Black-winged Kite!

On 7th September 2025, a Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus), appeared in Hickling Broad, Norfolk. It then toured around other Norfolk sites, before relocating to Hempstead Marshes, Sea Palling on 7th May 2026, and has been reported pretty much every day since! It is just the 3rd British record in the UK, but this species is moving north, through mainland Europe, breeding in France, The Netherlands and Hungary recently, and has also attempted to breed in Denmark (see here). Surely, it won't be long before we get the first British breeding attempt?

Whilst driving back from our holiday in Suffolk, Jayne and I did a detour, and got some excellent (if somewhat distant!) views, as the bird flew around the fields and perched up in the bushes. This bird is my 187th species of the year, my 6th "lifer" of the year, my 309th British bird and my 525th World tick! Here's a very distant record shot! 

Black-winged Kite

Amazingly, on the drive across, we also spotted a Hooded Crow, feeding by the side of the road, just outside Great Yarmouth. Unfortunately, it is no longer deemed a separate species from Carrion Crow, so can't be officially added to the "Year List".

Herring Gull HE21J

 Yesterday (27th) was our last full day in Suffolk, so we had a walk down to Southwold Harbour. Whilst there, I spotted a ringed Herring Gull; HE21J.

HE21J

Checking on the European Colour Ringing website it appears that the bird, a juvenile, was ringed in Northern Germany this summer. I'll update, as soon as I hear back from the ringing group.

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)

Whimbrel, Wheatear and Whitethroat!

 Over the last few days, down here in Suffolk, I've seen a few birds, including the three species listed in the title.

The first bird, Whimbrel (182), was found on Walberswick NNR , whilst "dipping" the Zitting Cisticola!

Whimbrel

The next bird, a Northern Wheatear, was seen today, on Aldeburgh beach. Its always great to see this species on migration. I even managed to spot it catch a grasshopper!

Wheatear

The last bird, Whitethroat, was a juvenile bird, that was spotted in the hedge of the garden where we're stopping. At first, it was quite skulking, but then it popped out and posed beautifully. This photo was taken through a glass window.

Whitethroat

RSPB Minsmere - 22nd August 2026

 Yesterday, Jayne and I had an early morning visit to RSPB Minsmere. We had three hours on site (6.30am - 9.30am), and added a new butterfly species for the year - Grayling.

We started off at the Visitors' Centre, before walking around the Coastal Trail. Our first bird of the visit was a Green Woodpecker, that flew off as we drove onto the site. Carrying on, we saw a good number of warblers, including a very bright, showy Lesser Whitethroat, along with a family party of Whitethroats. Chiffchaffs and Cettis Warblers, were also heard.

Arriving at the famous Scrape, we soon added a fly-over Hobby and a number of wader species: Lapwing, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Snipe, Green Sandpiper and Avocet, including a couple of well grown juveniles. It was here that we spotted our first Grayling of the day.

Grayling

Other birds seen around the Scrape were: Common Tern (adults and juveniles), Great Egret, Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, a single Barnacle Goose, Canada, Egyptian and Greylag Goose, Moorhen, Coot, 2 Little Gulls and Pied Wagtail.

Great Egret

Little Gull

Island Mere Hide was quite quiet (we missed the Bittern by a few minutes!), but we added Cormorant and Great-crested Grebe to the morning's list.

Arriving back at the Visitors' Centre, we finished off the morning with a vegan sausage cob, which we shared with a local Pheasant, a Robin and some Chaffinches.

Whitby - 15th August 2026

My last stop on the North Yorkshire/Cleveland tour on Saturday was an old favourite, Whitby. As always, I was lucky enough to spot a couple of darvic-ringed Herring Gulls: Y:B55 and Y:829.

Y:B55 was the first gull I saw, on the swing bridge, in the centre of town. Annoyingly, I emailed the ringer the wrong number, but I'm sure had been ringed, at Rufforth Waste Disposal Site. I'll update, when I get the exact details.

Y:B55

Y:829 (GV52855), who I saw in front of the RNLI building, by the West Pier, was ringed at Rufforth Waste Disposal Site on 4th November 2016. It was a 3 i.e. born that year, which makes it 10 years old this year. Interestingly, this gull has been seen in Derbyshire twice since ringing. The first sighting was at Carr Vale, on 3rd April 2020, and then at Poolsbrook Country Park on 17th December 2022. It has also been seen in Leicestershire (Cotesbach Landfill Site on 2nd January 2025), before being recorded again in Whitby, in the summer months.

Y:829

South Gare - 15th August 2026

After my trip to see the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, I drove up to South Gare, near Redcar (where I'd twitched a Brown Booby back in 2023 (see here). This time, I wasn't after anything in particular, so I had a couple of hours sitting, overlooking the Tees estuary.

There were several (10+) Sandwich Terns flying around, along with a smaller number of "commic", most likely Arctic Terns, a single Kittiwake, Herring Gulls, 5+ Guillemots, Linnets, Black-headed and a couple of Common Gulls.

Common Gull

A few wader species were also spotted: Dunlin (30+), Redshank (6), Oystercatchers (4) and, most importantly, a "year tick" 6 Bar-tailed Godwit (181).

Bar-tailed Godwit and friend!

A single seal was seen, and I'm pretty sure, its a Common/Harbour Seal. Here's a head-shot.

Common/Harbour Seal

Driving down the coast to Redcar, I had a quick stop at the beach car park and photographed a few Starlings that were hopping around.

Juvenile Starlings

Adult Starling (winter plumage)