Cornwall - 18.10.25

Sadly my flight left on time and with it the end of my trip. But I wasn’t to sad as there was still some potentially good birds to see in Cornwall on the way home!

Once I’d reached my car and cleaned the salt spray off the windows I headed straight to the Hayle Estuary where from the road I quickly saw the year ticks of Curlew Sandpiper and just my 3rd ever White-rumped Sandpiper which frustratingly spent most of the time I was there asleep. A Spotted Redshank and Brent Goose were notable as were 20+ Mediterranean Gulls and a Peregrine that swooped in but failed to catch anything for breakfast.

Spoonbills

From the hide at Ryan’s Field 2 Spoonbill were doing what they do best and sleeping. I then stopped off at Philp’s Pasties to grab a couple to take home and from the car park was a 3rd Spoonbill feeding in the channel.

It was then onto Truro Tesco’s where after parking in the store car park I crossed the road and joined 3 birders. Quite quickly I re found the juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs as it probed the sticky mud. As I turned around to leave I bumped into Paul Freestone who helped me with directions for my next stop.

Baird’s Sandpiper

My final stop before heading for home was Colliford Lake. This was a new site for me but with Paul’s directions and help from a couple heading back to their car I quite quickly got onto my 3rd ever Baird’s Sandpiper that was hanging around with 3 Ringed Plover in the near gale force wind.

I arrived home just before 5pm having seen 129 species on Scilly which had risen to 142 after my Cornish stop offs and a Great White Egret over the car near Huntspill in Somerset.

An excellent couple of weeks with a lifer, 2 Scilly ticks and 21 year ticks in total. Plus it was great seeing familiar faces and meeting some new ones. Roll on next year! 

Scilly - 17.10.25

The last day of my 2 weeks was upon me and it started off at Porthcressa with another 1st Winter Caspian Gull. Up on Peninnis 6 more Skylark flew over and I found yet another Firecrest. Walking down the Peninnis farm trail I spotted a bird that looked good for a female Redstart but it barely showed at all in the 15 minutes I gave it so one that had to be forgotten. 

In Standing Stones the Brambling was seen again and as I’d forgotten something in my accommodation I headed back there but not before I found another Firecrest this time in the Chaplaincy gardens. At Porthloo beach I counted 11 Black Redstart! 9 on the beach, 1 on the houses behind the boatyard and another at Porthloo farm chalets. Also on the beach were 2 Wheatear. 

At Content Farm I had 2 Mistle Thrush followed by a flyover Hawfinch near Maypole. This was just my 2nd on Scilly. At the Maypole triangle I found my 3rd Firecrest of the day before I was told about a Lapwing just past Carn Vean. I headed in that direction and picked out 6 House Martin over the cafe but sadly the Lapwing had gone. But I did find my 4th Firecrest of the day and 19th of the week in the roadside hedge! 

My 12th Black Redstart of the day was on Old Town beach and the last bird noted for the holiday was a Common Redstart in the strange surroundings of Town Beach where it was flycatching of the ropes holding the boats !

Scilly - 16.10.5

Any day that starts with 3 Black Redstart and a Redpoll isn’t too shabby and that’s what I had at Porthcressa. Sadly that decent start shortly went horribly as a birder camping on St.Agnes had been woken by a calling Stone Curlew at 3.30am and that it’d just been flushed from the rocks at Old Town heading towards Peninnis. 

Thinking that’d never be seen again I headed to Porth Mellon where 2 1st winter Common Gull were added to the trip list and the female Common Scoter was offshore. News then broke of a Caspian Gull where I’d just been at Porthcressa so I headed through the dump and was almost by the hospital when news came in of the Stone Curlews reappearance at Old Town. I turned round and started running much to the bemusement of a fellow birder coming up the hill. I told him why I was running and together we headed back to Old Town. Radio messages came through it was below the church, then flown to Tolman’s then back towards Peninnis! I literally arrived as people were lowering their binoculars saying they lost it to view. Missed it by 2 seconds and Cliff Smith had been there but couldn’t see it below the church due to trees being in the way. It was then re found on Bryher. Bloody birds!

With this disappointment I headed to Longstones to try and cheer myself up with some of their lovely lemon drizzle cake! Along the track from the road past Carreg Dhu and up to Longstones I found 4 Firecrest.

Post drizzle cake I had a Mistle Thrush and another Firecrest at Holy Vale and then in the last field before the beach at Pelistry my 6th Firecrest of the day. Whilst having a cuppa at Ralph’s a Merlin shot through and a Yellow Wagtail flew over heard but unseen.

1st winter (top) and adult Caspian Gulls

I then had a distant Cattle Egret that was near Longstones. 1 of 2 that had appeared just after I’d left there. A quick look at Porth Hellick provided nothing of note and then I bumped into Cliff out on the road and he very kindly gave me a lift to Porthcressa where we saw a 1st Winter and adult Caspian Gull. These caused quite the twitch and were a Scilly tick for most even those who’d been coming for 30 plus years. Thankfully I’d seen Scilly’s 5th record last year on a pelagic but over the last couple of days of my visit as many as 10 were seen across the islands. 

As we were watching the gulls Mick Scott pulled a tube out of his pocket of a lovely Merveille du Jour moth which is still quite a rarity on Scilly and then someone said about seeing his even rarer moth at his accommodation. I followed him up to Buzza and saw his smart looking Feathered Brindle which was a new one for me.

Feathered Brindle

Scilly - 15.10.25

I started the day up at Peninnis where I noted 6 Skylark and my first Fieldfare of the trip. I then decided to walk along the coast path towards Porth Hellick. As I was approaching Tolman Point I noticed a bird flicking about on the rocks and was pleased to find a lovely male Black Redstart. I informed others and as we were watching it someone found a female nearby.

At Porth Hellick I went to be nosey and see what the ringers had found. As I approached they were removing a Chiffchaff and below that a Jack Snipe. As Jim the ringer moved around to get it he almost trod on another that flew off to the pool. Once safely removed I quickly grabbed a couple of photos showing just how small they are. There was another showing from the hide.

Jack Snipe (not my nails!)

  

I left them to it and wandered off towards Carn Friars in an attempt to relocate the previous days Wryneck near the Apple orchard maze. I scanned the fields, trees and bushes for about 20 minutes with no joy but as I started walking up the path to the farm a bird flicked up into the largest Coprosma bush and sat motionless in a gap for about 5 seconds before a Robin pushed it off. Success, my 2nd Wryneck of the trip.

Happy with that I headed back to Porth Hellick and had a walk around the loop. Another bird flicked up and finally I had seen a Reed Warbler this trip but again it was a 4-5 second view before vanishing. Whilst waiting for it to reappear a bird gave out a couple of single calls that I didn’t recognise but fell silent. The following day a possible Radde’s Warbler was found nearby and the recording of the call sounded very similar. Maybe next year I should brush up on scarcer bird calls before I go just incase! 

At Sandy Lane I came across another Yellow-browed Warbler but it was very mobile in the wind.

Jack Snipe

Lower Moors was my final stop of the day as there’d been 9 Jack Snipe reported from the 2 hides. Again the thermal imager was deployed and I managed to see 12 from the ISBG hide and screen and missed another that had walked into the reeds and another single from the Hilda Quick hide. So definitely 13 but probably 14 birds! At the log the following day the records had been checked and the highest total on record was of 18 birds from the 5 islands in a day so my flock of 13 is the largest single group. There must’ve been 40-50 across the islands but probably lots more given how tricky they usually are to see.

Death’s-head Hawkmoth

At the log Ralph Parks brought in this beast of a Death’s-head Hawkmoth that he’d trapped at Pelistry. One he’d been trying to catch there in 30 years of visiting the islands!

Scilly - 14.10.25

Ring Ouzel

Whilst having breakfast those early birds who’d got up and out before me had reported some decent birds on the Garrison so that was my first destination. Small groups of Redwing were seen overhead and a Yellow-legged Gull was noted off of Peninnis.

On my walk around the Garrison I finally saw my first House Martin of the trip and once I’d reached the sports club building adjacent to the campsite I was able to see 3 Ring Ouzel (males) and another 2 Firecrest.

Black Redstart

I then headed for the kids play area by the football pitch where after a brief wait a stunning male Black Redstart showed well. A 4th Ring Ouzel (female) then flew over.

A group of 8 Skylark flew over the quay and at Higher Moors whilst hoping to see a reported Greenish Warbler I had another Clouded Yellow (a normal one this time) and a moth that landed on the grass next to me was a White-speck. 

Porth Hellick pool was my final stop as there’d been 3 Jack Snipe reported. Once in the new hide a message came through that there were in fact 7 so I broke out my thermal imager and managed to increase that to 8. My biggest group ever.

The last bird of note for the day was another Black Redstart that was in the NE corner of the pool.

Scilly - 13.10.25

Seeing as there was potentially 2 Scilly ticks on St.Agnes I paid another visit over there but before the boat I popped into Porthcressa where a Black Redstart was flicking about on the rocks at Little Porth end

On Aggy I had much better and less crowded/stressful views of the Mourning Dove along with Mike Illet who’d twitched over for it. He then found another Black Redstart at Bergecooth before we went our separate ways. 

At Troy Town farm I noticed a Clouded Yellow fluttering in the fields where the Eastern Orphean Warbler was first seen back in 2018 but this was of the form Helice as it had a large patch of white in the wing  my first of this subspecies.

‘helice’ Clouded Yellow

By the post office I found a brief Yellow-browed Warbler before I headed back to the dove to meet Brendon Fagan, Brendon Glynn, Dave Johnson and Geoff Goater who’d also come to twitch the dove.

Lapland Bunting

As the Hoopoe had finally departed we all wandered down Barnaby Lane where they caught up with the American Pipit and then I year ticked the Lapland Bunting that was in the NE corner of Wingletang. At the Parsonage I came across a Spotted Flycatcher before I headed to Porth Killier where I found 2 more Firecrest in the hedge above the beach and then had 7 Redwing go over which were my first of the autumn.

Sadly the 2 Scilly ticks weren’t forthcoming.

Scilly - 12.10.25

I woke up feeling a bit unwell but I decided to go ahead with the 3 hour boat trip around the smaller uninhabited islands in the hope of seeing something different. The 2 Spoonbill were still on Green Island, the female Common Scoter shot past the boat and way out on Xantermans Rock we had 4 Purple Sandpiper. I’d previously only seen 2 in all my visits when 2 were seen roosting on rocks below the Garrison probably 20 years ago. We then had a further 6 on the Bishop Lighthouse.

We then had the choice of spending the rest of the day on St.Agnes but I was still feeling rough so chose to stay on the boat back to St.Mary’s. Just after I got off the boat one of my biggest Scilly tart ticks was found on you guessed it St.Agnes! A Green Sandpiper had been found off of Wingletang and then spent some time on the Big Pool. Shortly after someone found another potential Scilly tick at Periglis with a White-rumped Sandpiper but it flew towards the campsite and vanished. I on the other hand went to lay down for a bit and woke up 4 hours later just in time for dinner!

Scilly - 11.10.25

I started the day by heading towards Old Town where at the far end of Trench Lane we had excellent views of the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling as it fed on the front lawn of the last house on the left. I then popped into Standing Stones field where I found a Whinchat followed by re finding the long staying male Brambling which was a year tick. It was mentioned at the log that it’s believed to be the same bird that first appeared there in April! Matt Naylor then found a Garden Warbler which was only the 2nd I’d ever seen on the islands!

My first Jack Snipe of the trip was seen at Lower Moors unbeknownst as to what was to occur later on in the trip with regards to this species.

A Yellow-browed Warbler was seen very briefly from the screen at Shooters Pool and in Carreg Dhu gardens 2 Firecrest were seen quite quickly. I found another Firecrest by the vineyard field at Holy Vale/Sandy Lane junction.

Convulvulous Hawkmoth

At the end of the lane just inland from Watermill Cove I bumped into Paul Kemp and his wife who were staying at the same accommodation as me. They informed me of a good moth near the entrance to the house Peacehaven and sure enough there on a tree was only my 4th Convulvulous Hawkmoth that the moth-ers from the house had trapped overnight and put there for us to view. 

I then made only my second ever visit to Helvear where I accidentally flushed a Mistle Thrush from a horse field.

The last bird of note was 2 Whimbrel at Pendrathen Quay where I’d seen one back in April.

Hedgerow Darwin Wasp

As I walked past Pendrathen Quarry entrance a striking red,yellow and black insect landed by my feet. It was identified by those more knowledgeable than myself as a Heteroplema amictum or Hedgerow Darwin Wasp. A new one for me.

Scilly - 10.10.25

Seeing as I’d almost become a resident of St.Agnes having been there numerous time already I decided to visit Tresco today to build up the trip list. 2 Spoonbill were seen on Green Island from the boat over.

From the Swarovski hide I noted 29 Greenshank and 7 Redshank. Along pool road I found a Firecrest and whilst watching it I heard wing flaps overhead so I looked up and saw the islands remaining Raven as it flew east. 

Also from Pool Road I found one of the two Cattle Egrets in with their namesake. What made this one different was that it was my first ever juvenile.

Black-necked Grebe

I then headed to the south of the island and off of Gleaner Beach was just my 2nd Scilly record of Black-necked Grebe. On Abbey Pool were females of Wigeon and Shoveler.

Golden Pheasant

I then paid a visit to the woods behind Tresco Gardens where I saw a pair of Golden Pheasant tucked in off the path. Good enough for the year list!

Another Firecrest was by the Abbey crossroads and at Carn Near a Wheatear and Skylark were noted.

Once back on St.Mary’s I dropped off my scope and headed up to Peninnis where after the usual long wait for this species there we had good views of my first Wryneck of the year.

Scilly - 9.10.25

Seeing as the Mourning Dove was playing hard to get I decided against getting the early boat back to Aggy. In fact I wasn’t going to go at all but as I got back to my room after breakfast my phone dinged with a photo of the dove sitting on the roof of the island hall! 

So along with everyone else it back there again. We arrived at the cricket pitch and spread out hoping for it to appear on the roof again but about 10 minutes later the CB’s crackled into life with news of it by the Threshing Mill near Lower Town farm/Bulb Dump. Most piled down towards there but is too firm in the hope they’d flush it out. They didn’t initially and people were watching it so I ran over only for it to fly which I of course missed. 

Thankfully a few minutes later it was back by the mill and permission to enter this private area was granted. I missed it perched on a poly tunnel frame by seconds but it eventually flew back out and I finally laid eyes on my first ever MOURNING DOVE in the UK. It’d only taken 10 hours over 3 days but I didn’t care anymore. 

Mourning Dove

With this positive news most of the resident birders climbed aboard the next boat over only to be held up docking for 20 minutes due to a boat being unloaded. In the end everyone left happy that this 7th Britain/1st Scilly + England was in their notebooks.

Before we left we had another look at the Hoopoe and Red-breasted Flycatcher.

Scilly - 8.10.25

It was back to St.Agnes today in the hope of seeing the Mourning Dove. An early boat went across at 8am and they all went up to Troy Town farm to view the field it’d been seen in the day before. After a couple of hours and no sign people wandered off leaving one man standing. It was just a couple of minutes after everyone had left that the bird flew in, hung around for a couple of minutes then flew off. 2 sightings over 2 days and only 3 people had seen it! 

The next boatload arrived and duly stared into the field for 6+ hours but no dove. It was beginning to feel personal! Only my 2nd ever Scilly Marsh Harrier was seen flying towards Samson, a Black Redstart on Periglis Beach and the Turtle Dove again.

Turtle Dove

After many hours we gave up and headed towards Barnaby Lane where after a brief wait I laid eyes on my first Scilly Red-breasted Flycatcher for 9 years!

Scilly - 7.10.25

 

Redstart

Today I was finally joined by fellow Herts birder Mark Sutton who wasn’t able to get over on Friday or Saturday and finally got on the islands for his first autumn visit on the Monday. The day started off with a showy Redstart above Old Town beach followed by a Willow Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat in Standing Stones field. It was then back to Porth Hellick where along the tideline on the beach we eventually had good if distant views of a juvenile Common Rosefinch. 

Common Rosefinch 

Up at Newford Duckpond I broke my record for the quickest time to see a Yellow-browed Warbler here with one seen within 5 minutes. At Trenoweth I picked out a Crossbill as it flew east. A Merlin harassed all the smaller birds at Pungies Lane.

I tried Porthloo beach again for Curlew Sandpiper but they’d gone. It was whilst sat on the bench the mega alert went off. As usual I thought it’d be for Shetland or the Western Isles but upon checking my phone I saw a back of camera shot of a Mourning Dove. Better still it was at Troy Town farm on St.Agnes! I shouted out to James Lidster who’d just walked by on the phone and showed him the photo. With this we headed towards the quay in the hope of a boat over. 

A boat was arranged and off we went. Another power walk was undertaken but we weren’t sure where to go as whilst the finder Keith Pellow was typing the news out onto the WhatsApp group the bird had flown and wasn’t seen in which direction it’d headed. The bird had been seen with a Turtle Dove so we concentrated on finding flocks of Collared Doves in the hope both birds had joined them. We did see the Turtle Dove but its American counterpart was sadly missing. The Hoopoe was seen again though.

Scilly - 6.10.25

Today I joined a 6 hour pelagic in the hope that the weekends storm had brought in something good.  As it was it didn’t but 9 Sooty, 5 Great and 15 Cory’s Shearwater were seen and 2 Storm Petrel made the year list. 

Scilly - 5.10.25

Today I headed over to St.Agnes where there were a few good birds to see. As we arrived news broke from back on St. Mary’s of an American (formally Buff-bellied) Pipit up on the Garrison but it’d gone missing possibly heading toward St. Agnes. At least the storm had brought us at least 1 Yank.

Yellow Wagtail

The first interesting bird of the day was a monochrome Yellow Wagtail on the cricket pitch that had been found the day before and was mooted as a possible Eastern bird. As it was the call and lack of long hindclaw indicated that it was just a bog standard Western.

Hoopoe

On the nearby Periglis beach the Hoopoe was showing down to a few feet. I’d never seen one on the isles in my first 14 visits but this was my 3rd in the last 3 visits! I scanned the beach for anything else and found a Whinchat. 

Spotted Sandpiper

My next stop was St. Warna’s cove. Here I plonked myself down on the grass above the beach and as the tide was out I thought I’d be in for a long search for my next good bird. As it was I was in luck as there in front of me I picked out the Spotted Sandpiper as it hunted the numerous flies attracted by the rotting seaweed. After the Sandpiper had flown off to the waters edge I noticed 3 pipits chasing each other. 2 called like Rock Pipit but 1 was giving a call I didn’t recognise but I just couldn’t pin it down to take a closer look.

American Pipit

I headed back to St.Mary’s and briefly stopped off at Porthcressa where I saw a nice summer plumaged Great Northern Diver. I then went home for a shower only to see news of the American Pipit was again on the Garrison so a quick power walk up to Woolpack Battery saw me arrive in time to see it showing down to 10 feet. My 2nd on Scilly and 4th in the UK but after 5minutes of viewing it suddenly took flight and called as it went. It was then the penny dropped and the bird I’d heard on Aggy was probably an American Pipit.

Throughout my trip it was on Aggy and photos said that there were in fact 2 birds. Maybe I’d found one but we’ll never know!!

Scilly - 4.10.25

 

Short-eared Owl

My first full day started off with the news of a Short-eared Owl crouched down below a hedge on Peninnis escaping the strong winds that had stopped all transport apart from a few helicopters coming in. This was a nice year tick.

The wind was certainly making birding tricky and not much else was noted apart from a Ruff at Porth Hellick pool that joined the phalarope. My only other year tick was a brief Whinchat at Carn Friars.

Scilly - 3.10.25

Wilson’s Phalarope 

Somehow it was that time of year again where I head SW to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and for the second year running the weather leading up to the Friday was lovely then Saturday a storm hits and means travelling over isn’t possible so I changed my flight from Saturday to the boat on Friday. I wasn’t the only one as there were many familiar faces on the boat getting in a day early.

Soon after leaving Penzance my first year tick of the trip was seen with 2 Arctic Skuas heading west. That was about it until we got past the Wolf lighthouse which is the boundary between the Cornwall and Scilly recording areas. 30 Cory’s, 2 Great and 3 Sooty Shearwaters made my notebook and my year list.

After arriving back on Scilly and dropping my gear off at my accommodation I prepared myself for a long walk to Porth Hellick for my first potential Scilly tick of the trip. As it was I’d just got past the school when a message came through saying the bird had flown to Lower Moors which was much closer!

I entered the hide to be shown the juvenile Wilson’s Phalarope just in front of the hide whizzing about like a clockwork toy. This was just my 3rd in the UK and by far the showiest. As I was leaving I heard the call of Yellow Wagtail and lo and behold 2 birds dropped in in front of the viewing screen. 

Up at Rocky Hills I had a look over a field and in the far corner I picked out my first Spotted Flycatcher of the year. A slew of trip ticks were added before I headed back to my accommodation. Here I bumped into James Lidster. He asked if I’d seen the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling yet to which I replied no. We went our separate ways but I’d only got about 10 feet away when he shouted there it is! And sure enough it was on wires with its commoner cousins but soon flew off. 

It was good to be back.

 

Wilstone - 26.9.25

Juvenile Red-throated Diver

As is typical recently when I put my car in for a service something good birdwise turns up and this year is no different. Mid morning news broke on the WhatsApp group of not one but two Red-throated Divers at Wilstone Reservoir. Not that rare you would think? But in Hertfordshire birding terms it’s as rare as hens teeth. 

The last record was of a bird that was found just up the road at College Lake, Bucks that flew off into Herts airspace. Before that the previous two records were from 2003 and 1997.

News was positive throughout the day and as I said at the start my car was in the garage and my optics were at home but thankfully my wife brought them to me so I could head straight up after work. But it was still not straightforward as there’s currently major works going on at Wilstone strengthening the banks and so most of the banks are closed until March next year. So parking at cemetery corner I headed up to the woods in the SE corner passing a Stonechat in the scrub just off the path  and walked into the woods to the what was the waters edge (the works meant draining the water level down) and joining Ray Hooper and Andy Day. I set my scope up and instantly got onto the adult diver then the juvenile. The adult then went missing for nearly ten minutes before being re found. After 20 minutes of viewing I headed for home and walked back to my car along with Brendon Fagan who’d arrived after finishing work.

Just need a Black-throated Diver to turn up now but seeing as the last record is from 1996 I’m not holding my breath!

Norfolk - 26-27.8.25

As I was turning the grand old age of 50 and I was off work for the week we made an impromptu visit to Norfolk to see my dad and step-mum and to take the kids to the beach.

After arriving we headed straight to the beach at Caister-on-Sea. A handful of Sandwich Tern were feeding just offshore and an adult Mediterranean Gull was scouring the beach for food scraps. But the unusual sight of a summer plumaged Great Northern Diver heading north was a tad unseasonal.

The following day we popped to Hemsby so the kids could spend their grandads money in the arcade and have another visit to the beach. More Sandwich Terns were seen and a 1st Winter Mediterranean Gull was seen but the highlight was 3 female/juvenile Garganey going south.

Suffolk + Norfolk - 24.8.25

Ruddy Shelduck

After the disastrous day out a couple of weeks earlier I joined Brendon again along with James Reader heading back to Suffolk. 

Our first stop was Walberswick were shortly after setting off along the beach we came across the Ruddy Shelduck on a small pool. Most likely a bird from the feral Dutch population but as of yet the powers that be won’t allow us to tick them.

Fan-tailed Warbler flitting off left (honestly)

Another few minutes of walking along the beach we joined a small group of birders staring out into the scrub and reeds where the momentous and highly anticipated news that Fan-tailed Warblers (Zitting Cisticolas) had bred in Britain for the first time. The male had been seen and heard for a while before reports of a second bird emerged. Then 4 juveniles were seen and this still mega rare bird was available to all who still needed it. 

The male was heard “zitting” and seen mostly in flight but on a couple of occasions perched up affording great scope views despite what my photo shows! I did managed a view of the female further back but the young were sadly hiding.

We then headed back towards the car park but carried onto the harbour where on the wall were 2 Caspian Gulls an adult and a juvenile.

Juvenile Barred Warbler

Whilst watching the warblers news of a Barred Warbler broke just to the north at Kessingland but news was vague and with the prospect of a long walk we made the decision to head to my Norfolk patch of Winterton Dunes where after a short walk we had excellent views of this usual skulker which was good for James as it was a lifer for him. 

Black Stork + in situ!

After more views of the Barred Warbler we headed back south for our second attempt at the Black Stork. Just a few miles away it was reported to be on a small lake at a farm so we headed there but upon arrival and a fruitless scan of the lake news broke of it back in its favoured ditch. Annoyingly this would mean the 1.5 mile walk we did last time but as luck would have it we noticed a car parked up near the farm and upon inspection we saw a footpath sign so we took a gamble which paid of handsomely as after just a 5 minute walk instead of 40 the path took us straight to the ditch and there walking towards us was the juvenile Black Stork! It walked to the end of the ditch and went to sleep briefly before waking again. Just my 2nd of this species in the UK after my first which I self found over Watford back in 1990! 

An excellent end to an excellent day.

 

Cassiobury Park - 14 + 15.8.25

Due to the horrid heat I started work 2 hours early so I could go home early and escape the worst of it. 

On the morning of the 14th around 6am I was litter picking near the hub when I heard the familiar call of a Tree Pipit heading towards me and sure enough there it was flying roughly SE. The following morning at a similar time I heard the call again but this time there were 2 birds going in the same direction. These constituted just my 2nd and 3rd records for the park after another duo on spring migration a few years earlier.

Startops - 6.8.25

Black-necked Grebe

A quick after work visit to Startops Reservoir failed to produce the hoped for female Ruddy Duck but I did managed to see the juvenile Black-necked Grebe. Also seen were a Black Swan and 2 Muscovy Ducks. Almost like the captive pens at a WWT reserve!

 

A Day To Forget (Almost) - 3.8.25

After our good visit to Norfolk the previous weekend myself and Brendon must’ve used most of our good luck up as todays trip to Suffolk certainly didn’t go to plan!

For the entire week the first news out on the bird alerts was of a juvenile Black Stork showing ridiculously well in a ditch at Boyton Marsh RSPB so with this we drove up and had just gone past Colchester FC’s ground when there was a no sign message. With that I turned round and headed to Abberton Reservoir. Here we spent a couple of hours trying to spot the previous days Temminck’s Stint but failed miserably. Then whilst still in the hide news emerged that the stork was back so off we went. 

We arrived in good time and started walking the 1.5 miles to where to view but as we passed a birder about half way he gave us the news it’d flown off north again! We continued on and the spent another hour staring at nothing. I was the alerted to the distress calls of gulls above and saw them mobbing something. Thinking it was the stork I lifted my bins and to my surprise I saw myself looking at a year tick dark morph Honey Buzzard! We watched it for a couple of minutes before it drifted off north. 

Another hour passed before we headed for home having dipped the stork. 90 minutes after we left it came back and has showed well since and the Temminck’s was seen again later in the day. So an all round bad day at the office apart from the Honey Buzzard.

Welney, Snettisham + Rye Meads - 27.7.25

White Stork

I again joined Brendon this time on a trip to Norfolk and returning home via East Hertfordshire. We were heading north and had reached Cambridgeshire when he said we’ll make a detour to Welney WWT to look for a White Stork. We arrived and parked up and scanned the field it’d been in the previous day from a couple of vantage points but failed to see it. We then popped into the reserve car park to see if it’d moved but a couple of Tree Sparrow were the only thing of note. 

As we were pulling out the car park a message popped up saying the Stork was still there so we drove back and this time walked the river path. As I was walking up a Marsh Harrier swooped down and mobbed the White Stork and as you can see from my photo above it was only the top half of the bird that was visible so no wonder we missed it first time around.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Spoonbill

Snettisham RSPB was our next stop. I hadn’t been here since 2006 when I ticked a Little Auk on one of the pits. There was something to see virtually all the way down to the southern end of the pits including a year tick Little Tern but sadly the White-rumped Sandpiper wasn’t one of them. Just before reaching the last hides we bumped into Phil Bishop and Colin Maynard who said the other target bird was showing. After a quick chat we parted ways and sat down to scan through the numerous waders only to get a call from Phil to say the bird was now visible from the next hide back towards the car park.

From the rotary hide we finally laid eyes on the Pectoral Sandpiper as it proved the mud. Also seen were 23 Spoonbill doing as they do sleeping. As we walked back to the car Brendon mentioned he’d seen a Turtle Dove from the area we were in on his last visit and within seconds one flew past us and landed on the beach! It got even better when another 4 flew past along the beach setting a record flock for me. 

Night Heron

With no sign of any Curlew Sandpipers we set off for home stopping at Rye Meads RSPB reserve on the way. Here from the Draper hide we waited along with a hide full of other birders including James Walsh. 20 minutes elapsed before someone spotted it tucked into the far bottom right corner of the marsh. When the wind blew the willows out of the way you could see it and I managed a lucky record shot of my 5th Night Heron in the UK and my first anywhere since 2012. Typically soon after we left it flew out and landed in front of the hide briefly!

An excellent days birding

Oxhey Park - 24.7.25

We were doing some green flag work in Oxhey Park when I heard another Crossbill calling and a single bird flew NW. 

Cassiobury - 22.7.25

After lunch I headed back out into the park for more litter picking and about 1.30pm I suddenly heard the familiar glip glip calls of Crossbill. I looked up and counted 7 birds heading roughly NW.

Cornmill Meadows, Trimley Marshes + Braughing - 25.5.25

 

Glossy Ibis

I joined Brendon, Chris Sharp and for the first time James Reader on a day out to Essex and Suffolk. Our first stop was Cornmill Meadows in the Lea Valley. After spending an eternity trying to find somewhere to park and what direction it was to the hide we eventually arrived at the sadly burnt out hide and after an assault course to get onto the charred remains we finally had great views of the Glossy Ibis. It was the first one I’d seen in its summer finery and what a stunner it was.

Also noted were 2 Cuckoo, Water Rail and Cetti’s Warbler.

Purple Heron

With views and photos secured we then headed into Suffolk and Trimley Marshes. I’d only previously been here once before for the Pacific Swift back in 2013. We parked up and had a quick cuppa kindly provided by Chris. As we were drinking it the mega alert went off telling me that an Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler was at Dungeness. Despite my request to head that way I was outvoted!! 

We then set upon the long walk to the hides dodging the showers noting a female Marsh Harrier and half a dozen Little Egret. Upon entering the hide we were informed the bird was seen about 10 minutes ago and roughly where. 20 minutes passed before it was re-found and great views were had of the adult Purple Heron. My second in about 6 5 weeks after the bird on Scilly.

With the bird in the book we trudged back to the car and headed for home via the Hertfordshire village of Braughing. With help from people on the Herts WhatsApp group we had directions for where to park and walk and within 10 minutes we were at the desired location and almost immediately heard the “wet me lips” call of a Quail. Despite it only being 10 feet in front of us in not very tall crops we never saw it but call was good enough for a year tick! 4 Yellowhammer and a Lesser Whitethroat also made the list.

Wilstone - 21.5.25

Wood Sandpiper

With the water level having been lowered to allow for upcoming works on the banks of the reservoir lots of mud was now exposed and bringing in the odd wader. Today’s bird that’d been enticed was a nice Wood Sandpiper. It was found mid morning and was still present when I finally arrive about 7pm. Just my 5th ever in Herts but my 3rd here it was a most welcome addition to the year list especially as I’d not been able to get over to Rye Meads a few days earlier for the one there alongside a Temminck’s Stint.

As I walked back to the car a Cuckoo started cuckooing loudly from the car park poplars before flying out into the trees on Drayton Bank.

Wilstone - 14.5.25

Avocets

The previous day 3 Avocets were found at Wilstone Reservoir but sadly I couldn’t get up there. This wasn’t a problem as they were still there the following day and so once dinner was finished I headed up and wandered round to the hide. From here I found 2 of the 3 birds showing well on the left of the spit. For some reason I thought they were a Tring tick but I checked my records and found they weren’t as my only Herts bird was also at Wilstone way back in November 2003 so no wonder I’d forgotten!

2 Shelduck and a Hobby were also noted.

More Firecrests - 13.5.25

The last few years has sen the number of local Firecrests increasing. I’ve now found numerous birds while at work and today I found another 3. I won’t put where purely because 1 of the birds had food in its bill so possibly/hopefully breeding there.

Beds + Cambs - 5.5.25

A rubbish nights sleep saw me up stupidly early and despite trying to get back to sleep I didn’t so I thought I’d just get up and head into enemy territory or better known as Bedfordshire. As I drove past Luton I did have a little chuckle at their second successive relegation but I soon arrived at Stewartby Lake.

I walked down a footpath and quite quickly I heard the rattle of a Lesser Whitethroat followed a minute or so later by the beautiful song of a couple of Nightingale. I eventually caught a glimpse of one albeit just the head as it belted out its fluty song. A female Marsh Harrier drifted past and a Garden Warbler was heard too.

As it was still early I checked the sat nav and saw that Grafham Water was less than 30 minutes away so off I headed for just my second visit to the site.

Spotted Sandpiper

I arrived in good time and parked up in the Plummer car park only to see a message that my intended target had flown off 10 minutes earlier. The wind was strong and making it feel cold despite it being the start of May and after 20 minutes of searching it was still missing. I wandered over to the dam and thankfully found it feeding along the waters edge of the south bank. Good views were had in the end and my fifth Spotted Sandpiper was in the notebook. It was my first since the brief Hilfield Reservoir bird in 2012 and only my second spotty one. The only other one was my first one back in 2002 on the Durham/Northumberland border.

It was still early so I then headed to Fen Drayton RSPB. I parked up and walked for less than 5 minutes before I heard the purring of a Turtle Dove. I finally managed to pick it out but just after I got my binoculars on it it flicked up and vanished into the trees. Another couple of Lesser Whitethroat were heard.

Another check of the sat nav showed I wasn’t too far from Ouse Fen RSPB reserve. I’d only been there the previous weekend but as there was something else to see I headed over. The first bird of note was the Great Reed Warbler that was still croaking in its favoured reeds. As I rounded the bend further west of the GRW I picked up a couple of Hobby for the year list. As it was there were at least 40 birds present a number I’d never seen before. 

An Arctic Tern was a nice surprise as it flew over the marsh and the pinging of Bearded Tits was heard but just a split second view of one. After scanning the Hobbies for what seemed like forever I finally managed to pick out the orangey breast of one of the two female Red-footed Falcons on site as it banked. A 3-4 second view is all I managed but it was nice to get in on the National influx of this species.

My quick morning out had turned into a 6.5 hour multi site visit but 7 year ticks were had.

Ouse Fen RSPB - 27.4.25

Bittern

I joined Matt and George Moreton on a trip to Cambridgeshire with my first ever visit to Ouse Fen RSPB reserve. Upon arrival we scanned over a pool to look for a pair of Garganey that’d been see the previous day but no joy. We then walked up the footpath but we didn’t get too far before I spotted a Bittern flying towards us. It landed out in the open and we got it in our scopes. George then said it’s walking left but the one me and Matt were watching wasn’t. There were 2 Bittern and both out in the open! 2 more were heard booming too.

Great Reed Warbler

After our fill of those we continued up the path being serenaded by at least 2 Cuckoo’s. All of a sudden I heard the deep croaky song of our main target. After a quick wait we picked it out from amongst the reeds and there it was my second ever Great Reed Warbler. My last was in Surrey in 2002 but wasn’t as showy as this bird. The Cuckoo’s were still cuckooing and then I heard the bugling of a Crane somewhere out towards the north.

Before we left we had another scan of the original pool and Matt immediately picked out the pair of Garganey to end a fantastic morning. Such a shame Hertfordshire doesn’t have a site like this.