An “Eastern” Stonechat was discovered, a week or so ago, in fields at Salthouse in Norfolk. I decided to go and see this bird and managed to do that on Friday 26th October 2018. The identification challenge – is it a Stejneger’s Stonechat (a potential third record for Britain) or the more regular and less rare, Siberian Stonechat? The complexities on the identification of “Eastern Stonechats” are well known, but not so well documented, as Stejneger’s Stonechat has only recently been split to a separate species. Since, there have been a number of papers published and an excellent account can […]

A juvenile Red-necked Phalarope was discovered at nearby Attenborough Nature Reserve this lunchtime, so a trip to see it was worthwhile. Red-necked Phalaropes are now on the move, migrating from their arctic breeding grounds, to winter in the Pacific Ocean, (see below) a truly remarkable journey. The bird was only at the Attenborough reserve for a few hours before flying off and lost to view. I’ve been reliably informed that the majority of Red-necked Phalarope winter in the Arabian Gulf. However, I read an article about a Red-necked Phalarope, from the Scottish population, that was fitted with a Geo Location […]