A Video of the Gulls From Herastrau Park Bucharest
I have finally got around to editing some of the video I shot during my trip to Romania.This was recorded through my scope - enjoy!
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A Colour-Ringed Glaucous Gull!
He who dares wins!Today was bitter cold and the light was terrible, but still I headed to Shawell. I had arranged to meet a friend there, so I had to turn up.I was there first and started to search...
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The Vikings Have Arrived
Over the last week I have seen not one but two Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrids - aka Viking Gulls. Both in the Shawell area.Both were structurally very similar to Glaucous Gulls - large size, shortish...
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Today's News From Shawell
I was looking forward to today's session as Steve Nichols had seen two adult Glaucous Gulls yesterday on the tip. He had managed to distantly view the landfill area from the small lane on the north...
View ArticleThe Easiest Twitch Ever
I am a bit slow off the blocks these days when collecting new British Ticks. I had seen a sickly Blue Rock Thrush at Hemel Hempstead many years ago and I missed a good one on the Scilly Isles by a day,...
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Birding The Algarve
I'm a bit late posting this, as I've been busy with other jobs since returning home.At the end of February Dawn and I made another journey to the sunny Algarve. I have now been to The Algarve six times...
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Iceland Gull
It has been a difficult month at Shawell - plenty of gulls, but difficult to pin down. Today Steve Nichols and I were scanning through a group of gulls when Steve spotted a a second calendar-year...
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The Iceland Gull is Still Enjoying Shawell
I have been spending some time at Stanford Reservoir recently, but I still can't drag myself away from Shawell for long.You would have thought we were still in the grips of winter with the amount of...
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Black-winged Stilts
Before work this morning I went to Brascote Pits. It was fairly quiet there but I did see my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year. Unusually for a spring bird it showed well on the outside of one of...
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Stanford Reservoir
Having obtained a permit for Stanford Res I have been taking advantage of the great conditions there. The water level is low and the exposed mud has been attracting lots of birds.Highlights today...
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A County Tick and a Local Area Tick in One Weekend
The weekend started well when I found a Whimbrel in a field in the west of Leicestershire. I then made my way over to Stanford Reservoir where a nice gathering of waders was present although most of...
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Another South-West Leicestershire Tick and a Bonus Wader
Steve Nichols sent me a text this afternoon to say a Whooper Swan was at Shawell A5 lagoons. I rang Dawn and told her to cook tea on a low light, as I would be late home from work. The swan was tucked...
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Swan Lake
It's been an odd spring. At times the local birding has been first rate, but at other times a bit poor. I'm not on my own in thinking that the recent unsettled weather might have grounded a few more...
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Solitude
It had been a while since my last trip to Scotland and I was itching for a bit of peace and quiet and excitement.The weather forecast for the latter part of last week looked good for an overnight...
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Green Sandpiper - An Exceptional Record
Whilst I was up in Scotland I took an early morning stroll into the forest. I was pleased to see a Crested Tit and half-a-dozen crossbills. Through the trees I could see a lochan (small lake). A path...
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Orchids at Brascote
Brascote Pits is once again festooned with orchids.Many of them are hybrids (I think) between Southern Marsh and Common Spotted Orchids. These seem to favour the shaded areas amongst the young trees....
View ArticleCaspian Gull Score at Shawell 2017
All those listed below are considered to be different individuals, however, some duplication is inevitable:second-winter, January 4th (also seen December 2016)adult, January 4thadult, January 4th &...
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News From SW Leics
My corner of Leicestershire is often ignored as a birding location. Well things are going quite well this year especially with locally rare breeding birds. At Brascote Pits a pair of Oystercatchers...
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Red Kites, Gulls and Dragons
At the weekend I did the rounds checking the progress of several breeding birds. The gulls seemed to be doing OK on their new roof at Scudamore Road, Leicester and I am pretty sure that a few pairs of...
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Gulls at Last
I have only just started to get good views of the gulls again at Shawell. The tip face had been moved too far away to view and the disturbance from the dog walker has been bad at the lagoons. He is...
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