Epic trip to a remote Scottish Island for my birthday treat!

After an absence of two years I thought it was about time I updated my blog, especially after my epic trip to Barra to see the American Redstart.

But before that here a few photos of other Mega rare birds seen over the last two years:

Crag Martin Chesterfield

Snowy Owl Cornwall

Dalmatian Pelican Cornwall

Great Knot Norfolk

Purple Swamphen Lincolnshire

Eastern Crowned Warbler Yorkshire

Black Browed Albatross Yorkshire

Siberian Accentor Easington

Brown Shrike Spurn

Dusky Thrush Beeley

Blue Rock Thrush Stow on the Wold

Pine Bunting York

Elegant Tern Church Norton

So my recent trip to Barra for the American Redstart......
News broke on Thursday 7th September that an American Redstart had been found on Barra, a remote island about 100 miles from Oban. Interesting I thought and then spent the next two days convincing myself I didnt want to see it and it would probably move on. Then on Sunday morning with news the bird was still there the little itch I had became a rather big twitch and I decided to give it a go! After several hours of booking accomodation, ferries and supermarket trips for provisions (including a plug in kettle for the car) I had made all the necessary arrangements for the biggest twitch of my life! Problem was the earliest ferry I could make was Tuesday afternoon as there is only one a day from Oban.
The ferry crossing took 5 hrs and we docked at 6.20pm and made the mad dash up the island arriving at 6.45pm. The light however was bad but the bird was still there. One of the best birthday presents I have ever had. Luckily I was booked back on the 3.30pm ferry the next day so had another chance in the morning.
After a good nights sleep in a local B&B I arrived back at Eoligarry church at 7.30am to find myself all alone looking for the bird. At 8.30am I saw a flash of yellow and to my total delight found myself looking at the 6th record of this impressive American Warbler. Once the rain had stopped the bird showed very well and even started catching bees! What a trip and one of the best birthdays I have ever had!

Until the next time.......

Back with a Bang!!

After nearly a year away from blogging I have decided to update my blog. This is primarily due to the events of Tuesday 22nd September 2015.....
This was a day which started with me sitting at my desk and ended up with me 220 miles away at Dungeness.
At 11am I looked at my phone and RBA stated new MEGA British flycatcher species Dungeness! Panic set in and after a long drive I arrived at 4pm in the pouring rain and joined the 300 or so birdwatchers watching the probable Acadian Flycatcher which had relocated from the beach earlier in the day to the small garden of the nearby bungalow. It showed on and off for the next 3 hours.
As the rain eased the bird started to feed continuously and actually came within two feet

of me on the concrete path!
If accepted as an Acadian it will be a first for Britain and only the second record for the Western Pelagic. Its a pity it disappeared a few hours later and more birders didn't connect.
A day which will go down in birding history!

350 at last!!!

Before reaching the magical 350 landmark a rather special 349 turned up at Seaton Sands Cleveland by way of Britains latest ever Isabelline Wheatear! When I arrived I was expecting to see it distantly if at all. It turned out to be a right show off and actually coming within 10 feet of me at times!

So that left me on 349 and in persuit of number 350. Well 350 species using my rules and yes it does include the Chinese Pond Heron and a dubious Little Auk in Scotland, which on reflection was a probably a reference to the size of a distant guillemot!

News broke of a an Eastern Black Redstart at Scalby Yorkshire at the weekend. Playing by my rules this would be number 350, so off I went up the M1 to Scarborough to a residential housing estate. When I arrived there were several groups of birders standing nattering about the weather, what they had in their packed lunches etc etc. This is never a good sign and the bird had gone missing. The bird had been seen at the end of a cul de sac about an hour before I arrived. So I got chatting to the locals who laughed I had made a 135 mile trip to probably see nothing. Then someone shouted 'its behind you!' and after realising they were not rehearsing for the local panto, turned round to see the bird on a roof!
It promptly flew off to be relocated on a residents allotment then various locations around the housing estate.

What a cracking bird all the way from the 'east'.

A day at the seaside

Well half a day actually due to an unfortunate incident on the way. A rear end shunt forced me to pull over and the unfortunate driver of the other vehicle could only watch as his cars front end disintegrated in front of his eyes! I was lucky I could drive off, he had to be towed.
So I arrived at Flamborough on Sunday about midday and bumped into David Aitken, warden for Bempton, in the car park who informed me the Citrine Wagtail was still showing on the beach. Hurriedly I went the 200 yards or so to the beach to find the wagtail had been flushed up the beach by a Woodcock fresh in off the sea!
After half an hour of searching I spotted the Citrine back where it had apparently been found earlier in the day. It showed really well in good light.

Whilst talking to David he informed me that the Rough Legged Buzzard was showing well near Grindale just outside Bridlington about 5 miles away. So off I went and promptly found the group of birdwatchers and photographers by the side of the road. I found a gap in the hedge and the beautiful bird was feeding on a strategically placed hare by the edge of the field. It fed for about 10 minuets then flew to the hedge were it preened until I left.

It's a bit like getting a hole in one!

No I haven't taken up golf and got lucky but did end up near a golf club on Friday and getting very lucky. Hunley Hall to be exact in Cleveland for the Mega rare Eastern Crowned Warbler (ECW)

News came through on Thursday afternoon that the UK's third record had been found in a plantation near the golf club. So guess what, I set my alarm for 3.30 am the following morning and arrived on site at 6.30. No tooth brush required this time as I could easily get there and back in a day.

I stood with several others where the bird was last seen the evening before, but after two hours I decided to go where the bird was first located about a quarter of a mile away. Still no sign of it there so I walked back just to be told it had been seen where I had just come from! Panic and I ended up running yes running. It was an odd sensation with my eyeballs jigging up and down in a way I had not felt since 1982. Once I had got my breath back and established I wasn't having a heart attack I ventured into the plantation to be met by 150 other folk all fighting for a position to catch a glimpse of the ECW high up in the tree canopy.

The next two hours were extremely frustrating as the bird hopped around from tree to tree and often went missing for long periods. However just as I was about to leave it appeared out of a low level bush and click click I had the photograph below which shows all the ID features of this truly Mega rare bird.

So it was off to the 19th hole for a celebration coffee and chip butty thanks to Hunley Hall Golf Club who allowed me in despite muddy boots and an unshaven look.

Another trip to Porthgwarra

A year ago I made a mad dash to Porthgwarra one Wednesday evening. I stayed overnight at Bodmin and arrived at Porthgwarra at 7.45 the next day to be told the Hermit Thrush had just flown up the valley! Three hours later it returned for about  30 seconds and I got a couple of decent photos.

Anyway a year later and BOOM! a Yellow Billed Cuckoo turns up in the same place! Now for the dilemma, will it survive the night and still be there in the morning? So its 2.00 in the afternoon and takes 6 hours from Nottingham to Porthgwarra in Cornwall and the bird hasn't been seen for two hours! So what do I do? Yep I grab my camera and toothbrush and head south. I arrived at Bodmin at midnight and arrived at the stated location at 6.30 the following morning not knowing if the cuckoo is dead or alive or even still there! At least I hoped I was at the right place as it was dark and sat nav took me to a car park with about 10 cars in it with their headlights on!

So off we set up the track in the rain and fog to a dried up pool about half a mile away. Finally at 9 the Yellow Billed Cuckoo showed itself tucked away in a bush. It was quite mobile and gave brief good views all morning despite the rain and fog. Happy with that I went for a Cornish pasty and coffee near the car park before returning up the valley. The cuckoo had relocated to a bush and was sat there about 10 meters away from my lens! As the afternoon progressed the weather improved and the bird became more mobile before perching on a dead tree right in front of me before flying quite a distance away!

Click click I had my photos, only one problem it was 6 and I had to get home to Nottingham. The journey back took 10 hours thanks to the A30 being closed! But did I care?

Virgin Blogger!

Well after 51 years on this planet I have finally got round to starting a Blog dedicated to my notorious dashing around the country, camera in hand, in pursuit of our feathered friends. I have bored the pants off all my work mates with my adventures and amusing stories of socially inadequate bird watchers and photographers!
So here goes.............