As the Dusky Thrush was still frequenting gardens and fields around the small Derbyshire village of Beeley, I decided to go back on Sunday for another viewing, in the hope of getting some better images. This bird is proving to be very difficult to obtain a really good photograph, despite a number of good efforts […]
The autumn of 2016 will go down in UK birding history as one, if not, the best periods for the finding of rare asiatic birds in Britain. A continuous stream of mouth watering vagrants seemed to be endless throughout September, October and November. Then just as all the birders thought, that’s the end, a Dusky
Sunday 4th December was a stunning day, crisp, blue skies and sunshine, a great day to play around with photography at one of my local birding patches. Melbourne Pool is an OK place for common ducks and gulls and there is also the chance of something else turning up. I really wanted to try and
It is looking like this winter will be another Waxwing Year, as many thousands of these beautiful birds have arrived into Britain during the last 6-8 weeks. Most of the big numbers are still located in Scotland and the NE Coastal areas, but smaller flocks have managed to arrive further south in recent weeks. A
Not done a great deal of late. Last weekend (6th November) I visited the North Norfolk coast to see, more than anything else, a large flock of Shore Lark. Apparently the flock at Holkham Gap had increased to 68 over recent weeks, making it one of the largest flocks in Britain for many years, maybe
In recent weeks I have discovered a large concentration of Little Egrets at my local patch, Staunton Harold Reservoir. Up to 20 birds have been present, (3rd largest flock in the Trent Valley so far this year) but there seems to be a consistent flock of around 15 birds sticking together. Fish fry must be
Saturday 29th October was spent in the North East – Skinningrove in Cleveland and South Shields in County Durham. A couple of good birds were on offer including one that I had not seen before, a sub-species of Black Redstart. A first winter male Eastern Black Redstart, of the race semirufus, had been faithful to the rocks
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
