We made our first visit of the year to Minsmere this morning, arriving around 7am we headed along the north wall footpath, hearing several Nightingales among the north bushes. Our first Cuckoo of the year was heard as we scanned the area for Stone Curlew. As we approached the new boardwalk section a Grasshopper Warbler was heard "reeling" within the reeds. The new boardwalk now takes you directly to East Hide without the need to go onto the beach. Several scans of East Scrape produced a male Garganey, two Greenshank, Knot, Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwits, Med Gulls, and our 2nd addition to ..read more

A Wood Warbler was reported at Rainham Marshes yesterday,  Brian and I hadn't seen one in London before, so were eager to make the trip. It's only a short distance from home and twenty-five minutes later we were parked in the car park. We headed down the ramp and past Purfleet Scrape towards the Cordite Store area, where the bird had been reported from earlier. As we turned the corner we could see a small group of birders looking towards a group of Willows and brambles. As we joined them the Wood Warbler began singing. Although it sang regularly during our visit it remained largely hidden ..read more

Brian had a rare free day, so we decided to head north to Frampton Marsh this morning. We arrived around 8am and quickly found the Lesser Yellowlegs feeding at the edge of one of the pools close to the car park. The Black-winged Stilt was also found although it was at a much greater distance than the Yellowlegs. A Short-eared Owl flew across the flooded fields and was mobbed by Avocets and Black-tailed Godwits. We spent plenty of time scanning the flooded grasslands and enjoyed views of  Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Great Egret, Spotted Redshank, Ruff, and Greenshank. The Greenshank was ..read more

A few hours spent at Fishers Green in the Lee Valley on Monday failed to produce any sight or sound of any Nightingales, even though Brian had, heard a singing bird the previous day.  This morning we headed for Abberton Reservoir and immediately heard a Nightingale singing as soon as we left the car. We walked the approach road to the reserve and heard at least six Nightingales. However, seeing one proved much more difficult. I eventually managed brief views of a single bird. We moved along to the causeway and found an Arctic Tern resting on a small buoy on the water between both causeway ..read more

Today we had a free morning to go birding, so we headed north to Cavenham Heath in Suffolk. The first Stone Curlew was spotted as soon as we scanned the heathland. We eventually managed to find five individuals. Five Wheatears were also present as well as several Stonechats. A flock of Linnets contained a single Lesser Redpoll and Skylarks were displaying overhead. Red Kite, Buzzard, and Kestrel were the only raptors seen. Start of one of the trails We headed further north to Lakenheath, where we scanned Hockwold Washes and eventually found two drakes and a female Garganey. We walke ..read more

Brian and Dad had different commitments today, so a trip to the KGV Reservoir had to wait until late afternoon. A walk up the slope to the causeway soon produced several Wheatear. At least four males and a single female were found. I scanned the north basin and found the Slavonian Grebe that has been present since the 8th of December. As we scanned the reservoir two Sand Martin flew across the River Lea for another addition to the year list. The main reason for the trip to the reservoir was for a reported Ring Ouzel, it was reported as on the path on the east side. Unfortunately, Thames Water ..read more

An early morning visit to Frampton Marsh today. We pulled into the car park and spotted the Lesser Yellowlegs immediately. It was feeding along the muddy edges close to the car park fence. A large herd of Whooper Swans was resting on the water in the northwest corner. We were still in the car park when they flew directly overhead toward their favoured feeding areas in the nearby fields. There were large numbers of Pintail, Wigeon, and Teal on the water known as the reservoir. We wandered along the track, and while checking out a small wader on the Marsh Farm Grassland, Brian found the Green-wi ..read more

We had made plans to visit Weeting on the 28th Febuary, however these plans had to be changed at the last minute. Today was our first chance since then to visit, the weather forecast was not looking good, in fact it was looking pretty grim, with heavy rain showers predicted. We put the rain gear on, but were greeted with sunshine upon arrival!  We parked by ride 47 and followed the track to the clearfell. It took several scans of the area before eventually finding the shrike. I had brief views of it in flight, then enjoyed much better views when it  perched at the top of a tall tree ..read more

We had a spare couple of hours this morning, so popped over to the reservoir in search of the Red-necked Grebe. Scanning the north basin we soon found Great Crested and Little Grebes in good numbers. Another scan and we spotted the Slavonian Grebe among a small flock of Tufted Ducks. The main target had still eluded us thus far but after numerous scans, the Red-necked Grebe was found. It was distant, and not far from the west bank. It was diving frequently, and no sooner had it surfaced than it would dive again. Two Great Crested Grebes in the same area proved to be very useful in relocating t ..read more

A birthday trip to Norfolk this morning. The Black Scoter was our main target, but we knew before we set off it was going to be a difficult challenge. We arrived at Lady Anne's Drive around 8am and had a quick scan for the Green-winged Teal that had been found on the 21st. We failed to find it among the mixed flocks of Eurasian Teal, Wigeon, and Lapwings, but we didn't spend very long looking as we wanted as much time searching for the Black Scoter as possible. We headed along the boardwalk toward the beach, only to find the tide had almost completely covered the bay. All that was left was a t ..read more