Conwy RSPB 26/04/2016

A trip to Conwy today brought about some great additions to my year list, especially thanks to another birder who pointed out several birds, and helped to ID others. As I crossed the road bridge, I got stuck in a traffic jam, so I looked out over the estuary. There, literally just under the bridge, were a pair of black and white birds. At first, I thought they were Oystercatchers, but then I noticed the upturned beaks (they were that close), and a later look in my bird book confirmed that they were Avocets. Apart from that, actually on the reserve were some quite exciting birds, such as a pair of Goldeneye busily fishing in front of one of the hides. Also, there were loads of Shelduck, and on the far side of the water I made out birds that I thought were Gannets. Of course, they wouldn't have been, and the other birder in the hide kindly pointed out that although the birds were in a posture similar to that of a perching Gannet, they were in fact Little Egrets. Also, along the trails were numerous Wheatear, which I was constantly flushing up from the short-cropped grass.

Holiday, Nr Shrewsbury 19/04/2016

Some more firsts for me came just after we had arrived at friends on holiday. I was birding in their back garden, and I added four warblers to my list. The first was a Chiffchaff. The bird was singing loudly from the top of a fir tree at the bottom of their garden. Then, as I was trying to get closer to that, another bird burst into song from a thicket to my right. The bird popped out and revealed itself for a minute, and I clearly saw that it was a Garden Warbler, before it disappeared, never to be relocated. Next day, I saw a pair of Blackcap in some local woods, and with them, or rather above them, a Willow Warbler, singing full belt, as usual.

Green Lane, Crowborough 11/03/2016

I was just going for a quick walk along Green Lane, through the wooded area. Birds that I recognised included Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, and a Pheasant that I flushed from a clearing. Then, I heard a bird call that excited me. At home, I had been listening to my bird call CD's, and I had heard this very call. I was frantically trying to rack my brain as to what it was. As I was thinking thus, a pair of birds flew across the road into the trees on the other side. I followed them, taking a little more care about crossing over, and then I looked up into the trees. There was a fabulous male Bullfinch, my first ever. The male was then joined by a drabber female, and I watched them for some time, until they flew off again. I was really excited by it, as the birds were great. A male Bullfinch really is quite stunning!

Chailey Common 11/02/2016

Today was quite bright and sunny, but there were not many birds on the common to talk about. Despite the hot weather, parts of the area were very boggy, with one large area at least being deep and inconspicuous. But, as a beginning birder, I could not identify anything other than a Robin, Blackbird, and two other birds which I later identified as Stonechat, and flyover Linnet, although I was not sure about the latter. The Stonechat was a male, with black head and peachy coloured chest. The Linnet was identified on the strength of a flight call only, but I am pretty certain that it was the species mentioned.

Crowborough, 02/01/2016

Today I had a new bird for my garden, approximately ten Long-tailed Tits. I am doing a year list this year, so we will see how I get on. We have now seen twenty-four different species of bird in our garden now, and hopefully more will follow. We have probably had Long-tailed Tits in our garden before now, but  I have only recently started birding, and am not very good yet.

Crowborough 16/12/2015

A short walk down the main footpath between the Beacon Academy Sixth Form College and the Sir Henry Fermor school gave some good birds. The best of these were a group of five Common Gulls on the playing fields, feeding amongst Black-headed Gulls and Starlings, the latter of which were numerous, counting up to twenty plus more that came down while I was watching. Common Gulls are quite rare around Crowborough, so it was nice to see so many.

Gosport, Portsmouth 21/11/2015

I was visiting the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, and I had crossed the harbour by boat for the museums on that side. Birds were at a minimum, although a lack of telescope or other optics may have been the sole cause. Still, there were a rather nice pair of Curlew showing quite close to the shore from the bridge, and plenty of the usual Black-headed and Herring Gulls.