15/09/2019 Lunt Meadows

American Golden Plover: The American golden plover annually performs one of the longest migrations of any American bird. This amazing migration sees them fly over the Atlantic and South America as far south as Patagonia, and most return via the Mississippi Valley. And this one instead has ended up near Crosby in Sefton.

Over the past few years this cracking little reserve has developed a reputation as being one of the best places to watch owls hunting over the flood meadows of the River Alt and is pulling in some decent scarce birds too.

01/09/2019 Fluke Hall, Pilling, Lancashire

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear: A late morning notification from BirdGuides 'pings' showing a female (presumed) Eastern black-eared wheatear along the sea defences at Fluke Hall, Pilling got the blood flowing!

A quick dash up the M6 and I arrive on a windswept bright seafront with 50 or so birders looking at a rock. No bird in sight.

As it has taken shelter right under a large boulder. With a bit of patience the bird came out and put on a good display before the rains came and the bird returned to its favourite boulder to shelter.

Notoriously difficult to identify there have only been a handful of officially accepted records of black-eared wheatear including the fabulously good looking male down in Hampshire back in May 2015, which I turned down a lift for.

So for now my fingers well and truly crossed for a confirmed notification of black-eared. I've been told that DNA has been taken so for now I will just have to wait.