Having nailed pretty much the last of my long lasting bogey-birds over the last year and a half, over the moon to pin down the last one, Gull-billed Tern. A species which I've dipped 4 times in the last 5 years, which most frustratingly has included the last several records for my home county, Cheshire. … Continue reading Bogey-bird no more!
Highlights from a quiet few hours spent with Russ Webb at Beal and Holy Island, Northumberland: Whooper Swan (9) Long-tailed Duck (1) Yellow-browed Warbler (10) Ring Ouzel (1) Common Chiffchaff (4) Lesser Whitethroat (1) Northern Wheatear (1) Brambling (c20) Short-eared Owl (2) Snow Bunting (1)
The East Coast is the place to be in Britain during the autumn, a whiff of easterly winds can bring in anything a large movement of Song Thrush, Fieldfare and Redwing right up to anything like a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, Pallid Harrier or everyone's favorite and most iconic autumn bird - Yellow-browed Warbler. Now being … Continue reading Cleveland: Autumn on the East Coast
The Euroepan Bee-eater, (part of the near-passerine family Meropidae that holds three genera and 27 species), was once a rarity to the British Isles. However, as have many species from the Mediterranean region it has increased its rate of occurrence in Britain and the rest of northern Europe. To the point that in 1991 it … Continue reading The Skittles bird
Following the end of my time volunteering at the Fair Isle Bird Observatory, I teamed up with no other than Shetland’s very Logan Johnson (believe or not, he’s Shetlands only young birder!), for a day’s birding before hitting Lerwick and making the journey back down to the Wirral. Kick starting our day tour were trips … Continue reading Hooded Merganser…
Fair Isle; it’s a small isolated island no more than three miles long and a mile wide situated in the North Sea just 24 miles south of mainland Shetland. For those reading this who are Birders then this isle of legend needs no introduction, but for those who aren’t here’s a brief description. The isle … Continue reading Fair Isle: The Dream Isle
Whilst attending the NGB Week at the Bardsey Bird & Field Observatory last week, news came through as I was leaving the island with L. Anderson that a Bonaparte's Gull had just been located at Hoylake, Cheshire. At first I thought Steve was just joking as he does to get us off the island...but he … Continue reading Bonaparte’s Gull…
