17th April - Carsington , Beeley, Aston, Derbyshire
At Carsington Water this morning 2 superb Tawny Owls on view in their regular roosting tree. Several Redshank, Oystercatcher, 6 White Wagtail and a Common Sandpiper on Stones Island. About 20 Willow Warbler, 6 Blackcap and several Chiffchaff and a Little Owl. On Beeley Moor several Wheatear and Red Grouse.

At Aston GP good numbers of Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Redshank and Shelduck. 6 Shoveler and small numbers of Teal and Gadwall. 1 Green Sandpiper and 6 White Wagtail.

The Year List has risen to 178.

27th February 2005 - Caunsall, near Kidderminster,
Worcester for a very elusive Little Bunting. After a good
2 hours wait, I eventually located one of the two birds
present at this site. The chestnut ear coverts certainly
looked striking in the bright sunshine. A stop off at Hams
Hall Industrial Estate, Warwickshire for a possible
“Siberian” Chiffchaff. The bird was very obliging along
with at least 6 nominate Chiffchaff. Finished off the day
With a stunning winter plumaged Slavonian Grebe at
Barrow-upon-Trent Gravel Pits, Derbyshire. This is the
first Slavonian Grebe in Derbyshire for several years.
The year list is now at 143.

Foremark Res, Derbyshire - Snow Bunting
The bird was first seen on the 22nd of February, found by
Severn Trent personnel, and last seen on the morning of
Saturday 26th February.
Picture by kind permission of Karl James taken on
Wednesday 23rd February.

26th February 2005 - Carsington Water, Derbyshire
The Great Grey Shrike is still present but can be tricky to find. The Black-necked Grebe is also still around and showed well from Sheepwash Bay. Also around 100 Ruddy Duck, 8 Oystercatcher, 4 Redshank and a flock of 22 Skylark.

A Snow Bunting has been frequenting the dam wall at
Foremark Reservoir during recent days.

20th February 2005 - Apart from a drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, year ticks were few and far between today. A fine 1st winter Glaucous Gull at Groby Pool, Leicestershire, was probably the best bird of the day. At Aston GP, Derbyshire 15 Ringed Plover was a good number for February and 40 Goldeneye was a site record. The 16 Bean Geese at Whitemoor Haye, Staffordshire
showed well. Throughout the Trent Valley, there are still good numbers of common waterfowl.

The year list is now 141.

24th April - North Norfolk - Holme/Titchwell/ Kelling / Salthouse - A full day year listing for common migrants. Holme Dunes produced Sandwich Tern, Whimbrel, Sedge Warbler,Grasshopper Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat and Cuckoo. Titchwell was reasonably good with 5 adult summer Little Gull and an adult summer Black Tern,2 Little Tern, Marsh Harrier, Black-winged Stilt, a superb Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Warbler, Bearded Tit were all added to the year list. At Kelling 2 male Ring Ouzels and 14 Fieldfare and at Stiff Key Fen another 3 Little Gull, Arctic Tern, Greenshank and the superb 1st summer Lesser Yellowlegs were all on view..
With Common Tern at my local reservoir this morning (25th April - year list now stands at 197)

10th April - Eyebrook Res & Rutland Water - Rutland -
At Eyebrook this morning just a 1st summer Little Gull of note. Also a 1st summer Yellow-legged Gull; 5 Redshank; 4 Shelduck;A Swallow and several Sand Martin. At Rutland - A Little Owl, Osprey, Red Kite, Buzzard, Kestrel & Sparrowhawk, a pair of Black-necked Grebe; numbers of Sand Martin; 70+ Goldeneye; Willow Warbler; Chiffchaff, Blackcap. Back to basic “Birding” !!
The year list creeps up to 174.

9th April 2005 - Aberdeen - Thank goodness I didn’t need Belted Kingfisher !! However for some, it was “deja vu” , another “Dip” - Never mind Rod, we gave it our best shot !! At Girdleness there were several year ticks to be had - Shag, Gannet, Razorbill, Guillemot and Purple Sandpiper. Trying to salvage something from the day, we stopped off at Largo Bay in Fife and had excellent views of the local Drake Surf Scoter along with many Velvet Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, numerous Slavonian Grebes (some in summer plumage), Eider, Common Scoter and Red-breasted Merganser. The year list has crept up to 172 - Not bad for just weekend birding !!

2nd April 2005 - Glad I got the Big One last night - Big Dip today !! No sign of the Belted Kingfisher at Shugborough this morning. Cannock Chase though - 1 Osprey; 1 Goshawk; 1 Woodlark, 1 Tree Pipit; 9 Waxwings; 4 Willow Warbler; and a Raven. At Carr Vale in Derbyshire - 1 Blackcap and a Yellow Wagtail moved the year list along to 164.

1st April 2005 - Shugborough Park, Milford, Staffs

THE BIG ONE !! BELTED KINGFISHER.
Almost too good to be true on April Fools day no less,
a male Belted Kingfisher was reported from a canal near
to Shugborough park this morning. No further news until It was relocated in the park itself at around 5:15pm this
afternoon. Then all hell broke loose!! The rest is history.
What a cracking bird. Year List at 158 - Back Saturday, HOPEFULLY WITH SOME PIXS...
See my article - click on latest bird photos above.
Photo by kind permission of Will Soar.

20th March - Derbyshire - Some good local birding today in the county. At Carsington Water this morning an adult Kittiwake, 2 Sand Martin, 6 Redshank and a variety of common waterfowl. At Long Eaton 2 Egyptian Goose, 5 Shoveler, 3 Goldeneye, 50 Tree Sparrow, 100 Yellowhammer, 8 Corn Bunting. Aston Gravel Pits - 33 Shelduck, 28 Gadwall, 8 Shoveler, 39 Goldeneye, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 5 Ringed Plover, 9 Golden Plover, 1 Dunlin, 8 Redshank, 3 Green Sandpiper and 2 Rock Pipit. Whilst just 500 yards from my house, 6 Waxwing made a short visit to Melbourne. I just managed a digi-shot before they flew off.
The year list has crept up to 157.

13th March 2005 - A superb morning spent in Derwentdale, North Derbyshire. The weather was perfect for Raptors and we were not disappointed. Almost immediately we had superb views of Goshawk. In about an hour, 6 Goshawk (including 1 female giving exceptional views) 3 Peregrine,
1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 5 Raven and a sprinkling of Brambling and Redpoll, reasonable numbers of Siskin and several Jay. Unfortunately no disgiscoping to-day but the year list is now 151.

6th March 2005 - A fine 1st winter female Lesser Scaup showed well at Farnborough Hall NT, Warwickshire. Also here a superb male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and 2 Marsh Tit. I found a 1st winter Glaucous Gull at Draycott Water and
there were good numbers of wigeon & goldeneye. Back in Derbyshire, the Dartford Warbler showed well at Pride Park along with 2 Stonechat. Finally at Aston GP, 3 Shoveler; 3 Pintail; 17 Shelduck; 42 Goldeneye; 1 Dunlin; 4 Redshank; 6 Ringed Plover; 2 Green Sandpiper and 1 Jack Snipe.
The year list is now 147.

30TH April - 2nd May - Speyside, Scotland
Highlights - Capercaille at 0600hrs on 30th April was my 200th bird of the year. 3 Male Capercaille; 5 Ptarmigan; Black Grouse, Red Grouse;
Crested Tit; Scottish Crossbill; Parrot Crossbill; Common Crossbill;
Slavonian Grebe; Osprey; 4 Black-throated Diver; Red-throated Diver;
2 Pine Martin; 2 Badger; Red Squirrel; Roe Deer; Red Deer; Brown Hare;
Mountain Hare; Rabbit:

Stinking Rocks, Troon, near Ayr, Scotland - 2nd May - 1 superb adult Drake
KING EIDER

Year List stands at 209.

My aim at the start of 2005 was to reach 200 before the end of April. Only 3 birds to go and on 28th April, just a day before setting off to Scotland I got Swift & Garden Warbler at Staunton Harold Reservoir.

Year List now at 199.

Surely Capercaillie or Black Grouse would see me to 200!!

8th May -Derbyshire
Padley Woods - 12 Pied
Flycatcher; 8 Redstart; 3 Spotted Flycatcher. 3 young Tawny Owl; 9 Tree Creeper; 9 Nuthatch.
Cutthroat Bridge - Superb views of Ring Ouzel ; 4 Whinchat; Snipe; Curlew; 2 Raven; Red Grouse

Long Eaton Gravel Pits - Immature Whooper Swan; 2 Egyptian Goose; c70 Swift; 3 Common tern; 3 singing Reed Warbler. Aston GP - 12 Shelduck; 1 Sanderling; 11 Dunlin; 12 Little Ringed Plover; 7 Ringed Plover 3 Common Tern: 1 Buzzard; 2 White Wagtail; 2 Yellow Wagtail. The Year List has crept up to 214 with a Hobby flying over the Derby Ring Road early evening.

15th May 2005 - North Norfolk. Yet another week of patiently waiting for the weekend to come round and hoping that a few good birds will “Sit-Around”. Fortunately they did. The Stilt Sandpiper and Woodchat Shrike both showed well at Burnham Norton marshes early morning. Although the Woodchat Shrike looked exceeding unwell. It was never seen again after around mid-day. Also here a pair of Garganey and a summer plumaged Little Stint were all year ticks. Several Marsh Harriers were in display flight, calling remarkably like Little Owl, which I guess caused many people confusion. A superb Sedge Warbler posed for me to take a digishot. Moving on, a 2nd summer Night Heron was discovered roosting at Holkham Hall, terrible views but good enough for yet another year tick.

Titchwell produced of note - Six 1st summer Little Gull, a superb Bittern in flight for at least 5 minutes before disappearing back into the reed bed, a few Pintail, Greenshank, Marsh Harrier and several Bearded Tit.

Montague’s Harrier showed distantly at an undisclosed site and Turtle Dove was year ticked at Holme Dunes. We failed miserably on Nightingale, but did have several good butterfly species on Salthouse Heath.

The year list has moved on to 223. (near enough all weekend birding !!)

5th June - North Norfolk and the Brecks - Needed to catch-up on the Norfolk Breckland specialities and basically cleaned up to-day. A Collard Pratincole showed distantly at Cley in windy conditions. Fortunately a Nightingale decided to sing on Salthouse Heath before we moved off to the Norfolk Raptor Watch Point at Great Ryburgh. We quickly had 2 Honey Buzzard, 4 Common Buzzard, 2 Marsh harrier, 2 Hobby and a Sparrowhawk. At the RSPB reserve at Lakenheath, Suffolk, a singing Golden Oriole came frustratingly close to being seen !! Several Stone Curlew were on view at one of the Breckland Heaths and on our way home we stopped off for a Great Reed Warbler at Willington GP, Bedfordshire. Unfortunately no snaps today.
Year List now up to 230.