21/04/2024 Manvers Lake, Rotherham

Garganey: Sunday morning and I'm back out watching birds, this time with Dawn an Autumn in tow. We headed over to Manvers Park where a drake garganey has taken up residence with a female mallard. 

 

This duck originates from the flooded fields and swamplands throughout Europe and Asia. A mid-sized duck that can be recognised by it's distinctive white stripe around its eye and the blue and white patches along its wings. 

A migratory duck, the breeding birds arrive from March and return from July. Small numbers of non-breeding birds visit on passage migration in spring and autumn. They seldom breed here in the UK.

The bird was showing sensationally well, and was fiercely mate guarding its female mallard, feeding alongs side her and staying close to her at all times. The local birders ares yang its a bird of 'unknown origin' this is birders speak for they think it's a domesticated escaped individual. 

The bird is way too friendly, I've seen dozens of garganey and they have all been very flighty, but no body really knows its the right time of year and there is currently a big passages of garganey occurring at the moment. 

Either way, it's such a good looking duck, and very enjoyable to spend a few hours with on a sunny Sunday. 

20/04/2024 Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

Marsh Sandpiper: A bird that breeds in open grassy steppe and taiga wetlands from easternmost Europe to central Asia. A rare vagrant to areas of the UK and a bird I didn't want to miss, so edging my bets Kristian and I took the gamble by getting up at 3am and heading down to Hampshire for the early hours. 

These birds at first glance they resemble greenshanks but have a slender needle-thin bill and long olive-green legs, upon closer inspection these are pretty distinct features. The bird was busily dancing in the shallows at the far end of the western lagoons, feeding constantly and keeping its distance. 

This bird puts me on #450 for my British list, a real milestone and when I think back to all the early mornings, longs drives, the lows of crippling dips and the highs of connecting with rare birds its the memories with my mates, friends and acquaintances with I really treasure the most. 

13/04/2014 Platt Fields Park, Manchester

Common Scoter: These squat sea ducks are more commonly spotted as a line of dark ducks flying low over the water, or as large rafts of black ducks bobbing on the sea. but despite their seagoing habits, they do occur inland on lakes.

A nocturnal migrating bird, they are known to  move cross the land between the northern Irish Sea and North Sea coast of northern England and on occasion they can get disoriented and land on inland lakes.

This bird has been preset for around four days and papers to be in good shape, happily living side by side with the local mallards and Canada geese. 

Platt Fields Park is one of the largest parks in Manchester. Occupying a vast 16 acres, the park has two children’s playgrounds and a beautiful central lake, great for observing local wildlife. 

I had to wait around 45 minutes before the bird decided to stop taking its afternoon nap, wake up and do something. The bird paddled out into the open and started feeding, performing really well. 

07/04/2024 Gillingham, Devon

Dark-eyed Junco: I finally caught up with on of these charismatic little sparrows, a bird common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic. Dark-eyed junco are now pretty much an annual bird to the UK but more often then not they are recorded ion private gardens.

This bird didn't buy the trend turning up in a private garden. I was a little apprehensive the night before we set off, with the idea of limited viewing from a private garden who's owners only wanted us to arrive after 1pm I imaged a sene of carnage as folk screamed over each other and I'm left with only fleeting views form, the back. 

The reality on the ground however was very different, yea arrived to a friendly home owner who was very welcoming and a small crowed and I was able to get to the front without any issues.  

We waited for around an hour before seeing the bird in flight and eventually it came to the nearby cypress tree and then down to the bare branches of a walnut tree then the ground.

A New World warbler and one of five major subspecies: grey-headed, Oregon, pink-sided, slate-grey and white-winged. The most widespread is the dark-eyed variety. 

A smart little bird that performed really well for the crowds, big thanks to the home owner for letting us int his garden to view the bird.