159 - Velvet Scoter

Barns Ness

This morning's walk saw me heading down the coast to a beach south of Dunbar called Barns Ness. I was hoping to catch up with a Water Pipit that had been reported yesterday, but the tide was out and I couldn't find it anywhere!

Barns Ness lighthouse and beach

First bird of the morning was a Common Buzzard that flew up from a tree as I drove down to the beach. Next up were Meadow Pipits, followed by several Rock Pipits and at least a dozen Pied Wagtails that were feeding on the seaweed on the beach. Redshanks, Turnstones, Oystercatchers and Curlews were all feeding along the edge of the sea. A couple of Stonechats (1 male and 1 female) were seen in the sand dunes and Linnet and Goldfinch flew overhead.

Out on the sea there were several Eider Ducks, 1 Red-throated Diver, Great Black-backed, Herring, Black-headed and Common Gulls along with 2 new species for the trip: Gannets and Red-breasted Merganser (also a Year Tick).

Just behind Barns Ness there is a large, active quarry with a large lake. I had a quick look at it on the way back and added Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Lapwing and Shoveler to the morning's list.

Back in North Berwick a short walk along the beach produced the same birds as yesterday, plus a late Swallow that flew south overhead.

Year List:

155 - Red-breasted Merganser

Cresswell Pond - 23rd October 2011

I got up early this morning and drove down to visit Cresswell Pond, a Northumberland Wildlife Trust reserve at the south end of Druridge Bay, Northumberland. Two hours later I had notched up a respectable 37 species including a stunning "cream crown" Marsh Harrier hunting over the reedbeds, a summer plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit and a small flock of 14 Red-breasted Mergansers.

Red-breasted Merganser

Bar-tailed Godwit

Other birds of note were: a winter plumaged Spotted Redshank, 2 large skeins of Pink-footed Geese which flew over, half a dozen Tree Sparrows in the hedges by the hide and two Common Snipe feeding in the reeds- lovely!

Raptor Fest - Upper Derwent Valley- 19th March 2011

The last time I blogged about the Upper Derwent Valley back in January the news wasn't good. I was reporting about raptor persecution during the 2010 breeding season. Thankfully today's post is a lot more pleasant and hopefully enjoyable.

Today's walk was organised by the Derbyshire Ornithological Society and involved a morning watching raptors dispalying above the skies of Howden and Derwent Water. Unfirtunately no pictures of the birds as they were too far away and too high up!

We met at Fairholmes Car Park at 9am and the first raptors soon put in an appearance, when an enormous female Goshawk was identified flying high over the moors. This wasn't to be our only sighting of this iconic species, however, and several more were spotted throughout the morning. Common Buzzards lived up to their name,with numbers in double figures. A pair of Kestrels were also recorded and several Sparrowhawks were noted high up in display. One Peregrine Falcon was seen in the company of two Buzzards amd the honourary raptors, Ravens, were also recdorded, when four birds were seen together at the top of the valley. The final raptor of the day was a "ringtail" Hen Harrier, which was found from Windy Corner, high over the moors.

Other birds present included a beautiful male Red-breasted Merganser preening and feeding on Howden Water, my first Meadow Pipit of the year, Siskin, Red Grouse and a pair of Pied Wagtail.

Pied Wagtail

These sightings prove that the area is still a very popular one for many different birds of prey. Let's hope this year's breeding season is a lot more productive than last year's!!!

Wales - 20th - 22nd February 2011

Just been away for a few days to Wales with the family, so I thought I'd let you know how we got on. Though not principally a birding trip, we did manage to get some good "ticks".

First stop was Caernarfon where, amongst a few Redshank, Curlew, Mallard, Wigeon, 2 Mute Swans and Oystercatchers I spotted a group of 15 Red-breasted Mergansers fishing in the Menai Straits.

Red-breasted Mergansers

Also feeding on the sandy banks were a small flock of 6 Pale-bellied Brent Geese.

Next day saw us travel down to the south of the Llyn Penninsula where our first stop was the village of Portmerion. As well as looking around the interesting architecture we also managed to add Raven and Little Egret to the trip list.

Porthmadog was the next stop. Looking over the estuary several more Curlew were seen, along with Redshank, Wigeon, more Oystercatcher and a few Teal.

A short drive further down the coast brought us to Criccieth where 20+ Common Scoter and 1 winter plumage Great-crested Grebe were fishing in the bay.

Common Scoter

The last stop of the day was Abersoch. Unfortunately the rain started here so the only real sightings were Great Black-backed, Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls loafing, swimming and preening in the river on the beach. Nice to get all three species together in one photgraph.