Kristian's Wildlife Blog

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...