East Bergholt, Suffolk

First Sparrowhawk in the Garden for some time.  A nice surprise for me but not for the unfortunate Blackbird it is eating.

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) Male feeding on Blackbird

Every year we get Fly Agaric on our front lawn under the Silver Birch, this is the first this year.

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

Black-belled Dipper, Needham Market

Incredibly close and prolonged views of the Black-bellied Dipper on the River Gipping at Needham Market this afternoon. 

See video of the bird making heavy weather of eating a Bullhead (Miller's Thumb) at See video of the bird making heavy weather of eating a Bullhead (Miller's Thumb)

Black-bellied Dipper (Cinclus cinclus cinclus), River Gipping, Needham Market.

Black-bellied Dipper (Cinclus cinclus cinclus), River Gipping, Needham Market.

Landguard Common, Suffolk

Afternoon visit to see the putative blythi type Lesser Whitethroat which I found fairly soon after arriving,

Siberian Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca blythi)

A Horned (Shore) Lark was also showing well on the beach.

Horned Lark (Shore) (Eremophila alpestris flava)

Kilnsea and Easington

Walked around the Kilnsea area in the morning the area was alive with Thrushes, Robins, Crests and Finches.

Two Firecrests and several Goldcrests showed very well in Kilnsea churchyard.

Common Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla), Kilnsea

Goldcrest (Eurasian) (Regulus regulus regulus), Kilnsea

Near the Bluebell Café 2 shorelarks were on the beach.

Horned Lark (Shore) (Eremophila alpestris flava), Kilnsea.

In nearby hedgerows a Lesser Redpoll was very obliging.

Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis flammea cabaret), Kilnsea.

At Easington the Isabelline Wheatear was showing well in fields near the boat yard.

Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina), Easington.



Easington, East Yorkshire. The Siberian Accentor Twitch

The Siberian Accentor at Easington brought me out of 10 years long distance retirement today.  I had waited for the initial crowds to die down, the bird was first seen on Thursday, before deciding to make the trip.  Fortunately an early message on the RBA alert confirmed that the bird was still present so set out at 7:30 for the 220 mile trip from Suffolk to Easington.

On arrival at the site at 12:30 the bird was showing immediately to the small crowd of c. 40.  The bird spent most of the time feeding in a weedy gravel area behind the security link fence of the Easington Gas Terminal which necessitated photographing though the fencing.

Siberian Accentor (Prunella montanella)

Siberian Accentor (Prunella montanella)

Siberian Accentor (Prunella montanella)

Sw England Trip Day 6 - St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly

Flew on to the Island on an early flight from Lands End Airport.  A juvenile American Golden Plover and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper had been present on the airfield for some days, fortunately they were still present when I arrived.  I had good but quite distant views (for photography).

American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica) juvenile, St Mary's airfield

Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis)  juvenile, St Mary's airfield

After the airfield went to Lower Moors where an immature Greenshank was showing well.

Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) Lower Moors, StMary's

As usual in October on Scilly there were still many Speckled Woods flying.

Speckled Wood (Scillonian form) (Pararge aegeria ssp. insula)

 A juvenile Red-backed Shrike was show on and off on The Garrison, but always rather distant for good photos.

Red-backed Shrike (Tringa nebularia) Garrison, St. Mary's

SW England Trip Day 5 - Nanquidno and Sennen Cove

Spent the day walking in the Nanquidno and Sennen Cove area.  Not much in the way of bird activity but the blossoming Ivy was alive with bees and butterflies in the warm, sunny conditions.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera), a very worn individual.

Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) a fairly recent colonist to the UK was seen in good numbers.

SW England Trip Day 4 - Nanquidno

Again no migrant activity but did get good views of 2 of the resident Choughs.

Red-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Nanquidno, Cornwall

Red-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Nanquidno, Cornwall

A small herd of Longhorn cattle has been put out to graze the cliff top grass in order to improver the feeding habitat for the Choughs.

Longhorn Cattle, Nanquidno