College Lake - 7.8.16

A Black-Tailed Godwit was the first of the year for my patch list.

Wilstone - 27.6.16

A smart summer plumaged Black-Necked Grebe was showing between the car park steps and jetty.

Wilstone - 16.6.16

Finally a Cuckoo was seen round near Rushy Meadow for the patch list.

Scottish Mega - 26.6.16

2 Photos of the American White-winged Scoter

Coming so soon after my big dip to the W.Isles I wasn't expecting to be allowed out birding for a while! But seeing as I've picked a goodun in Carey I was allowed out for the day and again to Scotland! Arranging to head to Aberdeen with Brendan Glynn we headed North and picking up James Hanlon in Cambs we arrived in good time at Blackdog. Over the years this has been a well known site for Scoters. Usually the odd Surf Scoter is to be found offshore and on the odd occasion something rarer like Black Scoter. Back in 2011 The first UK record of American White-winged Scoter was found with a 1st year bird proving tricky for some to pick up. Today we were back for a second bite at the yanky cherry as the 2nd record had been found. This time it was an adult bird so either the young bird returning or a new bird? Once we'd crossed over the soaking wet golf course we joined around a dozen or so birders which for a 2nd for Britain I thought wasn't very many. It took a while but we got our eye in and watched our first ever AMERICAN WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. Every now and then the flock would dive or fly a small way but after a couple of minutes the bird was fairly easy to pick out. The AWWS was in with a few hundred Common Scoter and at least 15 Velvet Scoter. Also present were over 200 Eider and a couple of Red-Throated Diver. After getting our fill we headed off for home and arrived back 21.5 hours after setting off!

Herts Mega - 11.6.16

Purple Heron

There I was laying in bed when news broke of a Purple Heron at Rye Meads RSPB reserve. I was quickly washed and dressed and on my way. Not knowing the area of the reserve the bird was favouring I ended up spending £1.50 on the toll going back and forth to where I needed to be! After a phone call with a local I parked up and just as I was a few yards away all the local birders walked away saying it'd just flown! So rather forlornly I wandered over to the last place it was seen and was joined by a few familiar faces. After chatting for a while all hell broke loose as it suddenly loomed into view flying over for a few seconds. Thank goodness for that! It was then picked up further down the path perched up in a tree. Here we all had cracking views of this 1st summer Purple Heron which was only the 9th for Herts. My photo above even made into the Rare Bird Alert weekly round up!

Wilstone - 10.6.16

A quick visit to Tring added a female Common Scoter and a dodgy Barnacle Goose to the list!

The Mother Of All Dips Part 2 - 2.6.16

After all the travelling of the day before it was no wonder we all slept like logs! But before we knew it we had to set off for home. a Black-throated Diver flew over the ferry terminal and onto the year list. A serious crash saw us diverted for an hour but an Osprey over the car near Stirling was a nice surprise. After another mammoth drive by Craig we reached his house and went our separate ways. I arrived home around midnight. Massive thanks to Craig for all the driving and the other 3 for the company. My biggest dip ever but the dips make the ticks even better.

The Mother Of All Dips - 1.6.15

Not a Black-Billed Cuckoo!!

For a few days news and photos of a Black-Billed Cuckoo on North Uist, W.Isles were gripping myself and many others off. This probably once in a lifetime occurrence of a species that usually snuffs it after a day had managed to survive 9 days and so after a bit of arranging I drove to Suffolk to get a lift with Craig Fulcher who I'd been sharing plenty of laughs and banter with over Twitter. Joining us were Norman Vipond and Andy Field. On the way up we picked up Jonny Holliday near Doncaster. News reached us that the Cuckoo was still present at 9.20pm was positive. After something like 11 or 13 hours later (either way it was a long time!) we arrived on the Isle of Skye. On the way to the ferry at Uig I added Hooded Crow and finally a Wheatear to the year list! Around the harbour at Uig while we waited for the ferry a couple of Sedge Warbler and Cuckoo were noted along with 4 Rock Dove. A female Red-Breasted Merganser was another year list addition.

The 90 minute ferry ride was kind to my stomach and despite it being a bit fresh I stayed outside all the way to see if I could get any more year ticks. 2 Black Guillemot, 20+ Puffin and a couple of Great Skua were penned in the note book. As we neared N.Uist 2 Red-Throated Diver were seen. We disembarked and for the first time in my life I was on the Western Isles! A pair of Hen Harrier brightened the mood near Loch Paible but it was becoming more obvious that the BB Cuckoo had done a bunk. Despite walking around its favoured area for a couple of hours it dawned on us that we had in fact arrived a day too late and it had either died, been eaten or had left! What an absolute shitter!! But then I thought to myself there are worse places to dip than the stunning scenery I was in. Making the most of a bad day we headed down the road to Balranald RSPB reserve where we were treated to half a dozen singing Corncrake. I'd only ever seen 2 both on Scilly and neither of them were calling so I did at least have a first of sorts. We then headed to Benbecula where on a small loch we saw 2 Red-Necked Phalarope! Another ringtail Hen Harrier was seen here. After some food we headed to our digs for the night at a youth hostel. A male Hen Harrier was seen from here too.

College Lake - 21.5.16

2 Ringed Plover were a year and patch year tick.

Dorset Day Out - 14.5.16

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Today I joined up with Paul Frost and Ephraim Perfect on a trip down to Portland. As we drove past Ferrybridge I noted my first Little Tern of the year. Arriving at our first stop at Weston we grabbed a parking space and walked all of 20 yards to join a small group of birders. Before I'd set up my scope I'd added Spotted Flycatcher and Redstart to the year list as they flitted around the hedgerow. But after a while of watching parts of our target bird it suddenly shifted to reveal itself. There in full view was my first ever GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO! This 1st summer bird was one number one on my list of tarts ticks so I was mightily relieved to see it. The closest I'd got to one was an adult bird that spent 5 days on a golf course near Brighton a few years ago. I'd reached Heathrow on the M25 when news of it flying off reached me! News then broke of a good bird near Weymouth so we had one last look and headed off.

After a short drive we reached Lodmoor RSPB reserve and once we figured out whereabouts the bird was we headed off to look for it. It didn't take too long before we found it and for the next 20-30 minutes I enjoyed only my 2nd ever Red-Rumped Swallow. My first had been a bird at Hilfield Reservoir back in May 2000 so it's been a while!

After our fill of the romper we went back to Portland to have a quick seawatch. The year ticks kept coming with 3 Manx Shearwater, Razorbill, Fulmar, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Whimbrel and Gannet flew past and in the obs garden was another Spotted Flycatcher.

5 more Whimbrel were at Ferrybridge before we stopped off in the New Forest at Acres Down. I'd not heard of this place before but in the hour or so we were there we saw a male Redstart, Cuckoo (making it a 2 cuckoo day), 2+ Crossbill, Tree Pipit, Wood Warbler and 3 Firecrest! A non avian highlight was my first ever Green Tiger Beetle that flew just as I was about to get a photo.