A decision was made last Thursday (11th July) to visit the Farne Islands off the Northumbrian Coast of England. A Bridled Tern had been found there about two weeks ago but had not been seen for a number of days, so presumed gone. Not to worry as I had seen the Anglesey bird in 1988. The Farnes are a great place, offering ample opportunity for photography and little did we know what was going to hapopen. We stopped off at South Shields first, usually a good place for terns roosting on the beach. Not to-day though and it was a real disappointment here. […]

On Friday 21st June 2013, the news of an Icterine Warbler in Notts was released over the Bird Information Services. Any Hippolais warbler inland is a good bird. As it was also a Midlands tick, I decided to go look at it. The bird had been discovered on Thursday 20th but the news was only released on Friday 21st. The bird was singing from a conifer plantation, close to a small village called Tiln, near Retford in North East Nottinghamshire. The local news was that apparently the bird had responded to tape of Icterine Warbler and showed a pale wing panel. Upon arrival […]