Monday 12 August 2013

More Updates

Had a lot of different stuff going on in my life since my last proper blog post, so this post will be fairly cram packed but informative. As always I've been doing a lot of twitching, but only because there has been lots of fantastic birds I needed for the UK turning up.

May
An incredibly eventful month for me in terms of birds, I managed to see my first Thrush Nightingale and then on the next day my fist ever Lesser Grey Shrike. The rest of the month was generally packed full of superb Red-backed Shrikes, 2 Great White Egrets, and a spring Red-breasted Flycatcher. The latter bird being quite a surprise indeed.

(Thrush Nightingale - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Lesser Grey Shrike - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)


June
This month kicked off with more stunning Red-backed Shrikes followed by a Pacific Swift in Suffolk. The slim and tapering wings of this scaly beauty were enough to make the species exciting and thrilling. Watching it dart backward and forward over the Suffolk marsh was incredibly exciting. Only days later saw me back down south to Notts to connect with the singing Melodious Warbler which generally showed well, hours later I was watching my first ever Rose-coloured Starling in Norfolk, on the way home I popped into a pond in North Yorkshire to look at an eclipse drake Ring-necked Duck. Not the most exciting bird I had ever seen I must confess. The end of June and a dream came true, I finally saw the greatest bird in the world; White-throated Needletail. Although the bird came to a very sorry end it performed well whilst alive for those of us who make the trek north and west to see it. The month ended for me with a drake Surf Scoter from Filey Brigg in North Yorkshire.

July
This month is usually either very exciting or very boring (in my personal experience), it was generally boring for birds apart from the fact that on the 1st I was watching a stunning adult Bridled Tern on the Farnes. I saw this bird three times, including once at Saltholme. In the middle of the month I had an afternoon dodge down to Rutland Water where I connected with a superb summer plumage Pacific Golden Plover. The month ended with a Pectoral Sandpiper at Saltholme followed by a Spotted Sandpiper the next day at Alnmouth in Northumberland. Spotted Sandpiper was a species I had always wanted to see in the summer time; thankfully this one was spotty enough to satisfy my keenness to see the species in a spotty condition.

(Bridled Tern - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Bridled Tern - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Pacific Golden Plover - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Pacific Golden Plover - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Spotted Sandpiper - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)


August
So far August has been most kind; I started it off with a Spotted Crake in Northumberland one fine evening. The very next day I was watching a Night Heron in Leicestershire then thanks to a mate (who looks out for me all the time) I was alerted to the presence of a Two-barred Crossbill in Lancashire and so called in on the way home. The crossbill played ball and I had excellent views. On Friday gone I was fortunate enough to see the 2nd summer Caspian Gull (one of my favourite birds) and then the very next day I managed to re-find the Bonaparte’s Gull in the same field after it had left the steel. So all in all I would say I’ve had a pretty fantastic few birding months.

(Night Heron - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Night Heron - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Two-barred Crossbill - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Two-barred Crossbill - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)