What a Spectacle

 On the 13th January 2025 a Spectacled Eieder was found by Elian Hijne, a female Dutch birder, off the island of Texel in the Wadden Sea, which is just north of Den Helder in northern Holland. This enigmatic sea duck which breeds in Alaska and north east Siberia, but winters on the pack ice in the Bering Sea, is a real rarity in the Western Palearctic.

Over the next week or so, birdwatchers from all over Europe were traveling to Texel to get a sighting of the Eider - including lots of birders from the UK.

My mate Dave Gray started putting a plan together around the 25th of Jan for a visit to Holland for what would probably be a once in a life time view of a bird I thought I'd never see. So with Dave doing all the logistics and getting another couple of friends to join us (Paul Powel and Andy Kyriacou), on the 29th Jan we were on the overnight ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland on the Stena Britannica. After an uneventful seven and half hour crossing we arrived in Holland aound 8.00am, it was then a couple of hours drive to Den Helder to get the ferry to Texel. Dave did really well navigating through rush hour traffic around Schiphol airport in time to get the 11.00am ferry across to Texel. After 20minutes we were on the island of Texel then 30 minutes later there it was - a sea duck I never thought I would ever see........ Spectacled Eider; it was  a fair way out - too far for images with the camera, but really good views through the scope, which the images below were taken using a hand held Iphone 13.

Spectacled Eider

Spectacled Eider

After a couple of hours spent with the Spectacled Eider and some Common Eider which it was associating with, we also picked out Black-necked Grebe and Red-breasted Merganser with a few Turnstone on the shore line and a flock of Dunlin. Paul had been told by one of the local birdwatchers that when the tide went out the Eiders came closer, which was going to be about one and a half hours away, so we went for a drive around the back roads of Texel to look at the Geese flocks.

As we drove around, there were really big flocks of Brent Goose, White Fronted Goose, Barnacle Goose and Greylag Goose and also the most  Egyptian geese I've ever seen in one place!

Driving back to where the Eider were, we picked up Marsh Harrier, Buzzard and Merlin, arriving back hoping the Eider flock was closer - but sadly, if anything they had moved further out.

 After a brilliant few hours on Texel seeing our target bird, it was time to head back to the Hook of Holland for our overnight ferry back to Blighty (UK). Our mate John Hague (Shrike Birding Tours) travelled the following day to see the bird, but stayed on Texel overnight and saw a lot more species than we did, so I don't think this will be our last time on Texel

As always thanks for stopping by

 

Where Eagles Dare

Myself John Hague [Shrike Birding Tours] and Dave Gray - not the singer..... although he is also into birdwatching, went on a day trip to Crowlas in Cornwall.

We were going for a rare bird to our shores in the shape of a Booted Eagle [Hieraaetus pennatus] thought to be from Eastern or Southern Europe. We set off at 3.00am and after a uneventful journey we were on site early morning. It was being seen from a layby on the main A30, we did try from here but you were looking into the early morning sun. so we decided to go to another spot where it was being seen from, a railway bridge on the A394. After three quarters of an hour, news came that the bird had been seen from the A30 so we started walking back to the car stopping to check out a raptor sitting on a hedgerow; after a disscusion, it was agreed that it was a Common Buzzard. All of a sudden out of nowhere, a raptor was flying towards us; puttting up our binnochulars there it was - the Booted Eagle flying right above our heads, tick.

Chough

We then headed for Marazion for a few birds to add to our year list, birds of note were 3 Divers, Pacific, Black-throated and Great Northern a lone Velvet Scoter and Rock Pipit. Dave also picked up a pod of about 10 Bottled-nosed Dolphins

A quick visit to Penzance to add Purple Sanpiper to the list.

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

We finished  our little tour of Cornwall at Senen Cove, as a Bonaparte's Gull had been frequenting the bay, but sadly not while we were there. We did tick off Black Redstart feeding on the beach and bizzarely, Chough that were feeding from a bird table!  A Mediterranean Gull  was picked up by  Dave on the sea not far from the beach and also a Peregrine high above the cliff top

Booted Eagle

Booted Eagle

We had agreat day out in Cornwall, saw some great birds and has always had a few laughs. Got to thank John for driving the 600 mile or so round trip but thats what birders do, isn't it?

As always thanks for stopping by. 
 

Local Birds

 Just a quick post on a couple of interesting birds I've encounted in the last week or so. the first was a Long-tailed duck found by a good friend of mine Andy Smith on his patch at Thornton Reservoir.

Long-tailed Duck Thornton Reservoir

The second bird was a Great-spotted Woodpecker that came on to the feeders in the garden. We have had this species fly over and perch in adjoining gardens, but the first time we have seen one in the garden.

Great-spotted Woodpecker

The woodpecker images were taken through glass because I didn't  want to disturb it,

As always thanks for stopping by

Shetland 2024

This years pilgrimage to Shetland for Andy Smith, Dave Gray and myself started on the 4th of October; we were going for 10 days, arriving back home on the15th. Our drive up to Aberdeen was interupted by a  stop off at Templeton Wood, Dundee for Red Squirrel, a species I had not seen in the UK  - and thanks to Dave who spotted one not that from the car park, Tick, sadly no images.

Our ferry crossing aboard the Hjaltland was a decent crossing, lumpy at times but all in all  good........ I've had worse. Our first port of call was our usual breakfast at the Fjara cafe in Lerwick.A walk after breki at the side of the Voe produced Purple Sandpiper, Rock Pipit, snipe and Redshank  and a few more of the commoner birds on Shetland. Just across the road at Clickimin loch was very showy Barred Warbler, best veiws I've had of one this species.

Barred Warbler

Barred Warbler at Clickimin Loch Lerwick

I'm going to try not to bore you with all the list of birds we saw but try to just concentrate with the more interesting ones. Not from Clickimin is the Burn of Sound where again a quite showy Little Bunting had taken up residence, once again a brilliant view of the bird.

The 60 degree North sign on the main A970 which runs the length of the mainland, probably one of the most photographed signs on Shetland apart from the vllage of Twatt sign. We then headed to our chalet Sheepfold our accommadation at Bigton.

Sheepfold, our accommodation for our 10 day stay.

We always go out trying to find our own birds but will always go and see birds that other birders have found. We only went off the main island once - to Yell - where a good report had been made of a possible sighting of a Common Nighthawk (an American species); sadly, however, when the bird was re-found asleep in the corner of a field, it turned out to be a Nightjar - still an excellent bird for Shetland!

Turtle Dove 

Turtle Dove which has taken up residence in a garden in Sandwick

Turnstone on Ireland village beach

This is the tombola at St Ninians Island

One of the Starlings we fed every day

Snipe on our walk down Sea Road in Lerwick

Sanderling

Ringed Plover - lots of these on he beaches and in fields

Redwing - a massive influx of Redwing came in the middle of our first week

Redshank on the same wall as the Snipe on Sea Road

Red Grouse - a bird mostly seen on the west of the mainland - this image was taken after a walk up the Burn of Bunklet

Purple Sandpiper

Purple Sandpipers, again down Sea Road in Lerwick - a reliable site for these birds

Lesser Whitethroat at Hoswick - probable (?) halimodendri 

Lapland Bunting

Lapland Bunting which was feeding by the roadside at Scousburgh - and whilst watching this bird, we had a heavy hailstorm which came down so hard that the hailstones hurt!!

Pallas's Warbler

Pallas's Warbler (record shot) at Swinning

Nightjar

Nightjar - this is the bird on Yell which got confused with Common Nighthawk

The bird was flushed from the roadside, and had only been seen in flight.

House Sparrow; Shetland, has a really good population of this species

Hooded Crow; you can see lots of this species - and this year, of all the years we have been going to Shetland we saw more Raven than ever before.

Curlew; lots seen in various fields

Cattle Egret (??or is it a Shhep Egret??) at Sandwick Kirk

Arctic Warbler at the Bridge of Fitch, Njuggal's Water; once again we had superb views of this 

normally elusive little bird

Black Guillemot  - this one was in Lerwick Harbour but the species can easily be seen in 

many of the voe's

Snow Bunting at Oswick, at he Orca Inn Hotel - and again, a very confiding bird. Also at this site was Wood Warbler, (not seen by me), Yellow-browed Warbler (also not seen by me)

 and Blackcap (which I DID see!!)

Snow Bunting, unusually took to the Sycamore trees to feed

Arctic Warbler

Little Bunting - another confiding bird at The Burn of Sound, Lerwick

Despite not seeing any new species, we still had a brilliant ten days; as well as the birds in the images above,  we also had (amongst others) Red-breasted Flycatcher at Maywick, Bluethroat at Channerwick, another confiding Barred Warbler in Hoswick, White-winged Scoter at Wadbister (which had originally been identified as a Velvet Scoter), Scaup at Loch of Spiggie along with Lesser Scaup at Loch Vatster and two Slavonian Grebe at Loch Tingwall.

This year, the weather wasn't very kind to us in as much as the winds blew Northerly for six out of the ten days, which isn't good for Shetland - but what we did see - and I was SOOOOO excited - was a magnificent showing of the Aurora Borealis! Sadly, all of the images of this wonderful spectacle are on my phone - and as you all probably know by now, I'm something of a technophobe (or dinosaur if you prefer)  I will endeavour to get some assistance over this, though,  as I would love to share them with you all.

We saw 89 species and from door to door traveled 1615 miles

As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my post.

First for Britain

Just a quick post before we head for Shetland at the end of next week. A phyllosc Warbler that had been first seen at Bempton RSPB on the 25th September  first identified as a Arctic Warbler then a Eastern-crowned Warbler , but with some excellent work was sound recorded and identified as a Pale-legged Leaf-Warbler, a first live bird for Britain. A bird picked up dead in 2016 was confirmed as a Pale-leeged Leaf-Warbler. So insead of myself, John Hague, Dave Gray going to our regular game of satuarday non-legue football, another birding mate Neil Howes picked us up for the 2.5hr drive to east coast of Yorkshire and Bempton Cliffs RSPB reserve. We knew there was going to be a lot of birders but fair play to the the RSPB wardens and volunteers who managed the site excellenly,  and also to all the birders who behaved themselves. If you were patient and stood still, eventually you would get decent views of the bird, and we all did. 

A couple of record images are bleow. 

Pale-legged Leaf Warbler

Thanks as always for stopping by, bringon Shetland