29/06/2022 RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Bridlington

Turkistan Shrike (Red-tailed Shrike): This Turkish delight otherwise known as a red-tailed shrike was relocated just down the main track to the reserve and was reported late into the evening, so thinking there was a good chance it had roosted in the same area I started to hatch a plan. 

Leaving at 2.30am arriving at around 5am, and picking Gary up on the way up we made good time and arrived just intimate for the rain! 

Only light showers that soon cleared up, but it seemed to have kept the bird out of sight and perhaps under cover. As the clouds thinned out, the rain stopped and it warmed up a bit the bird came out and started to hunt, for bees. 

Split from Isabelline shrike to a full species in its own right its a pretty rare bird and there were plenty of top twitchers who had made the same early Strat with the hope of connecting with it.
 

21/06/2022 Smithy Fen, Tottenham, Cambs

White Stork: These iconic birds have been extinct in Britain as breeding birds since 1416. But very recently they have  finally been reintroduced as breeding in the in Knepp Estate in Sussex. 

These successful breeding birds are now spread further a field and are often found away from Knepp across the country. So when an unsigned bird turns up folk tend to get twitchy. 

The origins of this bird may be unknown but one can assume or at least hope it's a wild bird. There has been one which was accepted last year in the same area of Cambridge so this bird has  every chance. 

Also not too far from the Cambridge border was this very smart hoopoe at Hixworth, foraging in the horse paddocks south of the impressive Church of St Nicholas.

10/07/2022 Pennington Flash

Egyptian Goose: Egyptian goose were introduced to England nearly 3 hundred years ago and became a favourite waterfowl during the Victorian times when full-winged freely breeding colonies were established on the lakes of such estates as Blickling, Gunton, Holkham and Kimberley. 

They have over many years dispersed over comparatively large areas it is not only confined to Norfolk feral populations and can now be found across the south of England. So when a pair turn up on a local waterbody it's always a highlight to see.

Two birds have made Pennington Flash their temporary home, enjoying the spoils that the car park area has to offer, with dozens of families coming down to feed the ducks and geese.

Both were very tame to a point where you could almost pick them up and both looked at home next to the local Canada geese and mallards. 

Egyptian geese are doing really well across England, in fact the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust reports that the county holds over 90 per cent of the national population of some 900 birds. 

Attractively marked, particularly in flight when distinctive white wing-coverts are revealed, Egyptian geese draw attention to themselves in the coming months with noisy displays and fierce territorial fighting both afloat and ashore.

 

02/06/2022 Loch Grudie, Strath Brora, Highlands

Short-toed Snake Eagle: Wow, just wow! 

OK the picture is rubbish, a burry mess of pixels and heat haze, but this represents another of my UK firsts for me, and one hell of a brilliant bird. 

Osprey: With news being slow to come out due to the bird being first sighted during a vantage point bird survey, presumably due to the sensitivity to the project and clients involved I was just happy that news was put out in full with location details. 

We moved pretty quickly once the bird was pinned down and began to be regularly seen coming out of a roost in a plantation woodland on the far side of Loch Grudie. 

Black-throated Diver: Leaving at 1am and arriving at 9.30 Steve T and I bumped in to yong Oscar Puls and then traversed the steep hill toward the watch point together. Out of breath and sweating we arrived with seconds to go before the bird lifted off out of the tree line and took to the sky, before flying around and out of site. 

We waited for it to return before time got the best of us and were forced to leave, but despite the short views of the bird and the long journey home I had a smashing day. 

A good laugh in car with a top bloke and a day spent with several fishing osprey and a black-throated diver. Very nice indeed.