Review of the year

2012 was a really great year of birding for me, with 455 species seen in total, including a decent 183 in Britain. 72 of these species were new to me, and I saw 31 new British species for me. I also saw 50 types of mammal, one of which, the sand fox, was new for me.

My birding highlight of the year was the stunning adult male Daurian shrike at Portland Bill, shortly followed by short-eared owl, puffins and Manx shearwaters on Skomer and the Egyptian Vulture in Samburuland, Kenya.


Monthly review of the year:

January and February were not particularly great months for me, but a snow bunting at Portland Bill and golden plovers at Maiden Castle were new birds for me; while three red knots seen on the Exe Estuary bird trip was a new species for me in Britain.Other highlights were a great skua feeding close in off Portland Bill and hundreds of avocets as well as a peregrine on the Exe Estuary.

March was an improvement, with two great new species in the Dartford warbler and common crossbill seen on the same trip to Purbeck. We also saw three spoonbills at Arne on the same day. A week in the Lake District was not based around birding, but I saw at least 15 peregrines and lots of ravens.

The next week I spent at the Bardoneccia ski resort in Italy, and saw some great birds, including two new species in wood warbler and northern goshawk; as well as golden eagle and black redstart.

Almost immediately, we headed to Jordan for a week and had a great time visiting the stunning Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea. I saw a total of 79 species, 35 of which were new for me. The highlights were a wryneck at Mount Nebo; nightingales near Petra and the enormous migrating flocks of raptors as well as Sinai rosefinches at Petra itself. I also this year's only new mammal- a sand fox that darted into a cave at Wadi Rum.

May brought very few birds of interest, but June began well with a glossy ibis and spoonbill at Exminster Marshes; followed three days later by a great white egret, two garganey and a ferruginous duck at Shapwick Heath, as well as a bittern, marsh harriers and a red kite.

July's trip to Skomer was superb, with thousands of puffins seen among the tens of thousands of other seabirds; as well as two little owls, a short-eared owl and several choughs in the day, before the tens of thousands of Manx shearwaters began to arrive once it got dark. It was a truly incredible experience.

On the return journey, we stopped at Templecombe to see the three white storks present in a flooded field, and also saw a pair of yellow-legged gulls there.

We then went to Kenya for a superb two weeks. I saw 225 bird species, with 13 new species being a decent effort, considering that this was my 7th visit to the same area of Kenya in eight years. The birding highlight was a juvenile Egyptian vulture in Samburuland; while the dozens of pygmy falcons, the stunning pair of lanner falcons in the early morning sun and both Verreaux's eagle and his eagle owl and also being great birds to see well. The Hemprich's hornbills seen in the Mathews mountains were not in the species's official range, and were certainly the pick of the new birds I saw on the trip. I saw lots of great mammals, including all of the big five, but the highlights were the aardvark and wild dogs at Sarara. An African wild cat and aardwolf were also magnificent species to see.

Our trip to west Cornwall towards the end of August was superb for wildlife. The day after we arrived, I saw one of the spotted crakes at Marazion Marsh, and later on in the week we had a buff-breasted sandpiper there as well. The other new birds for me were a little gull at Hayle Estuary and several grey phalaropes which flew past Pendeen Watch. Seawatching brought another new British bird for me, the sooty shearwater and a new English bird for me, with 8 puffins. Other highlights were Arctic and great skuas, thousands of Manx shearwaters, a storm-petrel and dozens of choughs. About 20 basking sharks and a weasel contributed to a great week of wildlife.

September was another good month, with a short-billed dowitcher at Lodmoor the highlight, an extremely rare bird in Europe, and this was only the second one ever recorded in Britain. This was the only new bird for this month, but a pair of green sandpipers on the same day and two redstarts, a curlew sandpiper and a juvenile red-backed shrike on one day around Portland were new for me in Britain.

October was excellent as well, despite missing the purple heron at Radipole. The end of the month made up for that, with a yellow-browed warbler, the stunning Daurian shrike and Britain's first confirmed Stejneger's stonechat, still technically a race of the Siberian stonechat, all seen on the 25th at Portland Bill. 5 days later, I had my first firecrests at Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens.

November was a very disappointing month, dominated by being at school, but a black redstart at school livened things up.

The year ended superbly, with six new species for me seen in the last 16 days of the year. The 16th was a great day, with two long-tailed ducks at Abbotsbury Swannery and two velvet scoters and a great northern diver in Portland Harbour being new birds for me. I saw some other great birds, with a snow bunting, short-eared owl and black redstart all at or near Ferrybridge. On the 21st, we found a black-throated diver in Portland Harbour, along with about 30 black-necked grebes and a stunning pair of Slavonian grebes. On Christmas Eve, we found the hawfinch in Bruton Churchyard, and my final new species of the year was a pair of Bewick's swans in a flooded roadside field in near Axminster in Devon.

Hilfield 30th December

Very suprisingly, I managed add a final species to my year list at Hilfield yesterday, when a group of six bramblings landed in a tree in the garden. What a great surprise!

Also 12 redwings among the more common songbirds present in good numbers.

Actually, another little bit of birding this year....

With a pair of Bewick's Swans having been regularly seen literally next to the road we going down on the way to Devon today, it would have been rude to not have a look.

We spotted them opposite Axmouth FC in a flooded roadside field. They were certainly in a convenient place! Two adult Bewick's swans, yet another new bird for me this year, and a difficult bird to find in the southwest. Very sadly, the world's smallest swan, which visits us in winter from its Siberian breeding grounds, is in serious decline. Although protected in all countries that it is found in, it suffers severely from lead poisoning, draining and poaching. Let's hope that things change for this wonderful goose-sized swan.

My 182nd British bird of the year, and probably my last new one. What a great way to end the year!

Bewick's Swans, Axmouth, 28.12.12

Other birds seen today were 40+ curlew in the flooded fields near where the swans were and a woodcock.

Last bit of birding this year

We visited Portland Harbour again yesterday in search of the black guillemot reported there yesterday. Driving to the harbour, I saw at least 120 golden plovers and a little egret feeding in the flooded fields near Maiden Castle. 

Unfortunately, we failed to find the guillemot, but in the harbour there were 8 black-necked grebes, 4 Slavonian grebes, 3 pale-bellied brent geese and 4 great northern divers (one of which flew over the road at Ferrybridge and down Chesil Beach!) as well as lots of red-breasted mergansers and dark-bellied brents. A quick look in Weymouth Bay revealed a dozen or so guillemots and 10 great crested grebes.

The highlight of the day, however, was my first barn owl of the year, which was sitting on top of a roadside fence post near the village of Sydling, just south of Hilfield. 

Hawfinches- Bruton

With news of at least two hawfinches in the churchyard at Bruton, we decided to head there in really horrible weather.

There were dozens of greenfinches in the churchyard, but it took us about an hour and a half to find a hawfinch, when one flew into the top of a tree with the greenfinches. A really great new bird for me, and a seriously difficult one to find, as well as being a very iconic species. Unfortunately it was not the best view in some miserable weather, but once I had it in the scope, I could see its remarkably powerful bill, capable of generating over 50KG of force!

I also saw a kingfisher which flew down the River Brue in front of the church.

Yet another great bird this year!

Portland Harbour 21st December

Back in Dorset, I visited Portland Harbour again today, hoping to add to last week's tally of waterfowl. First we visited Sandsfoot Castle, where alongside the many cormorants, shags, great crested grebes and red-breasted mergansers were at least 35 black-necked grebes, an eider, the two velvet scoter I had seen on Sunday, and close in a rather splendid pair of Slavonian grebes on the remarkably calm water, taking my year list up to 179. There were also a sparrowhawk and a stunning kingfisher present. We then headed to Ferrybridge, and on the Portland Harbour side there was a very distant great northern diver as well as several common scoter, alongside many more red-breasted mergansers and a razorbill. We walked to Portland Castle, off which there was another razorbill and a common scoter. I also found another diver, an exceedingly long way off the shore, but clearly not a great northern as it displayed far too much white on its side. About twenty minutes of watching it brought the conclusion that it was a black-throated diver, my fourth new bird in five days, despite dreadful views and choppy water making identification difficult.

A quick look at Ferrybridge revealed the continued presence of the snow bunting, feeding on the muddy shore alongside several skylarks; several brent geese; 6 Mediterranean gulls and a little egret.

Another excellent morning!

Hyde Park 20th December

Egyptian Goose, Hyde Park

Greylag Geese, Hyde Park

Egyptian Geese, Hyde Park

With an afternoon in London, I decided to visit Hyde Park to find some of the feral duck species found there. Before I reached the Serpantine Lake, I had seen a jay, a goldcrest and several long-tailed tits. The Serpantine Lake itself was absolutely with waterfowl, in particular mute swans, Canada geese and greylag geese. In among these were one species I had hoped to see, the Egyptian goose, a rather bizarre addition to London's avifauna. Hyde Park does not have a bird collection, and these birds have come there by their own accord. They are able to fly and breed in the park, so in spite of it feeling slightly wrong, these birds come from a self-sustaining population of about 75 birds and are thus the 175th addition to my British year list! 

Other wildfowl seen were a trio of shovelers, several tufted ducks and pochards and barnacle goose (presumably an escapee from one of the nearby bird collections). There were, however two highlights for me, a peregrine falcon that flew over and a dozen or so ring-necked parakeets, my 176th British bird of the year. Two new additions to my year list (albeit a pair of very feral ones), and two birds very rarely seen back in the west country!

Abbotsbury and Portland Harbour 16th December

Today was yet another incredible day of birdwatching for me this year. 

We started at Abbotsbury Swannery, from which long-tailed ducks and scaup were reported three days ago. Unfortunately, the swannery was closed and there seemed to be no public access to the the beach opposite the fleet. We decided to scope the large flocks of ducks from as close as we could. Soon we were rewarded with two stunning long-tailed ducks out in the middle of the fleet. This was yet another new species for me, and a really superb pair of birds to see. Unfortunately I failed to find any scaups, but in among the more common wildfowl species I also found two pintail and a shelduck; while there was also a flock of approximately 250 lapwing, several snipe, both great crested and little grebes and Mediterranean gulls around the area.

We then headed to Portland Harbour in search of divers and grebes. We decided to have a quick look at Ferrybridge, and remarkably a snow bunting landed on the bridge as we crossed it, which we then followed as it landed in the shrubbery. It was remarkably tame, allowing views of up to four foot! 

On the other side of the road, I found a water pipit, my first in Dorset, on the shingle beach of Portland Harbour, as well as a turnstone. On the far side of the harbour, I caught site of a pair of ducks flying just above the water. My first thought was velvet scoter, a very scarce bird inside the harbour itself. The birds soon landed and they fitted that species perfectly. The birds were confirmed as velvet scoter as they took off again, flying close enough to show off their white backs of wings. It was my second new bird of the day.

Several gulls and corvids appeared to be getting aggravated over Ferrybridge, and the reason for this was soon revealed. A short-eared owl, another first for me in Dorset, flew towards us, before landing in the grass right next to some windsurfers who seemed to fail to notice it! A rather breathtaking 10 minutes!

We walked around to Portland Castle, where my fourth black redstart of the year was on the rocks alongside several pied wagtails. Offshore, there was a guillemot and several red-breasted mergansers, and on the pier a remarkable tally of 15 grey herons! Then, a diver species appeared, but dived back under before a positive identification. It came back up and was confirmed as a great northern diver, my third new bird of the day.

An incredible morning of birding.

Not much birding, but black redstart and tawny owl

With GCSEs coming up, birding hasn't been my priority. I did however have a great surprise when I found a stunning male black redstart in Sherborne. It landed in a tree right in front of me, in which it stayed for several minutes. Although I have seen several of them before, finding this species in Sherborne was certainly unexpected.

Returning home after dark, I was treated to a tawny owl which took flight from a roadside signpost. Two very nice birds to liven up what has been an extremely dull month!

Amur Falcon massacare

I have just read about the sickening massacre of hundreds of thousands of Amur falcons as they pass through India on migration from Siberia to South Africa. A truly shocking reminder of man's destruction and evil.

Check out the link: Amur Falcon massacre

Firecrest, Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens 30th October

With a firecrest hotspot right on our doorstep, it was about time I visited the Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens in search of them.

As we approached the gardens, I saw several jays flying over. I could hear that there were dozens of crests and long-tailed tits flitting around the trees, but it took some time to get my binos on any. When I did, I was disappointed, yet again all of them were goldcrests! I also found long-tailed tits and wrens but no firecrests.

When we got to the ponds, it was clear that there were several crests around. Once again they all turned out to be goldcrests! I was really starting to wonder if they had been misidentified. Then, I found a lone bird flitting in a holly bush. There it was. A magnificent firecrest, a new bird for me. As I watched, six or seven more appeared offering breathtaking views. Seeing the superb bird, Britain's smallest, in the incredibly magical Abbotsbury gardens was a great sight. I saw another three as I headed to the exit of the gardens, as well as a nuthatch, a treecreeper, ten or so stock doves over and later, as we drove home, a sparrowhawk over.

Portland 25th October

A truly extraordinary day at Portland today-

We went down to Portland today with the hope of finding a real rarity. We arrived very early, when it was still dark, and started by having a look around the trees in the Obs car park. I could see several small green birds flitting around, most appeared to be goldcrests, but there were also some chiffchaffs as well. Then, a bird with a particularly prominent eye stripe appeared at the top of a bush. We unfortunately did not get great views, but saw enough of it to know that it was a yellow-browed warbler, my first and an Asian vagrant which has arrived in extraordinary numbers this year.

We then walked up through the top fields. There were hundreds of thrushes- predominantly blackbirds and my first redwings of winter, along with mistle and song thrushes. Huge flocks of woodpigeon, starling, linnet and meadow pipit dominated the skies. There were also high numbers of kestrels and one buzzard. We had a quick look in a small forested area for any scarce warblers. Unfortunately there appeared to be no warblers there, so we moved on. A woodcock took flight from the field we were walking through. We  then headed down to the Bill Quarry. I saw my first black redstart of the year in the QIDIC MOD area, always a great bird to see and something of a Portland speciality. Out to sea, I saw three common scoter fly past and an unidentifiable auk species. A peregrine falcon flew over the cliffs and there were dozens of gannets out to sea.

We decided to have one last look in the top fields. There was a large crowd of birders gathered and we  heard news that an Isabelline Shrike had been seen less than 50 yards up the path. We arrived, and the bird appeared immediately. An adult male Daurian Isabelline Shrike, arguably the most stunning British bird I have seen. It was no more than 10 yards away from us, regularly sweeping down to the ground in pursuit of insect prey. This bird has got extremely lost heading to its wintering grounds in Pakistan and Iran from its breeding grounds in China. Its extraordinary sandy colour made an extreme contrast to the muddy autumnal Portland landscape. It really was a magnificent bird and a seriously rare one as well.

As if it couldn't get any better, as we headed back to the car, some birders said they had found a Siberian stonechat with the common stonechats in the field. We had a quick search for it, finding a very late whinchat along with the stonechats. Then, a paler-looking bird, almost the colour of a wheatear on the back appeared in a clump of brambles. It had far more white on its throat than most stonechats and more of a white eyebrow. Checking the book, it turned out to be a female Siberian stonechat, a seriously rare bird verified by Martin Cade, the PBO warden. Although not the most exciting to look at, it is a very bird in Britain, only recently separated from the European stonechat and an Asian vagrant.

That ended an extraordinary morning, with three Asian vagrants, all of which were new to me. Portland really is an incredible place.

Hilfield 21st October

Today I started what will become a monthly bird species count at Hilfield. I decided that I would walk for two hours around Hilfield, counting all bird species I saw and the numbers I saw of them. I am doing this to get an idea of what species and how many of them are present each month of the year.

Although I didn't see anything especially unusual, there were still several birds of minor interest around.

The skies seemed to be dominated by corvids, with 100s of jackdaws, rooks and carrion crows; a remarkable tally of 10 jay 3 magpies. Woodpigeons were also of particular abundance. Besides those, other species with high tallies were herring gull, starling and pheasant.

More interesting birds in smaller numbers were: one buzzard, a goldcrest and two marsh tits.

Full numbers of the bird count are on the Hilfield bird count page.

Total: 26 species seen

I also saw a hummingbird hawk-moth, an increasing visitor to Hilfield.

Hilfield 7th October

There were visible signs of migration at Hilfield today- with C.90 meadow pipits, C.40 alba wagtails, 3 jays, a combined total of about 160 hirundines (all house martins and swallows), a grey wagtail, a chiffchaff, two goldcrest, three herring gulls and 5 teal all over or in the garden and Hilfield.

Little Grebe- Radipole 6/10/12

The grey heron that was in our woods this morning

Radipole 6 October

We went down to Radipole this afternoon hoping the find the purple heron reported from there earlier in the morning. We went straight to the concrete bridge, from where it had been seen. It turned out that it had been seen flying to the north of the reserve about ten minutes before we got there, so we walked on. Unbelievably, both people next to me caught site of it, but in the excitement failed to describe where it was! It was an incredibly frustrating bird to miss, a truly magnificent bird and a difficult one to see so I still have to wait for number 200!

Also on the reserve were approximately 25 gadwall, 3 chiffchaffs, a blackcap, several overhead snipe and 10 or so grey heron. The highlight however was a marsh harrier which put dozens of ducks in flight as it cruised over the reeds and pools.

Driving home, I caught sight of a strange-shaped raptor flying over the car. A closer look revealed that it was a hen harrier, only my third ever and an incredible bird to see. Britain's most persecuted bird of prey is an increasingly rare sight nowadays and is also a pleasure to watch. I also saw a first for me at Hilfield- a yellow wagtail that took off from the road. There were dozens of hirundines around as well and two snipe flying around. On top of Batcombe Ridge were two roe deer.

On the morning of the 7th, 3 jay flew over Hilfield and a grey heron that was being mobbed by the rooks landed by the lake, before flying into the woods, were it remained for a while.

Portland and Ferrybridge 29th September

I started today having seen 196 British bird species in 7 years of bird-watching in England, and hoped that with as many as 8 species that I had never seen being seen around the Portland-Ferrybridge area, that I could pass 200. We started by looking for a nightjar that has been seen near Hilfield quite regularly recently, but could not find it. We then headed to Portland. We walked over towards the 'top fields' which yesterday had held a red-backed shrike. We searched the flock of linnets for any rare buntings or finches. Unfortunately all we could find were greenfinches and goldfinches besides the huge numbers of linnets. Hundreds of meadow pipits flew over and there were several skylarks around. As we approached Southwell, I found a whinchat and a stunning merlin sunning itself. A pair of sparrowhawks flew over, as did some stock doves.

Then, in a hedge at the top end of the top fields, I found a new species for me in Britain. There were at least two redstarts flitting around in the bushes. It was a superb sight, added to by a sleeping fox in the next field. We continued down the path, but there seemed to be no sign of the shrike. A group of birdwatchers described having seen it earlier, but it seemed to have disappeared.
 Thankfully, after about 20 minutes of searching, the red-backed shrike appeared a very long way away in someone's garden. A great bird, but not a great view! We watched it for a short while as it moved around the bushes. It's incredible to think that this used to be a common breeding bird in Britain, with its current status reduced to a rare passage migrant.

We returned to the Observatory, stopping off in a small area of forest, hoping to find a pied flycatcher or firecrest, or anything else of interest. Besides the common finches and tits, there were several blackcaps, a reed warbler and a gardenenabler. We failed to find anything particularly uncommon around the area, but had great views of a kestrel, a fly-over siskin and several rock pipits.

On our way home, we stopped off at Ferrybridge, hoping to pick up a rare wader.

And we found one. Among the large numbers of dunlin and ringed plovers and singles or pairs of turnstones, oystercatchers, sanderling and black-tailed godwit were two curlew sandpipers. My 199th British species, and a particularly difficult species to find. There were also several wheatears and the same 6 pale-bellied brent geese I saw two weeks ago.

Interestingly, on the 28th the house martins in Sherborne were still visiting their nest, and there appeared to be chicks in it. An incredibly late date to be raising chicks, so it seems like these birds have been affected by the dreadful summer weather.

Hilfield 20-25th September

Still some hirundines around at Hilfield (mainly house martins and the odd swallow), as well as buzzards and red-legged partridges. On the night of the 24th, I saw my first tawny owl of the year very briefly, in our garden at Hilfield as well as several noctule bats.

Interestingly, I noticed that some house martins were still visiting a nest on the 24th. It seems far too late to be bringing up another brood, but I can't see why else they'd still visit their nests...

Short-billed Dowitcher 16th September

I went down to Lodmoor this morning to see the juvenile short-billed dowitcher that had been there for nearly two weeks. It was only the second record for Britain and the first this millennium (remarkably the third British record appeared on the Scilly Isles three days after Lodmoor's bird arrived!).  We got there at 8 o'clock and went straight to where the dowitcher had been seen from. There were approximately 30 bird watchers there and right in front of them was the short-billed dowitcher feeding in its characteristic rapid prodding manner. I had seen a long-billed dowitcher at the same sight two years, so it made seeing this incredible rarity even more special. The dowitcher had been blown off course heading south to South America from its breeding grounds in Canada. It was a truly remarkable bird to see. Near the dowitcher were two black-tailed godwits, 8 teals and a little egret. I then walked around the rest of the reserve, seeing several lapwings and more godwits. I got to the hide and scanned. In front of the hide was a green sandpiper, my first in Britain and a truly magnificent bird. It flew out of sight, but soon another appeared even closer. Two sandwich terns went over, a pair of gadwalls and ten teals were feeding on the bank and a group of dunlin flew past. I then walked on, and had another scan. I added a 3 white wagtails, a ringed plover and a common sandpiper to my morning's list. I then went to Ferrybridge, seeing my first sand martins in Dorset as we went past Radipole. At Ferrybridge, we searched the large flock of waders for a curlew sandpiper. Unfortunately we did not find it, but did see lots of dunlin, ringed plover, a Mediterranean gull and a sanderling that briefly had us excited. There were also several wheatears around and a very unseasonal group of six pale-bellied brent geese, the scarcer form of brent goose in Dorset, feeding on the mud.

Short-billed Dowitcher, Lodmoor, 16/9/12

Common Sandpiper, Lodmoor 16/9/12

Sanderling, Ferrybridge 16/9/12

Green Sandpiper, Lodmoor 16/9/12

Back at Hilfield, lots of meadow pipits flew over and at both Hilfield and Sherborne good numbers of house martins and swallows flew over all week. Our Hilfield swallows left on the 13th and several buzzards and herring gulls came over on the 15th.

Hilfield- Hirundines and Hobby

It really feels like its the height of summer back at Hilfield. With the sun shining, the garden was full of birds. A great spotted woodpecker was busy drilling holes in the woods, while a group of long-tailed tits tweeted near the lake and a chiffchaff was singing near the compost bin. Overhead, hundreds of hirundines, all swallows and house martins passed over, presumably heading back to Africa for the winter. Remarkably, high above the hirundines, a juvenile hobby swirled, planning an attack. Suddenly, all the hirundines sped up and began to tweet loudly. An adult hobby appeared, chasing a swallow. They sped away together, before the hobby spotted another swallow and made for that one. The hobby turned around and was flying straight towards me, before noticing I was there and swerving out the way. It soon began to chase the swallow again, and I watched them as they flew away over the fields. A truly stunning spectacle.

A little later on, the hobby returned, this time with roles reversed and with a swallow mobbing it. Again it offered a magnificent view as it briefly hovered over the garden, before flying off. Another two hobbies flew over Hilfield as well during the morning.

Yesterday evening, a female sparrowhawk flew over and this afternoon two unseasonal herring gulls also passed over. On top of that, my first lesser spotted woodpecker at Hilfield flew over the garden on the 8th.

West Cornwall 4-5 September

During what was a very foggy afternoon, I headed down to the Kenidjack Valley in search of any migrants. I only saw two migrant species on the whole walk, both of them wagtails on the beach with three white wagtails and my first yellow wagtail of the year.

Early in the morning of the 5th, I headed to Pendeen Watch for a session of sea-watching. There seem to be little around besides gannets, fulmars and kittiwakes, as well as the odd Manx shearwater. After an hour of watching, my second yellow wagtail of the year headed out to sea, and a small group of puffins flew past, my first in England. Several more puffins passed a little later, before quite remarkably three grey phalaropes, a true pelagic seabird in the wader family, glided above the waves quite a distance away from the headland. A truly magical bird and a new species for me.

We then went to Sennen Cove, where I saw 12 or so white wagtails and a common sandpiper come in off the sea.

Following lunch, I went in search of a wryneck at Porthgwarra. Unfortunately I missed seeing this spectacular little bird, but I did see a basking shark and added whinchat to my year list. There was also quite a remarkable array of butterflies around, with up to 10 species present.

Sparrowhawk and peregrine- Cape Cornwall

This male sparrowhawk landed on our balcony this morning, and kept flying into the glass as it tried to take off. Thankfully, I managed to catch it in this bag and release it. It flew off unharmed, returning later in the morning attempting to prey on a stonechat.

A peregrine falcon also appeared this morning, landing on a stone wall not 50 yards away from the house having killed and eaten a woodpigeon in the garden earlier this morning.

It then returned later in the morning:

Common Buzzard, Cape Cornwall, 3/9/12

Little Gull, Hayle Estuary 3/9/12

Little Gull- Hayle Estuary, 3rd September

I drove north to the Hayle Estuary today, hoping to see some a good number of waders that are normally found there at this time of year. The sheer numbers of gulls and waders was evident from the moment I arrived, with hundreds of herring and black-headed gulls as well as large numbers of curlew, oystercatcher and black-tailed godwits. From the hide, I searched a godwit flock for rarities, and was rewarded with a single bar-tailed godwit, and a slightly less rare redshank. A common sandpiper then appeared in front of the hide, as did a group of five little egrets.

I then crossed the road, to have a look at the Carshnew Pool. On the bank of the pool was a group of 8 ringed plovers and more curlews and black-tailed godwits. I then scanned the large flock of gulls for any of the rarer species. Remarkably, I found my first little gull ever, sitting amongst the black-headed gulls. It was a true rarity and a great find, added to by the presence of two Mediterranean gulls nearby.

Porthgwarra, 2nd September

We went to Porthgwarra this morning, hoping for a good morning's sea watching in seemingly perfect conditions for it. The wind was strong and blowing in the right direction, and the sun seemed set to shine. Soon, however, heavy rain began to fall, with the wind blowing it straight into our faces. It soon became unbearable, particularly with the complete lack of any birds passing the headland. We did see some choughs as we walked back to the car, and a weasel, my second in three days, running across the roads, but overall it was a rather miserable experience.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Marazion, 1st September

We went over to Marazion Beach this morning in search of the buff-breasted sandpiper that had been reported there the previous day. The sight of hundreds of sanderling, dunlin, ringed plover and several turnstones feeding on the shingle was quite stunning. For a while, however, it seemed as though the buff-breasted had  been disturbed by some walkers. Thankfully it soon returned, landing directly in front of us. It was my first buff-breasted sandpiper, and a truly stunning bird, with the air of an elegant mix between a ruff and golden plover, and strutting around on long bright orange-yellow legs. We watched it for about 15 minutes feeding in the weed in a group of other waders. I also saw my first white wagtail, the European race of our pied wagtail, of autumn feeding on the beach.

West Cornwall 31st August

I returned to Pendeen this morning despite a lack of wind, hoping to chance upon one of the rarities seen yesterday. Unfortunately my gamble did not however pay off, with only gannet, fulmar, Manx shearwater, kittiwake and my first European storm petrel, Britain's smallest seabird at only 15cm long, of the year going past. We then headed to Marazion in search of the buff-breasted sandpiper reported last night. Again we missed it, seeing only oystercatchers and a small group of black-tailed godwits fly over.

Back at Cape Cornwall, I saw three wheatears which were making a final stop before migrating back to sub-Saharan Africa for the winter. We then walked to the Kenidjack Valley, seeing huge numbers of pied and grey wagtails and rock pipits on the rocky beach. As we entered Kenidjack, I saw two leg-ringed choughs remarkably close and in the valley itself, a sparrowhawk, a chiffchaff and a willow warbler.

To add to that, I also saw a new dragonfly for me, the resplendent beautiful demoiselle in the Kenidjack Valley:

Beautiful Demoiselle Dragonfly, Kenidjack Valley, 3/9/12

Seawatching and waders- west Cornwall 30th August

With a storm the previous night and thousands of Manx shearwaters passing Cape Cornwall, the conditions were right for a great morning of sea watching from Pendeen. The sheer numbers of Manx shearwaters, gannets and fulmars passing the point was breathtaking. They were all passing in their thousands, with an estimate a 7500 Manx shearwaters passing a minute. I spent an hour and a half searching for any rarities passing, seeing both great and Arctic skuas and my first British sooty shearwaters. My last sooty shearwater came on the incredible Kaikoura pelagic seabird trip from New Zealand, back in 2006. Unfortunately I missed the great and Balearics shearwaters, pomarine skua and Sabines's gull, all of which were reported past Pendeen today and all of which would have been new species for me.

A little later, I headed back to Marazion Marsh in an attempt to find the spotted crake again. I did unfortunately miss it, but did see a fine tally of 8 little egrets. We then had a look on Marazion beach, on which I saw my first common ringed plovers of the year, as well as sanderling, dunlin, oystercatcher and turnstone in good numbers and one common sandpiper, quite a remarkable tally of waders!

Cape Cornwall 29th August

There was a weasel in our garden this morning, the first I have ever seen alive (our cats regularly bring in dead ones!). It allowed superb views for about two minutes as it scurried across the lawn, before disappearing into the thick undergrowth. Following breakfast, I had a brief seawatch from Cape Cornwall. Unfortunately I failed to see the same remarkable seabirds recorded from the nearby Porthgwarra, but did see a basking shark, as well as high numbers of gannets, kittiwakes, fulmars and shags. Otherwise, a single grey heron passed, as did an unidentifiable small flock of waders, possibly dunlin.

28th August, Cape Cornwall and Sennen

There was yet another basking shark off Cape Cornwall this afternoon, as well as more sandwich terns and a kittiwake at Sennen Cove.

Cape Cornwall 27-28th August

A session of sea-watching from Cape Cornwall brought me several great skuas and further out to sea an unidentifiable large shearwater. Earlier in the day, I added turnstone to my trip list in St Ives.

Early in the morning of the 28th, I headed to the nearby Kenidjack Valley in search of rare migrants. Unfortunately we missed anything especially rare, but did see chiffchaff, willow warbler, blackcap, sedge warbler and whitethroat, as well as grey wagtail and buzzard. The highlight, however was a wonderful pair of sparrowhawks getting mobbed by carrion crows and magpies. Down by the sea were several oystercatchers and a remarkable 17 grey seals.

A little later on, we wandered down the coast path past Cot Valley. Along the way, we passed dozens of kestrels, stonechats, whitethroats and linnets. There were also several ravens. While having a picnic on a cliff top, I found my first two basking sharks ever, both heading towards Sennen Cove, which was a truly magical sight. There remarkable size was evident even from a great distance. Incredibly, as we made our way back to Cape Cornwall, I saw my first Cornish choughs and at least four more basking sharks. A quite stunning walk!

Porthgwarra, Sennen Cove 26th August

A walk along the coastpath at Porthgwarra this morning brought several wild rock doves, shags and a rock pipit on the rocks.

We then headed to Sennen, where I saw my first sandwich terns of the year fishing off Sennen Cove. On Cape Cornwall, there were several stonechats and whitethroats, and offshore gannets and fulmars.

Marazion Marsh 26th July

On the 25th we headed down to Cornwall for a two week holiday. We were going to stay on Cape Cornwall, the second most westerly point of Great Britain and a truly wild place. On the way, we stopped off a Marazion Marsh to look for a spotted crake, or an aquatic warbler, both of which are specialities at the reserve. In pouring rain, we failed to see either, the only birds of any vague interest being several little egrets, a sedge warbler and a chiffchaff.

We returned to the marsh early the next morning. On the way, I picked up my first common sandpiper of the year at Penzance, wading in the mud. We got to the marsh and headed to the Standing Stone, a notoriously good spot for crakes and waders. There were about a dozen birdwatchers there, and right in front of them was a small, starling-sized bird creeping through the reeds. It was the magnificent spotted crake, a first for me, and a superb bird. This skulking bird is one of the hardest British breeders to see, its secretive habits combined with its generally inaccessible choice of habitat has resulted in it being very difficult to come across. The crake eventually crept out of the reeds allowing a magnificent view in the early morning sun. It was about as good a start as we could have hoped for the holiday.

Hilfield and Rutland

We got back to a sunny Hilfield, with several buzzards and stock doves around, along with all the usual smaller species. On the 19th of August, we went up to Rutland bird fair. After spending hours walking around the superb fair, getting ideas for future holidays and also buying myself a Zeiss spotting scope, we had a quick look on the water. There were a good number of waterfowl, with pochard, wigeon, teal, shoveler, gadwall and tufted duck the species of interest. There were also large numbers of common terns, buts sadly no sign of the black tern that had been seen earlier in the week.

Salisbury Plain 10th August

Driving back from Heathrow, I was extremely lucky to get a new addition to my British list, and a good one at that as we drove through Salisbury Plain, a Montagu's Harrier.

Kenya holiday part one

On the 25th of July we set out for a two week holiday in Kenya, my favourite country.

25th July:

We arrived in Nairobi late in the evening and went straight to our hotel.

26th July:

An early morning's walk around our the Fairview Hotel's garden in Nairobi, brought me several variable sunbirds, as well as a streaky seedeater and white-browed robin-chat. A magnificent little sparrowhawk, which I had first seen in this hotel garden 6 months, appeared on exactly the same branch that I had seen it in previously. In the sky, there were good numbers of yellow-billed kites gliding around, as well as little swifts and pied crows. A pair of ring-necked doves appeared in the garden and three hadada ibises flew over. There were also a pair of common bulbuls singing alongside a mountain thrush in the little sparrowhawk tree. We then headed to Wilson Airport for our charter flight to N'guru Nit in the Milgis region of north Kenya. On the drive, I picked up a black-headed heron in a roadside field. Spiralling in the skies above the airport were more yellow-billed kites as well as marabou storks. There was also a tree full of speckled mousebirds and house sparrows. We then took our charter, enjoying a stunning flight through the resplendent Mathews mountain range. Upon landing in N'guru Nit, we were greeted by Helen and Pete, our guides for the walking safari upon which we were to embark. We had last gone on this safari back in 2007, and had had the most incredible time. Alongside the airstrip were white-browed sparrow-weavers and red-winged starlings and a red-billed hornbill flew off as we drove up to their riverside camp. Alongside the river were more red-winged starlings as well as superb starlings, several fork-tailed drongos and blue-naped mousebirds. A grey-headed kingfisher was perched in a tree next to the river, and an African pied wagtail flitted around on the rocks in the river. Several African black swifts glided overhead, as did a fan-tailed raven. Later that evening, I discovered a tree of hooded vultures, which also contained a Von der Decken's Hornbill and a emerald-spotted wood-dove.

27th July:

We headed out early the next morning with no hope of being able to walk the 130 kilometres we needed to in order to get to our house at Sarara in six days time. Soon after we started, I found a pale chanting-goshawk and an African hoopoe. A little further on a pair of gabar goshawks were perched in a tree. A group of orange-bellied parrots passed overhead and several white-backed vultures were high in the sky. A greater honeyguide begged us to follow it to the honey hive it had found, and in the same tree was a black-throated barbet. We then found a Nubian woodpecker and my first new bird of the trip, a brown-tailed rock chat. After two and a half hour's walking, we stopped for breakfast. Around the breakfast area were African grey flycatchers, chin-spot batises, brown-tailed rock chats and purple grenadiers. A magnificent Verreaux's eagle swirled ahead, before getting mobbed by a lanner falcon, creating an absolutely stunning scene. There were incredibly large numbers of one of my favourite birds, the pygmy falcon (we saw about 7 of them) just beyond our breakfast site and overall the birds after breakfast were plentiful, with a red-faced crombec, several grey wren-warblers, a shining sunbird, eastern violet-backed sunbird, rosy-patched bush-shrike, white-crested helmet-shrike, red-billed oxpecker, greater blue-eared starling, parrot-billed sparrow, yellow-spotted petronia, white-headed buffalo-weaver, eastern paradise whydah, straw-tailed whydah and a northern grey tit being the new additions to my holiday list. The highlights were the pygmy falcons and a flock of the magnificent golden-breasted starlings. We found a camp in the middle of the bush at about two o'clock, where we stayed for the night. There were several yellow-billed hornbills at the campsite. We had only managed to walk 13 km, so it was hardly a great start and we had ground to make up for on the next few days.

Unfortunately one of the camels that had been carrying our equipment suddenly went mad after we arrived, and was dead within ten minutes seemingly having eaten something poisonous. I had brought my trail camera with me, and was not going to miss this opportunity. The results were extraordinary....

Striped Hyena, Milgis 27/7/12

Spotted Hyena, Milgis 27/7/12

28th July:

We started off hoping to cross the Milgis lugga and push on to make up ground lost yesterday. We started well, pushing on before the sun rose. We picked up rock martin in our camp (actually just a rock in the middle of the bush). There was a group of vulturine guineafowls near our campsite and a pair of tawny eagles in a nearby tree. A bateleur passed over, and there were good numbers of crested and yellow-necked francolins. As we passed a manyatta, a field full birds took off. Amongst the large flocks were crowned lapwings, chestnut weavers, red-billed buffalo-weavers and red-billed quells. As we approached the river, some locals told us that the Milgis was flooded and we would be unable to cross with our 28 camels. We had to make a 10km detour, on which I added little bee-eater, hunter's sunbird, fisher's sparrow-lark, Abyssinian scimitarbill and gymnogene to my holiday list. When we reached the lugga, it was absolutely filled with water, and crossing looked unlikely. Dozens of African palm swifts were enjoying the insects around the river and a pair of Egyptian geese passed. The camels began to cross, but halfway appeared to decide that it was a bad idea and refused to move forwards or backwards. No-one knew what to do and for half an hour no-one moved, the camels, despite the camel-herder's best efforts, refused to move. Eventually, to everyone's great relief, one camel began to cross and the rest followed.

Attempting to get the camels to cross

The camels finally crossing..

and on the other side of the river.

After the two and a half hours it had taken to cross the Milgis, we were forced to stop walking and camped on the riverside. A pair of white-headed vultures flew overhead and a grey-headed kingfisher perched in a branch near the lugga. Later that evening, we had supper in the lugga, and had great views of a slender-tailed nightjar, which flew past, and later returned, mobbing an unidentifiable heron. We had only managed to walk about 12km today, most of which was a detour, meaning we had to travel about 120km over the next four days.

Again I put out my trail camera and again the results were excellent..

Caracal, nr. Milgis Lugga, early hours of 30/7/12

Kenya holiday part two

29th July:

The view over the Milgis lugga early in the morning, with the Ndoto hills in the background

We started walking knowing we had to walk an enormous distance to have any chance of getting to Sarara in four days time, and it started well, with us pushing on up the hill behind where we had camped and onto the lava flow on top. There, we saw a black-shouldered kite almost immediately. There were also several shrikes, with Somali fiscal being a new species for me. Two shrikes looked like nothing in the book, and we had to settle for leaving them unidentified, however it is very possible that they were an undiscovered species, as with a sunbird we saw later that day, in this wild and unexplored area. There were also several African grey hornbills on the lava flow and the bones of a dead ostrich. Remarkably, a Montagu's Harrier, a migrant from Europe normally only recorded between October and April glided overhead, creating extreme excitement. Coming down from the lava flow, there were a pair of Wahlberg's Eagles gliding in the sky, as well as a flock of wattled starlings. Several African grey flycatchers were feeding, alongside a red-fronted warbler and there was a tree full of black-capped social weaver nests. We pushed on, having taken a brief break for breakfast, and entered a dried up lugga. In the lugga were good numbers of namaqua doves as well as a grey-headed bush-shrike and rufous-crowned roller.

    The camels having a drink

Beyond the lugga, I found a Somali bee-eater, a real north Kenyan speciality and a stunning bird as well. On the opposite side of the lugga, another of my favourite birds, the Egyptian vulture, which is now endangered worldwide, was perched in a tree offering great views. After several hours more walking, we eventually set up camp in a small lugga, having walked about 23 kilometres in the day. I once again put my trail camera out, and got this caracal and injured spotted hyena on it...

Very worryingly, there have been rumours of poachers putting poisoned nails out on elephant trails in the area, and it must be hoped that this hyena did not stand on one. We also later found the footprints of an elephant dragging a foot and four or five elephants have appeared in the Sarara area with swollen or injured feet recently. This appears to be the poachers' latest tactic as numbers of poached elephants has increased by such a great amount. Poaching levels in the area are extremely worrying and the Milgis Trust is doing a great deal of fantastic work to reduce it, as well as help preserve this magnificent and wild area of northern Kenya. More information here: milgistrust.wildlifedirect.org

30th July:

We set out today knowing we had to walk a very long way to stand a chance of reaching Sarara. After about two hours, we came across a mixed flock birds. I picked out both d'Arnaud's and red-and-yellow barbets, yellow-vented eremomela, yellow-breasted apalis, mouse-coloured penduline tit, brubru and black-cheeked waxbill. A little further on, and we came across a flock of speckle-fronted weavers. As we progressed, we headed into drier country, which was home to good numbers of pink-breasted larks, as well as a cardinal woodpecker and several pygmy baptises. As we pushed through the afternoon sun, bird numbers decreased, but we did find a tree of blue-capped and red-cheeked cordon-bleux, as well as a pair of pygmy falcons. With nowhere obvious to set up camp, we walked for hours until reaching a decent-looking clearing in the bush. There were several northern white-crowned shrikes present, as well as some green wood-hoopoes and some unidentifiable weavers in non-breeding plumage. I put my camera out again and got just this one picture of a striped hyena's tail.

In the mean time, one of the guides, Lamogas, had also been putting his camera out, with even better results:

Striped Hyena

Porcupine

African Civet

31st July:

At the start of the day we felt that there was no chance of reaching Sarara. It was about 75 kilometres to Sarara as the crow flies, and most of that was through thick bush. That, added to the fact that the clouds had disappeared and it was estimated that it may be as hot as 35 degrees celsius by midday, hindered our optimism. We set out very early and racked up the miles as the sun rose. I added Dodson's bulbul, pale prinia and grey-backed camaroptera to my list. I also saw a magnificent black-chested snake-eagle perched in a tree top, as well as more pygmy falcons. As we pushed on, there was scarcely time to bird watch, but I did pick up green-winged pytilia, a stunningly colourful little finch and saw more of the resplendent golden-breasted starling. We continued walking through the midday sun, with temperatures at one stage hitting 40 degrees celsius. Surprisingly large numbers of chestnut-bellied sandgrouse passed overhead and a buff-crested bustard took flight from in front of us. We continued walking until half past four, meaning we had walked 9 and a half hours for around 35 kilometres through thick bush in extremely high temperatures. After a well-deserved sprite, I put my camera out once more, and captured this inquisitive black-backed jackal and genet...

Black-backed Jackal

Genet cat