Black Grouse

Great day in North Wales birding. First off Black Grouse at Worlds End approx 15 seen lekking and moving around the moor later in the day. Then off to Pensarn for perfect conditions for sea watching. Two drake Surf Scoters seen amongst the thousands of Common Scoters one which was close by on the rocks. Also seen were several Red breasted Merganser and two Red throated Divers

Spring in Scotland

What a fantastic long weekend we had in Scotland. The weather was great and we ticked off all the Scottish species except for crossbill. First full day and we saw Capercaillie at Caperwatch at Loch garten and also another bird lekking in a nearby tree. Also see was a Crested Tit on the feeders. The next day we went up to the coast and had good views of White-billed Diver at Portsoy along with Red throated and Great Northern Diver. On the way back to our base in Nethybridge we bagged the King Eider at Black Dogg near the Ythan estuary. The following day was spent with our guide Dave Slater of Birding Ecosse and he delivered with Black throated Diver at Loch Indorb and Golden Eagle plus Ring Ouzel in the Findhorn Valley. In the afternoon we up Cairngorm and had brief views of Ptarmigan. On Monday we managed to see Black Grouse on Tulloch Moor and we went back to Findhorn valley for crippling views of an adult Golden Eagle and further Golden Eagles one fighting with a White tailed Sea Eagle. Our last day involved a long driver to Iona where we heard and saw Corncrake. Other highlights of the trip included Hooded Crow, Tree Pipit, Redstart, Slavonian Grebe, Cuckoo, Twite, Peregrine, Eider, Long tailed Duck and Artic tern

Lesser Scaup

Myself and Dave Evans had a fantastic birding day in North Wales yesterday. First off was the drake Lesser Scaup at Shotton Pools. We then went walking over to some distant swans to have a better view and as we approached a male Hen Harrier appeared giving great views. The swans were a mix of Bewick and Whooper. We then went to Anglesey to Benllech in search of a Velvet scoter seen yesterday. No joy but plenty of other birds to see at sea including Red-throated diver, Common Scoter and Black Guillemot.
It was then over to South Stack where we got crippling views of Chough. We also saw several Ravens.
Last stop was Conwy RSPB where we saw Siskin and several Lesser redpoll. Best of all though was a stunning Firecrest which eventually appeared in bushes near the pond where it has been showing on and off all winter. What a result and the end to a truly excellent and very enjoyable birding day.

Little Auks and more!

On the way to Flamborough Head we saw several small parties of Grey Partridges in the fields. At Flamborough Head we were straight onto Little Auks streaming past mostly heading North in small groups. There were good numbers seen in the couple of hours of seawatching myself and Dave did and the total for the day was recorded at 308. We also saw several Red-Throated Divers close in just off the rocks and 2 Velvet Scoters and a single Sooty Shearwater.
We then went to Easington in hope of a little bunting seen earlier. No luck but there was a group of Black Redstarts by the church one stunning male and three females. We also connected to a fabulous Great Grey Shrike by the cemetery.
Finally on the way home we went to North Cave Wetlands and had good views of the bizarre bobbing Jack Snipe along with a Common Snipe for comparison. We also saw a female Marsh Harrier.