The past week has seen a frenzy of rare birds arriving into the UK, sending the newcomers to birding into mass hysteria, chasing lifers from the north to the south and east to the west of Britain. In some respects, the rarities have been quite incredible. A suspect Dalmatian Pelican was discovered in Cornwall, (not sure […]
May 9th 2016 and one of my birding buddies, discovered a singing Great Reed Warbler at a local Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, Willington GP in South Derbyshire. The second record for the county. The bird wasn’t in full song and he had only heard it and glimpsed it briefly. It took from 0900hrs till
Saturday 7th May 2016 and I lived in hope of seeing Whiskered Tern at Attenborough and Black-winged Stilt at Frampton Marsh. Despite my best efforts, neither species were at their respective sites, as they were on Friday evening 6th May. Never mind, I did manage to connect with a few year ticks. A fine summer
If you go down to the woods today, you’ll hardly believe your eyes!! Spring brings the Blue Dust to the woodlands – In other words, Common Bluebells in full flower, what a fabulous sight. The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Reserve at Spring Wood is a classic example and the smell from the flowers is superb, it will
Saturday 30th April 2016 and we decided to stay somewhat local and paid a visit to Attenborough NR, Nottinghamshire. A great local reserve and always good for spring migrants, especially the warblers. Today was no exception with 10 species available, including Grasshopper and Reed, both year ticks along with several Common Tern and small numbers
Saturday 23rd April 2016 turned out to be a mixed bag of birds. We headed off for Spurn in the hope of finding something. All we found was cold and windy weather but the sun was shining. After a long walk out to Sammy’s from the Crown and Anchor, we managed to find a couple
Derbyshire is blest with some stunning Limestone Dales that provide ideal habitat for the Dipper and of course other water birds such as Grey Wagtail. I spent Sunday 17th April with Glyn and Richard in one of the Derbyshire Dales. We had a great day, spending time watching several pairs of Dipper, including one pair
I think not – in our modern birding scene, so much emphasis seems to be made on rare birds, it seems to me that we can easily pass by the common stuff. I spent a few enjoyable hours on Saturday 16th April, within 10 minutes from home, just watching common birds. I don’t think they’re boring at
