31st
A Willow Warbler stopped off in our garden briefly.
30th
A trip to see Montagu's Harrier with Connor and Simeon this morning produced amazing views of a juvenile; the adults appeared to have already left the site.
29th
Another day spent at Holme with Connor and Simeon produced similar birds to yesterday in the form of the three Wheatears, a Turtle Dove, a few Greenshank, Whimbrel and Yellow Wagtail. Additionally a Siskin flew over, and an oddly-calling Chiffchaff eventually revealed itself to be just that. However, seawatching was much more interesting with a close Great Skua and 140 Manx Shearwater, a very good record for Holme. I also had a nice Arctic Tern, but managed to miss 4 Black Terns and 5 Arctic Skuas. Despite the good seawatching, the highlight of my day was a calling Tawny Owl in the pines which we managed to track down, giving me my first decent views of this species after about 10 years of birding!
Back at Connor's house in Dersingham a Grey Wagtail flew over calling.
28th
A day at Holme with Simeon was quite quiet due to the predominantly westerly wind conditions. A late Swift and a couple of Green Sandpipers were seen from Redwell Marsh, and a Water Vole swam across the stream as we were leaving. A couple of Yellow Wagtails flew over. Scattered showers dampened us and our spirits as we worked the bushes on the way to the pines, glimpsing the odd Whitethroat, Blackap or Chiffchaff. However, one particularly heavy shower caused three Wheatears to drop in right in front of my eyes! At the pines we met up with Connor and had a few Greenshank and Whimbrel over. We worked the forestry to no avail, before checking in on Redwell where a Turtle Dove dropped in, before heading home.
27th
A Siskin flew over Denver, calling.
26th
A spur-of the moment trip to Llwyngwril in Wales for a couple of days unfortunately coincided with poor weather. Perhaps the best bird of the trip was a Blackcap, found whilst exploring a promising migrant trap in the rain!
22nd
I arrived at Snettisham RSPB around 5:30 after dropping Simeon off to do ringing this morning, just in time for the highest spring tide this month. A Barn Owl greeted me as I parked in the semi-darkness. Unfortunately, as is always the case, most of the waders went elsewhere rather than coming onto the gravel pits. However, I managed to find some bits and pieces, with a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper and a distant Wood Sandpiper being the main highlights. Several Greenshank were present, and Spotted Redshank were positvely abundant - I saw around 30 birds, and there must have been more present. Thousands of the usual waders performed out on the mudflats, along with large numbers of gulls, and several Marsh Harriers patrolling the saltmarsh. Whilst I was scanning these, a squadron of Dunlin whirred low over my head so I could almost have touched them! A Kingfisher hovered frequently in front of one of the hides, allowing the photographers to get amazing shots. Passerine migration was evident: several Yellow Wagtails flew over calling, and hundreds of Swallows were gathering on the sueda ready for the flight home. A Wheatear flew past, flashing its rump. Finally, as I was leaving a Fulmar caused a commotion as it flew straight over the gravel pits! A magical morning, reminding me what birding is all about.
21st
Although I didn't have time to visit the Rutland Water reserve whilst at the Birdfair, I managed to locate a Greenshank whilst testing scopes at the optics marquee.
20th
This evening I found a newly-fledged Collared Dove on the road in Denver, so I picked it up and deposited it in a nearby garden. I was in for another treat just moments later, when a Hobby flew over!
18th
There seems to be a steady trickle of swallows passing through at the moment on return migration. It was also nice to hear a muntjac barking last night.
17th
Highlights from this morning's moth trap included a late Poplar Hawkmoth and a Six-striped Rustic, which I can't recall trapping at Denver before. No migrants, however.
16th
Back in Denver, a late morning trip to the sluice produced Grey Wagtail, a Common Sandpiper and 20+ Yellow Wagtails.
14th
This morning we went to Haweswater again. Things looked much more promising, with a fleeting glimpse of a male Merlin on the way and a gorgeous Dipper on the stream next to the carpark! It was cloudy, so we sat down near the path in order to gain a view over the whole area, as we thought we would probably not see the eagle from the watchpoint. Singing Willow Warblers and a few Siskin entertained us but after a lot of scanning we could not find the eagle. Some red deer were on the surrounding hilltops including a few fawns, and 4 mature stags standing black against the clouds were a magnificent sight. Just as we were thinking of leaving, I picked out a large bird close to the hillside about 2 miles away. I alerted Simeon and reached for my scope, feeling fairly certain of the bird's identity since I probably wouldn't have been able to see anything smaller than an eagle at that range! However, through higher magnification I could make out the diagnostic features of an adult Golden Eagle as it flew closer and then landed on the hillside, making me realise that all our crag scanning had been completely pointless! We left happy that we had seen the last Golden Eagle in England, and another lifer. Back at the carpark we watched 2 Grey Wagtails before heading off to Lancaster, but we were in for one more surprise. A few hundred metres down the road Simeon saw a large raptor just the other side of the lake. It could only be one species, and we all jumped out of the car to witness the eagle soar majestically past! It was quickly attended by a pair of Ravens, forcing it to tumble about quite athletically for a bird of its size, before it disappeared round the corner of the hill; probably the best views I will ever have of a Golden Eagle.
13th
This evening we completed our journey to the lake district, having left yesterday and stayed at my grandmother's house overnight. First stop was the Golden Eagle watchpoint at Haweswater - something Simeon and I were not aware of, otherwise we would have got up early rather than lying in. Consequently we arrived at about 7pm and had little of note except a Tufted Duck and 2 Goosander on the reservoir, before leaving for the campsite at 9pm! We had to put the tent up in the dark, but were treated to close, calling Tawny Owls that night.
12th
The Spotted Flycatchers fledged today! It was also great to see at least 3 juvenile Goldfinches being fed, and 2 juvenile Bullfinches feeding on the honeysuckle berries in our tree.
11th
In Denver, about 200 wasps were feeding on the crushed apples in our driveway!
An Osprey high over Stow Bridge was a great find by Nigel Davies and Simeon, though sadly I never saw it through optics.
This evening we heard Yellow Wagtails and saw a Barn Owl at Ten Mile Bank.
10th
A Yellow Wagtail flew over Denver whilst we were doing the moth trap this morning.
Later Simeon, Connor and I went to Hickling Broad to see the Baird's Sandpiper, a lifer for all of us. It showed well but distantly, and we were able to compare it with Dunlin and Little Stint. As I was scanning through the other waders present, one flicked through my scope view and I followed it. Although I only got a couple of seconds' view of the bird - a plover - it looked to have entirely black underparts, though the call didn't sound unusual. Unfortunately this was the last I saw of the bird. As we left a Marsh Tit called from the woods nearby.
9th
This morning Trevor Girling came round to ring the 4 baby Spotted Flycatchers with Simeon! The juvenile Bullfinch was also present with its parents.
8th
A singing Chiffchaff from the house in Denver this morning was unusual, and it was good to see a juvenile Bullfinch. The Spotted Flycatchers' second brood is doing well with four well-developed young.
A trip to Titchwell to pick Simeon up produced 3 Little Ringed Plovers, a Bearded Tit, 2 Curlew Sandpipers and 5 Red-crested Pochard. An Emperor Moth caterpillar was on the path. We then dropped in to NOA Redwell Marsh, where 5 Green Sandpipers and 2 Water Vole were of note.
Heading back home, Simeon spotted a Mediterranean Gull on the playing field at Smithdon High School, so we turned round to scan the gulls there, finding a further 3 Mediterranean Gulls!
7th
A short seawatch before leaving Llwyngwril was the most productive of the trip, with plenty of the usual Gannets, Manx Shearwaters and Sandwhich Terns plus a single Balearic Shearwater and a raft of ducks too distant to identify, though the biggest highlight would have been a Cory's Shearwater which was annoyingly slightly too distant for me to be certain, given my very limited previous experience with the species. A Nuthatch was calling behind the house shortly before we left for Norfolk.
6th
Matt sadly had to leave early, but since we were in Tywyn in the morning as a result I went birding on the Aber Dysinni estuary. There were not many waders about - a Dunlin, 2 Ringed Plover and 2 Common Sandpiper was all the estuary had to offer amongst 17 Curlew and a few Oystercatchers, but I did see several Choughs and a few Raven. A family of 5 Buzzards, 2 Little Egrets and a group of 21 Goosanders (presumably the same group as last year) were also present.
5th
A morning walk up Cader Idris with Matt produced only a female Wheatear and a few Rock Pipits due to the poor visibility, but a later visit to bird rock gave us good views of a party of 8 Choughs!
A glance at the sea produced a few Manx Shearwaters and Gannets. Matt found a Pygmy Shrew on the beach in the evening!
4th
A Red Kite gave good views at Dolgoch Falls, though we didn't see any typical woodland species.
3rd
A few Manx Shearwaters were the only birds of note at Llwyngwril on the North Wales coast, where I am staying with Matt Evans, an old birding comrade, for a few days.
