After the recent onslaught of rare "Yanks" arriving at all corners of the country, this weekend was rather mediocre. In any case my bank balance wouldn't have stood the charters and petrol money required to vist Porthgwarra, Cornwall for a Hermit Thrush (didn't need it in any case); the Isle of Rum for a Mourning Dove; Unst […]

My annual birding week to the Isles of Scilly this October, was to be my 28th year in succession. Unfortunately it turned out to be one of the worst weeks I can remember for seeing and finding rare birds. It didn't help that very few birders were on the islands on what has been traditionally recognised as THE

A last minute decision Saturday morning (12th Oct), was to head off to Covenham Reservoir, in Lincolnshire for a storm blown pelagic wader, a Grey Phalarope. We had no idea if the bird was still there and the weather was foul, so even if it was, would we get any photos? Really dull low cloud, rain

FAR REALLY ISN'T FAR  – Shetland, one of the greatest places in the UK for discovering rare birds. This year and the same crew, we continued with our previous format – A week on Unst, generally looking for our own birds, mixed with a little twitching here and there. Aberdeen Harbour – Friday evening 20th September 2013. After

A weekend of local birding – Having found a female Common Scoter on Friday at my local patch, I decided to get up early Saturday (14th) morning before having to sort out domestics. Staunton Harold Reservoir has held good numbers of birds in recent days with nearly 1000 geese and 600 Black-headed Gulls being present. So

Attenborough Nature Reserve lies in the Trent Valley just over the Derbyshire border in Nottinghamshire. It is an excellent reserve and often picks up some good rarities during the year. I remember the 12th December 2004, when along with three of my birding pals, we identified Nottinghamshires first SORA RAIL (see also BLOG Categories – Year

My wife and I have been visiting the English County of Dorset for the past five years for our annual late August holiday. We base ourselves in and around the Swanage area, this year choosing to stay at the little village of Worth Matravers. A fantastic location and a great area for bird migration. I remember well,

Since my last update in June, here we are at the end of the summer. During July & August I managed a few new birds for the year, helping to move my Staunton Harold Year List on to 118 by the end of August. Common Tern increased to a maximum of 10 adults on the 13th July.