Great Grey Shrike

Wednesday 19th November. A great grey shrike at the back of St Anne's off Queensway. Good views and bird is a long stayer.

Snow Buntings

Friday 14th November. Managed to see two very tame snow buntings feeding on a green on Wallasay golf course. A handy interlude on the way to see China Crisis

Slavonian Grebe

Monday 20th October. Slavonian Grebe at confluence of Bela and Kent rivers. Frequently diving and swimming towards Sanside and spending long periods underwater. Windy conditions not helping visibility but probably a juvenile showing brown/chestnut on back of neck.

Wharfedale 7-14 November

A splendid week in Appletreewick birding highlights include:

Saturday 8th flocks of redwings and fieldfares plus.the usual mandarin duck goosander and grey wagtail.

Sunday 9th Walk from Boton Abbey to Appletreewick. Female Brambling by the strid and dipper on the river later on the walk

Monday 10th November. Walk to Simons Seat produced lots of Red Grouse but highlight was Rough- legged buzzard over Barden Moor

Tuesday 11th November wet walk to grassington with good views of herons

Thursday 13 November. Walk to Burnsall. Kingfisher Dipper sand Sparrowhawk all seen

Merlin

A Sunday walk with Tameside ramblers on the 12th. Over 300 greylag sat Bela/Kent confluence plus a female merlin spooking the several hundred lapwings.

Alston visit

9-11 October. A late swallow through the south Tyne valley on the 9th. A few mipits and goldfinches plus siskins in the village.

Bibury Swallow

Sunday 5th October. A walk down to the trout farm to buy a paper. Cold morning with a lone swallow hunting over the trout farm buildings. 

Lamorna Cove

A splendid two days (2nd to 4th October) in a cottage overlooking lamorna cove. Hundreds of gannets passing offshore plus a few shags and kittiwakes. Rock pipits and stonechats in the cove plus kestrels and buzzards. A female whinchat on the Friday walk.

Lyme Regis

A trip to Lyme Regis on 1st October. Rock pipits on the Cobh together with a roosting ringed plover and sanderling. Several turnstones on the beach.

Another Leighton wader fest

A Saturday afternoon trip to Leighton. 27th september. Still a splendid display of waders with hundreds of black-tailed godwits, eight ruff and nine little stints. The great white egret showing well too

Pink Footed Geese

Sunday 21st Seotember. Walk over the Knott and saw first pinkfeet of the winter- a skein of 70 heading south. 

Helvellyn

18th September. Tough climb of Helvellyn via striding edge and swirrel edge. Not much birdlife aside from buzzards, ravens and a lot of mipits. 

Leighton wader bonanza

Lower water levels brought a spectacular display of waders to Lillian's hide. Hundreds of black tailed godwits plus ariund 8 ruff, 9 little stints and two pectoral sandpipers. Two great white Egrets also.

Whitstable visit

Not much seen on this trip for the weekend of 12/13 September. Flocks of swallows and house martins in evidence, a few skylarks but not much else. 

Burton Mere Wetlands

Tuesday 8th September. New RSPB reserve impressive despite poor road signage! From inner marsh farm hide, red-necked phalarope pectoral sandpiper two curlew sandpipers and a little stint. Greenshank godwit and Ruff too. Eventually managed to spot Cattle Egret underneath distant cows! Greenshank and little egret at Parkgate prom. 

Gummers How

Friday 5th September. Lovely morning so walked up Gummers How for great views. Buzzards and Ravens visible from the summit, siskins heard and a spotted flycatcher seen on way down. 

Frodsham

Wednesday 3rd September. Tried Frodsham no 6 tank but no sign of any curlew sandpipers or little stints. However hoped over to Budworth Mere to see adult and juvenile black tern.

Geese and wheatear

Sat 30/8 Did the Beetham circular with great views in the sunshine. A wheatear by the mouth of the Bela and at least 300 greylag geese. 

Great White Egret

26/08/14 An evening trip to Leighton Moss. Morecambe complex - 15 greenshank, ruff, common sandpiper and dunlin. Fourteen red deer at Grisedale hide and Great White Egret at Lillian's hide.

Arnside Redstart

Tuesday 19th August 2014. An early morning cycle ride down to new Barnes bay brought a female redstart on a post plus three willow warblers and a few meadow pipits. Clearly a fall of migrants.

Glossy Again

Monday 28th July. Another encounter with the glossy ibis on the River Bela. This time Chris saw it after several failed attempts. 

Levignac de Guyenne

A succession of birds from janes balcony during our visit 12-16 August 2014. Upto 3 black redstarts seen regularly. Overflying hobbies with 3 one night and a bonellis warbler always about. Jane saw a golden oriole whist we were having breakfast but it never showed again.

The canal du midi

Friday 15th August. Hired bikes to cycle about 30km along the canal and back. Very enjoyable apart from being caught in a torrential downpour. A pair of black kites and a kingfisher were the highlights...

A glut of rarities!

Friday 25th July. Returning from Silverdale we arrived at new Barnes bay at about 16:10 to see a great white egret flapping along the Kent in the direction of silverdale( 3 seen at Leighton moss that day). Ten minutes later an Osprey went through heading in the same direction!

Kielder Water cycle ride

Cycled the full route around Kielder and got very wet and muddy as it rained for the first hour or so. Plenty of common sandpipers around the shore, Siskin, crossbill, tree pipit, meadow pipit and buzzard plus kestrel. No sign of nesting ospreys. Tuesday 8th July

Evening Walk Kielder Water

A short walk from the pub having arrived on Monday evening July 7th produced spotted flycatcher and a green woodpecker.

An evening walk around Dockray

Wednesday 16th July Arrived in Dockray Ullswater and a shorth circular walk produced Siskin, female redstart and Wheatear.

Catching up with Glossy

July 14th. Finally managed to see the glossy ibis in the river Bela at milnthorp -looking quite glossy!

A walk to Kirby Lonsdale

Finally attempted the walk to kirby Lonsdale on Thursday 3rd July. A long trek. Plenty of skylarks once we had crossed the A6. Once we had entered Hutton roof there were 3 peregrines over the quarry and we could hear young in the nest. Tree pipits in evidence plus heard yellowhammers on several occasions but they did not show.

Whitbarrow scar

Wednesday 2nd July. A walk around Whitbarrow scar. Great walk but few birds in evidence. A few buzzards and a kestrel but also a welcome wheatear - first I had seen this year despite hearing many during fell walks.

Searching for Glossy

Monday 30th June. An early morning search for the glossy ibis at Dallam. No sign but 2 egrets in the river and three kingfishers. Fallow deer with fawn

Twittering Swifts

Friday 13th June. A walk to the lighthouse on Lakka Bay gave the first birds of prey - three buzzards which soared over the headland. Also I became aware of large flocks of alpine swifts twittering away. They became a regular site from the swimming pool every evening together with singing whitethroats and Serins.

A walk to the beach

Rather than take the minibus to the hotel beach taverna, decided to walk it. Should have taken 40 minutes but took 2 hours as I visited every blind alley possible. Still a few birds seen. Found a woodchat shrike in an orchard and a hobby catching insects plus another buzzard sighting. 

A boat ride!

Monday 16th June. Hired a boat to go around the Island. Tried the west coast which was a bit rough and Chris was not keen! Large flocks of twittering alpine swifts and  a Shag, the only birding highlights.

A walk to the Venetian villa

A lovely walk. Many alpine swifts in evidence. Heard Bee-Eaters on the way but remained invisible. Many whitethroats, willow warblers, Sardinian warblers on the way plus marmoras and icterine I think.

Sunset Restaurant Paxos

A sunset visit to the West of the Island. Spectacular cliffs with flocks ofcommon and pallid swifts over the restaurant. Thursday 12th June

First impressions Paxos

June 10th Arrived in a lightning storm on the Adriatic so not many birds on the crossing. A few Mediterranean shearwaters seen and yellow-legged gulls in Gaios harbour. Next morning many swallows and house martins in Lakka and some red-rumoured swallows too. Serins heard frequently but only fleeting views.

Soggy ospreys

A walk on the 4th June from ravenstone manor to bassenthwaite lake and then upto the osprey viewpoint. Heard cuckoos on the trip down to the church. Just about saw the nest but by then raining. Cats and dogs so no ospreys. 

Loweswater cuckoos

An early evening walk around Loweswater with at least 4 cuckoos calling but not making themselves seen. A couple if buzzards drifting over in the evening sunshine. 3rd June 2014

Skiddaw ridge walk

Lovely walk from back of ravenstone manor upto ridge leading to skiddaw . Did 3 peaks at about 2400 feet. Lots of mippits and heard our first cuckoo of the spring. Kestrel and buzzard soaring. Highlight was a female ring ouzel at the summit. A few sis joins around the osprey viewpoint but no ospreys sighted.

Foulshaw Ospreys

Thursday 29th May. Finally caught up with the ospreys on the Kent at Foulshaw moss. Long distance but could see the male low down in a dead tree eating a fish and a distant view of the nest. Occasionally the female would pop its head up as she incubates the eggs. They are anticipated to hatch within ten days so hope to catch them fishing on the river when we return from Greece. 

Warton Beer Festival

Walked over to Warton via Leighton Moss, Leighton Hall and Warton Crag. Nothing scarce but some good views of commoner birds. A common sandpiper alighted briefly in front of the public hide. Many singing Reed Warblers and Sedge Warblers. A great spotted woodpecker alighted on a telegraph pole looking for grubs and many singing blackcaps and garden warblers on Warton Crrag. Excellent beer festival in the bright sunshine!

Garden Warbler

Sunday morning ( 18th May) a garden warbler in full song in the grounds of the sheltered housing. Almost a house tick!

Harewood Kites

A rain soaked trip to Harewood House on the 22nd May. Red Kites much in evidence despite the weather and Canada geese with goslings on the lake. Splendid Great Crested Grebe and lots of swallows, house and sand martins.

Barbondale walk

Tried the traditional walk around Barbondale in the early evening but very windy keeping the birds out of the way. At the start of the walk, the field was being prepared for the Barbon hill climb event. The walk was eventful as we noticed at the 2 mile mark that half of Chris's new binoculars had fallen off along the trail ( Leica replaced them with a new pair). A nice dipper in the beck at the start was the birding highlight. A couple of pied flycatchers and a tree pipit flew across our path and redstarts were heard but not seen. Many willow warblers in song but basically the strong winds meant it was our least productive Barbon walk.

Sculpture Park

Another rain soaked day out to Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Splendid venue though and must return in better weather. Only birding of note was a heronry on the island in the lake.

New Barnes Peregrine

Made it back to Arnside on the 24th May via ash court visit. Rewarded with soaring peregrine over New Barnes bay. 

Woodchat Shrike 9th May

After waking early, went sown to find the woodchat shrike. Pensive approaching as very strong winds but there it was looking splendid. Left about 7:50 and last sighting was at 8 so happy that my insomnia got me the bird!

Nice Visit

A glorious trip to Nice for bank holiday - fab weather. Lots of swifts screaming over vieux nice, a few crag martins and singing Sardinian warbler - didn't go for the bird but the sun and pastis!

Arctic tern

Whilst tucking into coffee and ginger cake at catch 23, a lone arctic tern was briefly over the fishing lake before flying out of view

A walk to scout scar from sizergh castle

A gorgeous day on Saturday as we walked the ridge. Numerous chiffchaffs, willow warblers, blackcaps and a couple of garden warblers singing. Wheatears heard on two occasions but not seen. A kestrel seen on helsington barrows and sparrowhawk and buzzard over the beer garden at the Strickland arms.

Brass Garganeys

Good Friday went for a 7:00 am walk around Leighton Moss. Temperature about 1 degree above freezing so a freezing experience. Plenty of willow warblers reed warblers and sedge warblers in song on the paths and a pair of reed buntings displaying on the path to grisedale hide. Eventually found the pair of Garganeys but both had thur heads tucked down showing no signs of wanting to dace the frosty morning. Garganeys are ducks which are scarce summer visitors to the uk from Southern Africa. Spring is the best time to see them before they hide away in the thick reed beds to nest.

Over at the Eric Morecambe complex on the marsh I counted 58 avocets, some already on nests. There were at least 300 black-tailed godwits in summer plumage and a splendid drake pintail to round off the morning. Home to warm up with tea and hot buttered crumpets!

A day trip to Lytham

Wednesday was a day to catch up with my sister in lytham. On the way dumped all the cardboard from the new suitcases ( each one came in a box and both contained in a box!) at carnforth recycling where the swallows were catching insects. Traffic on M55 really busy and lytham mobbed so took sister to a harvester for lunch. Afterwards stopped at Newton marsh on the way home. A common sandpiper zipped across the pools but no sign of any yellow wagtails which were used to breed here when I was a kid. A rare bird these days and probably another sign of changing climate...

The willow warblers arrive

Overnight it seems that willow warblers have arrived in force. At least four heard on a bike ride down black dyke lane and past gaitbarrows. Good view of great spotted woodpecker on roadside tree. On later trip to Coniston, willow warblers singing from several directions and a few swallows. Glorious day 

More swallows

Yesterday three swallows over Beetham - our first in this area. Today they are back at new barns bay eying up the delicious bob inn cakes

A circular walk around Beetham

Friday's fine weather allowed a walk from milnthorp to beetham and back via the fairy steps and along the river Bela. Large numbers of singing chiffchaffs and blackcaps - still no willow warblers or swallows in evidence. Upto 7 goosanders on the river ( 3m 4f) 1little egret on the river, two skylarks and herons flying in and out of the Dallam Park heronry

One swallow makes my summer

One swallow makes my summer - Tuesday 8th April 2014

Had a great walk around Plas Newydd today - NT property on Anglesey.our first swallow of the summer - flying around the big house and perched on the  weather vane singing away. Fantastic views of a red squirrel getting nuts from the feeder in the garden.

Also five sandwich terns on the Menai straits, two shags fishing, a singing male Siskin in the woods and a singing blackcap.

Finished the day watching the kittiwakes nesting on the cliffs on the island off Moelfre