Kristian's Wildlife Blog

After several days of bat surveys in North Yorkshire, my return journey home couldn't have gone any better to plan when reports of a White-Winged Tern came through from Leighton Moss. The 10 minute diversion was well worth it I decided, as this species would be a lifer for me. I arrived at the reserve mid-afternoon and *casually* walked down to the Causeway Hide where it had been reported. Unfortunately, entering the hide I noticed lots of glum faces and it turned out the bird had flown off about half an hour earlier. Thinking it was unlikely to return, I had a brief scan around the pool, which was very quiet aside from a couple of Shelduck , a quartering Marsh Harrier, a booming Bittern  and the usual breeding waterfowl. Then, I looked up as a couple of Black-Headed Gulls passed overhead, and amongst them was the White-Winged Tern ! The bird shot past the hide and continued to the far edge of the pool, just about visible above the reeds. After a further 10 or so minutes thoug...

Unfortunately, I could only manage a brief visit of Leighton Moss this morning, but I hoped it would be enough to catch up with the two Lesser Scaup that had been present for most of the week. Arriving, I dashed down to Lower Hide, in cold and windy weather, hearing multiple booming Bittern from the surrounding reedbeds. In the hide, a flock of approximately 30 diving ducks was present directly in front of the hide - the pair of Lesser Scaup were right at the front of this group! The new camera was definitely put to good use! My only previous Lesser Scaup was a very distant female at Ham Wall last Winter, so to see them both this close was a massive improvement. The male in particular was beautifully plumaged and more delicate than the more familiar Greater Scaup. The whole flock was diving regularly, which made them difficult to keep track of. The female was also surprisingly distinctive Back at Lilian's Hide, a quick scan produced the long-staying female Ring-Necked Duck . Unfor...

Having waited for over a week to have a crack at Kilwinning's over-wintering Myrtle Warbler, this Sunday I finally got the chance. Arriving after a four-hour journey, I made my way through the door of a small block of flats (quite a surreal experience but apparently okay to do so!) and within seconds I was watching the Myrtle Warbler on a garden bird feeder! I couldn't quite believe it and still hadn't got used to it by the time I left. The bird was quite wary, but occasionally showed very well coming to the bird feeders and also making its way around the ornaments of next door's garden! It was also highly territorial, chasing off the resident Blue , Great and Long-Tailed Tits . This was my fifth New World warbler in the UK, and by far my best views. Unfortunately, as I'm still getting used to my new camera, the pictures were much worse than they should have been! Not the brightest of birds, but my best views of a New World warbler! With a little time to kill befor...

With some free time today, I managed to catch up with all three of the trio of decent birds currently residing at Lunt Meadows, only a 40-minute drive from home. Walking around the main lake, I soon came across a group of Canada Geese , and after a minute or two of scanning through I noticed a bird barely half their size - the Richardson's Cackling Goose . This was a lifer for me, though it was tainted somewhat by the unknown credentials of the bird. Without any proof to the contrary though, I'm happily adding it to my list! The bird was wary and mobile throughout my visit, and I soon lost the bird and couldn't refind it subsequently. Aside from size, the head and bill structure also stood out! Moving to the next pool towards the far end of the reserve, unbelievably I managed to pick out the Green-Winged Teal within seconds, despite their being perhaps 100 Eurasian Teal dotted around the shoreline of the lake. The bird spent most of its time asleep, though did wake up brie...

After a painful dip last Saturday, I spent the week hoping that the Northern Waterthrush would stick around until the following weekend. Thankfully, it seemed like it had, so four of us made the journey down to Essex to arrive at about 7am, just prior to first light. There was already a sizeable crowd, though thankfully we had been present for only mere minutes before the Northern Waterthrush appeared in the small creek below the crowd. As the sky got lighter, the bird came closer and closer until it was directly below the majority of the crowd. Unfortunately, the poor light didn't favour photography, but I didn't mind one bit as I was over the moon just to see the bird! Unmistakeable even in half-light! After having our fill of this North American Warbler's delightful performance, we made the short trip over to Abberton Reservoir, mopping up a decent variety of scarce birds from the various viewpoints across the reservoir. We noted Rock Pipit , the two long-staying Velvet...

2024 begins and what better way to spend the first day of the year than birding in the sunshine! As I'm considering attempting a 300-year in 2024 I decided to take a risk and wait until Jan 1st to try for the Black-Throated Thrush at Tophill Low. Carl and I arrived at Tophill Low at 10am after a quick detour to a flooded Duffield Carrs! As it turns out, this was a great idea, with the Black-Throated Thrush showing well in a patch of hawthorns after only a ten-minute wait! Tophill Low was rammed with waterfowl, particularly the D-reservoir with lots of Shoveler , Gadwall , Teal , Goldeneye , Pochard and Tufted Duck . The highlight though was a group of four Red-Crested Pochard , surprisingly my first of this species! The Black-Throated Thrush showed well, although I was at the back of the crowd! There were two pairs of Red-Crested Pochard amongst hundreds of ducks! We then moved on to Swine Moor, an area of flooded pasture, where we probably spotted the Lesser Yellowlegs, but bei...

Perhaps not the 'Black-Throated' species I should have gone for today, but I was glad I managed to stop in on the Black-Throated Diver at Crosby Marine Lake. This juvenile has been present for some time, and with my only previous views of this species being some distant birds on the sea in Scotland, this bird was high on my weekend to-do list! After meeting up with Austin, we arrived and walked the length of the lake with no sign, a BirdGuides report came on and quickly told us we'd walked to the wrong side of the lake! We quickly got on the Black-Throated Diver , and amazingly it just kept swimming closer! Easily my best Diver views yet. A single showy  Turnstone was also moving around the rocky shoreline, but apart from that the lake was fairly quiet. The poor light didn't help photography, but it was a proper frame-filler! We then quickly called at Martin Mere on the way back, the weather was even grimmer by this point, but the sight of up to 3 Bramblings at the Jane...