I popped into the garden to put some rubbish in the bin and suddenly I heard Lesser Redpoll calling. I looked up and noted 2 birds closely followed by a 3rd bird which was slightly chunkier and uttered a different call. I immediately went onto the Aves Vox app and listened to the calls of Mealy Redpoll and found they matched! A very unexpected garden tick and number 91 for the garden list.
My last day back on the islands saw me finally get onto a pelagic with a mini 3 hour one. It turned out to be a disaster with just a Manx Shearwater and some dolphins seen. A Leach's Petrel was shouted but only seen by 2 people. Amazingly the next day from Peninnis thousands of Cory’s Shearwaters were seen again!
Once back on dry land I headed back up to the Telegraph area. A Black Redstart was still at Porthloo and I then found another in a horse field off of Content Lane. Up at Pungies Lane I spotted my first Clouded Yellow butterfly for many years and then after a good 45 minute wait a flock of Meadow Pipit flew up out of the fields and in with them a harsh call was heard and we picked up the Red-throated Pipit as it flew around before dropping back down again. My 2nd on Scilly and 3rd in UK.
News then broke that the long staying American Buff-bellied Pipit had been re-found near Watermill. I decided to grab a late lunch at Longstones first and while eating this news broke of a Red-rumped Swallow at Porth Hellick Pool. As this would be a Scilly tick I headed down to the pool but there were only 2 of its commoner cousins present. I walked down towards the beach when the radio burst into life to say it was back over the pool. I got on it and followed it around before it headed straight towards us. Like the Pallid Swift it then occasionally flew a few feet over our heads. I put this news out over the radio and we were joined by a few people to enjoy this late afternoon twitch. Just my 3rd in the UK it was a good end to a good few days.
Hopefully I’ll be back again next year.
After the excitement of the Saturday the Sunday was a much more mellow affair. As I walked out of my accommodation 2 Siskin flew over followed by a further 8 over Porth Mellon Beach. Up at Porthloo I saw 2 Black Redstart on the beach and new sea defences. I reached Telegraph and checked the weather radar. A good couple of hours heavy rain was imminent so I headed back to my digs to use the loo, have some lunch and watch the Watford v Luton game. It was a good decision as it chucked it down and Watford won 4-0!
Whilst I sat outside my accommodation waiting for the minibus to the airport I heard both Common Sandpiper and Kingfisher from the beach at Porthloo.
Back on the mainland I headed to Pendeen where unfortunately I didn’t see the juvenile Woodchat Shrike but at Copperhouse Creek, Hayle I did have better fortune when I laid eyes on not 1 but 2 Lesser Yellowlegs.
I arrived home having seen 106 species. It wasn’t a classic to say the least but a lifer is always a bonus.
Things then took a turn for the worse a couple of days after getting home when I tested positive for Covid for the first time. Things turned even worse just 6 days after leaving the islands when my friend John Judge went and found Britain’s 4th Blackburnian Warbler on Bryher!! That’s a bird I’d love to see….
My last day on Scilly dawned to the news the Swainson’s had stuck around and so I headed off to the quay for the early boat over briefly stopping at Porthcressa where I found a Grey Plover as it took off from the rocks and headed around Morning Point.
Once on Tresco I joined Wayne Collingham and Dave Hall on the walk up to Racket Town Lane. After a nervous few minutes the bird was picked up halfway up a big Cypress tree and SWAINSON’S THRUSH was finally added to my list.
After the mass dip of one at Carreg Dhu then identifying the Standing Stones bird from the finders photo but still not seeing it closely followed by the Bryher bird being found soon after getting back to Cornwall it felt especially good to see one and of course the quiet week was (almost) forgotten!
Other noteworthy birds on Tresco included 4 Curlew Sandpipers, Yellow Wagtail, a self found Spotted Flycatcher and a Pintail.
Once back on St.Mary’s a Cattle Egret was found near Trewince but thankfully it was viewable distantly from near Porthloo so I didn’t need to go for another long walk!
By now the quietness and lack of good birds was beginning to take its toll. Walking 10 miles a day for little or no reward was becoming annoying. Even more so when Ireland, France and even Shetland were reporting yanks. Surely there had to be something on Scilly? A calling Yellow-browed Warbler at Rosehill and 4 Skylark and another Wheatear on the airfield was all I wrote down in my notebook all day.
It was when I was in Porth Hellick that Scilly 2022 finally kicked off when a Swainson’s Thrush was found on Tresco. A 3pm boat wasn’t an option due to me being too far away and no taxi available so I trudged back towards my digs and due to lack of signal I missed the news of a 3.30 boat over. I resigned myself to not getting over until the next day and had to hope it’d stay the night.
I was back at Peninnis again but again was a bit too late for the main action. I did still manage a 4 shearwater morning though with a single Great and 9 Cory’s joining singles of Manx and Balearic. 2 more Great Skua and 4 Med Gulls were also seen.
Today was a visit to St.Agnes sandwiched in between sea watches from Peninnis.
The first sea watch produced a Sooty Shearwater and 2 drake Common Scoter before I headed over to Aggy.
Once on Aggy I made a quick stop at the post office for some nibbles where I bumped into a birder who mentioned that a Greenish Warbler had been found earlier that morning over the course of the next hour I missed it 3 times by a second or two and so I decided to abandon trying to see it in favour of a walk around the island.
A quick scan of the cricket pitch produced my first Wheatear of the year!
Back at Peninnis and I managed to pick out 2 distant Cory’s Shearwaters and an even more distant flock of c.40 shearwaters that were probably Manx. A Great Skua was a welcome sight considering how many had perished from bird flu.
Half way down Porthloo Lane I had a Skylark fly over followed by a Reed Warbler at Lower Moors. At Peninnis allotments a single small Sycamore tree held numerous birds including a Whitethroat and best of all a juvenile Common Rosefinch. This was my 6th in the UK but my 5th on Scilly.
At Carreg Dhu gardens I could hear a Yellow-browed Warbler calling before I reached the gate. Upon entering I got great views of it high in the trees.
News then broke on the WhatsApp group of a probable Long-tailed Duck off of St.Martin’s. It was soon confirmed and a couple of nice photos appeared. With this news I headed up to the north of St.Mary’s and just east of Bant’s Carn I set up my scope and after a couple of minutes I managed to pick it out just off of Higher Town albeit it wasn’t much more than a white blob at that range! But it was my first Scilly tick of the week.
Back at Carreg Dhu I saw another 2 Spotted Flycatchers and finally got onto a stunning little Firecrest.
With a few hours to spare before my flight I returned to Godrevy and had a nice wander. Unfortunately the birds hadn’t been told I was going to be there and so bar 2 Raven and 3 Med Gulls it was sadly quiet.
The flight left on time and after dropping my bags off in my room (staying in Porthloo) I set off to see what I could see on this the 20th anniversary of my first ever visit to Scilly where coincidentally I also stayed in Porthloo.
I walked down Porthloo Lane and at the southern end of Rosehill I spotted the Pied Flycatcher that’d been found earlier. Up at Carreg Dhu gardens I heard a Great Spitted Woodpecker calling from somewhere near Longstones. Off of Porthcressa beach 9 Sandwich Terns and 19 Mediterranean Gulls were roosting in the rocks.
A quiet first day. Hopefully things would pick up.
It was again that time of year where I headed down to the SW for my annual holiday to Scilly. This year it was me, myself and I with nobody else available to join me.
I set off at 4am and made good progress down despite some patchy fog. As there wasn’t anything of note to go and see I decided to head straight to Pendeen for a seawatch. I was there only an hour or so as it was pretty quiet but despite that I did find an adult Sabine’s Gull and 4 Balearic Shearwaters heading west.
I then popped over to Copperhouse Creek on the Hayle Estuary where I picked out the 5 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers and over on the main estuary I noted 25 Mediterranean Gulls and a year tick Bar-tailed Godwit.
I then headed to Godrevy but the heavens opened so I retired to my hotel room for a nice afternoon kip!
2 Raven flew south directly over the house this afternoon cronking as they went. Even my youngest was looking up seeing what was making the noise!
At the end of June a shrike was found at Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire which when pinned down was identified as the UK’s 8th Turkestan/Red-tailed Shrike. Numerous weekends went by when I thought about going up but illness, injury, heat and general lethargy got in the way! Fast forward to the end of August and the bird was still present. It was only when another bird I needed was found up the coast that I finally pulled my finger out and headed north.
I left home around 4am and was on site at 8.30am. A group of Tree Sparrow in the car park was a nice year tick and after a quick power walk up the coast path I joined a couple of other birders in a sheep field and there showing down to 20 feet was my first ever TURKESTAN SHRIKE. A lovely showy adult male sat motionless as it eyed up bugs in the grass. On occasion it flew down and grabbed something and ate it back in the bush. This was its 61st day in residence and it’s 62nd day was it’s last. Skin of the teeth! A quick scan out to sea added a single Shag to my year list.
The previous couple of days at Winterton Dunes had held an Icterine Warbler and 2 Wryneck both of which would be Norfolk ticks. Also present were up to 30 Pied Flycatchers so I due to a very uncomfortable bed I got up and went to see if I could see any of them. As it was apart from a brief show of one of the Wryneck after I’d left I saw none of the 3 species. I did add Sandwich Tern and Common Scoter to the year list but apart from a small mixed group of warblers it was very quiet.
A trip out for lunch near Horsey did see a Little Owl perched on top of a telegraph pole though.
An early start at work to get home to avoid the heat produced the goods when at 6.50am I heard the call of Crossbills and sure enough I quickly picked up 4 birds flying NW just above tree top height. That’s 150 species up for the year.
There I was just about to start some gardening out the front of the house when news filtered through of new bird for Britain. Even better it was less than an hour away so the gardening could wait and off I went. I arrived at Grafham Water in Cambridgeshire (my first ever visit to this site) in around 50 minutes as the roads were kind and wandered off down towards the dam.
Here I bumped into a few familiar faces in John Pegdon, Mike Illet, Darrel Bryant and Brendan Glynn and they kindly got me on the bird stood on the muddy bank in with some Canada Geese. And there it was a sub-adult CAPE GULL. Looking like a miniature albatross with its long thick bill, dark beady eye and long bluey/green legs it certainly looked different to our regular gulls.
I then joined the throng up on the dam rather than the sandy beach below it and here I met Dawn Erskine properly after having walked past her a few times on Scilly last year not knowing it was her, Mark Sutton, Chris Gooddie (of The Jewel Hunter book fame), Steve Richards and George Moreton. Views from here were a bit better as the sun wasn’t in your face. Also present were 2 adult Yellow-legged Gulls and a fly over Yellow Wagtail was heard but not seen.
I wish all twitches could be as close and straight forward as this one was!
While looking around Paddock Road allotments to see what works needed doing I heard a calling Bullfinch. My first of the year.
3rd May 2010 was the last time I saw a Hoopoe in the UK. That was down in Kent. I have to go back even further for my last one in Herts. That was 11th May 2007 at Bishop’s Stortford.
So when Matt Moreton offered me a lift I took him up on it. We left just after 7am and about 45 minutes later we’d arrived at the village of Hinxworth just north of Baldock. A short stroll through the churchyard and down a footpath took us to a horse paddock where along the fence line the punk headed bird was showing very well. We watched as it hurriedly fed on grubs pulled from the ground which must’ve taken it out of it as it did fall asleep at one point. Even Matt’s daughter Robyn was impressed!
The drive home was uneventful and I arrived home before 10am only for my son to knock over my telescope/tripod and break the quick release lever 🤬.
(LATE NEWS that I forgot to post!)
While weeding the shrub beds in the paddling pools in Cassiobury Park 2 Tree Pipit called as the flew over heading NWish. This was a new species for me in the park and the first record since around the 1970’s! Shortly after 2 Greylag Geese flew East. Only the second time I’d seen this species in the park. Not a bad morning!
A photo taken at Sandwich in Kent of a Hobby was posted on Twitter only for it to be re identified as an Eleonora’s Falcon. Question is would it do what all the recent sightings had done and vanish without a trace having only been seen by the finder? Thankfully no and the following morning it was seen at Worth Marshes and showed well all day.
Saturday dawned and at 4am George and Matt joined me on he trip down. We arrived in good time and joined the throng of birders around 6am. A birder told us that the female Red-footed Falcon was on show distantly in a bush which we got onto and was my first since the male at Wilstone back in 2010. He also told us about a falcon sat in a bush by the railway also at a distance. We got on it and it looked promising. After a couple of hours a Magpie annoyed it enough to make it move and sure enough it was the 2nd year female ELEONORA’S FALCON the first ever twitchable bird to the masses. Unfortunately after 4.5 hours of watching it do nothing apart from fly from one bush to the adjacent one when a crow flushed it we had to leave and so we never saw it properly in flight. It decided to do that about 25 minutes after we left! So along with a couple of Hobby it was a 3 falcon day and Avocet was also added to the year list.
Sitting out in the garden hoping for my first Swift of the year was successful when 3 flew in from the west.
I was walking to pick up my boy when something caught my eye above me. I looked up and was amazed to see not 1 but 5 Hobby flying NW in a tight group. I’ve never seen Hobby on active migration before so it was certainly unexpected. As soon as they’d passed a Peregrine zoomed through.
The weekend of the 23-24th April saw the Herts bird club organise a local patch challenge competition. Teams of between 1-4 people had 48 hours to see as many species of bird on their patch as possible with a points system in place for how scarce/rare the bird is and for seeing a certain amount of different species i.e waders or warblers.
My team consisted of myself with some help from Ben Miller. I was awake around 5am and upon checking my phone he’d messaged me about a Whimbrel and Greenshank he’d already noted! As it was I missed these two over the weekend.
I started at Marsworth reservoir where a Cuckoo was cuckooing by the reed bed. A Grasshopper Warbler was reeling from behind the reservoir, Sedge and Reed Warblers were heard and a drake Mandarin was tucked away almost from view. I then nipped over the road to Tringford where I immediately saw a Barn Owl at the far end of the dam. I was just about to get a photo when a jogger appeared from the woods and flushed it! A Green Sandpiper was also flushed by him.
Over at Wilstone 4 Yellow Wagtail flew over, 3 Cattle Egret sat on one of the old shooting butts, a Dunlin flew towards the other water bodies and from the hide I found 3 Little Gulls and 2 Arctic Terns the latter of which didn’t hang around. A handful of other year ticks were seen dotted around and over at Pitstone Quarry 2 Little Ringed Plover and a Redshank were seen.
I then nipped into College Lake where a Ruff had been found earlier in the day but only for a year tick seeing as it’s just over the border in Bucks!
After 11 hours on site and having walked 21,000 steps I went home for a well deserved cuppa.
Sunday dawned and an unwell child meant that I couldn’t get on site until 2pm. News of a Garden Warbler saw me start off in the woods at Startops where I immediately heard it singing but it was typically elusive. A further 8 species were added over the next 5 or so hours including a nice Yellowhammer and a drake Garganey.
I finished the weekend having seen 90 species (1less than the St.Albans team) but I’d totalled 140 points which was 4 more than the Ver Valley team meaning that I finished as the winner! A tiring but enjoyable 2 days and with a tea mug and notebook as a prize!
My first visit to the reservoirs for a while was very productive. 2 Cattle Egret were on the bank and were my first in Herts since the then record breaking flock of 8 at Maple across back in 1992. Common Tern, Swallow and Willow Warbler were also noted for the first time this year. While I was stood on the jetty talking to Steve Rodwell the local gulls started calling and spiralling upwards. It was then I picked out an Osprey heading NW! According to Steve I’m the Osprey magnet!
Fterwards I popped into College Lake where from the main viewpoint I located the 2 drake Garganey asleep in front of the Octagon hide.
Doing some work in the park for the upcoming green flag judging I heard a Blackcap singing near Bushey Arches.
I was weeding the annual bedding beds at Langley Way when I heard a familiar call overhead. Sure enough I laid eyes on it and it was a lovely male Yellow Wagtail.
Whilst working at KGV allaying fields I heard a commotion above. I looked up to find 5 Herring Gulls and 2 Red Kites mobbing an Osprey! A Chiffchaff was singing nearby too.
I finally got a chance to have a look for the local Little Owl and quickly found it in its favoured tree.
I joined George, Brendon and Callum Mckeller in a trip down to Eastbourne where on the edge of a housing estate we had crippling views of a 1st winter American Robin. This was a tick for George and Callum and a 2nd bird for Brendon. For me it was my 3rd in the UK after Cornwall and W.Yorkshire.
After filling our boots with the Robin we headed 3 miles down the road to the seafront where after a wait I picked out the call of the wintering Hume’s Warbler. It was fairly vocal but due to the strong wind we only saw it in flight. This was my 4th in the UK. A quick seawatch added 8 RT Diver, Gannet, Kittiwake, Guillemot and Fulmar to the year list.
Our last stop was Polegate services where Callum quickly picked out the Hooded Crow that had been hanging around the McDonald’s there!
A Lesser Redpoll flew over Callowland Rec and became the 100th species of the year.
11th Jan - Mandarin Cassiobury
12th Jan - Nuthatch Garston
19th Jan - Siskin Garston
23rd Jan - Hawfinch Great Gaddesden
29th Jan - 5 Brambling Woodoaks Farm
News of a Red-breasted Goose on Wallasea Island RSPB reserve saw myself and Brendon head into Essex hoping to see it. Typically it wasn’t to be seen but some decent birds were jotted down in my notebook. At least 6 Corn Bunting were showing well and singing, 3 Spoonbill were doing what they do best and sleeping and a female Hen Harrier showed nicely.
After adding 20 species to the year list we headed to Abberton Reservoir. Some decent birds were found including 2 Great White Egret, 11 Goosander, Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, 4 Bewick’s Swan, Red-necked Grebe and Smew. We did dip Slavonian Grebe and a small flock of Cattle Egret. Oh to have somewhere that good in Herts!
2nd Jan - Dunnock Garden
3rd Jan - Collared Dove Garden
4th Jan - Wren Cassiobury + RN Parakeet Watford
5th Jan - Mistle Thrush, Coal Tit + Stock Dove Cassiobury
6th Jan - Linnet Watford
A new year and a new list. I started off from the garden and a Sparrowhawk was the best noted.
I then headed to Wilstone and once at the top of the steps I scanned the water adding birds to the list as I went. I then checked my phone and was shocked to see a message from Ben Miller saying he’d gone and found a drake Green-winged Teal from the hide at Wilstone! With this news I shot round to the hide and upon entering I found Ben along with Mike Illet, Ian Williams and Roy Hargreaves. Mike kindly let me look through his scope to get my eye in before I got it in my scope.
It was presumably the same bird that visited Wilstone briefly in 2021 so is either the 3rd or 4th for Herts and the first to be properly twitchable. That said it vanished just before noon so those slow off the mark missed out. It also became my first Herts tick since the Pallid Harrier in September 2018.
Other noteworthy birds were a drake Goosander, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and 2 Great White Egret.
On Tringford a single Green Sandpiper was happily feeding on the exposed mud.
The year was a quiet one due to COVID and as such I recorded my lowest year list total since I started twitching in 2001. I finished the year on 191 species which included 5 lifers. Plus hopefully Great Bustard to be added at some point and also with Ross’s Goose being added to the UK list I’m hopeful that one or both the birds I’ve seen will get accepted soon.
Northern Mockingbird
River Warbler
Black-browed Albatross
Long-toed Stint
Belted Kingfisher
As for Hertfordshire it’s now 3 long years since a county tick!
The birding year finished on a high up in the village of Roach Bridge near Preston,Lancashire. I joined Brendon, Terry and Ricky on the 4 hour journey and we arrived in the rain and just before sunrise. We slid through the mud up to the farmers field that we had the privilege of paying a tenner to enter for a view over the river.
The views were a bit restricted and so I missed the first view of the day. It was a good hour or so until I got a view of it perched distantly in a dead tree and BELTED KINGFISHER was on my list. It then vanished until we were just about to walk back to the car and someone said they had it perched up by the fishing lake which was even more distant than before. A belting end to the year!
A quick visit to Wilstone and Tringford Reservoirs turned into an Egret fest. 3 Great White Egret were seen from the hide at Wilstone and another on Tringford. 4 in one day and to think it was only 19 years ago since I saw my first in the county with just the 2nd for Herts also at Wilstone.
Half term week and I was heading back to Cornwall this time with the family! Dozmary Pool was a quick stop on the way down where the Ring-necked Duck of a couple of weeks ago had been joined by a further 3 drakes! A couple of weeks later and the flock had grown to 12 birds!
From here we visited Pendeen where at the second visit of the day I finally connected with the 1st winter Brown Shrike. My 3rd in the UK and 2nd in 2 years.
On the 25th we went to Sennen Cove so the kids could play on the beach. I of course took my binoculars and spotted 2 Chough heading over the beach and 2 Med Gulls were offshore. On the way back to our accommodation I popped into Drift Reservoir to have a scan over. Even from the car park I managed to pick out the Black-necked Grebe.
The 26th saw us visiting Paradise Park in Hayle where numerous birds were seen in the aviaries. Wild birds seen from there included 200+ Redwing and a single Fieldfare but the Brest bird was a Merlin that shot over the neighbouring fields.over on the estuary 40+ Med Gulls and 3 Golden Plover were seen.
The 27th only added a further 14 Med Gulls but I did dip a Black Redstart by the bus station at Penzance.
The 30th saw us up at silly o’clock for our long drive home. A Barn Owl seen by the side of the road near Hayle was the only thing worth writing down on the whole journey.
