Empidonax sp

It was a long three mile walk on Blakeney Point with Martin Blow this morning to go and see the Flycatcher sp which showed well in really bad weather.It was well worth the soaking we got from the wind and rain.Hopefully soon the ID will be sorted out so that whoever went to see this cracking bird can have it on there list.



A Brambling was also seen along with 2 Arctic skua,Wheatear and martin and I find a Grey Phalarope along the beach going back to the car.

King Eider (done)

This morning I picked up martin and jake redfern to go and see the King Eider at Minsmere in Suffolk where we parked up at Dunwich cliffs. It gave good scope views till it drifted out and towards Sizewell,after getting some poor record shots we tried to find our own birds but failed.It was very quite migrant wise so much so we went to Landguard on the way home to find some birds but no luck there .....





king Eider showing well (not)

Firecrest in the valley

This morning Dave Morrison found a Firecrest near the stadium in with a tit flock which missed by 3 minutes but keeps the valley year list going in the right direction.Other than that it was quite with only 2 Grey wagtails,24 meadow pipits,3 parakeets,blackcaps,chiffchaff,willow and reed warblers. I will stop there it was bloody QUITE...............

Valley Rocks

The Ingrebounre Valley has seen Osprey,Red kite,Redstart,Whinchat,Peregrine and Wheatear in the last couple of days.Patch birding at its best, so what will be next?





Orange Swift

Arctic Warbler Twitch

This morning myself and Paul Hawkins take a 2.5hr drive to Norfolk at Holme to see a Arctic Warbler which showed on off for the 70+ people who waited 2.5 hrs with us at 2.30pm this afternoon.It was a very smart bird slowly moving through the tops of the pine trees with a long narrow supercilium and off white underparts.The three pound entry fee was well worth it.After high fives all round we made our way back to the car and had a calling Lapland Bunting in with some Linnets in the dunes.Another three pounds was paid to the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and we were given good views of Red necked phalarope,Ruff and Green Sand from the hide.Once again Norfolk delivers some great birding for the weekend birders, its just a shame I did not get any pics of the Warbler myself.






A Ruff showed well in front of the hide at Holme Dunes
The pines at Holme where the Arctic Warbler has been seen for a few days

Redstart

I had a cracking mornings birding this morning with finding a Redstart in the first paddock. I also had Wheatear,7 Yellow Wagtail,7 R n parakeets,Ringed Plover,Snipe, Green Sandpiper, R L Partridge and a Spot Fly on Thursday which brings my patch total to 100......

More Turkey Please

Here are some more photos from our holiday in Turkey.The patch that I concentrated on was a small scrubby area only a small distance away from where we were staying. Birds seen were Graceful Prinia,White Spectacled Bulbul,Common Bulbul,Great Reed Warbler,Grey Shrike,R B Shrike,Gull Billed Tern,Black Tern,probable Lesser Crested Tern,Crested Lark,Hooded Crow were the highlights.The area does have much more to offer but again it was a family holiday....

Turkey

I returned today from a ten day family holiday in Side, Turkey were I found myself relaxing by the beach or pool and taking a couple of pictures of the birds on my new ten day patch. More will follow later........