Best birds of mstw 2013 Part 2. The summertime was predictably quiet, but on 11th July one of the best birds of the year was seen (infact one of the best ever). Spadge saw a common crane flying low along the river. Despite an intensive search it couldn’t be re-found. A tree sparrow with a youngster was a good sign and up to seven green sandpipers were logged. Green sand is one of the iconic birds of Marston, being seen in every month this year, along with cetti’s warbler (though mostly heard, rather than seen). In August lots of gulls were … Continue reading Best of Marston stw 2013

Dunsby Fen 28/12/13 Steve Godson and I decided to go out for the afternoon yesterday with the initial plan being to go to Stainby to see what Red Kites were about and the move onto to either Hawthorpe or Dunsby Fen to see what Short Eared Owls we could meet up with. On the way from my home we decided to miss out Stainby and go to Hawthorpe first, this was mainly so I could show Steve the area where all the action takes place as he went before with his wife on a recce mission and was not sure … Continue reading Dunsby Fen 28/12/13

  Marston’s best birds 2013 Part 1 Not a lot of anything too spectacular in the first couple of months, but a single waxwing for 10 minutes along Mill lane on 4th Jan was a treat. Cetti’s and water rails were heard regularly, seen occasionally. Red kite was spotted a time or two. Come the month of March and Mstw enjoyed a bit of a purple patch.  On the 18th a short-eared owl floated over the reedbed. DM had earlier photographed a couple of twite and he relocated them on the 19th, a superb inland record. They stayed around for another two or … Continue reading The best of Marston stw 2013.

 3 Amigos go wandering & no Ivory Gull! Spadgebirder, Dave R and I arranged to go out for the day yesterday 17th Dec as I had my last days holiday to waste! Should we go to see the Ivory Gull, we are not ones for massive crowds really, especially Spadge & I so we happily moved to plan B. We decided to start at the Budby Common, Notts to see if we could catch up with the 12 or so Parrot Crossbills that are in the area at the moment. From there we would decide where to go next. We … Continue reading 3 Amigos go wandering & no Ivory Gull!

  Twitch. Over the river in E Yorks. 08.00 Weekly shop at Aldi. 09.30 Check birdguides. Yessss, Ivory gull still there. 09.33 Dump shopping in kitchen, dump birding gear in car. 09.40 Depart G town and step on the gas 11.10 Slow down slightly over the bridge. 11.45 Arrive. 12.10 Approach stakeout. 12.15 First glimpse of distant white speck c.2 km away on shore. 12.26 Distant white speck flies a bit closer, looking whiter than Santa’s beard, unmistakably an Ivory. 13.15 Still distant, but good views through the scope, darker bits of plumage noted. 13.25 Got a couple of digi-scoped … Continue reading Ivory gull, Patrington Haven. 16/12/2013

  On the 19th Dec. 2009, I saw a duck at Denton res that in all other respects was a bog-standard tufted, apart from a bright blue bill ! My only ideas at the time were that it was a hybrid with a ruddy duck, but knew this was unlikely. It’s bugged me ever since. Fast forward four years to this Tuesday (10/12/2013), when I found another tufty at the same site, with the same bill colour. It was only when I got my telescope on it that I  discovered it was tagged (nasal saddle) I could then read the numbers. From a distance and … Continue reading Duck mystery finally solved…