saturday 14/08/2021

 short eared owl 1

gbb gull 1 west

willow warbler 1

pied wagtail 2

reed bunting 3

hail the new number one, the eagle of the sea

 up till friday the nutcracker in staffs was my favourite bird seen in britain given it was the day i got my first car and suddenley had freedom.

saturday van full of dirty diesel up early and feeling lucky off to bempton, i must be the only person not to have a great photo of the albatross 

about 2 miles off had an alert off birdguides its there now!!!

parked up and off 

still a few people around,but no one talks much now so headed to the first viewpoint nothing but from the whispers its sat on the cliffs no chance nothing after 30 minutes its flying! the guy next to me who never spoke just set off to new roll up veiw point so i followed 

its was rammed mostly birders and friendly people, got a spot then there it was just circling the bay like a massive powerful flying machine, like an eagle of the sea, it was a presence amongst all the gannets kittiwakes and fulmars, best bird ever 

it then flew off east but could be watched floating effortlessly towards flambourgh 

july

july i found a cracking months of birding and life in genral

early in the month work and swillington kept me occupied 

mid month was holiday so on we went to stonehenge 

but avebury was so close 

\

booked a site at durdle door, flash floods on the way but stunning site 

lots of rooks and a few peregrines 

and finally cornwall 

all over the place

 strange week 

the local group seems to be now activley suppresing birds knot grey plover and 7 arctic terns all at whiteholme res, was sent a photo of the knot it looks great, when the grey plover turned up i was at kilnsea wetalands having a right good time...............38 little ergrets, 3 spoonbills, great egret, ruff, marsh harrier and short eared owl great place 

today i finally saw the second great dot the alabtross at bempton,

how i feel about local birding 

 

saturday 24th july 2021

 all to myself this morning apart from the constant hum of the m62 

quite a decent visit in the morning

wood pigeon 1 spa clough 

meadow pipit

wren 

reed bunting 4

short eared owl 1 very pale and tatty 

mallard 4 

canada goose 

pied wagtail

lesser black backed gull 1 on res 3 flew east

black headed gull 1 

carrion crow 

after visiting swillington and picking stuff for bbq at selby i headed back to the with 

buzzard 1 

kestrel 1

grey heron 2

swallow 1 east 

willow warbler 1 

wood pigeon 3 

stonechat 1 

the bad run continues

 in nearly 40 years of birding i have never had so much bad luck........

savis warbler york where did people park??? no chance 

franklins gull swillington saturday gone 

farnes sea fret all weekend 

pacific swift gone when i approched the tyne and again when i was miles away 

black browed albatross bempton  showed an hour after i left  

saturday big dipper

 saturday early doors up green withens, it was blowing a gale and cold so felt daft for wearing shorts only highlight were 3 swifts heading west plus a lbb gull. 

on to swillington usual birds, i was pondering about the swift at chevington having been there only 2 weeks ago when my birdguides app burst into life ......pacific swift chevington what to do? i was meeting friends at 4ish that ive not seen for over a year, its now 10:30 im by the van and its still there, after some very quick thinking i was off..........swifts are ace and rare swifts are even more ace. on the m1 then a1 the drive up is not too bad having done a lot work up there this year, car upside down on the southbound way looked bad and the motorway was a standstill, its still there bombing up the a1 excited, then i rembered from the other week the awful roadworks over the tyne..........then the message no sign its gone so close 40 minutes away now but thats twitching. 

met up with my non birder mates who always enjoy my birding tales and think im mad 

last bird of the day was magpie mocking me