28th February 2010 – Teesmouth (mostly)

Chris arrived at mine at 0830hrs and we were soon on our way east! Our first non-caffeine related stop was Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park. The superb drake Ring-necked Duck was performing very well. Next we had a look through some gulls in a flooded field near Cowpen Bewley Tip;  1st winter Yellow-legged Gull was the pick of the bunch! Arriving in the Saltholme area we checked the Petro Plus and Calor Gas pools then onto the Allotment...

21st February 2010 – American Wigeon Re-visited….

Chris arrived at mine at 0830hrs and we made our way towards Caerlaverock. On the approach road towards the reserve we scanned through a couple of flocks of Barnacle Geese a good number of Pinkfooted Geese there were no other birds of note amongst the flocks. Once on the reserve we made our way to the hide overlooking the Whooper Pond. It was not long before we were enjoying excellent views of the superb drake American...

19th February 2010 – Another day, another duck!

As Bryan had not been to Saltholme since it had become an RSPB reserve, this was todays plan. We made our way east via Langdon Beck in the hope of deeing Black Grouse. However we failed to find any grouse. A Grey Partridge was some compensation. We stopped off at Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park where we got fantastic views of a drake Ring-necked Duck. At Saltholme Pools we enjoyed views of Wigeon, Pintail and Gadwall among the throng...

18th February 2010 – American Wigeon at Caerlaverock

Bryan Wainwright had come to stay for a few days; so we decided to go to Caerlaverock to hopefully see the American Wigeon that had been present the previous few days. As we arrived along the approach road to the reserve; we could see thousands of Barnacle Geese feeding in nearby fields. I gave them a brief scan before chatting to Marco McGinty who was checking through the geese more thoroughly. Next we made our way to the Whooper Pond...

13th-14th February 2010 – Ireland part II…..

News of a Thayer’s Gull and the continuing presence of the Dresser’s Eider in Ireland was excuse enough to meet up with Derek again. So Chris H and Craig arrived at mine at 2300hrs and we made our way towards Stranraer. After stopping off to pick Chris H up; we made our way to the ferry terminal. We boarded the ferry at c0300hrs and were soon on our way to Belfast. After disembarking at around 0630hrs we soon met up with...

6th February 2010 – Rosy Revisited…..!

Roy arrived at mine an we soon on our way to Kendal. It was a bright sunny day and we were soon enjoying stunning views of the moulting juvenile Rose-coloured Starling. Rose-coloured Starling Rose-coloured Starling Rose-coloured Starling Rose-coloured Starling Rose-coloured Starling Rose-coloured Starling Rose-coloured Starling Rose-coloured Starling Next we made our way to Leighton Moss, which was unfortunately shrouded in thick fog!...

5th February 2010 – Rosy and Snow….!

Chris H arrived at mine and we made our way to Penrith. We picked up Chris B from the Railway Station and then tried (but failed) to locate the Black Redstart. Next we made our way to Kendal. As we arrived we could see Craig was present, though the bird had just flown off! However it was not long before we were enjoying views of the Rose-coloured Starling, despite the murky weather. Rose-coloured Starling Rose-coloured Starling Once we...

3rd February 2010 – Rose-coloured Starling etc

After my counselling session in the morning I made way way down to Oxenholme where I had arranged to meet Mike s I could help him with some computer stuff. On arrival at the railway station Mike was there waiting for me and we made our  way towards Kendal. We were hoping to see the Rose-coloured Starling that was present in garden there. Despite the disturbance of some tree surgery happening across the road from the favoured garden it...

27th January 2010 – Red, White & Black….

Chris arrived at mine just before 0700hrs and we made our way to Penrith to meet up with Roy and ‘The Craigster’. We all piled into Roy’s car and continued on our journey south. Four hours later we arrived at Rhaydar in time for another coffee. Just before 1300hrs we made our way to Gigrin Farm. On arrival at the farm we could see good numbers of Red Kites. Once we had paid our£4.00 entrance fee we made our way to...

20th January 2010 – Black-throated Thrush

Chris arrived at my house and we were soon on our way to Newholm in North Yorkshire. We arrived in the village at just after 10:00hrs and it was not long before we were enjoying great views of the female Black-throated Thrush (despite the rain). The thrush showed well as it perched up in bushes before flying onto the ground to feed. As it was raining, we decided to have a break from the thrush and have a quick check of Whitby Harbour....