November is the traditional time of the year for a rare Wheatear to arrive on our shores. This November was no exception and almost bang on time a Pied Wheatear was discovered on Unst in Shetland and 3 Desert Wheatear arrived, 2 in East Anglia and 1 in Kent. Despite the three day bird syndrome, […]
On Thursday 30th October 2014, the 3rd record for Britain of Eastern Crowned Warbler was discovered. My adrenalin rushed for the second time this year. It was found by a local birder in a small copse adjacent to a Hotel and Golf Course comples near the village of Brotton, Cleveland. I had to wait until
Saturday 25th October 2014. my wife and I travelled down to London by train to see the Tower of London Poppies. Probably THE most amazing artistic spectacle I have ever seen. I can sum it up as a very moving experience, which was simply stunning, creating a powerful and visual commemoration of such an important event
The week of 13th – 16th October will probably go down as one of the best arrivals of rare birds on the east coast of Britain in recent modern birding. It seemed that an endless supply of migrants were arriving every day. However for some of us, we had to wait till the weekend and
A very mild night was forecast, so I chanced my arm and put the garden actinic trap on. My 12th Moth trap of the year and at last a rare immigrant. Boom !!! An Udea ferrugalis, or Rusty Dot Pearl to give it it’s common name. The last time I caught one, was 12th October
Sunday 13th October 2014 and in foggy conditions Glyn, Richard and myself set-off for Donna Nook on the North East Lincolnshire coast. Our target bird was an Arctic Warbler that had been discovered on Saturday 12th October 2014. It is not very often that an Arctic Warbler is discovered away from the Shetland Isles and
Same Crew and the same format as in previous years, Shetland 2014 certainly lived-up to all expectations. A week on Unst, The Island Above All Others, just simply looking for our own birds, except this year, for the first time, we twitched the mainland. The temptation was just too much to resist, White’s Thrush & Myrtle
The Migration Hot Spot at Spurn struck again this weekend. Saturday 20th September 2014 a Shrike that had been found in the “Canal Area” and originally identified as a Woodchat, was re-identified as Britain’s 3rd Masked Shrike. The bird stayed faithful to a large area of hedgerow at the back of Rose Cottage and fortunately,
