Kristian's Wildlife Blog

After seeing hundreds of reports of Alpine Swifts from around the country, finally today one turned up closer to home. It seemed to be sticking around too, with multiple reports of a distant Alpine Swift at Doxey Marshes in Staffordshire. I was on my local patch of Cutacre when Austin messaged asking if I fancied the hour or so drive. I was already having a pretty good day on the patch, with 3 male Wheatears (my first of the year), my first patch Curlew plus Green Sandpiper and Little Egret . Picking up Gary on the way, we arrived at the site at about 4pm, in pretty poor light but knowing that the bird was still present, albeit showing distantly. We soon came across a decent group of birders and they quickly got us onto the Alpine Swift . It was distant to say the least, googling afterwards it seemed to be at least 1.4km out over a distant housing estate, in front of Stafford Castle hill.  You'll have to trust me, but this is the Alpine Swift ! We watched the bird for about 20 min...

While working away in Scotland this week, I've tried to do a bit of birdwatching inbetween surveys. Today, after finishing early, I drove towards the middle of nowhere in Fife hoping to connect with a female Ring-Necked Duck which had apparently been on a small pool for some time. Having missed this American species quite a few times now, I didn't have particularly high expectations! Upon arriving, I parked in a convenient layby and headed down a track. There was a larger lake here, which I briefly scanned, but it was the smaller pond (a glorified duck pond really!) which supposedly held the bird. Viewing the pond from the track, I noticed a few Pochard , Tufted Duck and Mallard , and another duck swimming alongside a drake Pochard - the female Ring-Necked Duck . Typically, after finally breaking my curse with this bird, it didn't show well at all, remaining hidden behind branches and reeds for the entire time! Why do all of my American ducks have to be female! On the larg...