Well in all my years of birding, I’ve never known an autumn like this one. There has been an unprecedented arrival of Siberian vagrants right across the country from Shetland down to the Isles of Scilly and the birds keep arriving. I’m guessing that September and October will also go down as the best months […]
With continuous easterly winds blowing from Siberia and Scandinavia it was inevitable that our coast line would soon see the arrival of rare birds in good numbers. The question was though, what vagrants would turn up? Shetland was taking most of the glory, as is often the case during late September into October. One of
The Pallas’s Warbler is a tiny little gem that is a rare migrant to our shores. They often arrive after large influxes of Yellow-browed Warbler, as have occurred during September 2016. A stunning little warbler that is always worth a trip to see, as was the case this Sunday (9th Oct) when several arrived on
Well another year has flown by and my week on Unst has already come to an end. Another great time on the Isle above all others, with a number of rare warblers being the stars of the show. We found a few birds, re-located a few and came so very close to finding the big
Saturday 17th September and another trip up to Hatfield Moors in East Yorkshire. A Juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper had been discovered on Friday evening and so it was an opportunity to see yet another North American wader close to home. Most British records of Buff-breasted Sandpiper are from Cornwall, Isles of Scilly or the Western Isles.
Sunday 11th September turned out to be quite a remarkable day. A new bird for Derbyshire and an American “Peep” on the Yorkshire Moors. News broke on Friday 9th September 2016, that a juvenile Pallid Harrier had been photographed on Big Moor in North Derbyshire. As seems to often be the case these days, the
Saturday 27th August and Glyn, Richard and myself visited two of my favourite Lincolnshire Reserves, Gibralter Point and RSPB Frampton Marsh. Gibralter Point was very much a visit of nostalgia, as I first went bird watching here some 40 years ago, when I saw my first Snow Bunting. The reserve is very different today, with new
I found this new 2nd winter Yellow-legged Gull at my local patch, this morning (21st August 2016). Staunton Harold Reservoir is a good place to find this species especially at this time of year. Late summer, early autumn sees Yellow-legged Gull migrating into Britain and birds are returning to their favoured wintering areas. Often young
