On the 16th October 2021 a Two-barred Greenish Warbler was discovered in the Canal Hedge at Spurn, Yorkshire. I had previously seen this phyllosc species in October 2017 at St Aldhelm’s Head area in Dorset, so wasn’t really too bothered to drive across to Spurn. I soon changed my mind when I saw the views that this bird was giving and so decided to go for it on 20th October. I arrived on site in pouring rain but as the rain eased I soon had excellent views of this little leaf warbler. After taking a series of photographs, I decided […]
Whilst I was on Shetland, news came out that a Long-toed Stint had been discovered at the RSPB reserve at St.Aidan’s, near Leeds in Yorkshire, on the afternoon of Friday the 8th October. It was originally identified as a Temminck’s Stint, then a Least Sandpiper, before finally being nailed as a Long-toed Stint. A mega rare wader that breeds in Siberia and winters mainly in southeast Asia, with smaller numbers in India and Australia. There have only been two previously accepted records in Britain, the first in Cornwall in 1970. Needless to say there was a huge crowd of birders […]
I made my annual visit to Shetland for the first time since 2019 and Lockdown. It was good to get back to these magical isles. We stayed on Unst, at our normal croft at Northdale, from 6th October to 12th October. A fairly quiet trip in terms of rare birds, but we did manage to see the following as highlights:- Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs at Loch of Strathbeg, Aberdeenshire on 5th October; King Eider at Girlsta, White-billed Diver at Brettabister, N.Nesting Bay, Woodchat Shrike at Aith – all on Shetland Mainland, Great White Egret at Mid Yell, Barred Warbler […]
A small wader was discovered at the gravel pit complex at Misson, Nottinghamshire. On 25th September it was initially identified as a Red-necked Stint. I went to see it on 26th September and never felt it was quite right for a RNS. After viewing numerous photos and closer scrutiny of the bird, it was re-identified on 26th September as a Little Stint. What was more interesting was this “Blue Morph” Little Egret that was feeding in amongst 6 Great White Egrets, a single Cattle Egret and numerous Little Egret.