randombirder

 A rare free day and an opportunity to head to The Brecks - only an hour up the road but a great place to visit at any time of year but particularly early spring. On arrival, Lynford Arboretum was heaving with people with numbers increasing further throughout the morning. A bit of a scamper round provided views of a single hawfinch perched up high in the paddocks. The feeding area by the gate was a flurry of activity with a couple of smart brambling accompanying marsh tit , nuthatch , yellowhammer , and coal tit continually and nervously dashing in for seed. Across the other side of Lynford, the lakes produced my first drake goosander for over a year. Five crossbill flew over. It was generally very quiet here and sadly there were no signs of woodlark. The next stop was at Weeting, a ten minute walk the track to the clearfell where the continuing great grey shrike was still present and showing really well as it moved between the scattered trees. At least two goshawk were seen fr...

 ...a very short break - pretty much two and a half days to an area I have wanted to visit for a while. Particularly the 'El Fondo' reserve a mere thirty minute drive from Alicante Airport. A two hour delay from Gatwick meant that my drive down to Torrevieja was made in the dark - a shame really having realised on the drive back just how vast the wetland is in this area. Greater flamingo were dotted seemingly on every pool, glowing in the bright Spanish sun. A beautiful country outside of the resorts and away from the sun parched tourists. Thankfully it was relatively quiet at this time of year. The El Fondo reserve surpassed my expectations. It's a truly stunning reserve, free at the point of entry for everyone to enjoy. It appears to be really well managed. The wooden walkway through the wetland is stunning, where species such as red-knobbed coot , purple swamphen , black-winged stilt and glossy ibis can be seen in close proximity.  The paths wrap round the reedbeds and...

Taking advantage of some free time between work commitments in North Somerset provided an opportunity to catch up with a couple of local scarcities. While visible from our base near Bridgwater, Hinkley Power Station provides a formidable view over the estuary but actually takes half an hour to drive to as the road winds round the coastline. Not far from there at Stolford, a small group of cirl bunting had been coming to seed along the coastal path just east of the car park. The weather was a bit grim, but thankfully the rain had relented a little by the time I had arrived.  It didn't take long to connect with the male, such lovely birds.  Later on in the day at Burnham-on-Sea and shortly before high-tide, the female kentish plover was eventually found associating with a group of around 20 ringed plover . A couple of visits to Greylake RSPB reserve failed to produce the elusive Baikal teal but the consolation of thousands of wildfowl, a stunning grey hen harrier and four cran...

Despite the inevitable disappointment at not catching up with the white-billed diver that was present during the only period of the weekend when I wasn't there, the selection of coastal birds really did make up for it. It was quite a surprise actually that the wintering assemblage seen from the end of Southend Pier would include such a range of species. Weather conditions were ideal - light winds and decent light. Great northern diver were present with up to half a dozen seen on the still waters. A female long-tailed duck was the first surprise viewed from halfway along the pier. A few red-throated diver were seen regularly flying past, and both razorbill and guillemot were seen in small numbers. On Sunday, the consolation of a slavonian grebe , a female eider and a single drake common scoter along with plenty of Mediterranean gull of all ages and a throng of turnstone made for a spectacular sight. Really very nice stuff and definitely worth a few more visits... and yes, I ...

Today it felt like I was window shopping for owls. First of the vegetative frontages was this extremely brazen short-eared owl , totally unfazed by the modest assemblage of birders lined on the bank of the Cambridgeshire washes at Eldernell. A fabulous site for a variety of species but particularly for wintering owls. Continuing along a hundred metres or so where two long-eared owl were not so confiding, typically tucked away in the dense scrub, one of which was relatively showy compared to some of the LEO experiences most folk have of this species. The second bird was slightly higher up in the thicket that was much more concealed. There have been reports of seven individuals present at this site. And then a hundred metres further along the track, and probably my favourite of all was this glorious tawny owl snugly tucked into a limb cavity. Incongruously, I've definitely seen more long-eared owl than tawny owl so this was a real treat. Also on site apart from thousands of wildfow...