25/05/2019 Hornsea Mere, East Yorkshire

Baikal Teal: This week I brought and received my new Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM and I was super keen to get out and start using it, and there is no better place then  Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire.

Dawn and I started the day at the RSPB reserve Bempton Cliffs but made a stop at Hornsea Mere, Yorkshire’s largest freshwater lake.

For few days a stunning drake Baikal Teal continued its journey north after spending time in Cambridge and Kilnsea.

This was a tricky bird to pin down only a few minutes before we arrived the bird flew off to a narrow bay at the back of the lake, well out of sight. We had to drive over to Wassand Hall and walk down to their hide.

After a long walk getting lost on a huge estate I eventually found the hide and was rewarded with some great view of the bird.

Lesvos Trip Report

Krüper's Nuthatch: Hello all, please check out my Lesvos trip report, simply go the the bottom on my blog and under the holiday and trip reports you will see the link to Lesvos, May 2019.

Black-eared Wheatear: Gary and I had a great time with plenty of birds and orchids.

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler: Lesvos is one of the most premier and loved places in Europe for watching birds. Specialties like breeding cinerous bunting and Krüper's nuthatch, as well as a migrant hotspot.

Squacco Heron: Not only did we have a chance to explore the island on our own we also went out with best and most knowledgeable local bird watching guide on the island, Eleni Galinou who took us on a brilliant guided tour.

White-winged Black Tern: We stayed in Skala Kaloni, where 130 bird species have been recorded on its gulf, which includes the Messon region, the salt-pits, and the Vouvari river.








Black Stork: I also had a surprise guided trip for my birthday to see the wild orchids of Lesvos with the legend Jan Van Lent.

Rose-coloured Starling: We weren't disappointed by the what the island had to offer.

https://austinmorley.blogspot.com/p/lesvos-greese-2019.html

06/05/2019 South Kirkby, West Yorkshire

Iberian Chiffchaff: Oh fudge! A bank holiday grip, yeah I went over to South Kirkby near Wakefield to see the fudge duck that spent yesterday on a small duck pond, but alas the day I decide to go it disappears.

The drake ferruginous duck has been in the area for a few weeks now and has a tendency to show up and then do one, before returning on another day.

Nice consolation bird was this male Iberian chiffy that was constantly calling at the end of Carr Lane, the same road the duck pond was on.

29/04/2019 Pendle Hill

Dotterel: There is no better way to see these magnificent bird then in the Spring sunshine, despite the strenuous and leg-aching climb to the summit it was well worth it.

The atmospheric brooding bulk of Pendle Hill dominates the skyline with its table ridge like appearance and affords some stunning views across the East Lancashire landscape.

Pendle Hill is famous in the birding world for being a very important spring passage site for dotterel with the best times to see them up on hill during the last week in April and first ten days of May.

Pendal Hill affords them their preferred habitats with short grass, rocky outcrops and stony patches. The local sheep do their job in mowing the plateau lawns and keeping the grasses short.

Some birds are a joy to spend time with and a real reward for wildlife photography and these waders have to come top of the list. Dotterel can be very tame and with patience they will often approach you allowing excellent photographic opportunities.

This bird was no exception and was happily foraging a few feet away.

See Dawn sitting on the brow of the hill, waving me on to hurry up as she was getting cold and wasn't looking forward to the climb back down the steep slops of the hill.

20/04/2019 Cannock Chase, Staffordshire

Wood Lark: I will no longer need to hang my head in shame, for wood lark is now on my list!! A fairly common bird I know, but for some reason I just haven't seen one in the UK before.

Perhaps its because wood larks are found mainly in eastern and southern England or maybe its because they are heathland specialists, and up in Wigan we have very little of that around.
More likely its because I'm pretty lazy and knew I would connect with one eventually.

I spent the day with Mark Payne and Stoke-on-Trents very own Phil Locker who was our guide for the day and give me an introduction to the Chase. Top bloke, top gen, top day, cheers Phil.

Almost as soon as we arrived up on the heath we could hear the tell tale call of the wood lark before spotting a bird flight past us with its distinctive broad wings and short tail.

We could see presumably the male, perched on upon a tree singing. We could see its short crest, rusty cheeks and prominent supercilium, the two sides meeting in a shallow ‘v’ on the back of the neck.

The bird put on a good show displaying and singing above us.

Green Hairstreak: We moved off to another part of he Chase and stumbled across the very small but very beautiful green hairstreak. We had several butterflies including orange tip, peacock, comma, small white, brimstone, small tortoise shell and speckled wood.

Pied Flycatcher: Cannock Chase is huge, absolutely massive about 2684ha right in the middle of the county and is an outstanding area of heathland with nationally important populations of nightjar and woodlark. The surrounding plantation conifers have crossbill and the oakwoods are good for wood warbler, redstart and pied flycatcher.

We checked out the areas that are best known for spring arrivals and we weren't disappointed. Picking up both male and female pied flys and a stunning male redstart.

Fresh from its migration, this male pied fly was a belter.

Tree Pipit: These pipits are rather plain birds, streaked brown above and pale below, with streaking on its chest and flanks. They are very similar to meadow pipits but may be distinguished by their heavier bill and finer streaking on the flank - they also have very different calls.

We got lucky again as we watched this male singing away at the top of a dead pine before parachuting down on to a nearby stump giving us great view.

We ended the day at the local put with a celebratory drink and a smile on my face.

18/04/2019 Sefton Park & Leasowe Lighthouse

Iceland Gull:  Nice start to the extra, extra long bank holiday weekend as I had today off and made plans with Gary to head out early and pick up some recently arrived migrants.

First stop was Bickershaw Rucks, a local reserve and a place I know is petty good for grasshopper warblers.  It didn't take long before we heard the distinct reeling call emanating from the rough grass.

We then moved on to the Wirral and straight to Leasowe Lighthouse which was in full migration  mode. Dozens of blackcap, willow warbler and chifchaffs were singing from every tree and bush.

But the highlight for sure were these mountain equivalent of the closely related blackbird.


We had two in the fields behind the Wirral way before they vanished and were gone for good. Gary and I stayed in the are and were suddenly surrounded by whaetear with the estimated daily figure topping 60 birds.

Ring Ouzel: We eventually moved on and saw the pied fly that was hanging around the end of Lingham Lane, it was only a brief view but we were happy.

We were happier still when we relocated the ring ouzel foraging in a horse paddock along Lingham Lane, two birds were joined by another and then a fourth.

Other birds to note were two white wagtail in the horse paddocks behind the Wirral Way, a reeling Grasshopper Warbler in the reeds and this smart looking whinchat knocking about the wheatears.

Whinchat: On the way home I decided to take a detour to Sefton Park, were we connected with the long staying Iceland gull. The bird was happily chasing away the ducks, steeling the food that families have come to the lake to feed the birds with. I wasn't complaining as these free handouts encouraged the bird to come in closer.

Decent day all round and a good start the the extra long bank holiday weekend.

02/03/2019 Shetland

Tengmalm’s Owl: My first Shetland twitch almost seems like a rite of passage for any ‘wannabe’ serious lister, it took me on a 1160 mile round trip from Wigan to Tresta to see the long sought after Tengmalm’s Owl.

Believed to be the first Tengmalm’s found on Shetland for over 100 years. Except for the bird found at Spurn back in 1983, that was suppressed, this would be the first Tengmalm’s in recent memory and the first real twitchable bird, one that stuck around for a while and kept to a relatively small area.






It was on Tuesday 19th February news broke that a Tengmalm’s Owl had been found in a garden at Bixter on Shetland and although it took me almost two weeks to pluck up the courage and make a decision to go  I think we played a blinder and the gamble paid off.

The Cheshire lads Mark Payne and Malc Curtin were joined by Derbyshire’s Tony Davison and myself, we jumped on the Shetland bound ferry on Friday night arriving in Lerwick at 0730 the following Saturday morning. Upon arriving we were greeted with negative news!

To say that the wait for the hire car and the car ride from the ferry terminal to Tresta was tense is an understatement. Malc drove like he was in some sort of cross country rally race! We arrived at a very crowded parking area opposite Lea Gardens, where the bird had been spending most of its time. Just as we arrived on site the bird had been relocated, we were relieved and over the moon.

Unfortunately the bird was seriously obscured by dense vegetation and the best views to be had were particularly narrow. The owners of Lea Gardens were keen for the birders not to step outside of the pathway boundaries in fear that their well-managed and beloved garden would be trampled.

Subsequently there was a scrum around the small area of best viewing and the path could realistically only hold a very small number of people. I genuinely believe that any damage to plants by any birders was accidental, and not out of a lack of respect for the owners garden or other birders yet to see the bird who might be travelling up on another day.

Eventually the owners became distressed about the damage to their garden and I witnessed Josh Jones doing his up most best to manage the situation. He was very diplomatic in calming the situation and bringing the owners back onside. While I was there I witnessed the owners dogs do more damage to the garden as it ran free within the garden  trampling newly emerged spring bulbs.

I was particularly surprised and taken aback to see the owners stepping right in front of the birders on to their own managed flower beds directly beneath the roosting bird. To then grab their point and shoot camera from their pocket and take a couple of pictures of the bird and flash their camera light right at it, not once, not twice but three times! We all held our breath as the bird shuffled around and looked like it was about to take off and be flushed.

Since it was particularly busy in the morning and the bird was obscured we decided to go hunt down the pied-billed grebe and rose finch. We struck lucky with the grebe as it showed well, if distantly from the road overlooking Loch of Spiggie.

We dipped on the rose finch but had a blast at the Fish Quay with a juvenile Iceland gull, several rafts of long-tailed duck, black guillemot and some stunning juvenile kittiwakes.

In the afternoon we returned to Lea Gardens to see if the bird was showing much better, and we struck gold!! The bird came right into the open giving us unobstructed, crippling views that were mind blowing. 

Kittiwake: The owners dog then began to play directly beneath the bird and made it wake up and become more mobile and active. This was great an experience that I will never forget. Having our fill of the bird and losing the light we headed back on to the ferry for some celebratory drinks.

Iceland gull: My first Shetland trip paid off, big time. Not all will of course, but this twitch won’t be forgotten any time soon. Top bird, top company with some top birders.

Despite the return journey on the ferry and the hour I spent hurling my guts up in the toilets and feeling like I was going to die!

Black Guillemot: It was a top twitch.