I placed a perch near my bird feeders a couple of years ago knowing that the local Sparrowhawks were regular visitors, thinking it would be perfect for them to land on. In all the times I've sat in my hideout (shed)I'd not had one land there, untill the other day when this immaculate male bird suddenly appeared in front of me, staying and eying up the small birds for about five minutes. It did'nt catch any so not had to have the mixed emotions of predator and prey ..read more

I cant keep looking on birdguides and social media every night and see other peoples sightings and photos without getting that pang of envy, especially when its a rare bird I've not seen before and its not a million miles from home, so it was with the drake Baikal Teal which had been at Greylake on the levels for a while ( I missed it last year as well ). So on a bit of a whim I decided to drive up earlyish one morning . An unusually sunny day, I arrived at Greylake to join a few other birders/photographers, ( not been here before, a nice easy site with hundreds of ducks). The Baikal Teal did ..read more

A couple of weeks ago I made a visit to Stover Lake in Devon, hoping to see the Great Crested Grebes performing their weed dance,no luck with that but happy to see the usual species showing well including a few more for my Cormorants in Willow collection.Also photograped Tufted Duck,Great Crested Grebe, Mandarin,Mute Swan, Coot, Wigeon,Mallard and Black Headed Gull. A bit dull and damp but still a good day out ..read more

A sunny day around the Exe estuary in Devon, the usual selection of bird species seen with Brent Geese being my main target.There were plenty around Starcross and Exminster marsh and a immature Spoonbill graced Bowling Green Marsh, as well as a nice pair of Shoveler at Dawlish Warren ..read more

I think my 'happy place'is just sitting in my shed/hide and watching the birds coming and going to my feeding station and small pool. I dont ever expect to see anything unuasual( the best so far being a Redpoll ) but you never know what might turn up. Here is a few of our recent visitors. Starling,Blue Tit,Robin,Nuthatch,Chaffinch,Siskin,Marsh Tit,Coal Tit, Great Tit and Blackbird ..read more

Two Bonaparte's Gulls graced the river mouth at Marazion in Cornwall recently,and when this pretty species of Gull show they tend to show really well, these were feeding very close both in the water and on the seaweed on the beach.This unafraid behavior was apparently the ondoing of one of them as reportedly it was killed by a dog ( dont know for sure weather this is actually a fact though . Hope not ..read more

On the same day as seeing the Long Tailed Duck. I had to practically pass the Short Eared Owl site so Could'nt pass up the chance of seeing these stunning birds one more time. Although very cold the sun shone and after a bit of a wait two Owls were watched hunting over the coastal fields. On one occasion one flew directly overhead looking toward me as it passed.Beautiful birds ..read more

This young Long Tailed Duck has been present on Porth reservoir in mid Cornwall for quite a while, so thought it high time I caught up with it. On a very cold frosty morning I found the bird easily enough , swimming quite close to the shoreline,I got ahead of it and tried to get low down ( lying on the frozon ground ) for some photos. Probably my best pics of this species ..read more

Just cant resist em ..read more

When someone from our photo group put a photo on our facebook page of a bird he thought was a White Crowned Sparrow, I quickly got back to him to confirm the sighting and that he should report it to the county recorder, and I would love to come down and take a look ( along with many others !). I was going away for a couple of days and hoped it would still be there when I got home. Luckily it was , so went straight down the next day to try and see it. The bird was a bit elusive at first , only giving brief views, but then I was kindly invited into the garage where the bird was showing really we ..read more