I've been on this planet for sixty years and I've never come close to seeing the Northern Lights. I missed the show earlier this year because a) I didn't believe I'd be able to see them and b) I was lazy so when there was talk this week of a second chance I took a bit more notice. I'd just watched England lose to Greece and decided to check the sky for signs of the promised showing from the North and I was amazed I could actually see the red and green in the sky. I called Suzanne and she managed a look from the bedroom window and I walked around the corner to get a clearer view without t ..read more

For a while I struggled to connect with Hoopoe but now they're almost annual on my year lists. I've seen birds in Essex, Kent, Norfolk, Hampshire, Staffordshire, Herts and Cambridgeshire but I haven't seen one since 2022 so made an effort to drive to North Walsham to make sure I didn't go another year without seeing one.  Arriving at the reported site I was amazed to see the bird just pottering about on the small front lawn of the bungalow ignoring the birders/toggers a few feet away. I joined them, laid myself down on the path to the amusement of the locals and took a few (140) images o ..read more

I woke yesterday to news of an Asian Desert Warbler at Winterton Dunes in Norfolk. This is a bird on my dipped list having tried and failed for the one at Holy Island in June 2020 so it took seconds for me to decide I was going for this one as I had a free day and time for once was my own. I called Jim at 7.35am and by 8.15am we were on our way arriving at 10.15am to find the car park already quite full. We paid £4 for two hours parking and started the long walk north. After a mile or so we found a group of around thirty or so birders surrounding some shrub and joined the party. The bird was q ..read more

News of an Arctic Warbler at Bempton mid afternoon on 25th September was noteworthy and then it was upgraded to probable Eastern Crowned Warbler later that evening. Now as good a bird an Arctic Warbler is, it's no Eastern Crowned Warbler with only four previous British records and the last being at Bempton in 2016 so this news was greeted with a certain degree of twitchiness. My home schedule didn't allow a mad dash up the A1 to Bempton and I was relieved I'd held back when on 26th there was no sign of the bird. Roll on 24 hours and the bird had been seen again and successfully photographed an ..read more

Couldn't get there yesterday, couldn't get there today, can't go tomorrow, can't go Tuesday, can't see it waiting until Wednesday even if I can find the time that is. sometimes life gets in the way of this crazy hobby ..read more

News came late yesterday of a Lesser Grey Shrike at Tollesbury in Essex whilst I was busy cooking a family dinner for six so I couldn't find a way to escape. This morning I dropped my grandson at school and with news that the Shrike was still there I set off up the A12 to Tollesbury arriving a little before 10am. A quick catch up with Dave who was on his way back to the car park and I strolled on down to join the three birders remaining one of which was Mike O. so another good catch up. The bird was sat at the very top of the large distant oak but showed well in the scope. By the time I left a ..read more

Well I'm trying hard to reclaim so me time and it seems to be going ok. I'm still there running around for the kids and the grandkids when they need me. Still looking after Suzanne and still providing care almost daily for her Dad but in between all that I'm finding time to treat myself with some decent birding time. Today I woke early (out early, home early strategy) and popped over to pick Jim up before we headed up the A12 to Walton on the Naze where a Red-backed Shrike and Wryneck had been seen for a few days. Last night the sky was clear and we accepted there was a chance the birds could ..read more

So the father in law needed to see a doctor again which means I have to get to the surgery before they open at 8am and wait outside, once in I can book an appointment for today which I did although I find the system crazy in the year of 2024. You can phone at 8am but they don't answer until they've dealt with the people in line so by the time they answer all todays appointments have gone. Any way I digress, I booked the appointment for 10.40am went and did his weekly shop popped over to see him, made him breakfast took him to the doctors drove him to the pharmacy and the bank and took him home ..read more

Having missed the best of last weekends migrant fall I decided I'd try again this weekend and with the big fall on Friday and me having family commitments Saturday I thought leaving it until today might cost me but I was pleasantly surprised as we arrived at Wells Woods to find it alive with migrants. A Wryneck was reported but we didn't find it but the Warbler/Tit/Flycatcher flock was enormous.  Dominated by Spotted Flycatchers and supported by large numbers of Garden Warbler it took some work to search the entire flock but we tried. We found around six Pied Flycatcher, lot's of Willow w ..read more

A juvenile Dotterel was found at Landguard yesterday and was reported again this morning so after checking the Jims didn't want to travel for it I set off alone and arrived at 12 o'clock setting a couple of hours in the car park I walked out to the point to find several birders searching for the Dotterel but they said the bird hadn't been seen since about 9.30am when the report went out. I set about searching and walked out to the point checking the roped off area as I went. Three Wheatear a Turnstone and a lovely Purple Sandpiper were my reward for the walk and I sat down to watch and photogr ..read more