Welcome to my birding blog - first launched 12th March 2012...
14th to 22nd October 2026
October birds: quiet time for me but very enjoyable birding!
Bolton Abbey - October 14th
I hoped to find a mandarin or two near the Cavendish restaurant but once I had parked and set off, full of expectation, no sign. However as soon as I began to cross the river bridge I spotted a dipper doing its thing. Bobbing and diving underwater leaving me to wonder where it would crop up next.
I set off walking north alongside the River Wharfe. I was amazed to so soon some across up to 15 mandarin ducks and drakes.
Saltholme -15th October
I had no particular targets in mind although I knew jack snipe was a possibility. However I am famous for struggling to see this elusive little wader even when it's right in front of me!
Ruff, little stint and, eventually, jack snipe.
Saltholme - 22nd October
A long eared owl showing well from the Jubilee Mound drew me back to Saltholme. once more. Also, a great white egret very close to the Wildlife Watchpoint windows. Uncropped.
172 UK 2026 - 40 more than last year!
September 2026
Late summer musing...
Hartlepool September 10th
War memorial garden on the Headland. A female house sparrow.
Pink flowered yarrow by Greatham Creek
Waders on Greatham Creek - mainly redshank but there is a dunlin in there along with black-headed gulls, mallards and a couple of seals.
Whinchat at Saltholme
Astley Lake near St. Aidan's, 15th September
Robin, kestrel and osprey
Adwick Washlands: 16th September
Pectoral sandpiper.
St. Aidan's, September 24th
Great crested grebe
Bempton Cliffs RSPB - 30th September
Not really what I was hoping for - but it was a lovely day and the gannets looked well.
166 UK 2026
July7th to 28th August 2026
A Summer Miscellany
At the very end of this post you'll find out what keeps me out of mischief during that quiet period for birding when some birders turn to butterflies. What do I do? Have a look or, for those not interested, just move on!
July 7th: Blacktoft Sands
Spear thistle with hover fly
Migrant hawker dragonfly
July14th: Blacktoft
Nosterfield - July 17th
Very distant caspian tern.
July 22nd: Seaton Carew
Little tern
August 6th: Blacktoft Sands - Waders!
...followed by a quick trip to Fairburn Ings, New Flash for a couple of glossy ibis.
Chiffchaff juvenile
August 21st: Blacktoft
Swallow
August 24th: Hartlepool and Saltholme
A day out with Barry. We began at the Headland watching gannets and common scoter. A guillemot came close as did a few terns. Nothing out of the ordinary. We moved on to Newburn Bridge.
Saltholme
August 28th: Morning trip to Blacktoft Sands
Waders again but I'm certainly not complaining!
The vegetable garden 2026
158 UK 2026
April and May 2026
Yes, I'm still here and out birding when I'm not planting vegetables! [I know it's been a while!!]
The trouble is not that I've not seen any birds but they all seem just too far away to photograph properly...
For instance I spent a fair while at Staveley recently to see a pair of garganey. They were a long way away. The woodsand was so far away I couldn't see it! [May 8th]
However, that rather mucks up the chronology, so...let's start at the very beginning...
Heatwave warning!
If, like me, you are in your advancing years and are folically challenged you really should consider wearing a hat!
April 2nd: Little ringed plover at Scaling Dam and a yellowhammer at Cowpen Bewley.
The yellowhammer was extremely nervous and didn't want to be seen!
April 9th: Tophill Low
Blue tit, shelduck and very late brambling at the feeders
April 14th: North Cave
Blackcap and Egyptian geese
April15th: Bempton Cliffs
Wild garlic
Chiffchaff
Razorbill
May 12th: Blackhall Rocks and Saltholme
Linnet and avocet
May 17th: Blacktoft
Spoonbill
May 31st: North Duffield and North Cave
Banded demoiselle in the car park at North Duffield
Painted lady. Many of these attractive butterflies this year including in my garden
June 11th: Blacktoft
I was very lucky to see a marsh harrier come really close at Reedling Hide. Great views and nice photos.
Gadwalls in flight
Barn owl
June 16th: Bempton
Puffin and razorbill with chick; all quiet at Tophill Low. Pied wagtail on reservoir wall
Tree egret!
July 1st: Blacktoft
A too distant green sandpiper and sleeping spotted redshanks
152 UK 2026
March 5th to March 23rd 2026
From Townend Causeway to Wharfedale and on to Station Road!
March 5th: Afternoon jaunt to Blacktoft Sands.
All quiet on the Eastern Front so I mooched along to Reedling hide.
I was chatting to Carl and mentioned that I hadn't seen a snipe yet this year. A voice from the other end of the hide said 'They're in front of you!' Craning my neck upwards to peer over the grass I began to make out bits of snipe bodies on the water's edge.
At Marshland hide a marsh harrier was sitting on the edge of the reeds with a claw holding fast to some prey.
March 7th: A walk to Lowther Lake.
I think I took a long way round to get there! I asked a few locals but they all said they knew the area well but didn't know the names of the lakes! So they couldn't help. A large fence seemed to stop me going where I wanted to go. When I got there I found it was extremely muddy just where I wanted to get to a fisherman's landing pier which had a great but distant view of the red-crested pochard.
Back at Oddball a group of people staring through the fencing alerted me to the probable presence of a little owl. Rather well hidden in the thicket.
March 10th: North Duffield
Whooper swans on the flood far side of the river.
March 17th: Saltholme
A long walk to the viewing platform to hopefully see a long-eared owl. Also coltsfoot and kestrel.
March 20th: Saltholme electricity substation pool followed by Cowpen Bewley bird feeder station
Ruddy shelduck and Egyptian geese x5 all rather distant! Good job I had my scope in the boot.
Back at Saltholme proper a great white egret was pretending to be invisible.
Cowpen Bewley birds
My favourite picture of this posting, I think.
A chiffchaff was also seen. Then on the Headland I saw a kittiwake on its nest on an old and sad looking building opposite the Fisherman's Arms on Southgate.
March 22nd Goole and Filey
I pulled over onto the grass verge as I left Old Goole travelling east towards Blacktoft. Soon the two lingering waxwings were spotted and it was obvious quite a few birders wanted to get waxwing onto their year lists. Good to see David Armitage who wished me Happy New Year! It's never too late!
Turning into Wharfedale as I entered Filey I drove down to the little car park at Filey Dams. No sign of garganey at Filey Dams but good to bump into Mark [an old Nunthorpian like me] and his wife. Med gull on the water, tree sparrows galore.
March 31st: Swillington Ings
I parked in Station Road and crossed the railway line to enter the reserve. At the crossroads I immediately saw a huddle of birders and 3 black necked grebes. Later up by Oddball I also saw a little owl - my second encounter this year but I was still delighted to see this little fellow on the wood stack.
On the way home there must have been up to 8 cattle egrets showing from the roadside at Fairburn Ings, Lyn Dike end.
