We spent another glorious four nights on Majorca from 1st to 5th May 2024, spending two days around the S’Albufera and Depuradora and another day in the Boquer Valley. Room with a view! Balcony view across the S’Albufera Parque Natural On arrival at the hotel, we were pleased to find our room overlooked the S’Albufera and we added Osprey, Greater Flamingo, Cetti’s Warbler, Eleonora’s Falcon, Marsh Harrier, Common Tern, Common Swift, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Purple Heron, Glossy Ibis and Audouin’s Gull in the first 10 minutes! Marsh Harrier, Audouin’s Gull and Eleonora’s Falcon from the hote ..read more

We’ve had another amazing year on the Avalon Marshes in Somerset. Three trips this year to the fantastic Ham Wall RSPB and Shapwick Heath. We managed a total of 75 species over the three tours with plenty of Bittern Sightings this year, despite the rain on the second date! Hobby numbers were down on previous years but we still saw plenty on each tour. Marsh Harriers always put on a good show and were seen across the reserves on all tours. Other residents included Cetti’s Warblers, Garden Warblers, Willow Warbler, Reed Warblers, Blackcap and Great White Egrets, all seen well on every visit. Re ..read more

Sunday 14th January 2024 Six guests with Paul as guide, headed out from HQ at 8am with a record target of 96 species to beat. Tide times and the disappearance of one or two previous target birds meant a different approach to the birding today and we started our list on the estuary at Hayle. The tide was in and with a little perseverance Paul picked up the GREEN-WINGED TEAL amongst the other Eurasian Teal and Wigeon. Sadly we missed the Ring-billed Gull here so we drove the short distance to Ryan’s Field where we picked up the Danish ringed SPOONBILL and three Knot amongst other waders. Gulval ..read more

Sunday 7th January 2024 Our first tour of 2024 saw 7 intrepid guests take on the challenge of seeing over 93 (last years record) species of bird in a single day. We started at 8am at HQ with the usual Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Robin, Herring Gull etc etc whilst we loaded up the bus, then headed for Truro. At Sunny Corner we started the list proper with Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshank. Redshank, Dunlin, Shelduck but sadly no Avocet. Then, a short journey to the popular Loe Beach, Feock. By popular I mean with non-birders. The car park and beach were full of swimmers and gig-rowers, all enjoyin ..read more

Report from our Norfolk Tour 3rd to 9th December 2024 DAY 1 – HOLKHAM AND STIFFKEY After arriving the night before at our wonderful accommodation at The Crown in Mundford, we were keen to get out and do some birding! The plan was to head straight to the North Coast but a flock of Waxwings reported at Thursford was too much of a temptation for our group! So we found ourselves in a small housing estate in Thursford checking anything with a berry on it. Unfortunately it appeared the birds had moved on but luckily a local birder lived on the estate and alerted us that the flock had been seen ten m ..read more

A full bus (with others meeting us at RSPB Ham Wall) headed of early from HQ at Hayle on 14th May for a full day on the Somerset Levels. We arrived at the fantastic RSPB Ham Wall at 09.30am and after a few introduction and a toilet break we headed onto the reserve. We were immediately greeted to a blast of Cetti’s Warbler song, followed by Reed and Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat and Garden Warbler. A red Kite flew slowly overhead escorted by a couple of Swifts and the trees nearby held Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Blackcap and Goldfinch. All this within 10ft of the car park! Leaving the recepti ..read more

S’Albufera National Nature Reserve and surrounding areas Another recce to our favorite Mediterranean island for a very short two day excursion in order to experience some Spring migration and sunshine! We flew from Bristol airport arriving late at our hotel in Can Picafort. The following morning after breakfast we jumped in a taxi (8 Euros) to the S’Albufera Parc Natural. We did this on both days having decided not to bother with the Boquer Valley on this trip, walking back to the hotel each evening from the reserve, birding all the way, a walk that included the Ses Puntas and Depuradora Wate ..read more

We’ve been rather busy over the past few weeks with tours! The Spring season kicked off with a day tour in the east of the county. Vic had a day tour voucher bought for his birthday by his daughter, which turned out to be a great prezzie which involved two Lifers! We started in warm sunshine and blue skies at Rame Head where we soon located some stunning singing Yellowhammers and whilst watching these our target birds flew into a nearby bush. Male and female Cirl Buntings! The male flying down to the ground to feed, giving amazing close views. These were the first of 6 or 7 birds we encounter ..read more

Tour Report 3rd to 10th October 2022 DAY ONE Our intrepid group of 7 (plus Paul as guide) headed off to Scilly for our first week long tour on Monday 3rd October aboard the Scillonian III. We set of from Penzance harbour at 9.10am having already started our tour list with Kingfisher and Purple Sandpiper! Little did we know that we would soon experience one of the best pelagic crossings to or from Scilly EVER! Just after we passed Land’s End, things started to get interesting with a few Balearic Shearwaters and two Arctic Skua. However, as we approached the Wolf Rock light house we picked up a ..read more

This field guide to the rare birds of Britain and Ireland is the result of an innovative new partnership between Collins and the esteemed British Trust for Ornithology. It brings together the most authoritative and current information. The Collins BTO Guide to British Birds is accompanied by this book. As of February 2015, it includes all rare and endangered birds that have been spotted four or more times in Britain and Ireland. Every species of wild bird that has ever occurred in Britain is mentioned in the section titled “The Rarest of the Rare,” which includes all the species that have onl ..read more