14/10/2016 Spurn, East Yorkshire

Siberian Accentor: Probably the biggest bird of the year a 2nd for Britain but only after the 1st record being found a week ago in Shetland.

Found by Lance Degnan, congratulations!

This species is a native of northern Siberia, on both sides of the Ural Mountains and a casual visitor in western and northern Alaska and the outer Aleutians. So it's a bird many people thought they would never see on the shores of the UK.

It was crazy there were huge numbers of twitchers from across the country and so Spurn Bird Obs lads had organised a queuing and viewing system. People can see the bird for ten minutes, then go to the back of the queue and wait their turn again.

The bird was feeding in a small yard at the back of some houses near Viccars Lane. This small site could only allow around 150 people to look over the fence to view the bird so without the queuing system it would have been chaos!


Big thumbs up and thanks to the lads from Spurn who did a brilliant job of organising viewing of the bird.

Patrick and I took a few goes on the merry-go-round and queued up several times to view the bird and each time got increasingly better views of this super gorgeous little bird!

The accentor is a distant relative of the common British dunnock but is distinguished by its black and creamy facial markings, here is a good comparison.

Shore Lark: Once we had our fill of the sib acc and had enough of the crowds, we headed down to the Bulebell Carpark to see one of my favourite birds, the Shore Lark.

In typical Shore Lark fashion the bird was showing incredibly well as it hunkered down out of the blustery easterly winds.

I would like to give a special thanks to Patrick who pointed out that I was almost laying in dog turd as in typical 'Austin' fashion I was laying down on the ground with my camera trying to get a better shot of the bird.

Dusky Warbler: There are times when Spurn is really good and this was definitely one of these times!


As we left the Shore Lark we decided to check out Langham Lane and find something decent.

However we only got half way down before news came over the radio saying there had been a Dusky Warbler caught and rung and will be released in Church Field.

We turned around and with a hurried pace made it in time for the showing and release.

With the huge number of birders visiting Spurn after ticking the sib acc Church Field is chocca, with at least 300 people crowding around the edge of the field.

This was mine and Patricks first Dusky and it was such a privilege to see the bird at close quarters, in the hand.

Its far from a little brown job, a very distinct bird with unstreaked brown back and buff underparts and a prominent whitish supercilium.

The day ended with several superb views of three Ring Ouzel, one Redstart at Sammy's Point and Firecrest in the Crown & Anchor car park.

Overall a brilliant day with great company, excellent birds and plenty of friendly familiar faces, many from the North West.

11/10/2016 Houghton Green Pool

Yellow-browed Warbler: Well done to Colin Davies who does it again and finds yet another local YBW.










Colin shows us that if you put the time in and look hard enough and be patient you will soon find something of interest.

The bird was typically very elusive and often gone for long periods, it is located in the corner near Cloverdell foraging in the Sycamores and Hawthorn bushes and at times can be found in the Willow.

I woke up today hoping to see another YBW, especially after missing the Pennington Flash bird due to attending Destination Star Trek Europe in Birmingham over the weekend, my first Star Trek convention.

YBW are famously tricky birds to grab an image of, they are particularly small birds who seem to be Duracell operated and don't stop moving as they forage within thick trees and bushes.

They are also brilliant little birds and one of my favourites.

03/10/2016 The Great Orme

Booted Warbler: A first for me and a first for Conwy, this cracking bird was found by Tom Gravett this morning.

When I arrived the bird was happily foraging amongst the grass next to a small gorse bush near the Limestone Carpark. 

(Iphone Scoped Image)

There was some discussion over this bird being a Sykes Warbler, as far as I could see it didn't have dark feet or boots! However with it having a broad super and a shorter bill I believe it has now been separated and pinned down as  Booted Warbler. 

And isn't it typical when my big lens is broken and in the shop getting fixed, a really good bird turns up locally leaving me using my Iphone through my scope and my old (rubbish) 75-300mm lens.








Oh well, I should have my big lens back soon and it was great to add such a scarce and tricky bird to my list.

(75-300mm 5.6 lens Images) 

20/09/2016 My Garden, Abram, Wigan

Willow Tit: Over the past few weeks I have been treated to not one but two Willow Tit regularly visiting my garden feeders.

More than 10 per cent of the UK’s Willow Tit population live in the area around Wigan, St Helens, Warrington and Chorley.

Goldfinch: This is critical as nationally the UK population has fallen by 90 per cent in the past 30 years placing it on the red list of species of conservation concern!


I will make sure to keep the feeders topped up over the colder winter months to help these little beauties along.

Another welcome bird that brings a bit more colour are Goldfinch, I have good numbers visiting that swell in Winter.

I do really enjoy my garden and watching the visitors on the feeders - a real joy.

15/09/2016 High Rid Reservoir, Bolton

White-winged Black Tern: My second WWBT but this time a juvenile bird and a little cracker!

Looking at some of today's reports the bird didn't appear on High Rid until around 11.30am so I wonder where it was?

You never know, I might pick one up at Houghton Green Pool one day, or a Black Tern. To be honest I would be happy with a Dunlin with the site being very hit or miss.

Unfortunately the bird was busy feeding on the wing on newly hatched caddis fly and stayed at least 5-10 metres away from my lens.

If the bird sticks around until the weeknd I will be sure to try again for some better pics.

10/09/2016 Spurn Migration Festival

Kentish Plover: Despite the dreadful weather producing constant driving rain we had a brilliant start to the weekend with Spurn's 17th Kentish Plover, 1st since 2000 and a lifer for me!

After getting gripped off with the recent Manchester bird, due to working away in London I was thrilled to finally get this bird in the bag.

Curlew Sandpiper: I attended the event with a good friend and fellow ecological consultant Tom and decided to camp, we also bumped into many friendly faces including Ian Igglesden and Scott Reid.

These gents  shared more than a couple of drinks with me on the Saturday night in the Crown & Anchor pub and subsequently paid for it on the Sunday morning with one big hangover!

Spurn is a truly special place with it's geographical location and position, it is famous for the way birds funnel through Spurn during their migration.

Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper: The festival is a celebration of the spectacle of bird migration from Spurn and around the world. Offering guided walks, bird ringing demos and plenty of expert talks.

Dunlin: Tom and I saw two cracking talks one from Mark Pearson about the work of Filey Bird Obs that was full of brilliant images and stories of finding some rare birds and what Filey has to offer.

Wood Sandpiper: The second talk was from Bjorn Malmhagen and David La Puma about their own migration hotspots, Cape May Bird Obs and Falsterbo Bird Obs. I thoroughly enjoyed this talk, the two blokes were brilliant, informative and  engaging

For me what makes Spurn Migration Festival so good and an event to attend again and again is Spurn itself and the offer of some great birding to be had.

Wood Sandpiper & Ruff: This is a good comparison between Ruff and Wood Sand. Kilnsea Wetlands was the place to be on the Saturday we had two Curlew Sandpiper, plenty of Dunlin, Common Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit, plenty of Yellow Wagtail and the bird of the weekend the Kentish Plover.

On the Sunday we were treated to cracking views of a single Wood Sand foraging in front of the hide.  

We also had some good vis mig (visible migration -birders love using their own language) with reports of over 5000 Meadow Pipit moving through although we only saw a small fraction of this. 

This was the second time I have attended Spurn Migration Festival and it keeps on delivering and remains a highlight of the birding calendar, I look forward to next year.

For more info see below:

www.spurnmigfest.com

www.spurnbirdobservatory.co.uk

09/09/2016 Houghton Green Pool

Yellow Wagtail: After a very early 3.30am start for a bat survey and then battling the M6 during rush hour, I decided to spend the rest of my early morning at Houghton Green.








Almost as soon as I entered the arable field of which contains a large oat crop I could hear  the distinct call of Yellow Wags coming from within the crop.

I was really hoping I might get lucky on this site, espceislaly as there has been several Curlew Sandpiper and Wood Sands in the nearby-ish Manchester Mosses.

But alas, no sign of anything scarce, just the usual Greenshank and this time 4 Green Sandpiper and no sign of the Ruff which as been on the pool for a few weeks.

Other highlights included 7 Grey Partridge and 2 Teal.

However I did get a chance to get up close and photograph this splendid Yellow Wagtail who as happily foraging around the edge of the pool.

There has been a few local lads keeping a close eye on this site recently so I will keep my fingers crossed one of us will pick something exciting up here, it's a modest site but has some potential.

01/09/2016 Houghton Green Pool

Green Sandpiper: Another pleasant morning spent on the flash, every time the flash emerges from over the hill I am always hoping I'll find something rare!


.

Black-tailed Godwit:  Although there was nothing rare I did pick up a small flock of 13 blackwits, a new bird for me on Houghton Green which was good.







Greenshank: The usual suspects still remained, plenty of Yellow Wags,  a single Greenshank, a single Ruff and two Green Sandpiper.

The last time I was here the water levels were very low, so low I could see large fish swimming and gasping for air in the muddy pool.

By the time I packed up and left the site was becoming really busy with several dog walkers, one of which spooked the Ruff and blackwits which disappeared.

Grey Wagtail: Rare, maybe nextime....

27/08/2016 My Garden, Abram, Wigan

Common Dor Beetle:  (Geotrupes stercorarius) Today Dawn goes to let the cat out into the back garden and says 'Austin, what's this weird beetle on our garden step?' I went to take a look and I was surprised to see a dung beetle.


Excited, I grabbed my camera and macro lens and snapped away, this was a UK first for me and a brilliant, welcome addition to my garden.

The Dor Beetle is one of the largest members of the Family Scarabaeidae (Dung beetles) and are important because they get rid of a lot of animal faeces, breaking it down and incorporating it into the soil, so helping in the recycling of nutrients.

This also makes the world a less smelly place to live in and reduces the numbers of other insects like flies which would otherwise breed in it.

This individual also had a large colony of mites living on its coxo, abdominal segments and across it's thorax. Apparently this is common for Dor Beetles but was pretty weird to see.

02/08/2016 Minsmere RSPB, Suffolk

Western Purple Swapmhen: I've seen these massive blue coots in Spain but never thought I would have one over here.

Otherwise known as a purple gallinule or its less-scientific “blue chicken” or “swampy” if this bird gets accepted it will be a first for the UK.

The case put forward for it to be a genuine vagrant consists of timing and location. Its after breeding season so the birds are moving further afield, at this time of year in  Spain their traditional ponds and lakes are drying up.





The bird is a western race, so its range is closer to Britain than other forms of swamp-hen which have been known to escape into the wild from captivity. Also there are other westerns swamphens way out of their range in France at the moment. All of which may makes the Minsmere bird more credible.

Other highlights included Bittern over the reedbeds close to where the Swamphen was loafing and two adult Stone Curlew accompanying a single chick just past the visitor centre on the grassland.

09/06/2016 Paxton Pits, Cambridgeshire

Reed Warbler: After my previous visit to Paxton Pits when I didn't see the constantly singing Great Reed Warbler, probably because it was  a day when the winds were strong, the heaven opened, I was pleased to finally pin the bird down.

The Great Reed Warbler was again constantly singing and only showed briefly to chase off a Reed Warbler.

Note: I was I could show you a pic of the GRW but I was unable to get one! so These pics are of a normal Reed Warbler, just to confuse matters!