Tag Archives: sightings

An early morning dash into Lincolnshire and to Rimac NR to try and find the Savi’s Warbler, I’d only seen before which was in Spain at the Coto Donana in 1987, so this would make a nice UK tick. When on site, it did take some finding, but it gave itself up eventually, but all too briefly, by the ut saw it we did.

We then moved onto RSPB Frampton Marsh, landing on site at about 10:30am. We started at the visitor centre area, seeing Avocet, Common Sandpiper, lots of Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Lapwing, Little Egret, Little Ringed Plover being harassed by the Lapwings, with the Little Ringed Plover doing the broken wing ploy, Sand Martins lots of them, coming into land on one of the sand banks.

We moved around to the far side, where the Collard Pratincole was last seen this morning at 8am, then flew, whilst we were at Rimac, best we saw were Yellow Wagtail. Lots of butterflies about today, one being a fine male Essex Skipper which sat out for ages, letting us explore the finer details of the Essex, also about were Comma, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell, and Brimstone.

We ended up at the 360° hide, looking at the various birds here Avocet, Black tailed Godwit, Pintail, Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Redshank, Ruff, Shelduck, Starling, Tufted Duck, Teal and Wigeon. I then decided to go onto the cafe for a coffee break whilst the guys moved on down to the saltmarsh.

After the coffee I caught up with the guys at the saltmarsh, who put me onto a perched Peregrine Falcon, I then found a few Mediterranean Gulls, on the way back to the car park we found a Painted Lady butterfly and a Corn Bunting.

Today saw three species added to the year list, Italics, one of those to the UK list, Bold. (191/200) 95.5%

Birds seen : Avocet, Bearded Tit, Black-headed Gull, Black-tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Corn Bunting, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Little Ringed Plover, Magpie, Mallard, Mediterranean Gull, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Ringed Plover, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Ruff, Sand Martin, Savi’s Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Spoonbill, Spotted Redshank, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Yellow Wagtail, (48)

Butterflies seen : Brimstone, Comma, Essex Skipper, Gatekeeper, Large Skipper, Painted Lady, Peacock, Ringlet, Small Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White (11)

Another early start today, today we were inheading into Shropshire for the reported Black Kite. We arrived at Wood Lane NR a small members site, the hides have combination locks on. On the walk in, we heard Chiffchaff, Great Tit, and a fly over Oystercatcher, on of the lads picked up on a kite, we could see it was the Black Kite due to being in the air with a few Red Kites, we could clearly see the difference. We walked in further to the area that overlooks the landfill, where the Kites could be seen better, various Kites were still in the air, mostly Red Kites but the Black Kite was still amongst them, it was good to still be able to compare these Kite species together. The Black Kite appeared smaller than the Red in size overall, shorter wing length and tail showing a shallower, one of the lads managed to get a photo, Cleary showing the six fingers the Black has compared to the Red having five.

Other birds around the hide area were Black headed Gull, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, Oystercatcher, Blackcap, Reed Warbler, Garden Warbler (H) and Buzzard. Dinner at another hide, after we had our fill of Kites, birds we saw here were Robin, Blackbird, Sand Martins, Moorhen, Kingfisher, Raven and Blue Tit.

Whixall Moss was our next stop, plenty of Brimstone Butterflies were about, there were also a few Click Beetles and a Green Tiger Beetle, birds were Kestrels and Buzzards.

Our last stop of the day was in the Strines at a place called Cut Throat Bridge, where we saw Red Grouse, Wheatear, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Stonechat a few Curlew, and finally after failing on the Ring Ouzels a lovely male Whinchat which was sat up singing away. Finally Woodcock on the way over towards home

Birds at Wood Lane: Black Kite, Black headed Gull, Blackcap, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Garden Warbler (H),Great Tit, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Raven, Red Kite, Reed Warbler, Robin, Sand Martin, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren (22)

Birds at Cut Throat Bridge: Curlew, Meadow Pipit, Red Grouse, Skylark, Wheatear, Whinchat, Woodcock (7) 158/200

Black Kite being a UK first

Wheatear

Click Beetle

Green Tiger Beetle

Whinchat

A new Reserve today, I thought I would give it a call as I was in the area for a couple of days. A great day lovely and sunny, the site is virtually next door to the Ripon Racecourse, which seemed to have a lake in the centre of the course, here I could see, Mute Swan, plenty of Greylag Geese, with a few Oystercatchers.

Walking further in to the reserve, there were Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps calling from the bushes, I soon came across on of the reserve lakes, however the sun was shining straight in to my face across the water, making it difficult to see anything. It was good to hear hear Chiffchaff and Blackcaps again, I finally made it around to the canal side of the reserve, where there is kind of a hide come screen setup, I could see a bit better here as the sun was now side on, birds here were Mute Swan, a male Goldeneye, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, a pair of Common Buzzard, it appeared the Buzzards had made camp on the Osprey platform, I also heard a booming Bittern from here.

After dinner, I went over to the river side of the reserve and found an area with Primrose, a few butterflies down here with, Orange tip being the common one, also Brimstone, Peacocks and the Dark edged Bee Fly, with my first Willow Warbler of the year

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Birds Seen : Bittern, Black headed Gull, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Great Black backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Reed Bunting, Robin, Rook, Ruff, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren (33) 148/200

Butterflies Seen : Comma, Green veined White, Orange tip, Peacock, Speckled Wood

Chiffchaff

Comma

Dark edged Bee Fly

Seems a waste if I didn’t go out in this nice sunny weather, so I forced myself to go down to Old Moor, there was a report of a Little Gull on site this morning.

Arriving at 9am, I seemed to have the reserve to myself for a while, I didn’t come across anyone, which was unusual, anyway first stop was the feeders, Reed Bunting, Bullfinch, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, and Blackbird, the usual crew for here. I then moved, heading towards the Wath Ings Hide direction, calling in at the Lookout Hide first to look thru the Gulls, Black headed, Lesser Black backed, and Herring Gulls were present, no Mediterranean present and no Little Gull.

On to Green Lane were you can look over the Mere at head height, depending on how tall you are, looking thru the gulls once again, talking with another guy, he had just found a first winter Little Gull, not the reported Adult of earlier. Other birds here were Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Moorhen, a Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, two Buzzards overhead, a calling Cetti’s Warbler from the nearby bushes with a Chiffchaff giving the “chiff” “chaff” type call.

Popping in to Wader scrape hide, saw no waders and very little birds, I moved on to Wath Ings hide, seeing a couple of Butterflies on route Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell, only thing new at Wath Ings, was a Goldeneye ♀, Cormorants anbd a calling Little Grebe.

Down on the loop, I came across a few Gorse Shieldbugs, Common Wasps, and various species of Bees, a small fly with nicely marked wings (Tephritis crepidis), Brimstone Butterfly, calling Oystercatchers overhead with Lapwings on the East Pool.

Birds Seen : Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Grebe, Little Gull, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pochard, Red Kite, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon (34)

Butterflies Seen : Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood

Tephritis crepidis

Redshank

Peacock

The draw at St Aidan’s today was a Firecrest, which had located itself at the far side of the reserve, a long walk ensued. Making my way down slowly, taking in the other birds on my way, two Common Buzzards, were my first attraction, high over the hillside, further down, among the grasses, was a distant Male Stonechat, other birds encountered on the way were, Canada Goose, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Coot, Curlew, Lapwing, Great White Egret.

I eventually arrived at the Firecrest sight, it was still showing around the area, but was very mobile, it kept disappearing for a while before popping up again, usually away from where I was standing, I was never in the right place at the right time. There were other birds in the area to pass the time away, plenty of Redpoll and Siskin.

After a few hours I gave up on the Firecrest and made my way back to the visitor centre, coffee and cake time, also time at the feeders watching Long tailed Tits, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Reed Bunting, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Chaffinch.

I revisited St Aidan’s again on the 22nd for another stab at the Firecrest, and eventually saw brief views of it, amongst the dense vegetation, no video or photos were obtainable, I did that day however get good flight views of a Bittern

A visit on the 21st February to a local site, Ingbirchworth Reservoir, gave me views of a White fronted Goose for the year.

I also had another visit to St Aidan’s on the 25th February, and got to see the Firecrest again, better views this time

You can see the video of the days combined HERE on You Tube

Birds seen at St Aidan’s : Bittern, Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Great White Egret, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Redpoll, Little Grebe, Little Owl, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pochard, Red Kite, Reed Bunting, Robin, Sparrowhawk, Shoveler, Siskin, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren (48) (115/200)

Birds seen at Ingbirchworth : Black headed Gull, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Great Crested Grebe, Greylag Goose, Lapwing, Mallard, White fronted Goose (Russian) (9)

Redpoll (Lesser)

Siskin ♂

Red Kite

Common Buzzard

A quick excursion down to RSPB Old Moor, seemed a shame to waste a bright sunny day, since we hadn’t had any for a while.

First port of call, as it always seems to be, is the Tree Sparrow Farm Feeders, it looked busy with people has I approached, I did however manage to get a reasonable slot to shoot from. There were empty feeders on the left side, all the action was on the right side, I am lead to believe the feeders are only get cleaned and filled on a Tuesday!! anyway the birds that were here were Pheasant, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Blackbird, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long tailed Tit, and Jay.

I then moved on and went down to the reedbed hide, didn’t see owt on the walk down there, but viewing from the hide, I saw Mute Swan, plenty of Coot, and Gadwall, a male Goldeneye, Mallard, a distant Buzzard. Leaving the hide, I noticed a small gathering of people had taken place, the Bearded Tits, had shown up, I tried taking a few shots but once again the wind beat me.

I ended the day by going down Green Lane, with my only reward being Teal, from the Wath Ings hide were Black headed Gull, Common Gull, Pochard, Shoveler, Grey Heron, Lapwing and Mallard.

Wader Scrape hide, I saw, Lesser Black backed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black headed Gull, Marsh Harrier, Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Gadwall, Little Grebe, and Peregrine.

My last port of call was the Tree Sparrow farm, where I spent some more time taking photos.

Video of the day can be seen HERE

Birds seen : Bearded Tit, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jay, Lapwing, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Peregrine, Pochard, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shoveler, Stock Dove, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (33) now 105/200

2 birds added to the list today JAY and PEREGRINE

Bearded Tit

Long tailed Tit

Dunnock

Pochard

Today I was starting the day ay Rufford Abbey, the car park being the spot to hang out for the bird I was looking for. The day started with a Fox in my local village, sauntering across the road, and then has I was travelling thro the countryside on my way to the M1, the sun was just coming up, the sky was red, it was a good moment to be out, and I thought it would be nice to see a Barn Owl and within 2mins of travelling further along the road, there was one, hunting along the road side, wow!

I arrived at Rufford Abbey, just after 9am, nobody on the gate, so car park fees weren’t paid, and on entering the car park, I could see the bird I was here for, high up in the car park trees. Having parked up, I hurriedly got the scope together, and focused on the Hawfinch at the top of the tree, it didn’t hang around for long, I managed to videoscope it, but it was at a distance. I got myself together and had a look around, hoping for more Hawfinch, I only managed to see another one, and the reports later in the day were of two birds.

I headed off North again, destination Wombwell Ings, next to Old Moor, I parked up near the Old Moor Tavern, and then made my way on to the reserve On my way down to the hide I saw Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Starlings, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, Mute Swan, Crow, Rook, Jackdaws, Magpie, Robin and Linnets.

Settling into the hide Black headed and Common Gull were seen, along with a couple of Crows, alas no Water Pipit, so I turned my attention to the back of the hide, and looked out over the different pools, seeing Mallard, Shoveler, Mute Swans, plenty of Linnets, Pied Wagtails and also a single Meadow Pipit.

No luck at Wombwell so I moved on to Old Moor, in the hope of finding a Caspian Gull. News of a Pintail on arrival had me going on down to the Lookout hide, to find it at the far side asleep, there were a couple of pockets of free water due to to ice, this is where the most of the ducks were, Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Shoveler lots of Coot, Great Black backed Gulls, Lesser Black backed Gulls, Herring Guls, and Black headed Gulls with lots of Cormorants, a single Buzzard in the nearby trees along with a bad view of the Barn Owl , stood at the entrance of the nest box.

On exiting the reserve, one of the wardens told me where to find some Yellowhammers, over at where I’d just come from, Wombwell Ings, so I headed back over there. They were easy enough to find, good directions, there were a good number of Finches and Buntings, Linnets, Chaffinch, Reed Buntings, and Yellowhammers, there were also Moorhen, Pheasants and Blackbirds.

Whilst I was back here I decided on going back into the Wombwell Reserve and down to the hide, to have a look for the Water Pipits again. Looking out from the hide again, I found the two Water Pipits along with Pied Wagtails, and Lapwings.

Not a bad day after all, alas no Caspian Gull again

Video of the day can be seen HERE

Birds at Rufford Abbey: Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Hawfinch, Stock Dove

Birds at Wombwell : Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Great Tit, Greylag Goose, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Rook, Shoveler, Song Thrush, Starling, Water Pipit, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer, (27)

Birds at Old Moor: Black headed Gull, Buzzard, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Lesser Black backed Gull, Mallard, Pintail, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon (14) 65/200

Song Thrush

Today I decided on a visit down to Cromwell Bottom, as the Scaup were still present from last year. and that’s where I started the day, down at the Ski Lake area.

Viewing thru the fence, to get the views I needed, I could see may a gull, most were Black headed Gulls along with Common Gulls and a few Lesser Black backed Gull. The Scaup (1st winter ♂ and 1st winter ♀) were to the far side of the lake, along with the Tufted Duck, also present were aa couple of ♂ Goldeneye, Grey Herons, Cormorants and Mallard.

After the lake I made my way into the reserve to find along the footpath trees Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Robin and Nuthatch, the feeding area seemed to be were the most birds had congregated, here were numerous, Stock Dove, Blackbirds, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Dunnock and a Reed Bunting ♀, the noise of geese had me looking skyward with eventually a flock of Pink Footed Geese going thru.

It was time to move on to go looking for winter finches, Bullfinch were the first ones I found, feeding low down in the vegetation, but I needed to be looking upwards into the Alder trees to find the quarry I was looking for. It wasn’t long before I saw a small flock of birds coming, they settled, looking thru, there were Goldfinch, Siskin and a couple of Lesser Redpolls, finally a Great Spotted Woodpecker made an appearance.

Video of the Day cab be seen HERE

Bird List : Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit. Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron. Lesser Black backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Nuthatch, Pink footed Goose, Reed Bunting, Robin, Scaup, Siskin , Stock Dove, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck (29) (54/200)

Coal Tit

Reed Bunting

Siskin

Sun was out again, so I was back on my RSPB patch site, hoping for the elusive Southern Hawker photo, which has been eluding me this year.

On arrival I called in at the bird garden (Tree Sparrow Farm) feeders where I found Goldfinch, Robin, Great Tit, and Greenfinch. Moving away from here I moved into the Kids play area bushes looking for the insects. I did find Common Green Shieldbug, a 22 Spot Ladybird, Scorpion Fly, Speckled Wood Butterflies, and a high up Great Spotted Woodpecker, which was busy contact calling before flying off.

I moved off out of the area and made my way towards the Bittern Hide, seeing lots of Common Darters littering the paths on my way. Viewing from the Bittern Hide Mute Swan, Coots, Cormorants, plenty of Gadwall, with a fly thru Little Egret.

After dinner I tried the wader Scrape Hide, lots of Shoveler, Wigeon, a few Little Grebe, brief sighting of Redwings going over, lots of gulls about Herring, Black headed and Lesser Black backed Gulls.

Down on Green Lane again, a few Common Green Shieldbugs, Gorse Shieldbug, Common Darters, and Migrant Hawkers, also about were a few Nursery Web Spiders laying out on the bramble leaves, last highlight was a Grey Heron flying over the car park.

Bird List : Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Redwing, Robin, Shoveler, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (37)

22 Spot Ladybird

Gorse Shieldbug

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Jay

Kestrel