Not posted anything on here for sometime, which I will try to rectify on a regular basis. For now I will highlight the bird of the year for me in 2023 and a stunner that has kick started 2024.

On Fair Isle during the autumn news of several very nice mega's on Shetland mainland were proving tempting to twitch off for. The Blackburnian Warbler unfortunately didn't do the right thing and stay to the next day when I could have gone but a few days later a Veery was found up near Lunna Kirk. I waited for a few days and with the bird still present I took the plunge and twitched off the isle for a couple of hours. Luckily I had my car at the airstrip so I was away immediately after arriving. I had about 45minutes with the bird, often I was the only person present. 

The views of this bird bettered anything I have had in North America and I've seen some excellent ones over there. 

I even had time to go and fit in a Siberian Stonechat just up the road before dashing back to the airstrip for the flight back to Fair Isle. 

From a Fair Isle perspective it was a little quiet but that is still relative with Turkestan Shrike, two Lanceolated Warblers, an American Golden Ploverm a probably Stejnegers Stonechat and the best views ever of a Radde's Warbler (around my feet) being the pick of the bunch. 

Shetland then rounded out the autumn in style when a Yellow Warbler was found in Hoswick the day I was coming off Fair Isle and whilst it showed better for the crowds a few days later I was please to have managed at least a couple of acceptable photo's of it. 

2024 was ushered in with a bang when a Northern Waterthrush was found in mid Essex, 8th record for Britain. I left it nearly a week before going as often brief views left many visitors not seeing it. The first Saturday sounded especially unpleasant with around 450 on site not seeing it all day. I went early afternoon on the Sunday when only 30 or so were present and the bird was showing very well. 

Not a bad way to start the year.

Link to the video of the bird here on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/559283376/videos/673616034925625/

Alpine Swift - Hadleigh Castle

The first widely available Alpine Swift was found by Marc Outen at Hadleigh Castle just as he was about to start a 10k run; no bins, just phone video to help get the news out. 

Thankfully it went on to stay for most of the day generally around the Salvation Army Tea Rooms car park and above the wood just to the North West. 

The light was bad with heavy cloud and the bird did mostly stay quite high but it was seen low on a couple occasions and was seen being chased by a Black-headed Gull at one point. 

Despite the poor light I managed to get some usable images which are represented here. 

Quailty find, quality bird

West Africa Birding

I have added two new pages covering a few of the highlights of a trip to The Gambia and Senegal. 

Part 1 covers selected species and Part 2 is all about Scissor-tailed Kites and Egyptian Plovers. Click on the image to go straight to the page.

    Part 1

Part 2

London Caspian Gulling

Facebook will probably do a great job of reducing the quality of these images but hopefully they will still be good enough to view.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at Thamesmead along the river Thames looking for Caspian Gulls, a species that has dramatically reduced in numbers locally following landfill closures.

I needed a Caspian Gull fix and today was one of the best in a few years with eight different birds seen, an adult and seven 1st-winters, though potentially one of these could well be a hybrid.

Plenty of cheap loaves were deployed on the Thames gulls today.

 

Bird 1

Bird 2 

Bird 3

Bird 4

Bird 5

Bird 6

Bird 7

Bird 8

Nuthatches

Nuthatch is one of my absolute favourite birds, something about them always delights. Today I spent a few hours trying to photograph a pair that were coming to a local woodland feeding station but being on the edge of the wood light was lacking and high ISOs were required to even get anywhere near 1/200th sec shutter speed. Still a few have come out quite well. 

Locally Nuthatch went through a phase of rapid expansion in the local woods but now they are only found in Hockley Woods and Belfairs / Pound Woods. Those that 'may' breed in Belfairs are usually found in Pound Wood in the winter where they can put on a show. 

Lets hope this charasmatic bird keeps its foothold in the local woods.

Goose Chase

Well it wasn't really a goose chase in the end, more like a drive up there they are, job done. 

In December two Red-breasted Geese had arrived with the Brent Goose flock on the other side of the River Crouch along the Dengie and despite making several visits to Wallasea in the hope they flew across and into our recording area it was obvious that they were settled and unlikely to move anytime soon. As the directions on RBA were for a very long walk along the seawall from Burnham I had decided to not make the effort despite wanting to see them. 

As it later turned out I was able to get a lift to the actual site using private farm tracks with someone who has access and on the 2nd January we rolled up and the flock was right next to the track and close to the seawall. So instead of a 8-10miles round trip walk ending in being completely knackered I was able to see these two stunners from the car. result. 

It wasn't two windy and the light was mostly flat so higher ISO's were needed than I would usually go to but as the male of the two birds was generally always on the closest edge of the confiding brent flock I have not had the need to crop to heavily.

A most enjoyable morning out.

 

Favourites of 2021

So I tried to select the best photos from the year and it was becoming challenging so I decided to go with my personal favourites and even then the list was getting quite long. I have reduced it to just one image per month. Again may not be the best images but my personal favourites. To see the image full size click on the captioned photo.

Caspian Gull, 1st winter, Bowers Marsh, Essex - 3rd January

After the heyday yearsof having several working landfills and being able to actually get onto one of the best in the country large gulls have now become somewhat scarce with no large gatherings in fields or marshes. As a result scarcer species such as Caspian Gull are now truly difficult to find and I'm now averaging one a year locally. 

I found this stunning 1st-winter late afternoon at Bowers Marsh with only a handful of large gulls present but it didn't linger, only a very few local birders managed to connect with it. Oh I miss Caspian Gulls

Fieldfare, Oaken Grange Drive, Prittlewell, Essex - 14th February

With reports of large numbers of winter thrushes visiting the Rowans in Oaken Grange Drive during a spell of harsh weather I made my way there in the freezing cold and was greated by huge numbers of Fieldfares, the predominant species present. Many were extremely confiding. The individual below was a pefect example of a portait that could be managed. Despite seeing many tens of thousands of Fieldfares over the years this was still a stunning spectacle to have locally. 

Peregrine, Bowers Marshes, Essex - 27th March 

With spring very slowly arriving Bowers Marshes was seeing some movement of waders, such as Black-tailed Godwits and Avocets. The pair of resident Peregrines were watched one afternoon constantly harassing the Avocet flock, not really trying to catch any but just seemed to be enjoying themselves in the havoc they were causing the flock with the mock dives. Often they would bank out of these dives over the southern path and we were able to get stunning views of both birds when the did this. I enjoyed watching the Peregrines mess with the Avocets heads as much as probably the Peregrines enjoyed doing it. Great fun to watch.

White-throated Sparrow, Barcombe Cross, West Sussex - 18th April

I rarely go twitching these days but an over wintering White-throated Sparrow that was little over an hours drive away was a little to go to not go and see. The morning I was there was warm and increadibly still and the bird performed superbly during what was presumably a circuit around the small wooded area by the allotments. It could be heard singing on occasion. With the bench area being seeded it had a pattern to its appearances but from discussion with locals this pattern seemed a little different today, visiting less often and for short spells. Next day it was gone. So I managed to see it on its last morning after it spent the winter here, talk about cutting it close.

Woodchat Shrike, Rochford, Essex - 3rd May

Without doubt the best and showiest of the now four local Woodchat Shrikes I have seen over the years. This bird was discovered by a visiting birdwatcher and after some initial confusion over the locality I was able to confirm its presence. This is some way fromthe immediate coastline so presumably it had moved along the Roach Valley. The bird was no more than quarter of a mile from my home and I had walked the site only a few days prior so a little bit annoying I didn't find it. Still it was a bird that was much appreciate and as we were just coming out of Covid lockdown at the time it drew quite a crowd, at one point there was around 200 visitors during an hour I was there. Been a while there had been a twitchable Woodchat in the South East an as it was a stunning male then clearly to much to resist for the visitors.

Roller, Icklimgham, Suffolk - 27th June  

With a twitchable Roller being found in Suffolk a short trip up resulted in some excellent views as it hawked around a field. Despite the overcast conditions and busy road it did show well with this inflight shot being my personal image from the day

Black-browed Albatross, Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire - 10th July  

The albatross is back for another year at Bempton as was giving incredible views to many visitors as it soared just above the cliff tops. As the bird had roosted overnight got the a little after dawn to see it sat on the cliffs with the Gannets. It was around an hour before it took flight but unfortunately did not do the cliff top flyby's so many others have enjoyed. Instead it circled the small bay and flew out to see, landing several time distantly before completely disappearing for the rest of the day. Whilst I didn't get the point blank views I had hoped for it was still great to see and the image below reflects many a view from the southern hemisphere. A truly magnificent bird.

Orca Pod, Fair Isle - 23rd August 

Over the years I have seen numerous pods of Orca off Fair Isle however this years experience was something else entirely. Rather than distant views two pods circled the isle a couple of time hunting Seals in the shallows and right below my advantage point. Incredible to look down on them swimming below the waters surface, hearing them come up and see them hunt. One of the contenders of wildlife experience of the entire year.

White's Thrush, The Gully, Fair Isle - 29th September

I've been somewhat lucky in recent years with White's Thrushes in the UK and especially on Fair Isle. This bird being my sixth on here in the past 10years but the first I've seen in the hand. It was found by Assistant Warden Alex Penn in the Gully which redirected my birding efforts for the day. Whilst we searched for it it was seen to fly up the Gully and was subseqnuently trapped there. Seeing Alex physically shaking whilstholding this, the King of Sibes, was an indelible image that will forever stick in my mind. The bird went onto the linger for a few days which in itself another first for me as all my previous Fair Isle White's Thrushes were all one day wonders. Great to see and photograph in on subsequent days.

Surf Scoter, North Haven, Fair Isle - 15th October

I've only ever seen Surf Scoters this well in the habours of California in winter. My last UKSurf Scoters were in Largo Bay and were extremely distant. This Surfie was initially found in the bay at Furse before moving to North Haven where at times had a female Long-tailed Duck in toe. Generally it kept to the middle part of the harbour but occasionally came close into the pier but would inevitably drift away once anyone got close. To get this image I had to be cunning. When it was close to the pier I waited to it dived and then made a rapid move to get closer and making sure I had stopped and was crouched down before it resurfaced. I did this several times and was by the remains of the old Pier Winch and ready for when it came up again. When it did it was point blank range. It didn't take long before it cottoned on to me though and soon drifted back out and away from me leaving me with half a dozen head and shoulders images.

Caspian Gull, adult, Eagle Pond, Snaresbrook, London - 27th November

I wanted to go and see this now annual returning bird last winter but Covid travel restrictions meant I couldn't go. Luckily he has come back for another winter and has given me my Caspian Gull fix. A superb bird that was easy to find, it was the only large gull present on the lake. Readily making short work of a couple of loaves of bread I'm sure I will be making a return trip in the new year.

Blackbird, male, Garden, Rochford, Essex - 11th December

My mate Mr. Blackbird. He has been resident in the garden now for quite a few years and I have seen him raise numerous broods, his youngsters still visit the garden from nearby. He has become extremely tame with me and often calls to me when I'm in the garden asking for Mealworms, he has a particular call now that I recognise for when he wants feeding. Quite often he will be around my feet and where I am weeding with out hesitation. Such a smart fella and a pure joy to interact with during the year. 

Here I had photographed him after he has completed his autumn moult and is in tip top condition.

So these are my picks of the year from a rather larger than expected pool of photographic highlights.