26/02/2022 WWT Martin Mere

Siberian Chiffchaff: Today seemed like a rare day, with light winds, blue skies and no rain! The last few weeks have been pretty awful weather wise so as soon as I saw those enticing blue skies I was off. 

I headed over to Martin Mere to try and see the overwintering Sibe chiffy, there has been up to an incredible seven Sibes here over the winter and last time I spoke to Damian who saw them a few weeks ago he said they were particularly showy birds too.,

He was right, I didn't have to wait too long before seeing one along the hedge close to the sewage works, a practically pale bird that stood out especially when it was next to a common chiffy as the Sibe variety omit the olive in the crown and mantle as well as the yellow in the underwing. 

I counted at least two birds amongst the commons but they were moving and feeding continuously and being chased by the commons. 

Brambling: The Janet Kear hide was still playing host to at least three brambling, two female and a male bird.  Interesting to note that the male bird was only ever seen feeding on the feeders while the female birds spent more of their time foraging on the ground. 

Male brambling are really nice birds with their darker tones around their heads and backs. The male was a little more elusive than the female birds and when it was on show it didn't spend as much time before flittering back into the undergrowth. 

 

Loved watching these birds, sitting in quiet reflection before enjoying the walk around the reedbeds with dozens of wildfowl and waders flying overhead. 

Tree Sparrow: There were also a couple of tree sparrow on the feeders amongst the usual stuff. 
 

21/02/2022 Undisclosed Site

Long-eared Owl: Winter LEO roosts are particularly sensitive to disturbance, with the blame being put at the doorstep of photographers sometime rightley and sometimes wrongly. 

So during this encounter let me assure you that a considerable distance and care was taken when viewing these birds.

I've been monitoring this particular LEO roost throughout the winter  and have had up to seven birds at any one time and regaurtally see three to four individuals at any one time during my visits.

LEO's tend to roost communally, often in hedges or patches of scrub. As birders, we all love to see owls, they are beautiful, fascinating, and generally hard to come by. 

   

An encounter with an owl can be among the most memorable of birding experiences. In many places, however, roosting owls are vulnerable to disturbance. 

These birds are very close to a public footpath, one that is regularly used by dog walkers, cyclists and  I've even seen small scrambler bikes whizzing past.

16/02/2022 Darwen Services, Lancashire

Yellow-legged Gull: Today I finally made the time to see the long staying YLG who has taken up residence in Blackburn, presumably the same bird that has been seen on the lake at Queens Park also spends some time at the M65 Darwen services.

Upon arriving I noticed Leigh's legend Colin Davies sitting in his car so I parked up alongside and we staked out the services, watching all the gulls coming and going, scanning the lampposts and waiting.  

Just before Colin decided to leaved we picked the bird up sitting on top of a lamppost opposite the shell garage, it never stayed long and was lost to view. 

These large gulls are common around the Mediterranean and northern Europe, but fairly uncommon in the UK. They are often found within flocks of much more numerous herring gull and lesser black-backed gull typically in winter roost on the large Lancashire reservoirs and lakes. 

Eventually the bird came back, again sitting on top of the lapposts around eth service station. I did get some funny looks from the people sitting in their cars munching on their Gregg's and McDonalds. 

It was worth it though.   

15/02/2022 Undisclosed Site

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker: February onwards is known to be the optimum time to search for LSW as they return to their traditional breeding sites, so with some down time I decided to go in search of these little beauties. 

When I arrived on site site I could hear the tell tale call of the male bird accompanied by the sound of drumming, in fact I witnessed both the male and female bird drumming. 

The diminutive cousin of the greater spotted woodpecker is an untypically shy bird and their numbers have crashed over recent years.  They are particularly sensitive birds and there is a site locally which as been subject to unwarranted attention with toggers persintacly tape luring and even cutting down branches to get better views of the birds. 

So I've decided to withhold the location and let these bird be. Dont hate on me. 

09/02/2022 Eastbourne, East Sussex

American Robin: An unexpected twitch to Eastbourne saw me fill the car with Damian, Steve T and Iggo for a very early start.  Our aim was to get there for first light and we made good time but still arrived to a excited crowd who had already seen the bird before our arrival.

We only had to wait 20 minutes before the bird came out from behind the garages and put on a brilliant show.  The bird wasn't shy as it fed in the bushes and nearby trees and even after we left the bird came even closer! Absolutely brilliant.  

After we had our fill we drove a few miles toward the shore to see the Hume's leaf warbler and then to the golden arches to bag ourselves a plant based burger and a hooded crow.

31/01/2022 Bowlees, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Durham

Red-flanked Bluetail: I've been longing to see this bird for awhile now and my schedule freed up on a bright and sunny day so I thought I would spend some time up in a beautiful part of the world and finally go see it.

These stunning little birds breed in Siberia and usually overwinter in south east Asia but a small number come to western Europe each year and are now basically annual visitors to the UK, although only in small numbers.

This individual is particularly unusual, red-flanked bluetails are typically short stayers while this bird has been in the same small wooded area since December. Not only that but I've been told that its the only red-flanked bluetail on record singing in Britain.

The bird was feeding on a steep bank beneath the beech trees when I arrived before flying up into the trees and then out of sight. Eventually I picked it up again feeding on the floor and saw it fly out over the river. 

When it came back it fed around the overhanging roots and stony edge of the errored bank and it was here it alighted upon a nearby branch within two or three feet, allowing me to get some close up shots.

I was amazed!