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...

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...

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...

After just about catching up with the Baird's Sandpiper at Meols on the Wirral last night, I came home to find news that a Grey Phalarope had been found at Elton Reservoir, only 20 minutes from home. The light had already gone by this point, and I wasn't massively confident it would stick until today. I finished work and dashed over to Elton, a bit concerned there had been no reports for about six hours of the bird. However, as soon as I arrived a very kind couple by the sailing club gave me directions and within seconds I was watching it in the centre of the reservoir. Distant but unmistakeable! Over the next half an hour or so I moved around the reservoir, hoping to get a bit closer, but it stayed resolutely towards the middle, alternating between periods of feeding and resting. I definitely can't complain though, it's been a proper bogey bird for about a year now, and I never expected it to be a local site that it turned up on!