ROSS SEA TO BECOME THE WORLD'S LARGEST PROTECTED AREA

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GILROY BLACK TAILED GODWITS LOSE THERE HOME!

A flooded field next to Gilroy nature park on the Wirral has been drained by instruction from Wirral borough council.This site is internationally important for numbers of Black Tailed Godwits with numbers dramatically increasing over the last nine years into there thousands.
For further information about this please click on the link below and please spread the word on Twitter and Facebook and lets flood the council with complaints.
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BIRDGUIDES REVIEW OF RARE BIRDS THIS WEEK IN BRITAIN 19th to 25th OCTOBER 2016

REVIEW OF THE WEEK CLICK ON THIS LINK
BY JOSH JONES

PHOTO OF THE WEEK 19th-25th OCT 2016

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RSPB-BITTERN BABY BOOM

The Bittern has experienced its most successful year yet for breeding, according to an annual national survey carried out by RSPB staff and volunteers.CLICK ON LINK

PALE LEGGED/SAKHALIN LEAF WARBLER- ISLES OF SCILLY

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BIRDGUIDES WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

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BIRDING AFTERNOON ON THE WIRRAL

I called in at Burton RSPB this afternoon and was rewarded with four Cattle egrets on the island pool in front of the reception.

Cattle Egrets

There have been five around the reserve the last few days. If I had been 10 minutes earlier, I would have seen the fifth bird, which had flown along with a Great White Eagle. Anyway, with time approaching high tide, I made my way to Parkgate. On arrival, I soon picked up a female ringtail, Hen Harrier, and a Peregrine sat out on the marsh.

 Female Ring Tailed Hen Harrier

As I was scoping the Peregrine, the prize bird appeared: the male Hen Harrier, one of my favourite species.

Male Hen Harrier

What a bird! The Hen harrier showed well and gave all the birders on site good views. Out of all of the UK's birds of prey, this species is the most intensively persecuted. It was an absolute joy to watch, and long may we all help this stunning species to thrive from persecution.

Little Egrets

Other birds of note were 2 Ravens overhead and a distant Marsh Harrier. Little egret numbers were well over 70, and then I gave up counting; they were everywhere. Who would have thought that our first record at Leasowe in 1988 would lead to these numbers in 2016.
If you ever visit Parkgate, there is a high tide birdwatch, which the RSPB organises. I have put when the next events are held on my blog.

Parkgate Marsh

SIBERIAN ACCENTOR-EASINGTON-SPURN

Well, now five Siberian accentors have turned up in Britain, yes, five! So I decided, after working all weekend, to go to Spurn and do some birding and hopefully see another one of these mega species after seeing the first record in Shetland.

On arrival, I walked up to the back of the old school at Easington. There were only about ten birders present, and I was put on the bird straight away. The Siberian Accentor was only a few feet away from the fence and was happily foraging away.

Britain's second Siberian Accentor 

As you can see, the bird was showing really well and was a cracking find by Lance Degan. Writing this tonight, there are now nearly 65 Siberian accentors seen across Europe! As I was watching the birds, news came through that the Isabelline Wheatear was showing well near the boatyard, so I got off. The Isabelline Wheatear was soon picked up in a ploughed field with two Shorelarks and three Bramblings. The bird was distant, so I managed to get some record shots.

Issabelline Wheatear

Brambling

Moving on to Spurn, the fields were full of Fieldfares and Redwings as I was driving. I pulled over in the car and watched hundreds of them feeding in the stubble fields.

Fieldfare and Redwing

Reaching Spurn, I parked the car and headed to the Bluebell car park, where I had great views of two Shorelarks feeding in a nearby field.

Shorelark

There were so many birds around as you were walking about. Siskins were in good numbers, and I've never seen so many Robins and Goldcrests; they were everywhere.

Goldcrest

Sisken

A quick stop off at the Crown and Anchor pub garden produced a Yellow-browed warbler and a Firecrest, but they only showed for a matter of seconds in blustery conditions, so no record shots, but not as though I didn't try; I just gave up.

The estuary was very quiet as it was low tide, but I did see Reed Bunting, Wheatear, and a few Grey Plover.

 Grey Plover

 Wheatear

Reed Bunting

After a great day birding, I headed home, leaving Spurn behind. What a magical place this is for birds, and hopefully it won't be long before I return.

I had to take a photograph of this sign as I saw my first Pallas's warbler sitting on it many moons ago

PHOTO OF THE WEEK 12TH-18TH OCT 2016

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SOMERSET COMMON CRANE FOUND SHOT DEAD

News broke today [18 October 2016] that one of the Great Crane Project's most famous reintroduced Common Cranes was sadly found shot dead in late September CLICK HERE

SIBERIAN ACCENTOR MADNESS!

As I sit here writing this, a week after I was planning a trip to Shetland in the morning to see a Siberian Accentor, a first for Britain, astonishingly, a further three birds have been recorded on the mainland. The first individual was found on Thursday by Lance Degan at the end of Vicars Lane, Easington, East Yorkshire. The bird is still there today (Sunday) and has been seen by hundreds of birders, as the picture below shows.

Birders queuing to see the Siberian Accentor

Britain's second Siberian Accentor 

On Saturday afternoon, another individual was found at Huntcliff in Saltburn, Cleveland, by Damien Money (PIC HERE). Incredible to think we are now on the 3rd bird in a week, and then today (Sunday) the MEGA alert went off again at Hendon in County Durham, where the 4th individual was found at the docks (PIC HERE). 4th for Britain in a week! Crazy! This was just a birders' dream bird this time last week! Watch this space, we could see five by tomorrow. 

UPDATED 26th OCTOBER 2016

As I sit here updating my blog this afternoon, another Siberian Accentor has just been found at Houbie in Shetland, which now makes this bird the 10th for Britain. Numbers of this species have also dramatically increased across Europe.

158 Siberian accentor's have now been recorded since the 4th-26th Oct: SWE(59), FIN(45), DEN(10), GBR(10), GER(7), EST(6), POL(6), NOR(6), LAT(5), LIT(3), and NED(1) INCREDIBLE!

UNPRECEDENTED INFLUX OF SIBERIAN ACCENTORS

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YELLOW BROWED WARBLER-HOUGHTON GREEN POND

I was passing Warrington this morning so I called in to see the the Yellow browed warbler that Colin Davies had found on his patch on tuesday.I hadn't been to Houghton green pond for years and couldn't get over how it had changed.

HOUGHTON GREEN POND

I met up with Colin whist I was there and we soon heard the Yellow Browed warbler calling in some sycamore trees and then it flew into the willows in front of us and showed really well.

YELLOW BROWED WARBLER

This bird was a cracking find by Colin on his patch, and it was nice to visit the site again after so many years . Other birds of note were Green Sandpiper and 16 Wigeon.

RSPB LAST CHANCE TO SECURE PROTECTION FOR BRITAINS SEABIRDS

The RSPB has warned that better protection at sea is critical if the decline of Britain's rarest seabirds is to be halted.CLICK ON LINK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK 5TH-11TH OCT 2016

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BIRDGUIDES REVIEW OF RARE BIRDS THIS WEEK IN BRITAIN 5th to 11th OCTOBER 2016

REVIEW OF THE WEEK CLICK ON THIS LINK
BY JOSH JONES

FINDERS ACCOUNT OF THE SIBERIAN ACCENTOR-SHETLAND

Finders-in-the-field: Siberian Accentor on Shetland, a British first CLICK HERE
By Hugh Harrop and Judd Hunt

SIBERIAN ACCENTOR-SHETLAND

Whilst out yesterday afternoon shopping, I got a phone call from Simon Slade, one of my birding mates and new straight away it was a mega bird. I couldn't believe it when he said"Siberian Accentor".I told Simon I would ring him back, I needed to get organised as twitch mode had set in. What a bird, a first for Britain. I couldn't miss this, I rang my mate Sean Cole, and before I had even said anything, he had sorted a private flight out for us. Happy days! Stress over.

The morning couldn't come soon enough, and before I knew it, I was boarding the plane with Sean Cole, Adrian Webb and James Hanlon after news had come out that the bird was still there. Twitch on! The weather was clear all the way up to Shetland, and we had great aerial views on the way.

Fair Isle

Sean kept us all entertained on the flight

Three hours later, we landed at Sumburgh airport and piled straight into a taxi. On arrival, Chris Batty put us straight on where the bird was; it had gone into some nettles. I must have waited nearly five minutes for the Siberian Accentor to appear; it felt like a lifetime, and then it flew up onto the quarry face. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, what a bird. I had spent the previous evening reading how it had never stopped feeding; it was going to be a clear night, and it would be gone in the morning. All that apprehension had gone; I had seen it!

My first view of the bird

 

The bird continued to show well for the next two hours while we were there, down to a few metres at times, constantly foraging for food. What a journey this bird had made! Siberian Accentors breed in northern Siberia on both sides of the Urals. They are migratory, wintering in south-east Asia, but to appear in a small quarry in Shetland was remarkable.

Sibetastic!

What a day! A great bird, great surroundings and nice to share the moment with so many fellow twitchers I have met and made good friends with over the years.

Looking from the quarry towards St Ninian's Isle

A last look at the Siberian Accentor and we're off to the Sumburgh hotel for a pint and some food.

A monster of Sibe deserves a celebratory pint!

The boys had clearly celebrated the night before  

A quick check around Sumburgh farm and the nearby quarries produced Lesser Whitethroat, Twite, Yellow-browed Warbler, Fulmar and a Goldcrest.

 Twite

 Fulmar

 Goldcrest

Lesser whitethroat

After a great day, we headed for the airport, all happy with a cracking new Sibe on are lists!

What a day!