Craigs UK Bird Photos

26th-30th October Crappy Cumbria

Had the week off due to not being able to get into my bnb this week due to it being half term. So managed to get out and do some local birding every day. Numbers have been high but species just common....typical Cumbria.

Firstly (Monday) there was a report of a Long billed Dowitcher from the Scotish side of the Solway at Brownhouses. Counts are as follows but no Long Billed Dowitcher..

9000 Geese on Marsh Pink feet and Barnacles

3,500 Golden plover in 2 flocks.

800 Dunlin. Too far and light very bad to check properly (strong sunlight).

6 Bar-tailed Godwit and 6 Black-tailed Godwit

1 Knot, Female Sparrowhawk

8 Merganser, 10 Goosander.

15 Whooper Swan

Turnstone, 1 Brambling and a few Redpoll.

Tuesday was spent on the English side and Grune point,  300 Golden plover, 200 Dunlin, again all to distant to check, 8 Goosander and 3 Merganser, but very little else.

I then checked Linskeldfield Tarn for a reported Blk Redstart but no sign, there were 120+ Common Snipe.

Wednesday was spent in my village of Dearham where Redwing and Fieldfare were very much in evidence.

Thursday got a little better but still not fantastic....

Port Carlisle on rising tide

1 Spotted Redshank

1 Merlin

1 Female Pintail

2 Pochard

2 Shoveler

30 Snipe

Anthorn, viewing from the masts

170 Twite

1 Greenshank (heard)

12 Knot

400 Barnacle Geese

1900 Pinkfooted Geese

2200 Golden Plover (to far to check properly).

Friday was a trip to Linksfeild tarn again but nothing of note and still no sign of Blk Red, then onto Sizergh Castle where i saw 5 Hawfinch, best birds of the week.

So although there seems a lot of birds in Cumbria at the moment there all just to far away to check thourally, Very disapointing week, i was hoping to find at least one good bird, TYPICAL CUMBRIA!

23-24th October Eastern Crowned Warbler 1st For Britain.

On the Thursday 23rd i manged to get to Holy Island after work for the last hour, went straight to the Snook for Pallas Warbler, i didn't stay long as the tide would soon be in. Then onto the Excavation where there was a Sib Chiffchaff, then i got a report of a Raddes Warbler behind the Toilet block in the car park and jammed in on that, although not best of views, tried for the Barred Warbler which i couldn't locate and really ran out of time, only just got off the island. I then headed for home. Camera never left the bag.

On the 24th I did a few chores before checking my computer, what a mistake that could have been. At 10am i noticed EASTERN CROWNED WARBLER, south shields, oh shit!!!! A 1st For Britain..........Ive got to go over there again!!!!. By 1030 i was on the road and by 1230 i was watching the bird, local birders Daren, Roy and Tristan were already there, not sure what i said but they were soon off too. So got brilliant views of the Warbler, even managed to get it in the scope.  It moved around alot and spent most of the time hidden. After i had my fill off watching the bird i then managed some records shots which i was pleased with considering the fast movement of the bird...I met Chris baines and headed home giving him a lift. What a BRILLIANT few weeks ive had....

16th-18th October, Norfolk Trip.

Finished work on Thursday and madly decided id take a trip to Norfolk,Rach couldn't get the time off. So i Left Northumberland for the five and a half hour drive, by the time i got there it was dark and started to think, was this worth it. Luckily on the Friday it was. 

Friday started off quiet, i dipped the Short-toed Lark and Richards pipit in the same field, and the Pied Wheatear had bugged off, so when i heard there was a 1st winter Red-flanked bluetail at Minsmere i decided i just had to see a rare bird today. After an hour and a half i was there and watching albeit always brief views of the Red-flanked Bluetail, impossible to photograph, it was hard enough to even see in the thick cover. A wander round the reserve produced very little, 2 Red Deer, Marsh Tit, Kingfisher, Marsh Harrier and a Great White Egret.

I then got news that the short toed lark back in Norfolk had been seen again, so after a quick sandwich in the tea room it was time to head back. On arriving back at West Runton, nobody had seen the Short-toed lark and it was a big field....Eventually 4 guys turned up and after sweeping the field a few times eventually i saw the bird in flight, waited for the other guys to join me and flushed it 2 more times all getting flight views, that had to be enough, there was no way we would see it on the deck. No Richards Pipit though....I got the one i came for though, lifer!!!!

Saturday all was still a bit quiet so had a look for the pipit and lark, again proving elusive, a half hour sea watch produced 20 Little Gulls, few Brent Geese and a couple of Bonxies. I moved onto Titchwell stopping at a few spots on the way, a Snow Goose with Canada geese was the only thing of note at Salthouse.

On arriving at Titchwell a Jack snipe was just about visible in the reeds, if someone hadn't pointed it out you could have easily missed it. The Grey Phal was missing so i headed for the beach, 40 + Snowbuntings in 2 groups were nice, but very mobile. On the way back i checked the saltmarsh and noticed 2 shore lark, this was nice a nice surprise and when i got back to the Fresh marsh the grey phal eventually showed itself, albeit at the far back.... a yellow wagtail was on show, but it didn't look like a yellow but a blue headed, but there's still some debate, some saying eastern Type, watch this space.

A little stint was a nice surprise....

I Finished the day at Cley with friends Dave n Sue, whilst watching from the car park i noted an Adult Yellow Legged Gull and a Jack snipe flew straight over our heads.

Sunday i had a nice early morning stroll around the Campsite, i was awoken by lots of Brambling in the trees, Thrushs going over and a Woodlark in full song. I then managed to find a flock of 30 Bramblings feeding of the burnt area of heath, along with 200 Chaffinch and 40-50 Lesser Redpoll. The Woodlark was still singing until the kids and dog walkers appeard. a Few Crossbill flew over, Green and Greater Spotted Woodpecker were on show and later I saw the Woodlark when sue and Dave arrived.

On the drive back to Northumberland and the bnb I'm stopping in, i saw Little Egret and Bar-tailed Godwits showing well, only real opportunity for photography.

All in all a brief but very successful trip.

14th October Red-breasted flycatcher.

At work lots of Redwing have started to move through. Then i got a report of a RB Fly on Holy Island so after work i made the hours drive to the Island. On getting to the Captains Garden  there was no sign of any Birders, oh shit! But after only a minute i could here it calling and pinpointed the tree. It continued to show well until i left at dark by now 6pm. I did manage these very poor shots but by the time it sat about the light had almost gone . Also nice was the several Brambling that were in the same trees and hundreds of Redwing and Fieldfare over.

11th October North East

Had a really good day in the North East. Rach and I headed straight to Kibblesworth in Durham for a Common Crane, as soon as we got to the field it stuck out a mile. It gave good scopes views as it was feeding but a bit distant for decent photography.

Next stop was St Marys Island where 3 Yellow Browed Warbler and a Firecrest had been reported. On arriving i managed to hear 2 of the Yellow Browed Warblers and eventually found 1 giving good views. Trying to get people on it was still a bit difficult. a Few moments later someone found the Firecrest again good views were obtained. We then went for dinner hoping the Raddes Warbler at Druidge would be found again but unfortunately it wasn't. I did give the Druidge area a good scan after lunch but unfortunately the big DSLR boys had got there first. A Greenshank and the Glossy Ibis were once again showing well from the Bill Oddie hide.

Glossy Ibis

9th October Green-winged Teal

Managed to finish work at dinner time in Northumberland and managed to get back to Cumbria by mid afternoon. I picked the dog up and went straight to Siddick ponds. On arriving i counted 5 adult Med gulls on the small pond. On the big pond i managed to see a Drake Green-winged Teal asleep on the island. After a while it started feeding and gave good scope views. I then noticed loads of small gulls dropping onto the small pond, i then counted 17 Med gulls, 15 Adults and 2 Second winters, There were probably some still in the ploughed field where the birds were coming from.....This is my second highest count in Cumbria, 1st being 21 at Soddy.

W/E 08th October Glossy ibis.

Another trip to see the Glossy ibis at Druidge and wow what views, unfortunately in the pouring rain. The bird was withing 15 feet of the Oddie hide. Typically too close for digiscoping so head shots were all i could get until it moved further away, too far away typical....

Then onto Cresswell pond and the beach, only things of real note were a few an Arctic Tern,  Sandling and Dunlin on the beach, Greenshank and 3 Scaup on Cresswell pond.

The weather was awful and my scope lens kept steaming up as you can see from all my pics.

On the way home i nipped into Amble and found a red ringed Adult Med gull. (All steamed up)..This bird had been rung in SERBIA!!!!!!! and returns to Hungry and Amble yearly... 

At Work still many Crossbills commuting, a Great spotted Woodpecker and a brilliant adult male winter snow Bunting.

Local 4th October.

Decided to try Workington again, hoping something had been blown in over night. typically its was very quiet. Main highlights were 92 Great-black backed Gull, 7 Red throated divers North and 1 south, 7 Common Scoter, 1 Gannet 1 Kestrel and  4 Med Gull 3 2nd winter and an Adult still...

At Soddy gap 28 Teal,  89 Mallard, 12 Tufite, 100+ Greylag, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Pochard, 1 Cormorant, 1 Kestrel and a cracking 1st winter Scaup, only about 3rd record for Soddy.

Workington Leach's Petrel 3rd October.

The wind was very strong coming from the west so decided to give Workington a go. This time wasn't to be too disappointed after about half an hour Norman and i had a very nice showy Leach's Petrel, we thought this could be 1 of many but it wasn't to be. Other good things were a very nice close Arctic Skua (pale phase), 7 Common Scoter, loads of Guillemot's and Razorbill's all very close again, the movement was the most Ive seen here, 2 Red-throated Diver, 1 second Winter Med Gull and plenty of kittiwakes and Gannets.

Simonside Northumberland. w/e 2nd October

Working in the East is much better bird wise than the west. So far this week ive had Glossy Ibis as below. On the work site 4 Snow buntings, loads of Crossbills commuting to and from various woodlands Pinkfeet, Barnacle geese (280) and a showy female Merlin. Just down the road at Rye hill NR my first Whooper Swan's(2) of the season.

Glossy Ibis 29th Sept

I'm starting a new contract in Northumberland on Simonside. Now i saw the reports of a Glossy Ibis from druridge pools, this is only 17 mile away so decided to go and take a look after work. When i got there the bird was hiding in a ditch, but eventually it wandered into site, although it never stopped feeding. I did manage a distant record shot how i got this i have no idea cos it did seem a long way off...

Local stuff 27th Sept

Decided to search Soddy early morning but only things of note were a small movement of Meadow pipit and Swallow, 15 Snipe a few Teal and 100+ Greylag.  A chiff chaff was showing well.

 I then went onto Workington again very little but 5 Med gull 3 2nd winter and 2 Adults.

1 Shag on the harbor wall again 1 Gannet but not much on sea, once again north Cumbria is poor, I'm moving out...

Cleveland Proper Twitching. 26th Sept

Well Rach n i headed off towards Saltholme pools in Cleveland for the morning. On Arriving at Back Saltholme pools a couple of birders put us onto the Juv Buff-breasted Sandpiper that had been present since yesterday. It wasn't showing very well and was very distant, so it was twitch and off. Next up the road to Dormans pool for brilliant views of a Juv Red-Backed Shrike, we spent a little longer here as it was showing much better.

Lastly onto Haveton Hole for the Drake Blue Winged Teal, the bird was asleep and again distant with a lot of heat haze, so after it had woken up preened and gone back to sleep again we twitched and went. After lunch we headed home. A very successful morning, and couple of days.

Lancashire 25th Sept

Well today the plan was to spend the day at Leighton Moss, but on the way down i had a message saying Long-billed Dowitcher Marshside RSPB. Now this was a life for me so i headed straight for Marshside. On arriving the hide was full and the bird was showing, albeit asleep. After a 15 min or so it woke up and had a wander round. The light wasn't brilliant but i did manage a few record shots.

After i had a scan of some of the reserve, seeing little else, i had a trip to Bank Marsh where a Great white egret had been seen. On arriving i had missed the bird by a couple of minutes, so i gave it a couple of hours, but came away very disappointed. I did Count 38 Little Egrets however.

On the way home i decide to nip into Leighton Moss, and what a good move that was. On arriving i Found 3 Spotted Redshanks and 6 Greenshanks, all Showing well.

Spotted Redshank

Greenshank

After a little while to my great delight a Great White Egret landed on the Marsh albeit distantly. Another 21 Little Egrets were on show.

Gt White Egret

Finishing off at Seizegh Castle but no Hawfinch to be seen. Still all in all a very good day.

Soddy Gap 20th Sept

In the morning before Soddy i had walk along Maryport Coastal Way, in the bushes were a few ChiffChaffs, Yellow Hammers, and Reed Buntings in the long grass were plenty of Mipits and Skylarks. On the Beach a Northern Wheatear.

At Soddy a Dunlin was the first here for a long While.

A Pinkfoot turned up and joined the Greylags.

It was Fairly sunny, which meant good numbers of Common Darter Were on Show.

Other things of note were 15 Snipe, 75 Mallard, 15 Teal, 5 Wigeon, 1 Cormorant, Few Chiffchaffs, 1 Willow Warbler and 3 Buzzard.

Ive got to find Something Decent soon....

Hobby 19th sept

Whilst Dipping the juv Red-necked Grebe at Rocliffe a Hobby flew east up

river. A county tick for me. Also 1 Kingfisher, 1 Goldeneye and a few Common Sandpipier.

Honey Buzzard 14th Sept

Well here i was at work on the top of Nan Beil, well actually i was sat having dinner, when out of the blue and to my great surprise a juv/female Honey buzzard flew straight past me looking at me as it drifted slowly towards Haweswater, this was the first Honey Buzzard i had seen in the county, it was Brilliant! I also had my first pinkfeets in the county (this season at least) too, just a small group by the sounds of it....

Flamborough Head 11th-13th

What still no photos, I'm having a real rough time of later, my camera hardly See's the light of day, so yet again a weekend of no evidence!!!

I had seen the forecast on the Monday and it seemed the east coast was gonna get a massive fall of migrants, by the end of the week this had changed to the following week, but sod it though we would give it a go anyway. So Friday afternoon rach and i set off for Flamborough head, on the drive down a report of a greenish warbler at Flamborough head, wicked, id only ever seen 1. So we arrived at our Campsite and quickly put up the tent, then rushed down to Flamborough head lifeboat station. There was nobody there, this was gonna be tricky i thought. After a few minutes i could hear a call that was reminiscent of a chiffy, but wasn't, i played the call on my phone and realised what i was listening to was the Greenish Warbler. I didn't get much of a look at it in the thick cover, but did get lots of very brief views, it was being harassed by a chiffy. i watched the bird until it disappeared 10 min later. We then headed to the lighthouse to see if we could find the Ortland Bunt that had been reported the day before, there was no sign of this bird although we did see a Whinchat and a Short-eared owl come in off the sea and then start hunting. What a Good start. During the night plenty of Pinkfeet were calling as they flew in off the sea...

Next morning i headed out Old Fall plantation, but disappointed  see very little, except a few chiffys. Next i got wind of a Barred Warbler by the lighthouse, so went to see this juv, a little beauty it was too, again very flighty though.

It was time to do the family thing and headed off to Scarborough, I got wind of another Greenish Warbler out side the castle, so whilst Rach went round the Castle i and a few others hunted for this bird. When i arrived people were watching the Reported Greenish, when i saw the bird i just though but that's a Chiff Chaff, it didn't look like any Greenish id ever seen (x2), but hey ho the finders heard it call so maybe it is? Maybe we had the wrong bird, i then heard that this was a worn adult bird, so it was the bird we were watching. Tristan had a look at this bird on the Sunday, his initial thoughts were chiffy too, but it sounded OK for greenish. After a week of discussions it turns out its was probably an Eastern type Chiffy, a very educational bird at least......

Tried Flamborough again in the afternoon, couldn't find anything of note, nor the Barred.

Sunday it was time for home, so up early again to try Old Fall Plantation again, it started to look good, a Common Whitethroat, but then nothing but a load of chiffys, until i headed back to the car where i had a Common Redstart but that was it very disappointed. Went back packed up tent and headed to the usual bits of Flamborough and Filey until Dinner time when we decided it was time to head home. So a couple of nice birds, but I'm waiting for that perfect day..... No bloody Pics.....

Soddy Gap and Maryport 11th Sep.

30 Common Snipe

13 Teal

10 Goosanders

12 Chiffchaff

100+ Mallard

1 Cormorant.

Maryport Coastal Path

6 Eider

10 Sandwich Tern sat on Rocks.

1 Juv Kittiwake

2 Chiffchaff

1 Northern Wheatear.

1 Kestrel

Workington

Well first bit of birding since i came back from a week of seawatching at Cornwall and YES I'm Seawatching again this time from Workington..... Jesus!

Well it was OK but not brilliant best Bird of the day was a Juv Sabines Gull that was lingering just outside the Harbour until it flew South. Other things of note were a  Common Tern, 2 Med gull, adult on Beach and 2nd winter in Car park Briefly, 1 Drake Common Scoter, 7 Wigeon, which i tried to string into Velvet scoters till they came a bit closer ;), a Few Gannets, 36 Kitts, 2 Sandwich Tern, 1 Diver sp which was far too far away for an id, 7 Guillemots, 1 Razorbill, 1 Peregrine, and a Grey seal. All in all could have been better.....

Soddy hosted just 175 Mallard, 20 Teal and 6 Snipe.

Cornwall SW Seawatch 22nd- 31st.

Well Tristan had organised for us to do a Balearic Shearwater Survey From Porthgwarra in Cornwall, so it was time for Chris Tristan and i to head South for the week. Well what can i say about this, erm a week of Dipping probably. First day was ok looking at Dragonflys and Damselfly's in Tewksbury, first was  male White-legged Damselfly, then Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker, Black-tailed Skimmer, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Banded damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly and Small Red-eyed Damselfly all in evidence, most of these were new to me.

Banded Dam

Black-tailed Skimmer

Red-eyed Dam

Small Red Eyed Dam

White legged Dam

Also about were a load of Roesel's Bush Cricket, and some other ones im yet to find out what they were.

Roesel's Bush Cricket

Cricket ?

Next it was onto Cirl Buntings, the weather was showery and we just couldnt find them. (oh no).

It was Seawatching time and over the next few days we saw Allsorts, totals were as follows: Balearic Shearwater 118, Sooty Shearwater 34, Yelkoun Shearwater 2, Tristan and Chris had 1 at Porthgwarra, i had 1 at Pendeen, Great Shearwater 1, Cory's Shearwater 1 (which i bloody couldn't get onto grrrr), Manx Shearwater 2632, plus i had another 2-3000 at Pendeen over 3 hours, Leach's Petrel 1, Storm Petrel 81, Pomarine Skua 1, Great Skua 28,
Arctic Skua 5, Kittiwake 332, Mediterranean Gull 3, Little Gull 1, Arctic Tern 13, Common Tern 11, Sandwich Tern 10, Grey Phalarope 2, Whimbrel 19, Puffin 5, Guillemot 11, Razorbill 11, Chough 2, Basking Shark 18, Common Dolphin 26 and 2 Sunfish i saw at Pendeen. A Couple of Greenland Wheatear were a nice addition to the list.

Other birds i missed were a Little Shearwater, due to REALLY bad directions from birders at Pendeen, Corys was missed and a  Fea's turned up at Porthgwarra a day after we left, and was seen over the next 3 days, Citrine Wag, and Spotted Crake were elusive, so i did feel a little hard done by!!!. On the way home we did manage to see 10 Cirl Buntings, a lifer for me, although it was p*ssing it down grrrrr.

It was then onto Oxford and Farmoor for what for me were the best birds of the trip and saved the week for me. These were 3 Marsh Terns. Here were a 3rd for Britain, American Black Tern, White Winged Black Tern and Black Tern.

From left to right, Black Tern, WW Black and American Black Tern.

American Black Tern

WWBTern

A nice finish was the 2 Yellow legged Gulls that showed well.

All in all a good experience of Balearic Shearwater a few good birds and great company.

Northeast  16th Aug

Chris, Tristan and i had a day in Durham and Northumberland the highlights being at South Shields 6 nice Roseate Terns,  including 1 Juv, these were showing really well.

Common tern

At Newbiggin by the sea 10 Med gulls on beach, 8 adult including colour ringed bird, 1 juv and 1 2nd winter.

Well i hadn't seen Stormies as yet this year and the winds were looking promising so in Strong SSW wind  i decided to go and have a look when i got there i realised the wind wasn't quite right and visibility was down to only 100 yards. I met a couple of birders from Penrith Roy and john who had already had 2 Stormies and a Black Guillemot before I arrived. When I arrived we had the long staying drake eclipse Eider in harbour, 30+ Kitts were sat on shore line with a load more more out to sea, John picked up 3 Common Scoter going South. After they had gone I had 3 Stormies together feeding around lobster pots
and a few gannets. Visibility then went to 0 so called it a day.

Funniest thing was 2 lads stripped down to boxers wave surfing mad!!!! Waves, they must have been 12 foot high!

Tried Workington again in the Afternoon once the weather had cleared  1515-1600
Light was much better but the wind was still SSW but a little calmer, So there were no sign of any Stormies, there were 5 Manxies with a few more on the horizon, 18 Kittiwakes, the 1st sum Med gull was still in the Harbour, 2 Common Sandpiper flew up the estuary and the Eider was still around.

I decided to try Soddy, by now the water level had risen considerably so there was no exposed mud, and the geese were everywhere, new in surprisingly though was 3 Teal, and 2 Black-tailed Godwit.

Low meadows now has water in it after today's rain, (watch this Space) but just 1 Buzzard a Wigeon and Mallard from Soddy were on there.

Workington and Soddy 14th Aug

I started out at Workington where i noticed a Dark Arctic Skua Lingering, the long staying 1st sum Med gull was still on show but no sign of the other 7 Med gulls Chris had yesterday, 4 Kittiwake, 3 Gannet and 2 Sandwich Tern adult and juv were on show. 
The Old Corus demolition site hosted 170 Lesser Black backed gull, 40 Herring and 10
Great-black backed gull. From the Seaton area i checked through a Charming flock of 90 Goldfinch with 1 Linnet. in Seaton itself i noticed a Leucistic Starling, is this one that's been about for years seen in the huge flocks over Siddick in the Winter?

Soddy saved the best till last, when i arrived i heard a Wader Calling, thinking Green sand, no not quite right, then a Wood Sandpiper appeared from behind the island, first site record, i managed some distant record shots before it disappeared back behind the island, then i heard it again this time as it flew off South Damn!!!!! Other things today were a Female Sparrowhawk, 1 Shoveler, 1 Wigeon, 170+ Greylag and the feral Snow goose. I waited around a little longer to see if the Sandpiper would return but it didn't.

Soddy 13th-Aug

Chris and i Found a breeding Little Grebe at Soddy an first site breeding record for me. Birds were very few and far between so we looked through the Damselflies instead. There were loads of Emerald, Common Blue a few Blue-tailed Damselflies with quite a few Common Darters.

Emerald

Common Blue

Common Darter

Solway 9th Aug

Decided to cover the Solway again this time with Rach. At Anthorn the Adult colour ringed Med gull still there, more than 250+ Golden plover, 50+ Dunlin, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Common Sand and a Goosander, from the North plain roadside scrape were 22 Teal and a Shoveler. Lastly we Visited Port Carlisle the highlights being 4 Common Sand, Hundreds of Redshank, 40 Dunlin, 1 Peregrine chasing a feral pigeon, 7 Goosander, 1 Whimbrel over, 12 Ringed Plover, 1 Summer plum Knot and 3 Turnstone.

8th Aug

First stop was Workington where i had an Adult Med Gull and a male eclipse Eider. Then Tristan, his girls and i Decided to give the Solway a try, highlights at Anthorn were 1 Colour ringed Adult Winter Med Gull ringed in Belgium in 2001, and the first time its been seen in the UK, 18 sightings have been from Abroad. 

150+ Golden Plover, 100+ Dunlin. 3 Black-tailed Godwits,1 Turnstone and i had a very brief view of a Green Sandpiper on the Wampool. Next stop was the roadside pool at Campfield where there were good numbers of Lapwing with smaller numbers of Golden Plover and a few Dunlin. 
The highlights at Port Carlisle was a Peregrine harassing the roosting Redshank.

A walk around Bowness NR was worthwhile with a minimum of 200 Painted Lady butterflies, also good numbers of Wall Brown, Peacock and Red Admiral. Several Common Hawker and Southern Hawker were noted along with a few Black Darter a first for me.

and a female below

Many Common Darter, huge numbers of Emerald Damselfly and two Migrant Hawkers.

Soddy was a little quiet highlights were  3 Kestrel, 3 Families of Tufties, Feral Snow goose and white Greylag, Gropper reeling briefly, 1 Snipe and new in were a single Teal and Wigeon.

1st and 2nd August. I did see some rare birds Honest!!!

Well Rach and i decided to head over to Edinburgh, stopping off in Fife and Loch Gelly for Fudge duck and Ring-necked Duck. We arrived around lunch time to all the ducks sleeping, heavy sun in the wrong direction and strong wind, making impossible viewing of this fairly large Loch, 3 hours i was there and i just had to give up, i couldn't id one duck from another...... So on to site seeing through Edinburgh, then to see Lesser Yellowlegs at Aberlady bay , wohoo something i could find and id, S*it the suns in completely the wrong direction and couldn't get any photos, this just isn't my day so after a few minutes we went a pitched up tent in Dunbar, try again tomorrow. Next day Rach went to Tantallon Castle whilst i waited in the car with the dog, then onto Aberlady again where the Yellowlegs was hiding after the tide came in the Redshanks moved down river and were by now viewable, quite a crowd had gathered by now. Eventually i found the bird from the bridge and before most people could get onto the bird they all flew into the grass, it was still very windy, so we moved to a more sheltered area, where i found the bird roosting in the grass, this time most people did see it if only asleep and briefly again before flying into the bay where it showed better but again not for long, it then went round the corner feeding out of site. A Peregrine flew over the marsh, loads of Curlew were on the sand and good numbers of Dunlin and Ringed Plover were on the marsh. Through to Cockenzie and port Seton where i found a colour ringed Shag Green SCD along with lots of Eider, Sandwich Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit and a couple of Common Tern.

Then onto Loch Gelly again in Fife where this time the wind had dropped and the sun was in, found the Fudge duck straight away but it took a little while to find the Ring-necked Duck, this bird was in eclipse plumage so was very hard to find. This now rescued my whole weekend, it could have been a disaster. It just wasn't the weather for Photography. 

31st July

Now a message came through on the phone Possible Steppe Grey Shrike Alston , WHAT!!!!!no way, i had seen a Great Grey Shrike in the same spot in April, it must be the same bird, so i wasn't too worried. I thought i would go and sort it out, or at least get some pics and getting others opinions. So after work i drove the 45min to Alston golf coarse, when i arrive Bill was already on the bird sitting on pylons fairly distantly (the bird not Bill) . I took a series of shots, and felt it was too dark for Steppe, although the bird was in heavy moult, very tatty and nothing like it had been in April. I had little experince of Steppe Shrike except last years long staying lincs bird, which this looked nothing like!.  Once i got home i circulated the pics and did some research and all came to the conclusion that it was a Summering GG Shrike, I did feel the primary projection was quite long and longer than i would imagine for a nominate GG Shrike, could it be of another race?(beyond me). Nice bird and a good id challenge, you can see why it was called a possible Steppe shrike. Certainly a learning curve.  This is possibly the first August GG Shike in the UK for many years.

29th July

Siddick ponds, 3 Reed warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Gropper, 4 Raven.

Workington, 5 Sandwich tern on beach, 1 Kittiwake on beach, 15 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover, 2 Grey Seal and 2 Rock pipit.
From Maryport nice views of 2 Kingfisher as they flew through the harbour.

I tried Soddy gap and the geese had returned, 142 Greylag Goose, 12 Canada Goose, 60 Mallard, 11 Tuftie, 4 Kestrel, 4 Tree Sparrow, 2 Redpoll and 2 Cormorant. So not a great day but a good number seen.

26th July

Did a seawatch from Workington in a Southerly wind, so very poor, Few gannets, No Kittiwakes, 1st Summer Med gull on Beach, 42 Mute Swan and 2 Rock Pipit.

18th July

Had a weekend in Ravenstonedale. Nice views of Tawny Owl outside my bedroom keeping me awake all night, this bird was begging for food and making a strange noise.  The fat lamb nature reserve gave us good views of a male Redstart.

17th July

Had an hour sea watch in North Westerly's, typically very little, just 23 Manxie North and 3 South. Few Gannets and Kittiwakes but very little else.

12th July

Couple of hour sea watch was fairly productive from Workington

3 Med Gull 2 Adult summer 1 1st Summer. Lingering in outer harbour First 30  min up to high tide produced 90 manxies, 2nd 30 min just 29 manxie and 3rd 45min just 19 manxie 1 Adult sum plum Shag flew into inner harbour and out again. 1 Summer Black Guillemot still in outer harbour 2 Guillemot, 12 Dunlin flew past in 2 small groups, 1 Sandwich tern, 1 Drake Common Scoter, Plenty of kittiwakes, Gannets, 1 Grey seal.

12th July

Had a trip along the Solway, which was still pretty poor, at Anthorn, Not a great deal but     4 Dunlin and 1 Golden Plover. At North Plain 52 Golden Plover flew past then onto Port Carlisle numbers building with 250+ Dunlin 1 Winter plum bird and 42 more Golden Plover

11th July

Tristan took me looking at some of the scarcer Dragonflies and Damselflies in Cumbria, with great success, it was a red hot day. First stop was somewhere near Brampton for White-faced Darter and Large Heath Butterfly, lovely. Both a first for me.

Other species here were Common Hawker, Blue-tailed, Common Blue and Large Red Damselfly. 

Next site was to Wigton for incredible views of Banded Demoiselle, although i struggled to digiscope these. There must have been 20-30 insects flying around.

Next stop was Borrowdale for my third new species of the day Keeled Skimmer.

Also here we had brilliant views of Golden Ringed Dragonfly, one of my favorites, This is one species i see regularly in the summer on the hills where i work.

We also saw Small Pearl Borded Fratilliary here and a few Orchids such as Heath Fragrant Orchid and Heath Spotted Orchid.

Then to a Bog Orchid site where we found 8 spikes, most that have been seen in this site for a few years now.

A nice finish to an excellent day.

8th July

Soddy hosted 25+ Swift, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Snipe, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 6 Long-tailed tit, 1 Kestrel, 2 Little Grebe, 5 Lapwing  and 1 Grey Heron. 3 more Emerald Damselfly.

1st-5th July

Well Northern England Sucks!, Cumbria Sucks even more. Birds What F*cking Birds, non here mate, but if you travel 400 miles South or North you ll find the birds! Thanks a lot!!.

The Weathers been far too hot for birding anyway. But this weekend i decided to get out for the first time in weeks, Soddy was shit! Workington Shit! every wheres shit. So OK i Got Black Guillemot on a sea watch from Workington and a few Manxies.

Soddy hosted a load of Warblers, Chiff Chaff, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Lesser Redpoll, Gropper etc. 2 Little Grebe, Mute swan with young but that was it.

So did a few plants with Common Spotted and Pyramidal Orchids, Yarrow and Common Broomrape. 

Dragonfly's at Soddy were good with Rare for Cumbria 3 Broad-bodied Chasers, 2 males and a imm/fem, and my first ever Emerald Damselflys.

Quite a few butterflies knocking around but nothing special, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Heath, Painted Lady's and Red Admiral were the pick of the bunch. Loads of 6 Spot Burnet moths were about.

Lets hope for a decent bird soon, im starting to go Mad!!!! 

Well the end of June ended in disaster! a big fat DIP!!!!!Tristan and i went over to Saltholme pools for a Terek Sandpiper, now we went for a Terek sand this time last year and dipped again, so we weren't pleased. Unfortunately before we got there the bird had been flushed by rspb staff early in the morning and not seen again, although 1 did turn up at gib point later in the day. Unfortunately the message put out to the pages was misleading, we wouldn't have bothed had we known the bird had been seen for only seconds!!!! Why is it the RSPB have stopped people parking and viewing the best part of Saltholme pools, forcing people onto there main reserve which is miles away from all the decent waders..... get a grip RSPB!

We did see Yellow Wagtail family, Adult Med Gull and some other stuff, but a shit day had by all!!! thanks RSPB.

Butterflies

Mid Month no birds so decided to do a few Butterflies at Maryport. My first ever the rare Small Blues were in force. A few Painted Lady's were showing well, Small Copper and Wall Brown too.

June 5th-7th

Well Tristan Gripped me off by going to Norfolk last weekend. It wouldn't have been so bad had he not got Black-winged Pratincole and Squacco Heron, both lifers for me. Grrrrr.

OK so i got my brand new Fiesta and was told it needed a good run, Wooohoooo Norfolk here we come. So rach and I packed the tent and left Thursday night for Norfolk. The first night was spent at the Travel lodge in Long Sutton, This was OK until i was awoken by the sound of a rhythmic bed from above! hmmmm. The next morning we were on our Way to Thornham For Black-winged Pratincole. YES! it was still here and showing quite well although the heat haze was immense. It did show much better as it flew around fairly close. We got our lunch and were then on our way to Wicken Fen for my second lifer Squacco Heron.

But on the way good views of Stone Curlew near Weeting Heath and Golden Oriol on the nest at Lakenheath.

The next day was spent along the coast, doing sight seeing and then finishing at Titchwell, but little really of note. Sunday it was time for home, but not before visiting Cley for Little Stint and Spoonbill, then Corn Bunting at Chosely and Brilliant views of Little Owl and an Adult Med Gull calling over head.

Then on to Thornham before the rain came for good views of the Black-winged Pratincole again.

The campsite at Kelling Heath is a fantastic place for Nightjar, we had excellent views as they fed and sung over the tent on both nights, even great views in the early evening light, wing clapping.

What a Wicked Weekend.....

Did my first and last Skua watch of the season, I was surprised to get all 4 species.

Between 1200 and 1645 i had 3 Long-tailed Skuas (holy grail of Skuas), 6 Great Skuas, 2-4 Pom Skuas and 5 Arctics. Great few hours Skua Watching. Also 30+ Gannets flew in and out again and 3 Eider (scarce in north cumbria).

2nd May Northumberland!!!!

Tristan's just got his second hand car, so we decided to give it a run to Northumberland. Now we new there was nothing about but gave it a go anyway.

First stop was Grindon Lough, but there wasn't much here just a few Redshank, a Ringed Plover and some Dunlin.

Next to the Black-necked Grebe site in Newcastle, but WHAT no Grebes, they must have been hiding. This wasn't looking good. Tristan spotted a Scaup thingy and on closer inspection it looked like a Lesser Scaup but structurally it was too big, the vermiculations wern't right and there was to much black on the bill, so hybrid was the outcome.There were a few Ruddy Ducks knocking around.

Next onto St Marys Island where we had good views of Sedge Warbler and Gropper.

Next was Lunch and then onto Cresswell where there was very little, a Whimbrel was only thing of note and East Chevington had a few Common and Sandwich terns.......bit crap really. On Returning to Cumbria we stopped for Pied Flycather and , Yellow Wagtails these showed really well, these two areas saved the day and typically it was in Cumbria. Good finish to the day.

25th 26th St bees and Silloth.

Got to St bees at about 8-30, had a walk to the lighthouse, on the way were 2 Common Whitethroat and a few Wheatear. Once at the cliff i found 2 male Whinchats in the grass.

Once at Fleswick bay the Hooded crow put in another appearance, 4 more Whitethroats were singing, a female Blackcap put in an appearance along with 2 Grey Partridge and 80+ Northern Wheatears.

On returning to the farm a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling from the brambles.  A Painted Lady butterfly was a nice finish to the day.

From Silloth 2 Singing Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Sandwich Tern, 2 Common Sand on beach, 6 Whimbrel past and 16 Gannets.

Stopping at a friend's house in Ravenstonedale Ive been awoke every day by a Common Redstart, and at work High force, Ive had Redstart and Pied Fly.

24th Whimbrel

After work on Friday id had reports of Whimbrel being present at Soddy, including a few a couple of days before. So when i arrived at Soddy on the Friday night i was surprised to find 0 Whimbrel. But it wasn't long before a group of 24 were flying around the ponds, in the distant another 7 joined them. Also present were 4 Common Sandpiper 2 Grasshopper Warblers reeling and the first Sedge Warbler of the year.

Ive put together a short list of first arrival of Migrant records for Soddy. Here

w/e 19th Local Stuff

Hoping for Whimbrel at Soddy, should be here any time soon. No Whimbrel but did get 2 Common Sandpiper, a nice Black-tailed godwit, 6 Shelduck all paired up and some Tree Sparrows. The Feral Snow goose made and appearance too, a nice surprise were a Mealy Redpoll with a Lesser redpoll. At low Meadows the first Garden Warbler was singing.

Tried a new area today, Derwent Forest the Broughton moor Ammunition Dump, What a brilliant area this could be if only i could get in but its all fenced off. So from the boundary i had a few Lesser Redpoll, Greater Spotted Woodpecker and 2 Grasshopper Warblers reeling, my first of the year, loads of Willow Warbler and 3 Buzzard being mobbed by a Raven.

13th St Bees.

Took a trip to St Bees, hoping for more migrants, but i was to be disappointed. Just before the lighthouse the long staying Twite (8) were still present including the colour ringed bird. After flushing a load of Meadow Pipits from the grass i noticed the call of a Tree Pipit, my first of the year. Plenty of Puffins were in evidence as well as plenty of other Auks. Ravens were showing well. I then found a Proper Hooded Crow. I had a hybrid here a few weeks ago. All in all it was a very quiet morning.

12th Cumbria

Rach and i picked Tristan and his son Lachlan up and we were on our way to see the Great Grey Shrike on Alston Moor. We couldn't find any Black Grouse on the way. We did get a Woodcock fly in front of the car. When we got to the Golf Course on the edge of Alston Tristan found the Shrike albeit distant, Whilst waiting for the shrike to work its way closer we got views of Swallow, Willow Warbler and i had a Common Redstart my first of the year. The Shrike eventually gave it self up and showed reasonably well. the strong light made it difficult to photograph.

After a quick stop back at Tristans we made our way to Campfield Marsh where we had hazy views of 2 White Wagtail on the way to the hide and 3 Garganey (2 Drakes and a female) from the hide. I'm rather pleased with my excellent photos ;).

9th-11th Scotland.

Rach and i took a trip to Scotland and the Loch Garten area. We had never seen a Cappercaille and so this was my target bird. We planned to do the Capper watch from Loch Garten the next morning. We arrived at our campsite at about 11am, we then found NO tent pegs, Duh. So we went to Aviemore for some lunch and pegs. We put the tent up then spent the afternoon at Loch Garten. By late afternoon we had seen our first Cappercaille, 2 Crested Tit's, Slavonian Grebe and Osprey. Birdings easy ain't it....

The following day we did the Capper watch and boy were we lucky the day before as there were NO cappers showing! We had plenty of time to observe the Ospreys and plenty of Crossbill, which species was anyone's guess.

Red Squirrels showed very well on the feeders, much to close for digiscoping.

After dipping Capper, we headed for the Venicular Railway on the Cairngorms. When we got to the top we could see 2 Ptarmigan from the Cafe window although they were very distant. We then went outside where 2 Snow Buntings were showing very well. All Target Species DONE!

We then saw many more Osprey's in various locations, as well as 2 Common Sandpiper and Swallows, also many Sandmartins.  We then made our way back home. What a brilliant time we had.7th Grouse

Nights are getting lighter so i took the opportunity to go and have a look at some Black Grouse on Alston moor. It was nice to see 2 Males and 4 Females showing well. I watched these birds for a good hour. Its not often i get to see females.

4th Iceland Gull.

Well i got  a bit of a shock today, as i was getting in the car i saw a very pale Gull flying up the fields behind my house, i thought to myself that's a white winger. Eventually after rach found the car keys i got my optics on the bird as it had landed in the top field, i realised it was a juv Iceland Gull, my rarest garden tick woohoo. This i can only presume is the Maryport bird i found WEEKS ago, although everyone thought it had moved to Carlilse but that was still present. The Gull then moved to Harker Marsh, and when i returned home had vanished.

Rach and i had a walk along the beach at Maryport, 3 Wheatear and a Blackcap were the only things of note. Chiffchaff were in the village now.

1st 

I had my first Swallow in Cumbria for the year at Bass lake as well as the Male and Female Osprey.

28th What a F*ck Up.

A Glaucous gull had been reported from the Carlilse area over the past couple of days. So i thought i would go and have a look. On getting to Briar Bank i spotted the Gull sat on a house roof, brilliant. I managed  some shots befor it took off and flew around the playing field and away. I got home downloaded all the pics and put some on the web. Got a message a little later on questioning the id........shit what have i done......I looked at my pics a little more carefully and nooooooooo it was another bloody Iceland Gull, this time a brute of a bird, shit what a F*ck up....Id only seen about 4 Iceland gulls of late, so why didnt i question it in the field....bad bad day.

 

 

 

Had a better evening at Soddy gap with 5 Crossbill calling over head as i got out the car and 35 Goosander a record count. (of coarse they could have been Mallards tut)

 

 

21st/22nd Long-eared Owl

Ive been Dog sitting for friends over the weekend and decided to take a trip to both Fairburn Ings and Martin Mere. So on the first day Rach and I Visited Fairburn Ings for Long-eared Owl. After getting directions from reception we were off wondering round some muddy paths. 2 Little Egrets were a nice surprise as they flew over head. We got to the area with the Owls and great, they were showing well, 3 of them.

 

 

 

After our fill of the Owls we went to the main part of the reserve and again had a wonder, seeing Drake Smew and then lots of stuff on the feeders outside the visitor center including colour ringed Willow Tit from the reserve, I had a quick go with Rachels DSLR.

 

 

 

 

On the 22nd Rach and I had a trip to Martin Mere, firstly stopping at Seizergh Castle, to see if there were any Hawfinch, unfortunately they had not been seen this winter.

On Arriving at Martin Mere we had a good wander around, looking at the commoner stuff such as Whooper Swan, with at least 7 Radio Tagged birds, Ruff, and Pintail, as well as birds from the collection. 

 

 

 

14th Soddy

Soddy was pretty quite still with the only things of note, the Barn Owl was still present 12 Skylark were displaying and 3 Stonechat were showing well.

13th Iceland Gull tops the bill.

Started my Day on Grune point my target for the day was the Snow Bunting that i had missed previously. This time i was lucky. It showed really really well down to about 5 feet although you wouldnt think it from my rubbish pics.....

The Short-eared Owl was on Skinburness Marsh again, also on the marsh were Peregrine, Merlin, and 2500 Barnacle Geese distantly with 2 Albino Barnacle geese.
The 2 Long-tailed ducks 1st winter male and female were still present.

On the tide line were again 600 Bar-tailed Godwit with some Black-tailed Godwits.
1600 probably more Knot a Greenshank,  a few Pintail and some showy Scaup.

Nick saw the 2 Little Stint but i missed them this time.

In Silloth i was in the chippy when Darren Rang telling me there was a white winger on the water. When Darren and i got a better look it turned out to be another 1st Winter Iceland Gull, you dont see 1 for years in Cumbria and this years theres been 3. This bird was smaller and darker probably a female.

Started heading south, when i got to Allonby there was a Kestrel showing well just briefly.

On the beach were 300+ Knot and a few Sandling roosting.
I visited Maryport to see if the Iceland gull i had found was still about, i checked the wave centre and the harbour but no sign. I then started to drive through the town centre when i noticed the bird on the top of the BP garage. (Brilliant).

I then finished off at Soddy Gap and had brilliant Views of Short-eared Owl and Barn Owl, also 3 Goldeney and a Pochard. Both crappy record shots.

8th Dumfries

Rach and i decided to have a trip to Loch Ken to see if we could spot any Red Kites and Geese. We got to Springholm where there was our first Un-tagged Red Kite flying through someones garden. The when we Got to Loch Ken, i Checked through the Geese on the water to find 1 European Whitefronted Goose and 63  Greenland Whitefronted Geese along with many Greylags.

We then made our way to the hide where we had a Willow Tit, A Red Kite from the hide and a Red Squirrel.

On the way back from the hide we had a couple more Red Kites including one that was circling the car park, showing really well.

The day ended with more Red Kites a Greenland Whitefront, 2 Pinkfooted Geese and plenty of  white greylags in with the normal Greylags, including a ringed Greylag Goose. BH6, these were from the other side of Loch Ken opposite the hide.

7th Bitterns

Tried for Bittern at Siddick again, luckily this time it was a lot calmer and i had 2 sightings of Bittern. They did give good views as they flew around, or as good a view as you can get in the Dark. Water rail, Barn Owl and Sparrowhawk were also seen.

3rd More Local Stuff

Another uneventful day really Bass lake hosted the usual wildfowl, only note-worthy birds were 2 Pintail. At Low Meadows there were 80+ Bunting,s mainly Yellow Hammer and Reed Bunting, with a few Greenfinch and Tree Sparrow. At Soddy there were 25 Canada, 27 Greylag, 1 Pinkfoot, 2 Buzzard and 6 Tree Sparrow.

At Siddick ponds there were 2 Otter's showing well and a lovely Barn Owl.

2nd Local Stuff

Went back to see if the Iceland Gull was still on River at Maryport and it was, finally the sun was out so i managed some reasonanble pics.

Then  I went and had a really good afternoon on Grune point, i finally found the 2 Little Stint that had been present, this is a good winter record, found by Nick Franklin.

Over Skinburness marsh very distantly there was a Short-eared Owl hunting, probably better viewed from cattle pens on Skinburness Marsh. I also had 2 Merlin and 2 Long-tailed Duck a male and a female, lovely looking birds.

Good numbers of Bar-tailed Godwit 560.

500 Knot, lots of Pintail, Wigeon and Teal, Scaup and a few Red Breasted  Merganser.

170 Barnacle Geese and 30 Pinks were showing through the blizzards that kept occuring

f

Just before Skinburness, Silloth way was 1 Pinkfeet on beach, 10 Scaup, and 4 Pintail.

1st Local Stuff

Not the most eventful first day of Feb because there was no Sign of the Iceland gull in Maryport. Siddick ponds hosted 62 Goosander a Sparrowhawk and 4 Otters.
Lots of Water Rail calling. The Bitterns decided not to Show tonight, seems as theres no Starlings roosting in the reeds so the Bitterns are little more Elusive.

Soddy hosted plenty of wildfowl including 7 Pochard. A Kestrel, Yellow Hammers and Tree Sparrows.

Well what a start to the year and the day, stood at the back door waiting for the dog to come in when i heard a Tawny Owl calling. Made my way to chris's when i saw a Barn Owl and once i got to chris's i jumped in his car to pick up Tristan when on the way out of Blindcrake I saw a Little Owl sat on a fence post, brilliant i had 3 owls before we even got to Tristans. 

So now we were on our way to Caerlaverock, the American Wigeon had appeared on the Whooper pond a couple of days before, we just had to see it, Tristan and Chris saw it last year at Mereshead albeit distantly, so this was a good oppertunity to see it much closer. On arriving at Caerlaverock, there was no sign of the bird, or any rare Canadas. This wasnt looking good. We gave the reserve a good scan up until dinner with only Twite to show for it. We then left for Mereshead to see if it had returned there. We had a good scan but nothing, it was nice to see a mix of ducks though.

We decided to go back to Caerlaverock to take another look, as we were driving down the lane i spotted the Taverners Canada Goose, Brilliant!!!!It was showing really well too, pitty i couldnt take a decent pic!

When we got to the reserve the warden said the American Wigeon had returned, How our fortune had changed! It was back on the Whooper pond, it was a little distant at first and hiding in the long grass but it did come closer and land on the pond, shame the light had gone by then.

Chris and i had a male Hen Harrier the Scaup x Tuftie was still present and a 1st Winter male Scaup was also now here. Our final task was the Cackling Canada goose (minima), this had been seen from the Avenue tower. From here we got good views of the bird with the Barnies in the juncus. Here too was 1 Pinkfooted Goose and a Leucistic Barney.

It was nice to see a vast array of Wildfowl still at Caerlaverock, what a fantastic place, it never fails!

January 1st,2nd and 3rd Happy New Year

What a Start to the year.

Ok So i only did Bassenthwate Lake and Siddick ponds, but whats to come is pretty amazing.

At Bass the lake was pretty much frozen, worst ive seen for a long time. In the unfrozen parts were plenty of wildfowl, including 16 Teal 4 Drake Pintail, lots of Tufties
Lots of Goldeneye, 8 Little Grebe, 8 Pochard, 2 Buzzard, Fieldfare,  Redwing, 6 Mute Swan, 9 Goosander, 1 Red Breasted Merganser and a Great Creasted Grebe.

Siddick ponds was Completely frozen and a load of nutters were on the ice, so the only birds about were a Couple of Water rail, 3 Bullfinch and a Sparrowhawk.

2nd

Now onto the exciting stuff. Rach an i headed towards Dundee hoping for my first lifer and tarts tick of the year, an Adult Ring Billed Gull, on arriving it was nowhere to be seen, so i started to wounder if i was in the right area so rang Tristan as he had already seen the bird. Just as i was about to ask him if i was in the right area i spotted it flying in and landing on the sea. I got a bit of bread out and attracted it close and what a cracker it was too. And it took only a few minutes.

Next stop was to Peat Inn for a reported Little Bunting, another lifer, but i didnt even no if i was in the right spot and had limited time so i looked for only 30 min, so no success this time but not to worry, ill get it one day. There were plenty of Thrush's about.

Next stop was to Anstruther for a cracking 1st Winter Iceland Gull, again found immediately, this was looking to be  great day.

Last but not least we headed for Kincraig point for a Drake King Eider, it was just starting to get dark by this time making finding this bird quite tricky, but find it i did, along with Velvet and Common Scoter. Wicked finish to the day, and amazingly i did manage a record shot of the King Eider.

3rd

Now this was the Icing on the cake. The Previous day i was preparing to stay the night in the Fife area, but i got the news of a Glaucous Winged Gull in Cleveland, now this changed everything, i just had to get back and that i did. So the next morning i picked chris up then Tristan and his son. We made our way to Cleveland and Cowpen tip/Bewley we made very good time, but still missed the bird by seconds. We made it round to the tip where nobody had seen it but then got news it was around the far side of the tip, so we jumped into the car an made our way carefully round the otherside where i picked the gull up immediately as it was the first bird i came to Woohoo. The bird soon took flight and i managed to get chris onto it i think tristan saw it too. Over the next couple of hours we saw it intermitently taking flight and on the deck if not distant. This is only a second For the UK

There was a Leucicstic Herring gull knocking around with the GWG which everyone was calling an Iceland Gull, it ws obvious it wasnt one ;).We then decied to go elsewhere, but didnt add much to the day. We then returned to the tip on Tristans message which said adult Glaucous gull, nice we better go look but then on getting there it actually said Glaucous Winged Gull, and it showed much much better, so were glad we went back for a second look, we all felt much happier. Tristan found an Adult Med Gull a nice year tick. We then decided to have a quick look at Tees Barrage for the regular Yellow Legged Gull, it was now getting dark but we chucked some bread out and the only 2 birds to appear out of nowhere were a Black-headed Gull and the Yellow Legged Gull. 8 species of Gulls in all. Brilliant what a Gull fest.

To Finish off, on the Drive home we had Woodcock and Barn Owl, Great Days!!!!

Christmas-New year Period.

December is nearly over i have spent a few days visiting family in Derbyshire, with very little serious birding done, i have searched through the gulls at the usual good spots but the refuse tips have been discouraging the gulls so i found very little. The only birds i did find were a 1st Winter med Gull, 2 Argentatus Herring Gulls Ruddy Ducks and a Great-northern Diver at Carsington Water. Couldnt find any Hawfinch this time either.

On Returning to Cumbria i have checked Soddy a few times but again very little, the pond is frozen and the Wildfowl have gone, a few Bullfinch, Treesparrows and Yellow Hammers brightened the Day. A Pinkfoot is still with the resident Greylags.

Rach and i have been to Caerlaverock. We checked Redkirk point as the Cackling (minima) Canada Goose had been seen here the day before. I couldnt find it. We got to Caerlaverock and had dinner then went to have a look for the Green Winged Teal, but couldnt find that either. So We went to the top of the farm Tower where we had good views on the whole reserve. Firstly i found the Cackling (minima) Canada Goose,

and then the Taverners Canada goose, which hadnt been reported for a while from here,

a Male Hen Harrier was a nice addition to the day. We finished off watching the Swans and the hybrid Scaup x Tuftie.

December 1st-7th

All Week i have been passing Central Car Park In Keswick to get lovely views of between 30 and 42 Waxwings. But not seen much else really. Soddy hosted 60+ Meadow pipit, a lot for Soddy, 40+ Chaffinch, 12 Long-tailed tit, 3 Goldcreast, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Dead Greylag in Ice!!!!!, Kestrel and the usual Tree Sparrows, Yellow Hammers, and Reed buntings.
 .

Christmas-New year Period.

December is nearly over i have spne t a few days visiting family in Derbyshire, with very little serious birding done, i have searched through the gulls at the usual good spots but the tips have been discouraging the gulls so i found very little. The only birds i did find were a 1st Winter med Gull and 2 Argentatus herring Gulls at Carsington Water. Couldnt find any Hawfinch this time either.

On Returning to Cumbria i have checked Soddy a few times but again very little, the pond is frozen and the Wildfowl have gone, a few Bullfinch, Treesparrows and Yellow Hammers Brightened the Day. A Pinkfoot has tagged along with the resident Greylags.

December 1st-7th

All Week i have been passing Central Car Park In Keswick to get lovely views of between 30 and 42 Waxwings. But not seen much else really. Soddy hosted 60+ Meadow pipit, a lot for Soddy, 40+ Chaffinch, 12 Long-tailed tit, 3 Goldcreast, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Dead Greylag in Ice!!!!!, Kestrel and the usual Tree Sparrows, Yellow Hammers, and Reed buntings.
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29th-30th

Nice weekend at home, Soddy's highlight were 14 Twite on both Saturday and Sunday. The Usual Wildfowl were on the pond a Flock of 35 Pinks flew over with 1 on the pond with the hundreds of greylags.

Bullfinch's were in evidence as were plenty of Tree Sparrows, Yellow Hammers and Long-tailed Tits. 

2 Barn Owls and 2 Tawny owls were nice and a Tree Creeper was a rare bird for Soddy. Lastly at Soddy it was nice to see 3 Roe deer.

Had a very Quick trip to Keswick and thought i would have a quick look in Bell Close Car park, i was VERY surprised to see 28 Waxwings feeding on the bush's. This is a really popular site for Waxwings this year. It was getting dark so i only managed this 1 record shot.

28th

RIP Cyril The Steppe Grey Shrike taken from us by a predator in the night!!!!!

24th

Back to work on the Monday and back to checking the car parks in Keswick. Id been checking them all week. Waxwings were the target, now ive been having a rough time with Waxwings as of late missing them EVERY where i go. But on this day i arrived at Bell Close Car Park and BRILLIANT 15 Waxwings feeding on yellow berries, what wounderful looking birds, these stopped about all day and 7 still the following day but then there was 1 at Soddy gap NOOOOOOO! and not seen by me damn damn damn!. 

23rd

Tristan rang to say he and Chris were off to Potteric Carr in Yorkshire for a Caspian gull, did i want to go, naaa its only a Caspian ive seen loads!!!. Oh were going for the Shrike too. NOW thats diffrent coarse im coming. So i got to chris befor 7am and were at Tristans just after, we were now on our way, by 11 am we were at the Steppe/Southern Grey Shrike in Lincolnshire. I was nervous all the way down due to NO news even though someone had put an RFI out. Luckily it was still here showing really well including sitting on peoples head and scope, some unruley people had there cameras in its face, no word of a lie withing 2 cm of the bird!!!!! Felt like saying the get F*ck out of its face. Digi scoping i had to stand well back. Wounderful bird, i didnt actually think i would get the chance to see it, thanks to Chris for driving all that way. More pics in my Gallery

A big flock of Dark Bellied Brents were a bonus.

After our fill of this outstandingly showy bird we made our way to Covenham Reservoir where a Grey Phalarope had been reported, after a 15 min walk we had the bird showing well in the heavy swell.

We were running late by this time so it was back up north towards Potteric Carr where a Caspian gull had been reported for the past few days. Another long walk 20 min got us in the hide just befor dark, there were a couple of hundred Lesser Black-backed gull and only a dozen herring gulls so it wasnt long befor we found the 3rd winter Caspian gull and 2 nice Yellow legged Gulls, an adult and a 3rd winter, it was soon pitch black so we made our way in the dark back to the car and home.. A great day and every bird ticked!!!! 

22nd 

First time back at Soddy since the 1st, so what am i going to see today, well i got me wellies on and hunted through the wet area, when i flushed a Short-eared Owl, Brilliant!!!!. A few Snipe flew out too but little else. Feeding on the berries were 5 Male Bullfinch, there was not to much on the pond, a couple of Cormorant, Goldeneye, Pochard and usual wildfowl.

 8th and 9th

So i disowned Tristan for the weekend and took the wife to Scarbrough. (romantic break not!). On the Way dropped into Garfitts Farm near Bilsdale in North Yorkshire for a Two Barred Crossbill, this was a lifer for me. On arriving at Garfitts Farm slipping and sliding, a couple of birders said it aint been seen since 8-10 it was now 11am s*it. But as i joined the group of birders iT turned up on the feeder only feet away, but typically on the wrong side of the feeders, although i did feel very privaliged to see this bird so quickly.

When we got to Scarbrough we decided to take a look in the harbour where a Great Northern Diver was showing well, also a Merlin was dodging in between the boats.

Next stop was North of Scarbrough Castle for the reported Pallas Warbler and Yellow Browed Warbler but befor i could look i heard news of a Pied Wheatear this would be my Second Lifer. So of we went to Reighton Sands Caravan park and again this bird was so easy showing well by the caravans, although at this point it was nearly dark, it seemed like it would roost underneath one of the Static vans.

So the next day we decied to go back for another look, this time the light was much better, although too strong now (winge winge winge). Again it showed very well but was chased around a lot, also over were 5 or 6 Common Crosbill. We had  alook in the ravine but nowt!.

Another look at the diver in the harbour where i noticed a Long-tailed Duck too.

This time i managed to walk around the north side of the castle and eventually managed to see a Yellow-browed Warbler, a very Dark Chiff-Chaff but no Pallas Warbler.

It started to rain about half two so we made our way home. A great Weekend had!

2nd

Tristan and i went looking for Rarities in the North east, It was s*it!!!

First bird of the day was a Nordic Type Jackdaw in a village near Tynemouth????

Tynemouth and the leas hosted a Richards Pipit, giving lots of brief flight views, and in Hartlepool its self was a Firecreast and we missed Black Redstart! Good god Birdings difficult!!!!

1st

Well the dark nights have drawn in and im unable to do soddy as regular as i would like. So i gave Soddy gap a good grilling.
1 Water Rail calling, 80+ Fieldfare, Redwing, 6 Bullfinch over calling, Tree Sparrow's were in the usual garden, 1 female Goosander, 23 Wigeon most seen here this winter, loads of greylags with the feral Snow goose, 28 Pinkfeet dropped in with them and a Male Sparrowhawk gave brilliant views sat in the tree.

Next i tried a sea watch off Workington the highlights if you can call em that was 1 Adult Med Gull, 7 Common Scoter, lots of auks mainly Guillemots, 8 Red-throated Divers and 11 Purple sandpiper on the rocks.

In the afternoon rach and i had a quick trip to Bassenthwaite lake, I gave it a good grilling but only thing of note were 5 Pintail. I was hoping the Female Ring-necked duck i found last year had returned but there were very few Tufties to bring it in. I then noticed it was found the next day (Sunday) on Bassenthwaite bloody Typical!