Mega Dip - 27.10.26

Rufous-tailed Robin records in the UK have been rarer than hen’s teeth with only 4 records and all of them being very elusive and bar one in Norfolk on far flung islands. So when one was found in Flamborough,E.Yorkshire things went crazy. Views were exceptionally tricky being only viewed in a ditch from a fence and then only showing for seconds every few hours. If you were lucky you saw it within 20 minutes while others up to 9 hours if you weren’t in the right viewing spot.

But after a few days it suddenly decided to show off on the path and scrub above the ditch and as it’d spent over an hour on Tuesday morning doing just that I headed up to be there for first thing Wednesday. Unfortunately for me despite being the 6th person on site the early part of the night was clear and so it most likely had sodded off. And if rumours are to be believed apparently some birders were shining torches into its roosting bush after dark Tuesday evening to see it which may have sped up its departure. 

So 4 hours seeing nothing more exciting than a (albeit) my first ever Northern Bullfinch and some year tick White-fronted Geese overhead I decided to head off. A year tick Tree Sparrow was in the car park and within a minute of parking up at Bempton Cliffs I had cracking views of my 12th UK Pallas’s Warbler.

The last notable bird of the day was as I was driving down the M18 near Thorne/Hatfield Moors when 8 Whooper Swan flew over the car (7 adults + 1 Juv). 

Wilstone - 27.10.26

I’d had to pop out to do a couple of things but when they’d been done I had a spare half an hour so I popped to Wilstone and wandered around to the jetty. Typically soon after I got there it started raining so I hunkered down behind the black box on the end and in doing so made myself invisible to the bird I’d come to see. An adult Arctic Tern elegantly flew past me about 10-15ft away providing me with some of the best views I’ve had of this species. It became only my second autumn sighting of the species in Herts and a month later than that record. 

3 minutes later I had a Swallow zoom south and that also became my latest Herts record too.

NUTCRACKER!! -24.10.26

On the drive home from Norfolk the previous weekend I said to my wife I reckon I’ll be coming back pretty soon due to the potential of a Nutcracker turning up. There were many hundreds just over the North Sea in Holland and Belgium so UK birders were getting excited that the first twitchable one since 1998 could be on the cards.

Saturday 24th dawned and as it was the first day of my week off work I had a lay in. I woke about 10am to see a missed call from George Moreton and numerous WhatsApp messages saying that it’d happened. There was a Nutcracker in Mundesley,Norfolk! Why it couldn’t have turned up last weekend when I’d have had only a half hour drive to get there I don’t know but I quickly got ready and was in the car for a 3 hour drive.

Nutcracker

News on the journey up was initially positive but then there was the dreaded no sign message. I continued on and arrived just before 2pm to news that it’d not been seen for over 90 minutes. It then started raining and after a while a few people left. I was thinking about ringing my wife to say I’ll stay at my dads rather than driving home to potentially come back the next day but the just after 4pm the call we’d all been waiting for came. It’s in the back garden! Panic ensued trying to get a viewpoint into the garden. I luckily had it fly through the gap at the side of the house before it stunned us all by flying towards us and landing firstly Ito a conifer tree then into the floor about 6ft in front of us. For the next couple of minutes it showed superbly before heading back into the garden. Thankfully the house it was frequenting was for sale and unoccupied!

The cheers and jubilation of the birders was fantastic as this blocker had finally been unblocked for the last couple of generations of birders not old enough to have been twitching in the 90’s. NUTCRACKER was on our lists. 

5e drive home was miserable and wet plus with the A11 closed a 20 minute detour was needed though some who left just before us got onto the A11 and had it closed in front of them and they were stuck there for 5 hours so it could’ve been worse!

Even better for me was that this bird was my 500th UK species (again). Last years Lesser Crested Tern was my t00th but then I lost 3 species due to species lumping so it was nice to do it again with such a (Nut)cracker.

Norfolk - 17.10.26

As it was my dad’s birthday we popped up for the weekend to celebrate with him with a night at the dog racing in Great Yarmouth. But during the day we went to Winterton-on-sea so the kids could play on the beach and also see the seals. I on the other hand had a half hour seawatch as the northerly gales were producing some decent birds all around the East Anglian coast. 

Good numbers of Brent Geese and Wigeon were seen, as well as 7 Red-throated Diver, 9 Common Scoter, 2 Redshank and 11 Meadow Pipit coming in off.

I then spent the last bit of daylight looking out from Second Avenue, Caister-on-sea whilst everyone went swimming. The main highlight here was a Norfolk tick Grey Phalarope that headed north. Other notables were 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 6 Pintail, 3 Dunlin, Curlew and a Red-breasted Merganser. Sadly I wish I’d had more time as I’m sure I’d have seen some other goodies but family first!

Scilly - 9.10.26

 Just as I thought that the previous days birding was one of my worst today happened!

5 Golden Plover were seen on Peninnis, the Sora was seen again and in Standing Stones I picked up a female Reed Bunting!

So the end of another week on the isles and a total of 120 species seen. But for the first time I failed to add a new bird to my Scilly list. Thanks again to Mark for use of his photos and company. We'll do it all again next year.

Scilly - 8.10.26

The northerly wind made the days birding very difficult. In fact it was up there with one of the worst days birding I’d had on the isles.

My notebook contained 3 species. These were the Little Porth Black Redstart for the 3rd time, a Grey Phalarope showing well off Steval and finally 2 Bar-tailed Godwit on Porthloo!

Grey Phalarope

Scilly - 7.10.26

4 days of t-shirt weather came to an abrupt halt when the wind swung to a strong northerly. With the wind getting up I thought I’d try a quick seawatch from Peninnis. Singles of Manx Shearwater and Kittiwake were noted along with 100+ Gannet. I picked out a bird that looked promising for a Leach’s Petrel but sadly it was just too far out to confirm it.

Jack Snipe

From the Hilda Quick hide at Lower Moors and showy Jack Snipe was doing what they do best. Bobbing! From The screen at Shooters Pool a brief Yellow-browed Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat were seen.

On the way to Longstones for some lunch 2 Firecrest were seen just past Carreg Dhu and in Carreg Dhu after lunch a Pied Flycatcher showed well.

Pied Flycatcher

News of a Red-throated Pipit saw us head to Carn Vean but it’d long vanished and a Glossy Ibis was still in a field near Normandy. At Porth Hellick I broke out the thermal and found 4 birds on the far side. They were Snipe and I got a few others on them. A woman then said oh one is bobbing and yes it was a Jack Snipe! The Sora showed briefly again.
 

Scilly - 6.10.26

Juvenile Sora

During the week I’d tried 3 times to see the Juvenile Sora at Porth Hellick but either the hide was full or the bird was hiding so I made the conscious decision to get up early and get to the hide for dawn. I arrived and was the first one there but there was no sign as dawn broke. 3 others turned up and a few minutes later one of them picked it out along the edge of the southern reedbed. It then showed well until I had to leave to get back before breakfast.

Adult Sora

The other reason I decided to see it so early was that an adult Sora had been found on Tresco the previous day so I thought it’d be good to try and see both. Negative news came in early from Tresco but we still decided to head over. Just before we docked on Tresco positive news came through so I power walked round to the David Hunt hide and upon entering met John Judge who said look in my scope and hey presto  there it was. Both Sora in just over 3 hours and I think I become the first birder to ever see 2 Sora in a day!

Along Pool Road we had good if brief views of a Yellow-browed Warbler and behind Abbey Pool another showy Lapland Bunting.

American Golden Plover

News then broke of a juvenile American Golden Plover at the far end of the island which was a fun walk! On arrival it took flight calling with 3 Golden Plover but thankfully landed again allowing good if distant views. This was exactly where I saw my last one back in 2020.

A female Common Scoter showed well in Tresco channel and whilst sat on the boat Mark picked out a Glossy Ibis that landed in a small field next to the pub.

Wilson’s Snipe

Back on St.Mary’s I wandered down to Lower Moors where from the ISBG hide my 4th Wilson’s Snipe showed excellently just a few feet away. 

Yellow-browed Warbler

Lapland Bunting

 

Scilly - 5.10.26

Red-backed Shrike

Today we visited St.Agnes in the hope of adding a Western Bonelli’s Warbler but as it turned out it along with the one on St.Martin’s they’d both buggered off.

On Periglis beach 43 Ringed Plover, 8 Sanderling, 3 Dunlin and a Wheatear were seen and around the Fruitcages 3 Blackcap. My 2nd juvenile Red-backed Shrike in 2 days was seen by the bulb dump and this one sadly only had 1 eye.

Lesser Emperor

Back at the Fruitcages I picked up a dragonfly zooming around that had an obvious blue patch. Amazingly it perched up right by the path and allowed me to grab a photo with my phone. Not knowing if it was either a Lesser or Vagrant Emperor I posted it onto the Scilly wildlife group and it came back as a Lesser Emperor. This was my first ever and only the 2nd record for St.Agnes according to Bob Dawson who also confirmed it as a male.

Black Redstart

Once back on St. Mary’s before heading back for a cuppa I popped into Little Porth to see my first Black Redstart of the year.

Scilly - 4.10.26

Short-toed Lark

The first full day on the islands started off on Peninnis Head where I quickly found 1 of the 2 Short-toed Lark as it walked amongst some cowpats. A Wheatear was by the lighthouse.

Rose-coloured Starling

Our next stop was the pub at Old Town but for a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling not a swift pint. It was on show straight away on wires with its normal cousins before flying off towards the airport.

We then trotted up to the golf course where distantly from the car park we saw the juvenile Red-backed Shrike perching along a hedgerow and on a small hut.

Turtle Dove

Next stop was Telegraph where after about 20 minutes trying to find the correct field we eventually found the Turtle Dove with some Stock Dove.

I then visited Old Town churchyard in the hope of seeing a Pied Flycatcher. It’d been seen about 20 minutes earlier but had vanished. I heard a couple of Firecrest calling so went to have a look and as I was searching I noticed a movement in the tree behind. It was the flycatcher and was still fairly black and white. A nice end to the day.

Thanks to Mark Sutton for his photos.

Scilly - 3.10.26

In my previous post I mentioned that for the first time in 3 years I didn’t have to go to Scilly a day early as the weather was kind. It was about 5.30pm I received a phone call from the IOS travel company asking me to get to Lands End airport for 7am due to possible problems! Saturday morning arrived and I drove to down and hit thick fog. So it was on the boat again! 

Notable sightings from the crossing were 40+ of both Storm Petrel and Grey Phalarope and 16 Meadow Pipit!

Once on the islands and stuff dropped off at my accommodation I along with Mark Sutton headed down to Porth Hellick. Here we hoped to catch up with the first good bird of the day which had turned up just before our trip. Sadly from the new hide peoples heads were in the way and the old hide was full up so the Sora had to wait. I did however pick up a Glossy Ibis as it dropped in and had a quick bath and saw 2 nice Yellow Wagtail.

Glossy Ibis 

Nearby on the beach was a Snow Bunting so we went to have a look and at times it was almost walking over peoples feet! After enjoying the views of the bunting we headed up towards Normandy but then the Sora was re found so Mark went back and got some good views and photos of it. I carried on as it’d only be a year tick and at Holy Vale I found 2 Firecrest. Not a bad first day.

Snow Bunting

Cornwall - 2.10.26

Lapland Bunting

It was that time of year again where I head down to the SW and for the first time in 3 years the weather was kind and I didn’t need to go over to Scilly a day early. I started off by Hayle library and quite quickly found a year ticket Curlew Sandpiper in with some Redshank. I then moved to Ryan’s Field where 2 more year ticks were noted those being Bar-tailed Godwit and Grey Plover and another Curlew Sandpiper. On the estuary itself were 4 Sandwich Tern and 29 Mediterranean Gull.

I then headed further west to Drift Reservoir where despite spending almost 2 hours there I failed to see either the Pectoral or Spotted Sandpiper. A Wheatear was a year tick though.

After seeing a report of 60+ Grey Phalarope past Pendeen I headed over. As I was walking to the lighthouse something zipped out from under my foot. Thinking it was a rodent I was surprised to see it was in fact a Lapland Bunting! I’d missed a previous message about there being one there so I guess I could claim it as a self found seeing as I wasn’t aware it was there! Sadly the seawatch was pretty dire so I headed off to check into my hotel for the night.

Once in my room I read about a Black Kite just up the road at Cambourne so popped over to see it  sadly it was distant so not much detail could be seen and as it transpired it was hybrid between Black and Black-eared Kite but was still nice to see.

Another quick visit to Hayle Estuary produced a Ruff and Peregrine.

Wilstone Yet Again! - 30.9.26

I was back at Wilstone this time for another duck. This time it was for an eclipse drake Garganey, my first of the year which showed well from the jetty. 

Garganey 

  

Wilstone - 5.9.26

Spotted Flycatcher

News of a rare duck saw me paying another visit to Tring. From the jetty I had 4 House Martin heading south but after a few minutes of searching and a little help from Ian Williams I finally saw the male Ferruginous Duck at the far end of the spit. This was my 3rd on Wilstone and my first anywhere for 10 years!

Behind the reservoir by the private wooden gate I saw 2 Spotted Flycatcher.

Wilstone - 31.8.26

A return visit to Wilstone for a post birthday walk produced all the previous wader species from my last visit plus 3 juvenile Ruff that’d joined them. 2 Egyptian Geese, 8 Common Sandpiper, singles of Pintail and Wigeon were also noted along with a family party of 4 Hobby.

Wilstone - 26.8.26

With the ongoing drought conditions Wilstone Reservoir’s water level was dropping nicely and as such it attracted some decent waders. With this news I headed up for a wander round.

I concentrated my efforts at the jetty/cemetery corner. From here I saw the juvenile Spotted Redshank alongside a Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Greenshank and 4 Green Sandpiper. 7 Swallow flew south and at least a dozen Yellow Wagtail were noted.

Labrador Bay - 16.8.26

After a night in Hayle and a nice fry up we headed for home but not before stopping in Devon for Cirl Buntings. In the field below the car park I found a juvenile and a female in a nearby tree. The others had a few more including a male but I’d wandered the other way trying to find more but only had a fly by Sparrowhawk and a Willow Warbler.

Penzance Pelagic - 15.8.26

With a record breaking El-Nino currently underway the potential for good sea birds being pushed north due to warming sea temperatures myself, Brendon Fagan, Brendan Glynn and Jim Reader decided to head SW to join the Mermaid Pelagic out of Penzance.

We set off at 5am and arrived in good time at Hayle Estuary RSPB. From The hide at Ryan’s Field I picked out my first Whimbrel of the year and on the main estuary I found 8 Greenshank and a Barnacle Goose.

After a breakfast pasty from Philp’s we headed towards Penzance where at 2 pm we set sail for a 6 hour pelagic a few miles off shore. Sadly the wind direction had turned northerly and so limited the numbers of birds. We still managed 2 Wilson’s Petrel giving me my best ever view of this species, 6 Storm Petrel, 2 Cory’s Shearwater and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull.

Another Mega! - 19.7.26

Long-tailed Shrike

Back in November 2000 the UK’s first ever Long-tailed Shrike was found on South Uist. It was only twitchable for 2 days but had apparently been there for a few days before. Fast forward to 5th July this year and news broke of the second ever record being found near Crail in Fife. The 1st summer male bird was moulting and so it was thought that’d it’d do what the Bempton Turkestan Shrike did and stick about for a few weeks until it’d completed its moult but after just 4 days it vanished.

This left a lot of birders frustrated but for me it did save me 16+ hours in a car in a heatwave with rubbish aircon!

Long-tailed Shrike

Fast forward again to 18th July and news broke of a Long-tailed Shrike on the Glos/Oxon border. Sadly the news was also of it as being seen from 8-16th July but had been suppressed due to concerns about traffic chaos in the narrow countryside lanes. Amazingly this 1st summer male bird was a different bird to the Fife one going on plumage differences so it becomes the UK’s third record! But we’d not be able to see the bird as it’d too vanished.

Or so we thought as mid morning of Sunday 19th July Glos birder Mike King who had spent a fruitless 4 hours trying re-find it was walking back to his car when the bird flew past his shoulder and perched up nicely for him!

I was in the middle of packing for moving house when the mega alert went off but packing would have to wait. There was no time to wait and so I grabbed my gear and was out the door. I arranged to get Matt Moreton and for once the bird was only 1 hour 40 minutes away so a bit less driving than going for the Scottish one. The journey down was good apart from me missing a turn and having to do a few extra miles but we eventually reached Eastleach Martin but we couldn’t get to the now designated parking area as the lane was blocked by cars due to the bird being in roadside bushes so we parked up carefully nearby and walked down to the bird. 

I lagged behind Matt as usual but he let me have a look at the bird through his scope to get my eye in. Once in my scope I could enjoy it and add LONG-TAILED SHRIKE to my list. Species number 499 on my UK list I wonder what 500 will be (again)?!

Whilst there I saw Cliff Smith who’d managed to get up to the Fife bird on its second day, spending 23 hours driving there and back only for this bird to appear ‘down the road’!

 

Welsh Mega

Having missed out on a potential tick of the Cornish Lesser Kestrel due to both my kids coming down with illness the evening before I was due to go I was wondering whether I’d actually get a new bird this year. 

Thankfully that wait wasn’t too long when a dark morph Western Reef Heron the first record of this species in the UK was discovered in Gwynedd. It then transpired it’d been first seen in Pembrokeshire some weeks earlier. 

I joined Brendon Fagan and Ricky Flesher for the long drive to Foryd Bay made even longer due to a crash on the M1 which shut the motorway for almost an hour. On arrival we parked up and scanned from the car where I picked out a female Goosander. Sadly the weather wasn’t great and we got soaked watching the bird feeding just offshore but WESTERN REEF HERON was on our lists.

Western Reef Heron

We didn’t hang around too long due to the weather so we headed north into Anglesey. We had a quick look over Holyhead Harbour for Black Guillemot but failed to see any. Next stop was South Stack RSPB. This was my first visit here since 2003 when I watched another dark coloured mega in the shape of a male Black Lark. 

South Stack Lighthouse

We parked up and got some info from the staff of where best to go and they showed us on a map and off we went. 3 Raven flew over followed by 2 Chough. From the steps we could see numerous Razorbill, Guillemot and 2 Puffin as well as Fulmar and Kittiwake. Out at sea were lots of Manx Shearwater.

After a quick cup of tea we went back to Holyhead Harbour. I picked out at least 6 Sandwich Tern on the far side and then when scanning the harbour I had a nice summer plumaged Black Guillemot fly through my scope view.

Our final stop was to Llyn Brenig. This was a new site for me and I was very impressed by it and the number of birds. Along the entrance track Brendon spotted 2 male Bullfinch feeding on the grass the other side of the fence. We headed down to the Osprey viewpoint and along the way I found a Tree Pipit, numerous Siskin, Redpoll and numerous singing Willow Warbler.

Willow Tit (bottom left)

We eventually reached the viewpoint and after a quick scan we saw an Osprey on the nest. Our gaze was then drawn to the feeders in front of us. Between the feeders and the trees behind us we managed a family group consisting of a whopping 8 Willow Tit. I’d only seen 2 in the previous 42 years!

We arrived back at my house just after 10pm after a great days birding.