Kristian's Wildlife Blog

After coming back from Shetland I've done next to no bird watching, save a couple of productive walks on the patch after work, with Bittern , Wigeon and Garganey all being pretty mega for Cutacre Country Park, Bolton. I was a bit gutted about missing out on the putative Red-Headed Bunting last week, so spent most of the week crossing my fingers that it would stick til Saturday. I set off to Flamborough with Carl at about 8am, and this turned out to be a pretty good move as reports came throughout the journey that the target birds were still present. Arriving on a rammed lighthouse car park, we ditched the car and went straight towards where yesterday's Two-Barred Warbler was reported. We couldn't have timed it better, with the Two-Barred Warbler perching out in the open as we arrived. It showed really well for about two minutes before being lost in the bramble patches. Seconds later though, a Pallas' Warbler appeared from nowhere and we spent the next 10 minutes watch...

My first-ever trip to the Shetland Isles was unforgettable, with great company and amazing birds! Four of us took the ferry over from Aberdeen on Saturday 30th, slightly jealous that our other two companions were already on the island after flying in that morning! We slept anxiously, hoping that the Veery (at the time our target bird) was going to stick the night. Day 1: Arriving in Lerwick at 7:00am, we dashed into the car and headed straight for the Veery, which had been frequenting a small line of Sycamore trees near Lunna. Conditions were pretty grim, and we arrived to news that the bird hadn't been seen by the single birder present in the 10 minutes or so he had been there. However, almost immediately a shout went up and the Veery was spotted hunkering down under a tree. The cold, wet weather seemed to reduce the bird's activity, but it was awesome to see such a rare American vagrant at point-blank distance. We came back later in the afternoon when the weather was much bet...