This winter period UK birders are enjoying an invasion of Bohemian Waxwings from Scandinavia. The first big invasion for a number of years. I’ve been fortunate to have photographed these birds many times in the past, and despite wanting to chase after these stunning creatures, I’ve been eagerly waiting for them to arrive closer to home. The morning of 12th December, it happened. I found two birds perched in a large hawthorn tree at the end of my garden. Very thrilled to have found them, but disappointed they were a little distant for the camera, they didn’t hang around and […]

During the late autumn, a large number of Short-eared Owls arrived into Britain from Northern Europe. They appeared to be pushed across by unprecedented storms and probably a shortage of rodents in Scandinavia. Short-eared Owls are a regular winter visitor to our shores, but some large numbers were counted, especially in Norfolk, as they arrived along the east coast. They have now taken up territories at various traditional wintering sites around the country, and I visited one along the Humber Bank in mid November. We had 7 birds, as well as at least 3 Hen Harrier, a distant Barn Owl […]