Another morning at Pennington Marshes was needed and I was on site by 06:00. It was remarkably cold for this late in the year with a north-easterly wind blowing and so I set off with fleece and gloves. Birding Efford lagoon it was apparent that the Swift, Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin were struggling […]
Tag: Whimbrel
Rain and Dotterel
As Hannibal Smith was prone to say: I love it when a plan comes together. We haven’t had rain for over a week and none is forecast for the coming week either but overcast skies and the chance of showers this morning got me excited. Rain in May brings down migrants and especially waders and […]
Plenty of waders – Dhahran Expro Wader Roost
A trip to the Dhahran Expro Wader Roost produced plenty of waders of a good variety of species. The tide was not ideal but plenty of birds were along the edges including both Lesser and Greater Sand Plovers in small numbers. Curlew Sandpipers, Eurasian Curlew, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwits and Dunlins had the largest number of […]
August Migrant Shorebirds
I visited Daijyugarami, Saga prefecture, last Friday to see what birds had started migrating through. The highlights were a solitary juvenile Asian Dowitcher, a Long-billed Dowitcher in breeding plumage, a Red Knot also in breeding plumage, a Broad-billed Sandpiper, a Long-toed Stint, four Black-faced Spoonbill, one Saunders’s Gull, a few Black-tailed Godwit and plenty of […]
Rare white-throated needletail killed by wind turbine
Hundreds of twitchers travelled the length of the country to see the “bird of the century” – only for it to fly into a wind turbine and die. Bird-spotters were ecstatic about the first UK sighting of the rare white-throated needletail since 1991. But their excitement soon turned to horror when it hit the 120ft […]
Up and down and again…
This Spring is surely the one to be reminded as one of the least stable migration we had for years down in the Arava. While some morning start in full swing and there seems to be birds on every bush in the Arava and the sky are filled with migrating raptors, we have many mornings […]
Fort De Soto, 4/21/2013
My father and I had a fantastic time at Fort De Soto this morning. We went hoping for some nice migrants, and we came home with twelve species of warbler, including my first Black-throated Green. Here’s a list of all the warblers we saw in the park: Black-and-white Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, […]