YBW

Anya and I had a chance to go a see Nige's YBW today. It showed well at times and called for a about a minute twice in the hour we were there. Photography was tricky but I'm reasonably pleased with the results. It's quite nice to see a YBW at eye-level rather than in the tree tops.

More Crests

A wonder round Bockhill this morning didn't produce the goodie I was hoping for. Best birds included 20 Crossbill, 50 Siskin, 5 Firecrest and 4 Ring Ouzel. Maybe it'll happen next weekend ?!

Birding Sandwich Bay

Spent my lunchtime at the Bay a couple of times last week. After getting excellent views of the Radde's Warbler I hoped for some more decent birds to turn up. No such luck, only a few Firecrests were seen in the Elms. With no birds to look at a Stoat provided the entertainment attacking a rabbit.
On the way home today I stopped at the scrape where two Jack Snipe showed very well in front of the hide. Much better views than yesterday. Unfortunately at that time it was nearly dark making photography nearly impossible.

Wryneck at Hope Point

I spent a little bit of time this afternoon at Hope Point where a Wryneck had been showing well throughout the day. When I arrived a few people were still looking but the bird hadn't been seen for the last 30 min. After a while one chap picked it up flying from the rough towards the path where it landed showing well on and off. Two Raven were also seen flying along the cliff.

Afternoon birding

I only was able to go birding in the afternoon yesterday and hence missed most of the birds seen earlier in the day. A walk round Bockhill still resulted in good numbers of Chiffchaffs, Thrushes and Hirundines with the occasional flock of Goldfinches, a few Firecrests and 3 Crossbills thrown in. The Empty Wood was not completely empty for once and held a couple of Chiffchaffs and one Yellow-browed Warbler, which eventually showed reasonably well in the tree tops.

Family holiday on Menorca

We had a very nice and enjoyable time on Menorca during our family holiday. I’ve only had little time for birding and hence didn’t see many birds. The few I saw included Cory’s Shearwater, Audouin’s Gull, Booted Eagles, Egyptian Vulture, Osprey, Nightjar, Pallid Swift, Tawny Pipit, Blue Rock Thrush, Great Reed Warbler, Fan-tailed Warbler, Woodchat and Great Grey Shrike. I was pleased to see Thekla Lark which was a new species for me.

Fan-tailed Warbler at Pegwell

Had a wander around Pegwell yesterday afternoon as the Warbler had been reported again. After an hour I noticed a small bird drop into the vegetation behind the hide. Shortly after it flew up on top of a nearby bush and started calling. The Fan-tailed Warbler showed well on and off for about 20 min but was quite flighty and remained fairly distant throughout.