A Grey Phalarope, a small wader species that breeds in the high arctic and winters at sea, was discovered on the River Wye in the middle of Bakewell, Derbyshire, of all places on the late morning of the 25th October 2020. Just goes to show that rare birds can be found anywhere, along with an […]
A Rufous Bush Chat or Rufous Bush Robin, take your pick, was discovered at Stiffkey, in North Norfolk, during the early morning of Saturday 17th October 2020. It was the first time one had been seen in Britain for 40 years, so most modern day birders would want to see it. Needless to say the
This autumn has seen an unprecedented arrival of rare vagrant birds to our shores. Wind swept migrants from both North America and Siberia. Gems such as Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (1st record for Britain), Tennesee Warbler; Lanceolated Warbler, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Taiga Flycatcher, Red-flanked Bluetail, Brown Shrike, Masked Shrike and so it goes on. One such vagrant
As the Lammergeier has been fairly site faithful to a 5 square mile area of Crowden during the past couple of months or so, I decide to have another trip for it today. A stunning morning but alas she came off her roost early, being spoofed by a Peregrine apparently. I just managed to arrive
A stunning male Red-backed Shrike has been faithful to a site at Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands for just over a week now. Red-backed Shrikes are very rare inland, so to have one within an hours drive of home was too good a chance to miss. I took the following photographs on 4th September
A leisurely walk today around the Egleton Reserve at Rutland Water was a welcoming change from my local patch. Just a few more birds to look at here! Great White Egrets were everywhere and I must have had a minimum of 11 birds, along with a minimum of 20 Little Egret and a Spoonbill. A
A recent 3 day trip to North Norfolk produced 90 species and 9 year ticks. Sea birds were certainly on the move in some very windy conditions. A number of Bonxie and Arctic Skua were on the move along with a few Manx Shearwater and many, many terns. Several Little Tern were still around. A
I first saw the immature Lammergeier on 13th July 2020, when it was regularly roosting on Howden Edge at Crook Clough, frustratingly just over the Derbyshire border in Yorkshire. I never saw it fly during the 2 hours I was watching it and I also, more importantly, never saw it in Derbyshire. The bird became
