I had a few hours to spare after dropping Tobias at school and so had a quick wander around the marshes. Wandering along the Ancient Highway past Efford Lagoon there were now 42 Tufted Duck, my highest count yet, while 25 Swallow and three Sand Martin foraged overhead. I spent some time grilling a Common […]
Tag: Pintail
Mongolia – 11th May (Day 4) – Travel from Ullanbataar to Dalanzadgad
Today was mainly a driving day 570km south from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad passing through the Gobi Desert with a few stops, mainly at lakes, en-route. The landscape was vast, stark and barren, mainly flat with a few rocky outcrops and dominated by gravel plains with sparse grass. The common birds here were Horned Lark, Asian […]
Oslo in a nutshell
I took in quite a few of Oslo’s best localities today in chilly temperatures but without the rain that was forecast and with few new birds. Maridalen had 3 Lapwings in the morning but 6 by the afternoon which were stood on the ice – hopefully these (and more to come) will breed in the […]
A few more migrants return
Today saw me on a solo run up to Minsmere with a quick stop at Dunwich Heath on the way in and Abberton on the way home. I ticked Dartford and Cetti’s Warbler on the heath before making my way to North Hide at Minsmere where I quickly found a drake Garganey and smart pair […]
Oslo Iceland
I needed a good day to lift me out of the doldrums currently being caused by a severe case of Trump Fatigue Syndrome and I got it – thank you bird gods! The day started with the Sørkedalen Hawk Owl before 9am. This bird has been seen very occasionally over the last two months (although […]
Pintail on ice
A new day and a new weather system. Overnight rain, clouds and a fresh southerly wind were not the best birding conditions and wasn’t eve sure I would bother but eventually decided that it might be worth checking the sea off Fornebu. Not much to write down in the notebook here except for a few […]
Pintail decline rings alarm bells
The pintail could be the latest addition to wildfowl conservation priorities after new figures from WWT and others show numbers have fallen by more than half since 2006. The findings are published in Waterbirds in the UK, the annual report of the Wetland Bird Survey, which counts all waterbirds on the UK’s major wetlands. Pintail […]
Wading birds declining in the UK (Photos)
The magical wildlife spectacle of hundreds of thousands of wading birds converging on British estuaries could be under threat as research shows big declines in some of the most familiar species. Results from the Wetland Bird Survey reveals that ringed plovers, oystercatchers, redshank and dunlin are among the eight most abundant species overwintering on UK […]