This blog is at risk of becoming Simon’s Pygmy Owl blog, but this is the time of year when they are relatively easy to find and they are a great bird! My birding day started with the Maridalen bird but he was sat quite high up and soon flew to other side of a large […]
Tag: Kingfisher

Brazil Pantanal Day #3 – Fish Fest
Another great day in the Pantanal, despite the increasing mosquito load. The morning boat trip with Pantanal Nature produced another Jaguar encounter, our fifth in total. We intercepted a huge male swimming across the river, just too late before it reached the shore and disappeared promptly into the forest: Again we had breathtaking experiences with […]

Back In Action
I am pleased to report that I am now mobile and back in action following recent surgery. I was looking forward to return to some of my favourite locations to catch up on the comings and goings. For my first visit I chose to go to Mere Sands Nature Reserve to hopefully see the kingfishers […]

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 […]

Birding Highlights of 2017
The birding wasn’t bad with ten lifers eventually plucked out following a very slow start. January saw Pine Bunting added and then the next tick didn’t come along until 11th June when the Elegant Tern was found down at Church Norton. In July I manged to get on the Marsh Sandpiper at Cliffe Pools in […]

Mana first afternoon
October in Mana Pools in the Zambezi valley below the escarpment is called suicide month, for a good reason. In the five days we were there, three of them averaged 43 degrees centigrade in the shade and 53 in the direct sun in the early afternoon. Part of the reason for visiting Mana at this […]

Winter visitors – Jubail
Whilst birding Jubail recently I have come across a number of winter visitors to the region. Common Kestrel is an uncommon passage migrant but numbers build up in the winter months when they can be seen in various locations. Isabelline Wheatear numbers also increase as winter wears on and they can be seen along the […]

Serengeti birdlife in spring
It was mid-September in the western Corridor of the Serengeti. A bit early for most of the migrants, but there were a few early arrivals. The resident avian population in the Serengeti at this time of the year is diverse and would gladden any bird lover’s heart. There was also a wide variety of habitats […]