The common swift, common snipe and rook are among species slipping towards extinction in Europe, according to the continent’s latest “red list” report, which finds that one in five bird species is now at risk. From the Azores in the west to the Ural mountains in the east, birds that have been the cornerstones of […]
Tag: Black-tailed Godwit
The huge threat of climate change: Iceland’s puffins and MANY other species pay high price
Flying in on whirring wings from a fishing trip or resting beside their nesting burrows near the southern tip of Iceland, these beautiful puffins look to be at one with the environment. At Dyrholaey in southern Iceland, we watched them skilfully dodge attacks by the pirates of the sea, Arctic and great skuas as they […]
A day in Dorset
All winter I’ve wanted to get down and see the Lesser Yellowlegs at Lodmoor so yesterday we bit the bullet and drove the 160 miles down the M3 arriving around 8.15am we managed to find the target although views were not as crippling as the images I’ve been seeing. It was sat on the far […]
Radipole and Lodmoor – 13th February
I was working in Sidford, Devon again today and having finished at around 11:00 I decided to divert my route home and head for the Weymouth area for a couple of light weight rarities. First up, at Radipole RSPB was a first-winter drake Ring-necked Duck which had been present on the reserve since 4th November. […]
November and Early December
Well, November seems to have passed me by without seeing a single bird of any note while much of the UK seemed to be awash with rare Swift’s. I have barely managed to get out due to work commitments and a general low ebb in my birding enthusiasm, this comes to me once in a […]
Jizan Corniche – Jizan
This site is one of the main birding locations in the region and has good wader habitat holding the highest concentration of shorebirds along the Saudi Red Sea coast. The site is easily viewed from the cornice road and in the early morning the sun is behind the observer allowing good viewing conditions. We birded […]
A Bad dose of Hawkie
Today I had my first outing with Zak for what seems like ages. As is our wont we had a Tour de Østfold. First stop was Kurefjorden. Here we had a rising tide that seemed to bear no resemblance to that which was predicted by the tide tables but conditions were very good with all […]
Balearics at Dungeness and a Bonaparte’s at Oare
Birding has been very limited of late save a quick trip to Fairlop in the the week to catch the local Hoopoe so today we decided on a trip to Dunge for a spot of early morning sea watching. Arriving at 6.30am we were rewarded for a two hour stint with several Arctic Skua, three […]