PART TWO – FOOTHILLS OF THE ANDES – 24th October – 29th October Whilst travelling through the Andean Foothills, more superb birds were seen, including Spot-backed Puffbird, Blue-capped Puffleg, Blue-crowned Trogon, Moss-backed Sparrow, Plush-crested Jay, White-bellied Hummingbird, Yungas Manakin, Buff-breasted Earthcreeper, Wedge-tailed Hillstar (probably the rarest bird of the trip, Andean Gull and Andean Flamingo.
PART ONE – CEIBAS RESERVE – 21st October – 23rd October I had an amazing trip to Argentina during mid October to month end. Saw over 300 species, many of which were new birds for me. I visited several places for a second time, and spent a few days up in the foothills of the
We decide to spend a few days away in Norfolk during the 7th – 9th October. These dates coincided with 2 special days, my birthday and our wedding anniversary! What better place to celebrate these two events. I managed to pick-up a few good birds for the year including, Manx Shearwater, Snow Bunting, Jack Snipe
My annual trip to Unst took place during 23rd September to 1st October. Our first port of call on arrival into Lerwick was at Gulberwick on mainland, for a smart drake Surf Scoter. Unfortunately too far to photograph. On arrival on Unst our first decent bird was a Woodchat Shrike at Feall, then followed by
Always worth a visit to the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Reserve at Willington Wetlands. I’ve known this reserve for over 50 years, first visiting it as a young birder in my early teens. It’s changed a lot over the years and I’m not so sure its as good as it once was for attracting waders and
Another visit to the wonderful RSPB reserve at Frampton in Lincolnshire. A few good waders around on this trip including a Pectoral Sandpiper, several Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Greenshank and the usual other common waders. A huge flock of Black-tailed Godwits was quite a spectacular sight. Also 46 Spoonbill, probably a record count for the
August is a good time to visit Frampton, as usually there is a wide selection of waders on view. This particular visit gave me some good opportunities to photograph the Spotted Redshank, along with Ruff, Avocet and also a large flock of Spoonbills.
It’s not often I make a return visit to photograph a bird that I have done previously, but I made an exception with the Turkistan (Red-tailed) Shrike at Bempton Cliffs. I was a little disappointed with the visit I made on the 2nd July, a few days after it had been found, as the bird
