Night Herons

 Quick dash to Osset to see West Yorkshires latest mega..A common European/world species but great to see here , hope they move to Cromwell Bottom at some point...Also loads of Sand Martin , House Martin and Kingfisher

100 up...LRP

I only got to 99 by the last day of March in Calderdale but did manage a Swallow in March so according to Gordon Denison that is pretty good..... Gordon was the person who set up the Eagles Head Trophy (EHT) for who ever sees the most species in a year in Calderdale. Also March Madness which is see 100 species in Calderdale before the end of March . The star bird so far was Brians ,  Pale Bellied Brent Geese closely followed by Goshawk and a cracking adult White Wagtail 1st April at Ringstone  other birds of note Gadwall , Shoveler , Ringed and Little Ringed , Ring Ouzel and a early Wheatear (17th March )..103 by  early April...

Africa 2

                                                            Giraffe (20+ seen)

                                                       Kudu , 

                                                    Male Lion

                                                                        Cheetah 

                                                       Dung beetle rolling dung

                                                                      Fiscal Shrike 
 Some highlights from the trip ,

    Only a few  butterflys were identified to species  , Yellow Pansy , Painted Lady , African Monarch , African Grass Blue , Broad Bordered Grass yellow , 

Birds ..Red winged Starling , Reed Cormorant ,Pin tailed Whyda , Long tailed Widow , White Winged Widow , Red Shouldered Widow, Red Bishop , Red Billed Quellea , Spot Backed Weaver , Cape Grassbird , Cape Batis , Bronse MAnakin , Lesser Double Collared Sunbird , Black Sunbird , Glossy Starling ,  Black Crowned Tchagra , Red backed Shrike , Hoopoe , Orange - throated Longclaw , Cape Wagtail , African Pied Wagtail , Southern Black Flycatcher , Cape Robin , Arrow Marked Babbler , Red Throated  Wryneck , Pied Crow , Black Crow , Forked -tailed Drongo , White throated Swallow ,  Wire Tailed Swallow , Swallow , Redbreasted Swallow , Lesser Striped Swallow , Greater Striped Swallow , House Martin , Rock Martin , White Rumped Swift , Little Swift , Horus Swift , African Palm Swift Rufouse naped Lark , Bearded Woodpecker , Cape Eagle Owl , Spotted Eagle Owl , Malachite Kingfisher , Jacobin Cuckoo ,, Purple Crested Lourie , Kelp Gull , ...

     

A few early migrants and a mega at Fly flats Pale - bellied Brent Geese...........

                                                                 Thanks Phil Dyson 

 A nice early male Wheatear  at Walshaw Dean  on the  16th and a  male Ring Ousel found by Phil D at Moselden on the 18th .  People often ask what do these early migrants feed on and the numbers of caterpillars on the moors on the 16th answers this question , 20+ Fox Moths , 1 Northern Oak Eggar and 1 Ruby Tiger an easy meal for a passing migrant and 1Chifchaff at EGP on the 19th . The bird/s of the year so far were 3 Pale - bellied Brent Geese at Fly Flats on the 19th found by Brian Sumner  the first time Pale - bellied Brent Geese have been recorded in Calderdale , brilliant to see these birds  locally  . A Common Lisard at Walshaw on the 16th was 10 days later than last years earliest. ......Oak Eggar and Oak Nyceteoline were the best from the moth trap on the 18th ..makes a steady 95 species for the year...........

Goshawk..and Whooper Swan on the move

The highlight of the week was a juv fem Goshawk seen in the west  of Calderdale , I initially thought it was a Hen Harrier , as at a distance it looked to have a white rump but luckily I got it in the scope and noticed they were fluffed out undertail coverts  , buldgeing secondaries and massive body , excellent views of Calderdale's most elusive resident ..!! Whooper Swans have been making there return migration over the Pennines with 9 on Monday at Boothwood  and 60 +35  on the 8th over Cock hill . 1  Short eared Owl, 1 Barn Owl , and a male Peregrine chasing a Woodpigeon (so close) also at Cock Hill  .Kingfisher at Ogden and plenty Skylarks , Lapwing , Curlew , Oystercatcher ,Golden Plover now back on territory...and a Green Woodpecker made for a great week.....1 Little Grebe makes 85 in Calderdale for the year.......

Durban , South Africa

 A mad dash to Durban to see family to celebrate the life of my Dad and Hugh Preston , first time the family' s  have been able to meet since Covid 19...of course I managed a very small amount of birding with the highlights of Red -throated Wryneck  , Long Crested Eagle , Cape Eagle Owl , Spotted Eagle Owl , Cape Batis , Pin - tailed Whyda , Orange throated Longclaw , Cape Grassbird (singing) , African Harrier Hawk , Lanner Falcon,  and Swallow/Swift/Martin migration on another level.....and then the spectacle of Lion , Giraffe ,Rhino  , Waterbuck ,  Kudu , Springbok , Impala , Wilderbeast ,  Jackall , Wild Boar and being chased by a mad Elephant and feeding Yellow billed Kites in the back garden from the BBQ leftovers.....wow.....thats Africa......2 large adult Male Lions were seen to chase an  adult Cheetah, the Cheetah was too fast over a short distance and gave the Lions the slip , fortunately the guide picked up the tracks of the cheetah and followed it , there were two crossing the road in front of the jeep ,you could see there chests gasping for air after the chase...!!! 

                                                         Southern Black Flycatcher

                                                             

                                                                            

                                                               

                                                                 Reed Cormorant

                                                      Hadada Ibis

                                                                  Cape Pigeon

                                                              Golden orb Spider

 

Bewick's Swans and Great White Egret and Shoveler

 Shoveler at Ogden (Nice one DJS) takes me to 77 for the year..A quick trip to Boston in Lincolnshire was notable only for a small flock of 6 Bewicks Swan , Green Sandpipers , Brent Geese and a Great White Egtret.......

                                                              GWE from roadside

Latvia / Estonia....

 A real birders trip to Latvia and Estonia looking for  Hawk Owl and Steller's Eider . Other highlights included Ural Owl , Black Woodpecker , Grey headed Woodpecker , Great Grey Shrike , Rough Legged Buzzard , Hen Harrier male , Golden Eagle , White Tailed Sea Eagle (35+ sightings) , Smew , Crested Tit , Northern Bullfinch , European Nuthatch , Nordic Jackdaw , Pale Willow Tit ,  Long - tailed Duck and Scaup..Many thanks to Gary Waddington ( photos and everything else) , The man Nick Carter and Big Ady...cheers guys

We flew into Riga and headed straight for the Hawk Owl only 35 minutes from the Airport , we searched hard in the freeing cold conditions and found Great Tit , White Tailed Sea Eagle (3) , Great Spotted Woodpecker , Raven , Northern Bullfinch aprox 15 in a mixed flock but some cracking males , Hooded Crow and Blue Tit , but no Hawk Owl our luck turned when we bumped into a local birder who took us to see the Owl , amazing views of the Hawk Owl catching a vole and promptly ripping its head off to feed....WOW

Day 2 we headed into Estonia stopping on the way to for another Hawk Owl  with no luck , but 2 Black Woodpeckers showed really well and a total  5 seen throughout the day .Nordic Jackdaws were common along the roadside with there bright white neck collars. Hooded Crows , Goldeneye , Herring Gulls , GBBGulls , Sparrowhawk and Redwing were also seen along the way. Everywhere was fro en , every river , lake and seven the sea . Birds were hard to come by.....

                                                             White tailed  Eagle

Day 3 

The first birds of the day were 3 pale Willow Tits of the Baltic race  , Crested Tits , Nuthatch also of the pale Baltic race , Northern Bullfinch and Goldcrest in the garden of the B and B , a great start. Into the local pine forests next , the first bird a cracking Lesser Spotted Woodpecker , Ravens , an immature Golden Eagle flushed from one of the clearings which was a massive surprise to us all.. The highlight of the day was a Ural Owl , which gave incredible views . Another 2 Ural Owls were herd calling .2 White Tailed Sea Eagles were also seen .

                                                              Ural Owl

Day 4 

   We headed for  Saaremaa Island  in the search of Stellers Eider our second target species. The sea was frozen and White- tailed Sea Eagles were common with 5 + seen sat on the ice and 10 + throughout the day. !!! Hundreds of Long tailed Duck were seen on the crossing and the day count reached 1000 + .We headed for the harbour at Kuuli  where Stellers Eider were meant to be seen .an interesting herring Gull with yellow legs was surely Omissus.  A beautiful male Hen Harrier  and Great Grey Shrike were seen on the way. Arriving at the harbour we immediately saw one adult male Stellers Eider..what a bird stunning. When we turned and looked into the harbour there were at least 48 Stellers Eider ,150 + Tufted Duck , 15 Scaup , 25 Coot , 500 + Mute Swan in the distance Red breasted Merganser , Red-throated Diver 5 + , Whooper Swans , Velvet Scoter , Cormorants , Mallards , Long tailed Duck and a single Auk species which I id'd as Guillimot but was probably Razorbill so will go down as Auk sp....

                                            The frozen  Baltic

                                                 Stellers Eider and Scaup

Day 5 Sorve lighthouse

A real red letter day for me going here a place I have always wanted to visit and it did not disappoint..

25 Smew including 13 males , Snow Bunting 4 , Whooper Swan , White tailed Eagle 17 +  , Grey Seal 100 + , Great Crested Grebe , Goldeneye , Velvet Scoter  9 , Common Scoter 2 , Scaup 60 + , Nordic Jackdaw a flock of 50 Greenfinch , Red breasted Merganser , Goosander , Great grey Shrike , An adult  Rough Legged Buzzard was the icing on the cake.....

                                                               Male Scaup feathers

Reykjavik...Iceland..Northern Lights

 A city break to Reykjavik , Iceland the weather was harsh to say the least and the Northern lights hard to find...A few Birds around the city made for an excellent break.......

1..Raven a common bird around the city with 14 seen together over the harbour..

2 Starling common in gardens in the old quarter.

3 ' Icelandic' Redwing a common garden bird around the city..

4 Iceland Gull..common 

5 Glaucous Gull common in smaller numbers than Iceland

6 Fulmar..100 + in the harbour and sea front

7 Red Throated Diver..2 +in the harbour and sea front

8 Great Northern Diver..4 +in the harbour and sea front

9 Black Guillimot..50 + in the harbour and sea front

10 Red Breasted Merganser

11 Eider Duck 

12 Whooper Swan

13 Cormaorant

14 Shag ..1 fishing close inshore 

15 Common Gull

16 Black Headed Gull

17 Lesser Black backed Gull 

18 Great Black backed Gull

19 Kumelins /Thayers Gull

20 Snow Bunting a flock of 50 + on the way to the Blue lagoon and 4 over the Blue lagoon.

21 Mallard ..common 

22 Tufted Duck ..common

23 Gyr Falcon one grey phase sat on a post on the way to the Blue lagoon....

24 Redpoll..common in small flocks around the city some very pale ones looking like Artic but who knows nowerdays..are they all the same..??

25 Greylag Goose..common

26 Blackbird..common garden bird in the city

27 Widgeon 10 in the city Park

28 Gadwall..6 in the city park

29 Purple Sandpiper an impressive flock of 250 + in the main harbour

30 Herring Gull....Argentatus...common