Goshawk!

 Great but brief views of Goshawk today locally

Goshawk in the Peak District

 Displaying Goshawk but too far a way for decent pics. I will return on a sunnier day

Scotland

Hard work and long birding days paid off this year in Scotland. The weather was mixed some nice sunny warmish days interspersed with Arctic like conditions. We saw the Pied billed grebe at Leighton Moss on the way north. Black throated diver seen that evening at a local loch.
 Caperwatch was very disappointing and we were there for 3 early mornings but only had one brief glimpse of a male Capercaillie
Our first full day was spent going up the east coast. We connected with the long staying male Harlequin duck in Aberdeen and whilst there also saw a Long tailed tit building a nest. We then travelled to  the Ythan estuary. What a fantastic place this is with thousands of Eider and a single male King Eider. Also seen were Long tailed duck, Arctic tern, Sandwich tern, Common tern and Little tern. We finished the day at Portsoy and saw Great northern divers and a single White billed diver plus a Black guillemot.
The next day the weather was poor. We bagged 2 Crested tits at Loch Garten had a poor trip up Findhorn valley with a possible but  unconfirmed large raptor probably a Golden eagle plus good views of Peregrine. We went to base of Cairngorm where the only notable sighting was 2 Ring ouzel. We finished off with 2 Slavonian grebe at a local fishing lodge.
Our last day proved more fruitful and the weather was better too. We had good views of 1-2 Scottish Crossbill in Abernethy Forest and went to the top of Cairngorm where we had superb views of a pair of Ptarmigan. We finished off with good view of Goshawk at Dunkeld on the way back

Black Scoter

Distant scope views of a Black Scoter at Cheswick Sands Northumbria yesterday. On route we had good close but sadly brief views of a male Goshawk at Kielder Forest plus several Common Crossbill. we also saw several Common Buzzard both dark and pale morph one which has a pale rump base and got us excited briefly as we thought we were onto a Rough legged but sadly not!

Kingfisher and some rarities!

Me and Dave went to  East Yorkshire on Sunday. At Tophill Low we had a brief view of the Purple Heron that's been there for a few days. We also had great views of a pair of Kingfishers.

It was then onto Wykeham where we had brief views of a Honey Buzzard and a couple of Turtle Doves in flight. I also saw a Goshawk briefly. 

We finished off at Filey for good scope views of a Surf Scoter along with a group of Common Scoters. Other species seen included Puffin, Rock Pipit and Sand Martin

Long-billed Dowitcher

I went to Slimbridge WWT today and had a real struggle to see the long staying Long-billed Dowitcher. When I arrived all the Black tailed Godwits were resting with their beaks tucked in and it was impossible to pick out the lone American wader. After two hours the birds suddenly flew up and quickly back down and became more active with some feeding. It was then that the Dowitcher became evident at the front of the other birds feeding furiously. Much smaller than the Godwits, all dark, long beak and paler green/yellow legs. It has lost its lovely orange colour over the last week as it continues to moult. It still has a little orange on the undertail coverts and good scapular markings. I managed a distant record shot.
The only other notable sighting today was a Goshawk soaring over forest from the M6 in Staffordshire seen from the car!

Honey Buzzard......Finally!

After at least 4 trips to Wykeham Forest and no definite sightings of Honeys just Common Buzzard and Goshawk on every visit, I turned to Wellbeck Raptor Point in Nottinghamshire. I went last weekend and saw Goshawk, Osprey, Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawk. I also had one brief gliding raptor that looked like a honey but was gone below the treeline in a flash. A free morning yesterday and with the weather looking decent I went again. I had two good views of a dark probable female Honey Buzzard at 10.30 and 12.15. The second time it was seen it soared up and then suddenly dropped height like a whiffling goose. Spectacular! It was a great reward for the hours of failure until yesterday. Also seen were a Goshawk and several Common Buzzards

Rose coloured Starling

A weekend of highs and lows. Me and Dave got up early yesterday and went to Wykeham Forest hoping for Honey Buzzards. The weather was aweful so no show from the Honeys. We did get great views of Goshawk, Hobby, Common Buzzard, Crossbill and Turtle Dove.
Today as it was father's day I managed to briefly escape and twitch the amazing Rose coloured Starling at  Rhos on sea. I also got to test out my new Nikon 80-400VR lens. I am very pleased with the results and glad I got rid of my Sigma 150-500 which I just couldn't get on with, too heavy and consistently soft results.