Spoon-billed Sandpiper David Lindo and I go back a long way, all the way back to page 122 paragraph 2 in his entertaining book The Urban Birder where I am lovingly referred to as “… a birder in Cley…”. David and I have maintained a strong, albeit sometimes distant, bond since that day. It was […]
Female Red-breasted Flycatcher (Tom Mason) Last May, I had an extraordinary birding experience in Latvia. Literally thousands of migrants all over the areas that I visited. Read about it in a forthcoming edition of Bird Watching Magazine. End of commercial break.
Mute Swans (Russell F Spencer) It’s a brand new year and as with the previous countless years, many vows are made ranging from trying to be a better person through to making more effort to go birding more frequently. I’m not one for resolutions, but I am about to make one now. A very public […]
The 2011 London Bird Report The latest LBR, as it is affectionately known, plopped onto my doormat last week. Being a London-based birder I am naturally very interested in learning about the avian occurrences in my home city. I have avidly studied the pages of the successive editions of the LBR for more years than […]
The Scrubs: A view looking east from Braybrook Street The last embers of 2013 are flickering, drawing to conclusion a year of contrasts for my beloved local patch, Wormwood Scrubs. We have thus far had the joint best year for the most amount of species seen on and over the site – 98. All year […]
Jay What a gorgeous day this morning was. Indeed, the afternoon was pretty good too. Blue skies, a touch nippy it had to be said. Today was the day that I led a Urban Birding Masterclass sponsored by Leica Mayfair Store. They gave the participants a lush pair of Ultravids to use for the duration […]
Another great Serbian Long-eared winter trip over. My group were well happy with over 800 Long-eared Owls plus an array of other birds that included Barn and Little Owls, Hen and Marsh Harriers, Common Buzzards, Merlin, Kestrels, Caspian Gulls, Spoonbills, 3 Red-breasted Geese and c12,000 White-fronted Geese. Male Bearded Tit The same male Beardie Female […]
I’m back in Serbia again for another Long-eared Weekender. Whenever I tell people that you can see hundreds of Long-eared Owls very easily I am usually met with by wonderment. But there are people out there that simply just can’t believe that that many owls can be seen. Well my message to you doubters is […]
This book is definitely one for the Christmas wish list. Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle’s exhaustive study of this prettiest of the bird families in the Americas is eye watering. The detail that these lads go into is astounding! Being based in the UK means that I don’t come into contact with too many of […]
TUB with the great Keith Hackland As if I haven’t already gone on about it enough, I have to say that my recent trip to Texas was an eye-opener. I expected a landscape similar to what I experienced in and around Tucson, Arizona – dusty desert. Instead, I was surprised as to how lush some […]
The Ring Ouzel plate from Richard Crossley’s ID Guide to Birds of Britain & Ireland I’m back home after a superb 10 days exploring the Rio Grande Valley in southeastern Texas. I have come back to a grey, cold London with the prospect of snow high on the cards. Down at Wormwood Scrubs we are […]
Some of my favourite shots from Aransas. Lesser Yellowlegs Magnificent Frigatebird Ultra rare Whooping Cranes Western Willet Whooping Cranes with Sandhill Cranes Great Blue Heron Western Willet Common Tern Roseate Spoonbill
Three hours drive from the Rio Grande Valley on the northern tip of Mustang Island lies the town of Port Aransas. It had a quaint seaside feel to it with lots of local Texan businesses, hardly any of the big chains and a load of great birding sites. I was the guest of the Port […]
Ospreys were all over the place Curve-billed Thrasher Eastern Screech Owl Cassin’s Sparrow Least Grebe White-tailed Kite American Kestrel Northern Shoveler Ladder-backed Woodpecker Western Sandpiper White-tailed Hawk
The Rio Grande Valley in Texas really is a birding paradise. Think of this: an area around 140 x 40 miles that has recorded over 500 species of bird. It is singularly one of the best areas to go birding in the whole of US – which is a mighty big place as you all […]
By far the highlight of my Texan adventure was my invitation to the Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival which celebrated it’s 20th year this week. My thanks to South Texas Nature, Marci Fuller the rest of the Feastival team and my great friend and all round nice guy, Keith Hackland at Alamo Inn & B&B. […]
Laughing Gulls Grey Catbird Laughing Gull portrait Long-eared Owl – an extreme rarity in this part of Texas Double-crested Cormorant Peregrine Brown Pelicans Turkey Vulture Northern Crested Caracara Orange-crowned Warbler Osprey – one of many! Tricoloured Heron
Common Pauraque Male Black-throated Green Warbler Golden-fronted Woodpecker A gorgeous butterfly Long-billed Thrasher Eastern Phoebe Green Jay Queen Butterflies Another Queen Butterfly Eastern Fox Squirrel Plain Chachchalaca Another Queen Butterfly
Somewhere over America The day has finally come and I’m on my way to southeast Texas where it meets the Mexican border to attend and speak at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival – the largest in the US I’m led to believe. I will be out here for the next 10 days. Trouble is […]
The last moments of autumn are draining away and soon we will be facing winter and all that it will bring. It’s funny that in the summer you forget what it is like to be cold and in the winter feeling the hot sun beat down on your back is a distant memory. I visited […]