The Christmas holidays finally upon us, I pulled hard on all of the strings and persuaded my Dad that a trip up to East Devon to do some birding was far more interesting than Christmas shopping. I don't think he was entirely convinced that an hour each way in the car to see some swans was totally worthwhile, but a grudging 'alright then' was all it took and we were off.

We skidded into the B3175 layby at about 13.30, and within moments the Axe swan flock was easily located in the marshy field between the estuary and the road. A quick scan through revealed the full suite of species. Mute... Mute... Mute... Whooper, nice... Mute... Black... Bewick's! My easiest Devon tick since Blue Tit in the garden aged 3. The bird conveniantly shuffled along to the Whooper for me, which allowed a nice comparison. 4 swan species in the same field of view, not a regular occurence in Devon. It was nice to meet Gavin Haig for the first time albeit briefly - I felt just a little miffed when he found a Caspian Gull (3rd for Devon) on the estuary the following day!

With the main target safely bagged, we headed down to Topsham in search of geese. The regular Brent Goose flock was no longer behind Dart's Farm however, and neither was it on the estuary or at Bowling Green Marsh. Exminster/Turf surely then. Just after passing the Swan's Nest pub at the entrance to Exminster Marshes however, there was a slight delay. 3 police vechicles were blocking the approach track, accompanied by about 10 officers. A man stood a short distance from them, taking photos. "Whats going on?" "There's been a massive drug's bust mate, can't go through there." We extracted a few details from him... It seemed that someone had dumped an 'enormous' amount of unspecified 'drugs' into one of the reserve's drainage ditches, and this was now being extracted by the police! Quite a performance, they eventually drove off having filled half a Ford Transit with bulging bags. Promotions all round I expect!

We finally reached the (frozen) canal car park, and I raced off down the path towards Turf. As I passed Turf Lock, there was another setback: the goose flock wasn't there either! With that familiar dipping sensation, I trudged on down the path towards Powderham, but without much optimism. I was within sight of Powderham Church, when at last the flock flew in and landed in a field on the far side of the railway. It didn't settle however, and soon moved closer, into the field nearest to the footpath. Here the Red-breasted Goose was at last located, and proceeded to give excellent views in the fading light. A potential Devon tick (pending BBRC acceptance as a wild bird) and more than welcome after dipping once and then freezing half to death twice before finally seeing it.

Time to wish a very Merry Christmas to all my long-suffering readers!

It was with optimism and expectation that I returned to Topsham with Ashley Powell a week after the Spotted Sandpiper to have a crack at the Red-breasted Goose which had done the proper thing and exchanged an East Devon quarry pool for a decent estuary and a Brent Goose flock like a wild bird should.

We reached the viewing platform by 11.00, and Will Salmon's expression instantly revealed that the bird was not where it had been yesterday. The tide was up and as we had driven past Darts Farm on the way in (no geese at all), the bird had to be on the western side of the estuary. A call to Kev Rylands confirmed that it was not on the Warren either, so presumably it was either on Starcross golf course or around Exminster/Turf. Deciding to make the most of being at Bowling Green instead of scampering off after it, we headed down to the hide. It was packed, mainly with Dave Stone and his sandwiches but there were a few birders squeezed too. A female Scaup showed well in the nearest channel with a handful of Wigeon, whilst a Redwing was feeding directly in front of the hide. 

With no luck on the goose front, we departed pub-wards. Wild or not, I think it will probably stay the winter, so there should be ample opportunity to try again later.

A quick dash was made up to Topsham mid-morning with Dad to look for the juvenile Spotted Sandpiper that had apparantly been on the estuary for the best part of a month. Upon arrival, Colin Scott informed me that it had been showing well early morning but had flown upriver some 10 minutes before I got there. I wandered along up the path towards the M5 bridge where I found Andrew Cunningham, who had also drawn a blank. However, it didn't take long before the bird was picked out, feeding with Common Sandpipers on the island directly beneath the M5 bridge. We enjoyed decent if not exactly point blank views, allowing the salient features to be noted (yellow legs, pinkish bill, plain tertial fringes, restricted wingbar in flight, boldly marked coverts and a short tail projection). This was my second Devon tick of the month (must work out a total!), and also yeartick 263. Traditional latecomer Dave Stone also turned up, and I learned that he had been amongst those who dipped the White/Black-bellied Storm Petrel at Severn Beach two days previously. Had he connected, the conversation might have gone a bit differently, but fortunately for those of us stuck at work/school, he didn't.

Another MEGA alert went off during the week. This time not quite on the level of Rufous Turtle Dove, but Pacific Diver instead. The bird was still present on Friday, so Kevin Hale and I (being the only low-listers in Devon not to have seen any of 2007's birds) took the only option of public transport down to Hayle. 'No sign by 08.43' was not very encouraging, but just as I was boarding the train at 09.25 another message came through stating that the bird was back on Carnsew Pool at 09.22. Game on!

The journey took more than 2.5 hours in the rain, but we remained optimistic that the diver would stick to it's routine and only fly out of the estuary in the late afternoon. P.C. Paul Freestone met us an Hayle Station and gave us a lift down the road to the pool (cheers), where we instantly connected with the moulting adult Pacific Diver. The bird was still retaining a bit of summer plumage, and was certainly not shy, showing superbly down to 30m in front of the small crowd. The key features were easily notable, including the thin 'chinstrap' and lack of a white flank patch. 

We watched it for a while, then headed back to the train station when it drifted further out. We got on the next train back and I was home by 16.00 - easy.

On Saturday evening, the pager MEGA'd Rufous Turtle Dove in Aberdeen. A lift was soon organised and Sunday's plans were scrapped, but after photos of the bird were posted online it was re-identified as merely a European Turtle Dove, the news of this coming through fortunately before we set off!

As an alternative, I spent Sunday in Somerset with Dad cleaning up on a few yearticks. First stop was at Catcott Lows NR, where I soon located the 3 first-winter Glossy Ibises on the marsh adjacent to Catcott Corner. They showed well in the surprisingly warm November sunshine, occasionally moving around the marsh and calling frequently. One of them was ringed 'N4C'.

After a couple of hours watching the ibises, we moved on to Chew Valley Lake via some breakfast. First port of call here was Herriots Bridge overlooking the southern half of the lake, which produced 5 Goosander, 4 Goldeneye and a Ruddy Duck amongst the usual wildfowl.

Heron's Green Bay yielded a first winter and 2 adult Bewick's Swans, along with another Ruddy Duck, 2 more Goldeneye and a distant redhead Smew.

News from Menzie of a Great Grey Shrike at Westbury-sub-Mendip was well timed, and I obtained brief views of the bird in Broadmead Quarry, bringing an end to a good day. The yearlist moves to 261.

All week on Scilly, the pager kept announcing the continued presence of the Fan-tailed Warbler (not Zitting Cistocola!) at Pegwell Bay in Kent. With the bird still showing well on Friday 6th, matters had to be addressed and so Kevin Hale and I got the last train to Bristol on Friday evening where we were met by Vaughan Watkins. We headed back to Vaughan's house for a couple of hours kip, and then at the unholy hour of 02.45 we set off for Kent.

The drive was quick and easy, and by 07.00ish we pulled up at Pegwell Bay car park. In spite of the bird having showed almost daily for near-enough two weeks, there was a fair turnout - up to 150 people. Everyone spread out along the path, some scanning the saltmarsh and others wandering down the other side of the(grim metal) hide. Whilst searching for the Fan-tailed we flushed a Jack Snipe from by the path and a good finch movement included 1+ Brambling, but after 45 minutes we hadn't located the main target.

At about 07.50, James Hunter suddenly turned and waved, then began jogging down the path towards the far end. A mild stampede followed, and with a few well-executed overtaking manoeuvres along the narrow path (there's a mega to see, but still some people stroll along slowly taking up all the space and not bothering to move out the way of the frantic crowd trying to get past?) we got to the spot where the bird had been located. Within a few seconds, the Fan-tailed Warbler popped out in the short reeds in front of the expectant gathering. It was considerably darker than the pale, sand-coloured individuals I have seen abroad, with a very noticable white throat. It put on a proper show, both zitting and fanning it's tail whilst flying up and down the marram grass, occasionally pausing atop a stem and showing well in the scope.

A number of familiar faces were scattered around the crowd - Al Orton, Malc Curtin and Jason Atkinson had come down from Cheshire, Tony Hull from Beds, Lee Fuller and his Dad from Hampshire, and a number of Kent boys whom I had not met before (yet somehow they knew me?!).

A cracking bacon bap at the Dog Walkers Rest cafe was next in line, and following this we headed home via 93 Red Kites (M40) and a non-existant Azorean Yellow-legged Gull in Oxon.

Saturday 24th

October half term means 'Teacher's Week', and Teacher's Week means a trip to Scilly. Early on Saturday morning I made the short trip down to Penzance, where I boarded the Scillonian and met up with the team. Paul Freestone, Adam Hutt, Adam Stoyle and Nathan Pickering. It was also nice to catch up with several others on the boat whom I had met the previous year, including Mark Halliday and Harry Barnard.

The crossing was as usual pretty uneventful and wasn't too rough either (in spite of AH and AS moaning about a few dips and rolls of the boat). 2 Arctic Skuas and a Sooty Shearwater were noted. Upon arrival on St Mary's, I headed off to Lower Moors to look for a reported Radde's Warbler but there was no sign in 3 hours of searching. 10 minutes in the ISBG hide produced a smart Jack Snipe.

Late in the afternoon I decided to wander up Porthloo Lane, which turned out to be a good decision as when I got to the top, the Richard's Pipit was showing distantly in a pig field along with a Ring Ouzel. Not a bad start then.

Sunday 25th

I was up (reasonably) early on Sunday and after a quick look round Holy Vale, I spent the next hour in Carreg Dhu Gardens. A Firecrest was the highlight in amongst a tit flock, and a Swallow flew over whilst a Painted Lady was noted on the way down past Lower Moors. A male Black Redstart showed well on Porth Mellon beach along with a scattering of common waders. At 10.15 a group of us got the boat to St Agnes to look for the Marsh Warbler reported from the Big Pool, but in spite of 'extensive seaching' I didn't connect with it, although a couple of people saw it briefly in the reedbed. On the pool 6 Whooper Swans showed well.

Bored with warblers, John Gale, myself and a few others called in at the coastguards, where after a short wait the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling showed well in a pittisporum hedge just below us. No camera = no photos sorry, but we all enjoyed good scope views of the bird as it sat out in the sun. Next up was the Parsonage which failed to produce even Yellow-browed, but a Merlin flew over signalling an end to the day.

Monday 26th

A leisurely start was made on Monday, half of Scilly's visiting birders congregating on the quay at 10.15 for the boat to Tresco. Once on the island it was just a short walk to Simpson's Field, where the juvenile Citrine Wagtail showed reasonably well in the rain.

I was gutted to miss a Little Bunting along Pool Road by a matter of seconds, and spent a couple of hours searching through the sizeable finch flock for it but got only Brambling and Lesser Redpoll for my efforts. Bits and pieces on the Great Pool inclued 3 Greenshank and a single Whooper Swan. 126 Herring Gulls was apparantly the islands' highest count of the year!

Tuesday 27th

27th was notable for the galling presence of a Black-throated Thrush on Dartmoor back home in Devon, just half an hour from my house. I considered leaving Scilly for it but negative news the following morning persuaded me against it. Mid-morning on Tuesday I found myself on the quay with several others, weighing up the relative merits of a trip to either Bryher or Agnes. Eventually Andy Holden, Vicky Turner and the Craigs decided on Bryher so I followed suit. Wes from the BBC filmed the Craigs all day, so almost as much time was spent dodging the camera as birding. 

It wasn't long before we located the first winter Serin in weedy fields near the Fraggle Rock cafe, and over the course of the morning the bird showed well on and off. As usual I was too busy watching the bird to really think about photos, but here's a dodgy out of focus digiscope.

The 14.00 boat from Agnes arrived with quite a crowd on it including Harry Barnard and David Campbell (the latter of whom made the unfortunate mistake of walking round the corner when the Serin had been pinned down, and therefore missed it when it got up at 14.15 and flew towards Tresco!). Those of us who had been on Bryher all morning followed it, and gave ourselves a couple of hours on Tresco before the boat back to Mary's. The Citrine Wagtail showed much better on Simpson's Field than it had on Monday and as it was not raining I got a couple of acceptable photos.

Wednesday 28th

After a quiet morning, I found myself wandering round the Garrison, hoping to pull a Pallas's or indeed anything of note out of Lower Broom. No luck by midday, but I stayed up there anyway as I was intending to get the 14.00 boat to Agnes. At 12.50 the pager informed me that there was a Bluethroat opposite the entrance to Lower Moors. I made my way down there (rather swiftly) and almost immediately saw the bird in flight, before it dropped down into a ditch. I saw it several times during the next hour before legging it to the quay to catch the 14.00 boat to Agnes with Harry Barnard and Tony Hull. The trip was a failure - no sign of the Pallas's and no sign of a Radde's reported at Covean. Oh well.

Thursday 29th

A Yellow-browed Warbler in Holy Vale started the morning nicely. I bashed Carreg Dhu for an hour to no avail so moved on to Rosehill where the Bluethroat showed well on and off, click here for a photo by Mark Halliday. At 10.00 I worked my way through Lower Moors, noting good numbers of Chiffchaffs but not alot else. When I got to the main hide Pete Aley and his son Jake were watching a very grey Snipe sp. at the back of the pool. We scrutinised it for a while before putting news out at 11.30 of a 'snipe sp. showing features of Wilsons'. This then came out on the pager as 'possible Wilson's', however Pete was not claiming the bird as although it looked good generally (with faded tertials, an overall greyish appearance and very little buff on the strongly barred flanks) he had not seen the outer tail feathers properly. They later proved to have three thick dark bars on them indicating Common, just a paticularly grey individual.

I was the only birder on the 14.00 boat to Agnes, and had to take the 'walk of shame' past 30 odd other birders who had been over in the morning and were coming back early. I was informed of the continued presence of the Pallas's Warbler in the Parsonage, and sure enough when I got there it showed itself briefly. I grabbed a couple of record shots and then turned the camera off to save battery... Bad idea, the bird then came out in the open and showed well. I did not attempt to get any more photos and instead just enjoyed watching such a charismatic bird.

After good views of the Pallas's, James Griffiths and I spent the rest of the afternoon at Covean looking for the seemingly-non existant Raddes Warbler. My dip:tick ratio for this species is now 4:1!

Friday 30th

My final full day on Scilly was an easy-going one, and I was determined not to let the presence of a probable Green Warbler in Cornwall spoil it. Higgo, Chris Langsdon and I had tried to get off-island for it but had been unable to sort out the necessary transport to get from St Mary's to the Lizard for anything less than a huge sum of money, so we gave up. The Bluethroat showed well again at Rosehill and there were the usual Black Redstarts and Firecrests to be enjoyed, as well as the great atmosphere that October on Scilly can produce.

A few pints in the Scillonian after a meal in the Atlantic were enjoyed, as was an incredibly close game of pool with Jake Aley - how he potted the black off 4 cushions I will never know! The holiday seemed to have petered out to a relaxing end, but Saturday had a sting left in it.

Saturday 31st

Brian Small came up trumps on the final morning by finding an Olive-backed Pipit along Sunnyside trail. Mark Halliday and I went straight down there but to no avail, and after giving up on the bird I headed into town with AH in search of easier game - sandwiches. As we were walking back past Porth Mellon, the pager went off - the OBP was back along the trail. Running for an OBP, everyone's done it right? No? Well I wasn't going to stroll back for this one. A flat out sprint to Sunnyside and I arrived panting but optimistic. A grinning Harry Barnard told me the bird had 'just dropped down in that long grass'. To cut a painful hour short, it didn't show again and I ended up having left it so late to get the boat that I had to do some more running, back to the cottage to grab my gear before a last-gasp taxi to the quay. I was the last on the boat, and as I scrambled up the gangway my phone went off - 'obp showing' read the text. It had to happen.

Back on terra firma, it was another race to the Lizard against fading light and I succeeded in dipping the Greenish Warbler by minutes. 

No matter, a quiter week than last year but still a great October break regardless of megas. See you next year.

At 22.00 on Thursday evening whilst I was updating the website over a mug of tea, the pager went off. I picked it up and read... MEGA Co. Durham EASTERN CROWNED WARBLER... My first reaction was something along the lines of **** **** **** *** **** ********. Moments later my mobile was ringing, and I soon arranged a lift with Ashley Powell. He picked me up at around 23.30, and we began the long journey north.

We reached South Sheilds before first light to find a few dozen cars parked up along the coastal road. By 07.00 in the pre-dawn gloom, silent figures started to move expectantly into Trow Quarry where the bird had been seen on Thursday afternoon. At about 07.30 a call went up, and there was a mad dash of 200 people across the quarry floor. Once the bird had been seen, it took me a further 5 minutes of scanning the sycamores for movement (which produced several false alarms in the form of Blackcaps) to get onto it, but then bang there it was! Britain's first EASTERN CROWNED WARBLER was flitting around a sycamore, in my bins and on my list. 300 BOU finally broken and what a bird to do it with!

The bird was slightly larger than expected (when compared with a nearby Yellow-browed Warbler) and gave the appearance almost of an Arctic Warbler, with silky-white underparts. A prominent yellowish supercilium could be seen, along with the less-prominent crown stripe. There were two faint wingbars, and an obvious lemony wash on the vent. Overall it was a real birder's bird, behaving like a Phyllosc should and instantly finding a place in my notes as bird of the year.

 Copyright © Dougie Holden

Just one other car-load had travelled up from Devon, containing Ernie Davies, Bob Bailey, Phil Abbott, Brian Heasman and Dave Stone. Endless familiar faces were scattered around the crowd, which had swelled to 300+ by the time we left by 11.00. The BBC filmed the twitch for the 10 O'Clock News, whilst a seperate crew was filming the Craig family for the much talked about twitching documentary coming up next year. Once again Franko did a good job of marshalling the crowds, keeping people from going to close, and putting everyone onto the bird.

An estimated 700 people passed through during the course of the day, with another 1200+ EXTREMELY LUCKY birders seeing it on Saturday (Devon represented by Kevin Rylands and Kevin Hale).

The rest of the afternoon was not as successful as the morning (I dipped Dusky Warbler and Red-flanked Bluetail in Yorkshire, while Ashley managed very brief views of the latter) but nevertheless we returned home delighted at seeing the bird of the autumn.

Following a disappointing couple of weeks in terms of rarities (Baillon's Crake and Steppe Grey Shrike failing to stay put until the weekend, and all other decent birds on Shetland) news broke on Monday 12th of a probable Brown Shrike at Staines Moor in Surrey. Initially, I was not very optimistic as this species' track record seems to be of 1-2 day birds only, and inevitably midweek. A fair few Devon birders travelled up during the week (all but 5 needed it), and by Friday it seemed only Phil Abbott and myself hadn't been up to see it. This was of course a totally unacceptable state of affairs, and after a fair bit of effort I managed to sort out a lift with Dad up to Phil's house in Seaton on Friday evening. At 03.15 Phil and I set off for Surrey, a vacant A303 helping to produce a quick and easy journey. A Barn Owl was seen on a fence somewhere in Wiltshire on the way.

We left the M25 at J14, and by 05.45 we had parked up on Hithermoor Road, Stanwell Moor. With an hour of darkness left, Phil instantly dropped off to dreamland, but a glance upwards revealing a clear starry sky did not help me relax. As soon as it was light, we walked the half mile or so to the area the bird had been favouring, at the north end of Staines Moor. The first-winter Brown Shrike was showing as we arrived, providing instant scope views in the freezing early morning mist. A 7th record for Britain (pending acceptance), it was of course a British tick for both of us and more importantly for Phil, a West Pal tick too. Result!

The bird showed well for most of our stay, actively hunting from hawthorn to hawthorn. Features noted included the rounded tail, thick dark eyestripe extending to the lores, pale supercilium, noticably chestnut crown (when in comparison with the duller mantle tones) and importantly just 5 primary tips showing beyond the tertials. Apologies for the crap photo - usual excuses apply.

We watched it for a couple of hours, whilst coming across several familiar faces in the 150 strong crowd during the course of the morning. It was nice to finally meet Jos Stratford of BirdForum fame, who was back visiting the UK from Lithuania although not just for the shrike! 

25+ Ring-necked Parakeets and a Lesser Redpoll competed for airspace with planes taking off from Heathrow, the parakeets probably making the most noise.

We headed home late morning having enjoyed a successful and extremely easy twitch. 

I came out of school on Tuesday afternoon as usual, got into the car, took phone and pager out of the glove-box... and had a rather unpleasant surprise. You know you've missed something when there's 7 unread messages and 4 missed calls on your phone! Sandhill Crane, Orkney.

With coursework due in during the week, I simply couldn't take a day off school which ruled out going straight up overnight with anyone. However, news that the bird had probably been present 10 days was encouraging, and on Wednesday afternoon I had managed to organise a car-load to go up Friday night. Before long however, there was a major setback as our driver was forced to pull out. I put a lift request out on the pager and this was our lifeline, with enough responses to secure a car-load.

By Friday evening everything was in place, and I set off with Dad towards Somerset. We picked up Kevin Hale (Bun) at Exeter Services, and soon reached Wrington in north Somerset. Here Dad dropped us off, and we set off up the M5 with Vaughan Watkins. We stopped briefly at Wolverhampton to pick up Kevin Clements, and made good progress northward. 

By 07.00, we were pulling into Gills Bay ferry terminal for the boat to South Ronaldsay. During the next couple of hours numerous familiar faces appeared - D. Pointon, S. Piner, W. Soar, A. + G. Clewes, J. Bell, J. Hanlon, J. Dixon, the Craigs, J.J. Shaw, J .Hunter, A. Lawson etc. A Snow Bunting was knocking around the cliffs whilst we waited for the ferry.

The crossing was uneventful save a distant petrel sp. that I didn't get onto. 3+ Black Guillemots, 6 Great Skuas (Bonxies up here) and 2 Grey Seals didn't quite rival Black-browed Albatross but kept some of us semi-awake.

Once on South Ron, we all streamed off the boat and about 20 cars drove in convoy down the island. Unfortunately, whoever had the un-enviable task of being at the front succumbed to the pressure and made 2 navigational cock-ups. This soon developed into something like a comedy act, as we all piled down a dead-end, then it was like the Glaucous-winged Gull twitch and a race as to who could turn round and get out quickest. Eventually we reached the bird's favoured stubble field. Bins up - bird at the back. Scope up - SANDHILL CRANE.

Judging by it's small size (it's not a lot bigger than the Greylag!), the bird appeared to be of the northern race, canadensis. It was a bit distant in the heat haze, but sporadic cloud cover meant decent scope views could be obtained.

After watching the bird until the crowds had disappeared, we headed off up the road to have a look at the 2 American Golden Plovers present on Mainland at Deerness. Both birds showed distantly with a few hundred European Golden Plovers, but were flighty and hard to digiscope.

Mid-afternoon we headed back for more (and indeed better) views of the crane before getting the ferry back to Gills. Once again, a pretty uneventful crossing back save a couple of Harbour Porpoises and another petrel sp. that I didn't get onto.

The journey home seemed even longer than the one up, and after dropping Kevin back off by J10 of the M6, the three of us carried on down onto the M5. At Bristol services, Bun and I departed leaving Vaughan to drive down to Somerset in the early hours with no one to keep him awake! Dan Pointon kindly picked us up from Bristol, and we headed back to his house for a couple of hours sleep before getting on the first train to Totnes. Bun left at Exeter and I kept myself awake enough on the final leg so as not to miss my station.

I finally arrived home at about 12.00, having covered 1534 miles and spent £82.50. Many thanks to VW, KC and KH for great company throughout, and for not snoring too loudly!

Sandhill Crane? On my list!

Another post-school Thursday, and I was all set for the short trip up with Dad to Seaton for the Pec Sand on Black Hole Marsh. A glance at the pager initially provided good news, still present early morning... but after scrolling through endless Wrynecks etc came: 'No sign by 11am'. ****. I rang round to see if anyone knew any different, but it looked like a bit of a no-hoper. Uncharacteristically, the bird must have buggered off in the morning as opposed to overnight as a wader 'should'. Frustrated, we headed home.

I was just sitting down to update the sightings page, when at 16.39 Gavin Haig texted saying 'Pec still present.' Back into the car then, and up to Seaton. The A3052 is painfully slow road, and getting stuck behind a bus, behind a tractor, really didn't help matters.

Nevertheless, we reached Black Hole Marsh by 18.00. The Pectoral Sandpiper was still there, and if 80m range is 'showing well', then it was doing just that. A Devon tick no less, and a handy yeartick too after missing out on the bird at Bude at the beginning of September. Familiar faces included Doug Cullen and Phil Abbott, and it was also nice to meet Nick Page for the first time.

I ended up watching the bird for nearly an hour, and also took a couple of seriously poor digiscoped record shots (too far for the Canon). Check out the Auto-induced over-exposure! For a decent picture, see here.

*censored*

At 17.44 on Thursday, my phone buzzed. A text from Mark Bailey read: Aquatic warren point. I dipped last year's Aquatic Warbler at Slapton Ley, as well as having been ringing at the site on the wrong day (I was there on Saturday, they caught it on the Sunday), I couldn't just let this one go. After phoning round and finding out that no one was going that evening, I finally secured a lift up to Dawlish Warren with my Dad. A taxi would have been cheaper - my wallet is £10 lighter!

Traffic was a nightmare, and we didn't reach the Warren car park until about 18.40. I legged it over the sand dunes and down to the point where I found Kev Rylands, Ivan Lakin and Martin Wolinski working their way through the cover. Nope, no sign. It had been found in the morning but news hadn't gone out until the evening, as the finder had photographed it but not been sure of the ID. Earlier news would have done me little good anyway, as Thursday is of course a school day and I wouldn't be able to go until very late afternoon.

In short, we stayed until the Sun had gone down and there wasn't so much as a Dunnock to be seen on the point. A yeartick in the form of a Curlew Sandpiper in the Bight wasn't quite compensation, and neither was a brief Mediterranean Gull offshore but they were better than nothing.

Gripping photos of the Aquatic Warbler can be found on the Dawlish Warren website.

Another trip to Cornwall with Ash Powell, this time just a brief post-school visit with only one target bird.

We bombed down to Davidstow Airfield, and arrived around 18.00. We soon found the main runway, and its accompanying Dunlin/Ringed Plover flock. A quick scan with bins revealed the smart Baird's Sandpiper on the edge of the loose flock. It showed well, with the white belly and vent paticularly noticeable. Feathering on the upperparts was immaculate, with the mantle and scapulars in paticular showing no signs of wear, suggesting the bird was a juvenile. The head was also smart with a faint supercilium and a pale spot just above the darker lores. When seen from behind, the 'flattened', oval-like posture made it look dumpy and squat, whilst viewing it side-on showed the long primary projection.

© Ashley Powell 

We enjoyed waching it for a while until it was flushed by dog-walkers (aren't they always?). In flight, there was a thick dark band down the centre of the otherwise white rump, and a pale wingbar was also evident.

Having had excellent views, we headed back home via a White Wagtail on the runway.

With 2 Fea's in 2 days past Porthgwarra, a showy Citrine Wagtail at Marazion and a Pectoral Sandpiper at Bude, it seemed a day out in Cornwall was in order.

I met Ash Powell in Plymouth at 07.00 and we set off towards Penzance. By mid-morning we were at Marazion Marsh RSPB, where we soon found the 'standing stone' from which the wagtail had been viewable for the past few days. It wasn't showing when we arrived, and still hadn't appeared 2 hours later. The wind had picked up and it was starting to rain, so we headed down to Porthgwarra. Here we settled down at the seawatching point, to be told that the morning had been dead. No matter, the Fea's had come through early afternoon on both of the previous days, and there was a trickle of birds coming through to keep you awake. At the end of 3.5 hours, my notebook read: 'Manx 13, Sooty 8, Storm Petrel 4, Balearic 2, Bonxie 1'. This was all standard Berry Head stuff, not worth coming to Cornwall for. However, 2 Basking Sharks and a Minke Whale were not exactly dross, and made the trip seem a little more worthwhile. 

The rain had cleared and the wind fallen by early afternoon so we left Porthgwarra, bought an excessive amount of food, and drove back to Marazion to have another go at finding the wagtail. No luck again, so we left at 14.45 and set off for Bude.

Maer Lake nature reserve was a nightmare to find, and as a result we did not reach it until roughly 17.00. A thorough scan of the tiny reserve yielded a Wood Sandpiper and 7 Dunlin, but no Pectoral Sandiper. We continued scanning from the only viewpoint (the gate along Maer Lane), in the slowly dwindling hope that perhaps the bird was concealed behind a few tufts of reeds. Then at 17.33 the pager went off, informing us that the Citrine f***ing Wagtail was back on the scrape viewable from the standing stone at 14.50. After putting in several hours in total, we had missed the bird by literally 5 minutes. 

We were nearly 80 miles from Penzance and the light was going, we wouldn't be able to make it back to Marazion before dark. This was an almighty kick in the balls, as was the lack of Pec at Maer. We stayed until about 18.30 then left in disgust.

A day for the bin.

With news coming through on Friday evening of an American Black Tern in Oxfordshire, Ash Powell and I thought it best to make an 'insurance' trip up on Saturday morning.

We reached Farmoor Reservoir by 11.00 and set off along the causeway. It was my first visit to the site, and although it's not exactly pretty, the causeway allows you to walk all the way round Res 1 and also gives good views over Res 2. Following a brisk walk along the causeway, we obtained prolonged scope views of the juvenile American Black Tern (C. n. surinamensis), White-winged Black Tern and European Black Tern feeding together on Res 2. For much of the time, all three birds were in the same scope view, creating a perfect comparison. The grey flanks, dusky underwings and darker cap all stood out on surinamensis when compared with niger, whilst the White-winger stuck out like a sore thumb, displaying clean white flanks, a quite warm brown mantle, white tail and paler upperwing and underwing etc. It was also nice to bump into Jim Almond whom I had not seen since January, he managed to get a few shots of the terns which can be seen on his blog.

We departed just as late-comers Dan Pointon and Mark Payne arrived, and we left them to join the bank-holiday weekend crew on the causeway.

Next stop was Chard Reservoir in Somerset where after a brief search we located the Great White Egret, wading underneath the stilts of the hide (which had been thoughtfully locked by the warden before 17.30!). Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper and 4 Mandarin were also noted.

Finally, we made up way up Beer Head (Seaton) in the fading light and after some useful directions from Gavin Haig, enjoyed watching a Wryneck feeding until dusk on a small bank on top of the headland.

A relatively early start saw me arrive at Berry Head shortly after 06.30 for a seawatch.

It was packed! 20+ people came and went during the day, the busiest I have ever known it. I arrived just in time to get onto a juvenile Long-tailed Skua which went past quite close in to the headland, Mark Darlaston's photos of it can be found here. There was a steady trickle of the expected skuas and shearwaters, but no Pom in spite of one being seen off Dawlish that morning. 

Personal totals for 11.5 hours below, all south....

Long-tailed Skua 1

Arctic Skua 21

Great Skua 14

Manx Shearwater 48

Sooty Shearwater 16

Balearic Shearwater 14

Common Tern 78

Sandwich Tern 2

Arctic Tern 1

Common Scoter 15

Ocean Sunfish 2

Harbour Porpoise 1

....and some crummy photos taken in the heavy rain.

Once again, that intrepid dream team (yeah right) set off late on Friday night from Buckfastleigh, heading north. We made good time and had reached Edderthorpe Flash in south Yorkshire by 04.00 without any problems.

It was light by 06.00 and we skidded down the bank from the A-somethingorother verge onto the footpath which overlooks the lagoon. A tit flock was working its way through a heavily vegetated ditch, holding amongst other things, at least 2 Willow Tits and a few warblers.

After about an hour of scanning up and down the water-filled channels on the near side of the lagoon, we picked up the Spotted Crake that we had come to yeartick. It showed well on and off between the clumps of reeds, competing for feeding space with a juvenile Moorhen. Although we had been the first on site that morning, 20+ people had assembled by the time we left. Having received news on the pager of the Wilson's Phalarope's continued presence, we set off down the M62 towards Lancashire.

Arriving at Martin Mere by late morning (surely this place should have some kind of award for the number of dudes it attracts? More than Titchwell?), we paid the extortionate entrance fee and made our way to the Ron Barker hide. Here after a short wait we connected with the Wilson's Phalarope as it came into view out on the mud. A Ruff appeared next to it and moments later an upperclass voice to our right could be heard asking all and sundry, "Is that a wader next to it? Oh yes, a wader. What sort of wader is it?" The bloke didn't get much of an answer, so went back to scrutinise his exciting new wader through is £1.5k scope. These kind of people make me sick. Everyone begins as some stage, and everyone is always learning. But seriously, spending thousands of pounds on top-of-the-range scope and bins, twitching a national rarity ("It's a lot whiter than the others isnt it?" "It's an adult female isn't it? Well, the pager says it is...") etc etc etc and yet the guy still can't ID a bog-standard Ruff? ****. Needless to say we soon left, satisfied with decent views of the bird but not wanting to spend a minute longer at the place than was strictly necessary. 

After a few hours at Ashley's parents' house, we set off for Wstport Lake in Staffs and the reported drake Ring-necked Duck. The bird proved more elusive than expected but eventually gave good scope views. There had been some debate that morning as to the bird's exact ID - it was clearly a drake, looked like a RND, but was it a hybrid? The issue had been raised after observers had become concerned at the appearance of an apparant tuft at the back of the bird's head. It seems however that this is within the range of a pure RND in heavy moult, and apart from the head, everything fitted. Bill pattern looked fine (if perhaps a little weak, but again on a moulting bird not really a problem), wingbar looked fine and the greyish flanks showed a classic white 'spur' at the front. There is a well-illustrated article on it here.

The night was spent back at Ash's parents' place, where after sleeping straight through our early morning alarm, we set off around 08.00. We stopped to get some oil, but it later transpired that Ash might have been just a little too liberal in his attempts to fill it - the oli filters became clogged, and a huge cloud of white smoke began billowing from the exhaust. We spent the next hour or so kicking our heels in a neglected car park, while Mark took the car for a long and intensive thrash around the local roads. Eventually he returned with the smoke much reduced. At last we set off south, cautiously keeping the engine below three an a half thousand revs.

Our final stop was Chew Valley Lake in Somerset. Here after scrutinising the wildfowl, we located the drake Ferruginous Duck but could not pick up the reported juvenile Red-crested Pochard.

After this we headed home, having had another good couple of days birding.

At 06.30 on Monday morning, an intrepid team consisting of Joe Ray, Ashley Powell, a battered Ford Fiesta and some very grimy optics set off from Plymouth Argyll car park towards Penzance. We reached Penzance at 08.00 and squeezed the car into the only free parking space left along the seafront, then bought day return tickets for the Scillonian and by 09.15 were slowly chugging away on the gut-wrenching puke-inducing bucket of rust which still passes as a boat.

The crossing was dead, with just a couple of Manx Shearwaters and a Great Skua for our efforts, and we disembarked upon St Mary's, Scilly, shortly before 12.00. Here we were met by Robin Mawyer who gave us a lift to Porth Hellick where we soon located the Lesser Yellowlegs feeding at the back of the pool. Single Wood Sandpiper and Ruff were feeding directly in front of the hide and 3 Common Sandpipers bobbed around the muddy water's edge.

© Ashley Powell

Having enjoyed reasonable views of our main target bird, we headed round with Robin to Porth Minnick where we spent an unenventful couple of hours not seeing Barred or Melodious Warblers. Becoming a little disheartened, we abandoned the warbler hunt and headed up to the airfield to have a go at finding the Buff-breasted Sandpiper which had been seen reguarly for the last couple of days. Following a long and tense wait, the bird flew towards the wind-sock from where we were scanning having been flushed from near the control tower (and out of sight) by a plane taking off. It landed out of sight once again however, and again we waited before it finally appeared from within a dip and came into view. It proceeded to walk closer and closer, eventually stopping about 100m away to eye us up. Elated, we decided we were not going to get better views, and that it would be best to head back to the quay. Then we looked at the time.... fuuuuck, it was 16.30 - we'd missed the boat. 

© Ashley Powell

After an unpleasant and stressfull hour or so, we decided that we may as well make the best of the situation. After a visit to the cashpoint, we had enough money to eat and to get a ticket home the following day. We bought some food and then went to the pub.

With nowhere to stay, we got a lift with local taxi legend Spider down to Porth Hellick beach after leaving the pub, and huddled up under the rocks. Half pissed, Ash had one of those masterstrokes and had bought 20 sausages, a bottle of Vodka and a portable Barbecue in the co-op. We ate 4 of the very burnt sausages, 2 bread rolls and a tuna sandwich. Our thirst having already been sated, the vodka was ignored. Brian Thomas had kindly lent us some coats, and that night we managed a few hours sleep under the August sky.

Nursing mild hangovers, we were woken at 05.00 by endless argy-bargy from the local Ringed Plovers, so we staggered down to the Seaward Hide and checked the pool to see if any waders had come in overnight. The yellowlegs was still present with the same supporting cast as the previous day, but a Greenshank was new in.

Next we headed to Porth Minnick and settled down on some different rocks on a different beach, this time with scopes up scanning the fennel and pittisporum on the edge of the footpath. 20 minutes of nothing and then - bingo, the Melodious Warbler appeared above the ridge and gave good scope views for 5 minutes, during which time Viv Stratton joined us. It soon showed again and we enjoyed excellent views as it worked its way slowly through the cover.

© Ashley Powell

A check of the airfield and a search for the recent Barred Warbler was fruitless, so we wandered down into old town in search of breakfast. Old Town Cafe opened early for us, and we gratefully attacked a Full English paying just £5.50 for the privilege.

Next we went back into Hugh Town to try and sort out a ticket back to the mainland. It transpired we could not upgrade our day return ticket to a 2 or 3 day return and simply pay the difference - we were going to have to pay full price to get back to Cornwall. This was another kick in the balls financially that we could really have done without, but such is life. There was no point in bemoaning our apparant misfortune - go and buy some fags instead.

The Sapphire was going out that night on a shark fishing trip, and after talking to Joe Pender the skipper we managed to get a place onboard. By 17.00 we were sitting on St Mary's quay along with Scilly's finest, as well as a lad called Ollie Metcalf (nice to meet you mate). The boat set out, and we motored north east for 7 miles. For almost 3 hours the birding was dire, just 2 Mediterranean Gulls and a handful of Storm Petrels to keep us half awake. An Ocean Sunfish was my first, but did not lift my spirits for long.

After what seemed like an eternity, a call from behind of 'Wilson's!' had me scrambling and sliding over to the port side. The call was good, of course. A pristine Wilson's Storm Petrel was gliding over the waves only a few metres from the boat. I was elated and relieved to have finally caught up with the species at my third attempt, and enjoyed stunning views of the bird as it did several close laps of the boat and then fell back into our slick where it fed with its commoner cousins. All the diagnostic features were noted including the pale upperwing bar, completely dark underwing, projecting toes and typical hirundine-like flight action and jizz.

The party was interrupted however by a bite on one of the rods. It took 10 minutes before we got a glimpse of the catch, and another 15 to get the creature onboard the boat - a smart Porbeagle Shark. Weighing in at 40lbs, it was a small one as they go but apparantly only a 4th record for Scilly.

 © Ashley Powell

Joe soon restarted the Sapphire's engines, and we headed back happily to St Mary's. That night we were kindly given sleeping space at The Wilbys' house, and Wednesday was spent birding at a relaxed pace around the island until we boarded the Scillonian at 16.15.

As we passed Land's End, Ash turned round to me and jokingly stated that if I did not find him a Great Shearwater then I would not be getting a lift home. Alright then. I was scanning from the starboard side about 5 minutes later when I picked up a large shearwater banking over the waves. 'Ash, big shear!'. It turned, showing a white underside with dark markings under the wings and on the lower belly, and a dark cap, eliminating Cory's. Great Shearwater, a bogey bird for Ash and a great way to end the trip.

We returned home in good time, satisfied with what had turned into an excellent few days birding.

I took the plunge today and ordered the new X3 pager from RBA. Whether or not it will prove to be a worthwhile investment remains to be seen, but frustratingly I ordered too late to be able to use the pager when on Mull next week. Don't expect a pager review (not that it would be any good if I wrote one), but when I'm back from Mull I'll do a quick summary of how the trip went along with a few photos.

Meanwhile, here's a few shots from an amble round Stover CP with the 40D this afternoon between the showers. It was good to see that the Great Crested Grebe pair have got three chicks, whilst a juvenile presumably from their first brood was also on the lake. The positioning of the new hide isn't ideal, but did allow views of a flypast Kingfisher and the marshy ground directly in front of it held numerous Common Blue Damselflies.

The seawatching season is well and truly underway now, and as once again BBC weather was on Tuesday night predicting a SSW and some light to heavy rain on Wednesday morning, I found myself setting up my scope in the rain on Berry Head with four other equally optimistic/cold/crazy (delete as appropriate) birders comprising Mark Darlaston, Bob Bailey, Josh Marshall and Bill McDonald.

As Devon has already played host to a probable Black-browed Albatross in recent days, I for one was (over?) optimistic at what the fairly promising weather conditions might produce. An early trickle of Manx Shearwaters with the occasional Balearic Shearwater kept us awake, whilst there seemed to be at least some tern movement, 49 Sandwich Terns buoyantly making their way south in small flocks for much of the day. A handful of Puffins also bombed through, two of them posing nicely on the water for a few moments. 5 Common Scoter passed distantly as did single Great Skua and Whimbrel, but by 12.00 the rain had began to set in and the wind dropped to no more than Force 3, the result of which was that a monumentally huge raincloud settled over south Devon and proceeded to dump several inches depth of water on us. 3 Arctic Skuas had gone through before the really heavy rain started, but in hindsight it would probably have been been wise to follow their lead and make a swift exit after mid-day.

Bob and Bill saw sense and left by early afternoon, but Josh, Mark and I decided to stay on to see what would come through when the rain cleared. To sum up the afternoon - we sat in the relentless, torrential rain for more than 5 hours seeing no more than a Yellow-legged Gull and a couple of Storm Petrels. It was dire. By 17.15 and after 10 solid hours of scrutinising a lifeless and gloomy sea, I gave up and headed off in search of some chips followed by a hot shower. My personal counts are listed below but as usual, Mark's more comprehensive combined totals for the day can be found on the Sightings Page.

Manx Shearwater 122
Sandwich Tern 49
Balearic Shearwater 10
Puffin 7
Common Scoter 5
Arctic Skua 3
Storm Petrel 3
Great Skua 1
Yelow-legged Gull 1
Whimbrel 1

No updates for a month! My apologies. To quote the Punks: "It's all been going a bit Schedule 1 of late."

Now that we're into July it's officially autumn (even though I don't break up for summer for another two weeks - life can be harsh), so expect plenty of entries on here with my seawatching tallies over the next couple of months. 

With Friday's BBC weather forecast promising a light SSW and some equally light rain on Saturday morning, I realised there was nothing to be lost (aside from a lie-in, but those are now a thing of the past for me) in a few hours at Berry Head.

I arrived at 07.45 to find Mark Darlaston already onsite - no, I hadn't missed much, just a couple of Med Gulls and a Balearic. Nothing was really happening. Dave Norman joined us for a couple of hours, but everything remained quiet. In spite of a couple of brief and optimism-boosting gusts of wind, it was damp, flat and calm and not a lot materialised. 39 Manx Shearwaters was a meagre total, although 2 Balearic Shearwaters going south were my first of the year. Little else of note was seen aside from a distant Common Tern and a brief Harbour Porpoise, although Gannet passage was like a slowly dripping tap with well over 200 south by the time I left at 11.00.

3 Meadow Browns, a Ringlet and a Marbled White were noted around the soggy vegetation, and on the walk back up I picked up 2 Whitethroats, a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff. 

Bring on Scotland.

Saturday was spent in Norfolk in an attempt to boost the yearlist and clean up a few tarts along the way.

Ashley Powell picked me up from Buckfastleigh at around 21.30 on Friday night, and we began the long drive. The Highways Agency had the brilliant idea of closing the southbound M42, and diverting all of the traffic onto the M6, where they then closed three of the four lanes. The result of this masterstroke was that the entire southbound M42 and M6 had to squeeze down a single lane between J4 - 3. It took us 3 hours to get out of the resulting mess, and onto the A14.

No matter, we plodded on and after a brief stop for some sleep somewhere in Cambs, we reached our first site at about 05.30. Within moments of getting out of the car, we were treated to good views of a Stone Curlew, while another 2 called in the background. A Woodlark was also heard but not located. 

Very pleased with our start to the day, we moved on to Lakenheath. Here a Barn Owl was quartering the rough ground around the car park, and a Turtle Dove was heard and then seen briefly. Sedge and Reed Warblers were as expected singing everywhere, and a pair of Marsh Harriers plunged in and out of the reeds where they presumably had a nest. A Cuckoo called and gave a brief fly-past as we made our way to the main attraction. There was already a small crowd stood staring into the plantation, so we joined them and soon had our scopes trained on a basket-like nest high in a poplar tree. On the nest was a female Golden Oriole. The male flew in shortly after we arrived, and sat on the rim of the nest to feed the chicks. The pair proceeded to show well around the nest and we enjoyed watching them coming and going, whilst listening to a Bittern booming from the reedbed behind us and a Nightingale bubbling away from amongst the poplars.

Time was pressing however, and having 'cleaned up' at Lakenheath we decided to move on to Swanton Novers in search of Honey Buzzard. Our luck had diminished somewhat however, and although we gave it a couple of hours we were unsuccessful, in spite of various claims which inevitably referred either to Common Buzzards or a female Kestrel. Norfolk at its finest.

We moved on in search of a different raptor, and joined the throngs of dudes at the Montagu's Harrier site. I began to get a little depressed after an hour or two, as people were yelling 'I've got it' when a Black-headed Gull drifted over, and were endlessly calling "Marshies" as "Monties".

Once again someone called it, and as usual everyone scrambled in a panic to a viewing position. This time however the call was good, and the female Montagu's Harrier gave distant views as she quartered the fields ahead of us. She soon disappeared however, and unlike us did not seem to be under any pressure timewise, so we left.

Chosely was the next port of call, where we had a short but unsuccessful search for Quail around the fields adjacent to the famed drying barns. 2 Corn Buntings were a yeartick for Ash, so all was not lost. Final stop was the obligatory slow drive around the Wolferton Triangle, which failed to yield any Golden Pheasants.

I eventually arrived home at 00.16 on Sunday, and reflected on a cracking day out. Thanks Ash.

A post-school trip down to Cornwall on Wednesday afternoon saw me arriving at Colliford Lake at 17.30.

After a brief search, I soon located the long-staying Black Duck dabbling with Mallards at the far edge of the Loveny NR stretch of the lake. The bird was in near-silhouette for much of the time, but when the sun went in a flatter more neutral light was cast on the water and it clearly stood out as considerably darker than the nearby Mallards, while the pale head contrasting with the bird's dark body was also seen when it swam towards the near shore.

A Great Crested Grebe was also on the water, but nothing else of interest was seen so I left at 18.00.

My 9th BB rarity of the year, but definitely the least interesting!

After news coming through on Saturday evening of a male Little Bittern near Ham Wall on the Somerset Levels, on Sunday morning I rang round to see if anyone was going up. I was unsuccessful, as it seemed only Kevin Hale and Karen Woolley were going from Devon, both from Seaton and too far for me to reach.

Feeling less than optimistic, I eventually found myself on the train to Taunton, where I got a connection to Bridgwater arriving at 13.46. Following another few phonecalls, Dan Pointon picked me up at 14.15 and we headed for Walton Heath.

We reached the site and joined the 40 or so birders hanging around along the main path and half-heartedly scanning an empty-looking reedbed. After about 10 minutes however, a guy came down informing everyone that he'd heard the bird singing across the other end of the reserve. The throng scampered round to where the bird had been heard (via a pair of very smart Black Terns), and within 10 minutes we could hear the bird calling again. The call was a low, fairly quiet but far-carrying croaking sound, almost like a 'subdued dog with a cold'. Another 10 minutes passed, and suddenly the adult male Little Bittern burst up out of the reeds and flapped slowly and lazily over our heads and into the next reedbed, allowing everyone excellent and unobstructed flight views. Much back-slapping and elation followed - we'd 'nailed' the bird.

Whilst scanning the reedbed into which the bird had landed, a Barn Owl drifted in low over the reeds and proceeded to give superb views before floating off like a ghost. After some time, the Bittern was relocated in the reedbed, and most enoyed brief views of its head and neck just poking out.

Shortly after I had moved round to view the reedbed from a more elevated position, it got up out of the reeds again and flew back over the track and into its original position. This was good enough for many people, and an hour later there were no more than 20 of us left. I had the opportunity to leave, but decided to stay on and wait for Ashley Powell to arrive. Eventually he did, and after quite a long wait, the bird showed itself in the edge of the reeds. I managed to get the bird in my scope for the first time, and it did not disappoint, showing well though partly obscured in the reedbed.

Other birds of note seen during the course of the day included 3 Hobbys (Hobbies?) and a flypast Cuckoo.

A good day out.

With no news of yesterday's reported Greenish Warbler at Man Sands, I headed up onto Dartmoor mid morning. This proved to be a poor decision in the end, and I got very wet indeed for little reward.

I only tried one site, and gave up after 1.5 hours as the rain grew heavier and heavier. The highlight was a singing Tree Pipit, as well as a couple of Meadow Pipits and a smart male Stonechat in the heather. 4 Cuckoos were calling continuously, and 2 of them gave excellent and close flight views.

Aside from this, very little was noted although at least 5 Willow Warblers were holding territory and a Siskin flew over.

For the second time running, I slept through my alarm and consequently didn't get up until 07.45, leaving the house at 08.00. I arrived at the first site shortly before 09.00, and within 10 minutes had located a singing Turtle Dove. Over the course of the next hour, another 5 were seen including two which gave good views singing and displaying out in the open. 2 Crossbills were a long overdue addition to the yearlist (which of course I'm not keeping count of), and 3 Blackcaps were in good voice.

Next up was Exminster Marshes, where in the warm south east breeze I was hopeful of a raptor or two, maybe a Red Kite. I had from 10.30 to 12.30, so I positioned myself on the canal towpath and waited. A small male Peregrine was the highlight, the only other raptors seen being a female Kestrel and 8 distant Buzzards. Otherwise it was quiet, with only a handful of Swifts over the marshes and a Little Grebe on the main lagoon. 15 Shelduck were noted, but there was nothing else of interest and my hopes of a good raptor dwindled as the wind swung round from the south to the east.

Not a bad morning all in all, although a better raptor showing would have been nice. Fingers crossed that the Collared Pratincole in Sussex will hang around until Sunday...

Following a final check of the weather forecast on Tuesday evening, I somehow found the motivation to get myself down to Berry Head on Wednesday morning for a seawatch.

The day did not start well as I slept straight through my alarm, eventually arriving later than planned at about 07.30. Upon arrival, I found Mark Darlaston already set up, and soon Josh Marshall joined us. The wind was in the south west as the Met Office website had promised, however it did not seem very strong and the predicted heavy rain did not really materialise although there was enough mist and drizzle to make us fairly optimistic. No matter, I had the whole morning to spare and I wasn't going to waste it.

When I arrived, Mark had already clicked about 120 Manx Shearwaters, which continued to trickle through all morning. My final tally was 395, although Mark was over 500 by the time I left. The only skua of the day was a Great Skua which bludgeoned its way north at about 08.30, although it or another had flown south before I got there. 2 Puffins sped past, one of them landing briefly on the water quite close in and gave good views.

At approximately 10.30 as the wind began to swing round to the west, we picked up the first Storm Petrel of the day, and by 12.45 another 13 had fluttered their way south. Other than 4 Swifts in-off, a very vocal Rock Pipit and a single cetecean which was most likely a Harbour Porpoise, not much else was noted and I departed after 5.5 hours in search of some food.

It seemed to take an eternity but Friday eventually arrived, and with it came the news I was hoping for:

Following steak, chips and a few phone calls, I set off with my Dad at around 21.00 on Friday evening in the direction of Seaton. Here I was dropped off at Phil Abbott's house, and at 01.00 Phil and I picked up Kevin Hale (Bun) before heading east.

We made good time, and allowed ourselves an hour-long stop in a service station to try (and in my case fail) to get some sleep. By 05.30 we had reached Grove Ferry and we headed off through the mile or so of mud to the Marsh Hide. 2 other birders were already there, but had so far not located the bird. 2 hours later and the atmosphere was becoming a little tense and nervous. We had mustered 2 Hobbys, 2 Marsh Harriers, a Garganey and a (presumably plastic) White-fronted Goose, but we had been unable to connect with our quarry.

Then at about 08.15, someone called out "I've got it!", and they had indeed - the bird had appeared from behind a mound of earth, so had presumably been present all morning but had simply been out of view. Britain's 34th BLACK-WINGED PRATINCOLE proceeded to show fairly well on and off along its favoured heap of mud, much to the consternation of the local Lapwings. As soon as news went out, the number of us in the tiny hide increased from about 8 to 25+, far too many to allow comfortable viewing. Having enjoyed prolonged if rather distant views, we realised that a very long wait would be required to see the bird any better, and so we vacated some space and left the hide. After a very nervy wait, we had finally 'got' the bird.

Please excuse the appalling picture quality, the usual excuses apply but in this case the light was truly terrible and the bird was only just visibile in bins, which gives you an idea of the Pratincole's distance. The above shot is of course digiscoped.

The viewing platform yielded single Wood Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover along with 4 Avocet. There was no sign of the Temminck's Stint or Grey-headed Wagtail seen during the week, whilst the scrub held a Lesser Whitethroat and not a lot else.

As the wind was increasing and was swinging round to the west, coupled with the fact that there was no news of anything else of note in the south east, we decided to begin the journey home.

Thanks to Phil and Bun for making what could have been a rather exhausting twitch so enjoyable.

Following several abortive attempts and false starts, on Wednesday evening I managed to get up to the Exe to search for an American calidris that has been around on and off since the 8th of April.

I was about to arrive at Exminster when I had a call from Kev Rylands to say the bird had been relocated at Dawlish Warren. Great... I changed direction and carried straight on down to the Warren, where it was just a 15 minute run on the sand to Warren Point (the second time I've done this now - the first was for last year's Semipalmated Sandpiper). Oh for a boardwalk! I reached the point, and made my way towards Ivan Lakin who was crouched down out on the point looking at something in his scope. It turned out he'd not seen the bird for 10 minutes, and it had wandered out of view.

Simon Tonge joined us, and we eventually relocated what is either a WESTERN or a Semipalmated Sandpiper further up the beach with the Dunlin flock. Reasonable flight views were obtained, before the whole flock got up and pitched down again the other side of the bank in The Bight. Our number had swelled to 8, and all of us were treated to reasonable if not ideal views of the bird feeding on the mud with its common cousins. I didn't really see the bird well enough to add much to the ID debate - if you care, then there's plenty here and a bit more here. Ivan got some good photos shortly before I arrived, which can be seen on the sightings page.

Seen elsewhere onsite were 4 Wheatears, 50 Sanderling, 60 Whimbrel and a displaying Sparrowhawk, but the light was fading so I left with Simon at about 19.30.

With news on Friday evening of the continued presence of the Crested Lark in Kent and the Collared Flycatcher in Dorset, a car-load consisting of Lisle Gwynn, Kev Rylands, Kevin Hale and myself set off late on Friday night. Countless energy drinks kept us overly awake on the drive up, and we arrived at Dungeness at around 04.30. Slowly, car after car began to arrive and by 05.25 there were about 60 people onsite. At 05.30 everyone spread out and began to sweep the area between the approach track and the lighthouse. Almost immediately, a lark was flushed and flew over to the other side of the track. Following this, there was a mass charge at where the bird had landed. People seemed very surprised when it didn't show....

Several Skylarks caused mass panic, but eventually our target bird flew back over the road and landed on a seeded area in front of a house. In flight, the bronze-coloured underwing, shortish tail and lack of white outer tail feathers eliminated Sky, Wood and Thekla Larks, and on the ground the distinctive crest could be seen when the bird was alert. It was the CRESTED LARK the 21st record for Britain and the first to have stayed more than a day since 1996. In spite of its status in Britain as a mega, it was one of the most boring and unnatractive rarities I have ever seen. Better views might have changed this opinion, but although the diagnostic features were seen, for the most part it looked similar to any other lark - small, brown, flighty, uninspiring.

We set off at 07.30 and with no news of Red-rumped Swallow seen nearby on Friday, we left Dungeness, picking up a hunting Marsh Harrier along the way. The M25 was predictably loaded with bank holiday traffic, and heading west was very tough going. 2 Ring-necked Parakeets were seen flying over, but otherwise the journey to Portland was unremarkable. Once at Portland, we parked up at Southwell and I put the last £1 I had on me into the collection bucket. It had better be good... and it was. We reached the 'viewing field', complete with the Saturday crew and some blue rope.

After no more than a 30 second wait, the COLLARED FLYCATCHER appeared on a branch in a sycamore on the edge of the nearby garden. It showed reasonably well, flycatching and even singing occasionally in its favoured tree. Aside from the complete neck collar, the bird showed a largish white patch on the forehead, a pale grey/white rump and brownish primaries allowing it to be aged as a second calendar year male.

There was no sign of yesterday's Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, but two megas in a day isn't something to complain about.

With news coming through on Wednesday morning of the continued presence of the Woodchat Shrike in Plymouth, I decided that although it wasn't a county tick and I'm not yearlisting, any shrike is always worth a short journey so I set off after school towards Plymouth.

Driving down the A38, it began to drizzle. Drizzle became rain, rain became downpour, and the downpour became absolutely torrential. The main aim was to try and get some photos of the bird, which had been reportedly 'showing well' regularly although was a little mobile, but whilst the open clouds were so inconsiderately soaking everything beneath them, this was going to be impossible.

We arrived at Ford Park Cemetry shortly before 17.00, and I set off down the track armed only with my bins, becoming drenched within seconds in spite of a makeshift raincoat. Reports had initially said 'north west corner', so this was the area where I focused most of my attention. Half an hour later and it wasn't looking good; the rain was showing no signs of slowing, and there appeared to be very little bird activity around the cemetry - the shrike was presumably sitting tight in a dry, impenetrable bush somewhere. Mark Bailey informed me over the phone of where he had seen the bird on Tuesday, the other end of the graveyard from where I was. I headed to the far corner, scanned the "hedge near the factory" and bingo, I was watching the female Woodchat Shrike, the first of the species I had seen since 2007. Stuart, a local birder who had been searching for the bird with me, soon obtained views, whilst I raced back to the car for my camera. This was of course completely futile, as we did not get further views of the shrike in the worsening light, and were forced to leave at 18.30 as the gates were going to be locked.

Still, brief views of a very nice bird, and if I decide to count up my yearlist around Christmas time (which is what usually happens) then Woodchat is a very useful tick along the way.

Photos of the bird from Dave Stone and Chris Buckland can be found here.

It took a while, but I eventually managed to secure a lift down to Berry Head on Sunday morning for a seawatch. I couldn't get there until 08.00 however, but upon arrival, Josh Marshall and Tom Bragg who were already there informed me that I had not missed much.

Low cloud and a brisk south westerly were reasonable conditions, so I set up my battered and unloved camping chair and prepared myself for 2 hours of nothing. Dave Norman joined us, and together between 08.00 and 10.00 we noted (all south): 226 Manx Shearwater, 18 Common Scoter, 5 Great Northern Diver (including one in summer plumage), 3 Great Skua, 2 Puffin and a Sandwich Tern, along with numerous Fulmars, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Razorbills etc. which no one made the effort to count.

On the passerine front there was little, although 5 Whitethroats were singing in the scrub on the headland, and a single Swallow made its way north over the waves.

When the sun broke through at about 10.00, Josh and I decided to go off looking for raptors. Montagu's Harrier and Red Kite over Budleigh yesterday, so why not? Predictably, as soon as we reached our first site the cloud rolled in and it began to rain, so we did the sensible thing and went and sat in the car. Next up we went in search of Crossbills at a site nearby, but again with no luck so we decided on Exminster Marshes as our final site of the day.

This proved to be a fairly good decision, and we added a few migrants to the daylist. Warblers are always nice to see/hear in early spring, with 8 Sedge, 3 Reed and 4 Cetti's counted at Exminster in an hour and a half. 15 Sand Martins and 5 House Martins were not paticulalrly inspiring, but the gathering storm clouds produced at least 24 Swifts over the marshes, whilst 2 Whimbrel were feeding near last year's American Golden Plover lagoon.

All in all we had a good few hours birding, and although nothing heart-stopping was seen, it's always good to see returning migrants.

When asked in February whether I'd like "a couple of days on Scilly in April staying with the Wilbys" I gratefully accepted the opportunity. My logic was: Spring + Scilly --> Migrants + Scarcities.

Thursday

A quick look at the rocks beside Jubilee Pool in Penzance before boarding the 09.15 Scillonian produced 29 Purple Sandpipers, a decent start to the trip. 3 Sandwich Terns were calling from Penzance harbour.

I arrived on St. Mary's at 11.50, and immediately set off towards Lower Moors to check the scrape. No Lesser Yellowlegs. Ok, how about Porth Hellick? 5 Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff. 4 Ringed Plovers but no Kentish on the beach, 3 Gadwall and 0 Black Ducks on the pool.

No matter, I wandered down past Porthmellon, and had a quick scan through the 40 or so Herring Gulls assembled on the rocks. About 6 birds in from the left of the flock was a white-winger, a juvenile Iceland Gull.

Unexpected and a nice start, I checked briefly through the rest of the gulls before heading back to the house to grab my camera. Back to Porthmellon, and I managed just a couple of shots before a dog flushed the birds and they settled on the water.

I soon picked up the Iceland Gull, and was pleasantly surprised to find a second bird with it, also a juvenile.

I watched the two together for a while, before texting through the news and carrying on along the path, where I bumped into Ashley Fisher. We exchanged sightings, and while we were talking, the Red Kite that had been on Scilly for the past week or so slowly drifted into view, very very distantly between Telegraph and Longstone. 

Porthloo produced 2 Wheatears and a bored-looking Robin Mawyer, but not much else.

With Hoopoe and American Golden Plover in mind, I next checked the golf course. 3 Linnets. Undeterred, I moved on to Bant's Carn where I picked up my first House Martin of the year, whilst a thorough check of The Roads yielded 10 Sandwich Terns. I carried on birding until dusk, but did not see anything else of note.

Friday

The alarm went of at 05.45, and by 06.10 I was slowly wandering through Lower Moors, wondering why there weren't any birds. With a strong easterly blowing, Penninis Head didn't yield anything more than a Wheatear, so I tramped all round the Garrison, twice, determined to find Subalpine Warbler. I got a Chiffchaff instead.

I had a quick look at the dump where I picked out the smaller of yesterday's two Iceland Gulls, and then made my way to the quay where I got on the 10.15 boat to Bryher. Upon arrival, it wasn't long before I located the resident Hooded Crow in its favoured spot below Samson Hill. It was a truly crap bird, so a brief glance through the bins to confirm it was the pure bird and not a hybrid was enough, and in disgust, I marched off round the other side of the hill. A female Peregrine went over, and I crossed paths with Will Wagstaff who'd just had a Hobby fly over the town towards Tresco.

The boat back wasn't until 14.30, so I killed some time by trying (and of course, failing) to digiscope a Kestrel, and consuming some excellent chips and an unhealthy amount of Coke in one of the local cafés.

Once back on St. Mary's, I was again birding until dark, but nothing else was noted aside from 5 Swallows, 2 Sand Martins and a Snipe at Porth Hellick.

Saturday 

For the third time, I started the day at Lower Moors in search of passerines. Nothing much doing, so I walked through Old Town to Porth Hellick. Nothing much here either, so I dragged myself up round the Garrison. Nope. By 12.00, my totals were: 9 Swallow, 5 Willow Warbler, 4 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 2 Reed Warbler and 2 House Martin. Abysmal.

For the rest of the afternoon, I walked disconsolately around the island, rather predictably ending up at the dump. The smaller Iceland Gull was present and for a while, it was the only gull there so I digiscoped it.

I went back for the 40D and when I returned, the bird had been flushed and was circling round the Incinerator, so I got a few shots.

A handful of Manx Shearwaters were seen from the return Scillonian on the way back, but I spent much of the time below decks, watching Con Air on my iPod.

Maybe go in May, next time?

Having planned for the last few days to get some seawatching done, I eventually managed to get a lift on Wednesday morning to Hope's Nose, Torquay. I had not visited this site since I broke my ankle last September, so with this at the back of my mind, I set off down the slippery path towards the point at around 07.30. My first thought was "this is quiet." 10 minutes and a few Greenfinches later, I thought "no it's not, it's dead." After half an hours scrutiny of the bushes in the hope of maybe a Redstart (no chance), all I could muster was 3 Blackcaps and 7 Chiffchaffs.

Giving up on the scrub, I decided to settle down for a seawatch. I started at 08.00, and Mark Bailey joined me for an hour or so from about 09.00. It was undoubtedly a case of quantity over quality, and after 3.5 hours I had logged 456 Manx Shearwaters, more than I had expected considering the light north easterly wind. The highlight was 12 Puffins which sped south in ones and twos throughout the 3 hours. Good views were enjoyed by both of us, when one drifted close inshore and sat out on the water in front of our scopes. 8 Common Scoters zoomed northwards in 2 groups of 4.

Aside from endless Manxies and a thick scattering of auks, not alot was happening. "A diver would be nice..." I mused, and just as Mark was about to leave shortly before 10.00, a Great Northern Diver muscled its way north, seconds after Mark had packed up his scope!

I stayed on until 11.30, growing ever-more restless as the number of birds passing slowly dried up. 8 Carrion Crows coming in off the sea was a weird sight, more familiar though was a Swallow in off, and another battling its way north over the waves.

At 11.30 I had had enough, and headed home for some nice coursework with lashings of revision. Scilly tomorrow...

As any remotely regular readers of this page will no doubt attest, I hate early mornings. I'll endure them for a good morning's birding, but if I'm not planning to be out birding early then I like to stay in bed. For some reason, I had switched off my pager but left my phone on the previous night, so at around 10.30 on Saturday morning, the desk by my bed started buzzing and shaking. I glanced at the display - it was Josh Jones. He had called to inform me that a White-throated Sparrow had been found in Hampshire. !!!

I dragged myself out of bed and started ringing round. Nope, Kev didn't need it... neither did Mark... Bun was going with Phil straight away from Seaton... Ernie had his phone off... Lisle was already in Hampshire... I kept on ringing until there was no one left to ring. No lifts. So how about a train? £31 return to Winchester, hmm. Ashley Howe agreed to pick me up from Southampton Airport Parkway at 17.30 as he was stuck at work all day. There would hopefully just be enough light, but would the bird show?

I got on the 13.21 train to Reading, sank into my seat and hoped. During the journey up, I watched the sun slowly become obscured by cloud, and by the time I reached Reading, it was drizzling. No matter, I got on the next train towards Bournemouth, and at 17.32 I reached Southampton Airport Parkway, where 10 minutes later Lee Fuller and Ashley Howe picked me up and we set off towards Old Winchester Hill NNR. British speed limits tried to ensure the journey would take us half an hour, but we made it in 20 minutes, just about in one piece.

We parked and headed for the small crowd, who were all peering into the base of some dense scrub. A tense 5 minute wait, and then Britain's 33rd WHITE-THROATED SPARROW hopped out briefly into the open before becoming obscured again. Within 10 minutes however, it sat out in the open atop a blackthorn, and afforded everyone present with good views. It then flew over our heads into a second blackthorn, where it remained for a few seconds before dropping back down into deep cover. We waited another 20 minutes in the fading light but the bird did not show again, and with a train to catch, we headed back towards Southampton. I boarded my 9th train of the week, and settled down for the journey, eventually arriving home at around 23.55.

No photos because I didn't take the camera, but there's numerous shots on Birdguides, and in a few years time Ash might update his blog too.

What is it they say...? White-throated Sparrow: on my list!

My third day birding out of the last four started at a leisurely pace, with a welcome lie in until about 08.30. A quick shower and a piece of toast were enough to send me on my way, and I got a lift into Newton Abbot where I met Josh Marshall at 09.30.

Our first stop was the site at which I had spent so many hours searching for Lesser Spot this year. Upon arrival at about 10.00, we headed down one of the smaller tracks which runs between a few old oaks and some young birch trees. 2 Siskins called overhead, whilst a Yellowhammer and up to 6 Willow Warblers also made their presence known. After 10 minutes of regular pauses and scans, I eventually picked out a flash of white in amongst some birches. We waited a couple of minutes, and then the bird moved again. It revealed itself and flew over our heads in the top of some oaks - a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. After putting in over 18 hours this year, my efforts had finally been rewarded.

The bird then flew back over the track into the birches, where after a few moments a second Lesser Spot, this time a female, gave its position away. The pair continued to show well on and off, if a little distantly, in amongst the trees. The female remained fairly unobtrusive, while the male called very briefly, and we watched both actively feeding, favouring quite small dead branches.

A third Lesser Spot was heard calling from the other side of the wood, but having enjoyed good views of the pair, we decided not to try and locate it and instead headed back to the car, setting off in the direction of the Exe. A pair of Goosanders which flew over the A38 while we were driving through the Upper Teign Valley were a surprise. A quick stop at Matford Pools got us 4 Green Sandpipers, 5 Snipe, 2 Black-tailed Godwits and 3 Swallows but there was no sign of the female Scaup.

Moving on to Bowling Green Marsh, the Osprey was soon located sitting distantly atop the mast of an old boat on the mud of the River Clyst. The marsh itself held very little however, aside from 4 Avocets and a scattering of Wigeon and Teal, but just as we were about to move off to the viewing platform, the adult Little Gull flew in and fed over the water for a few minutes, before a heavy rain-shower forced it to sit tight on the far bank where I managed a record shot through the downpour.

The viewing platform produced nothing of note, as the tide was well out and any waders on the mudflats were reduced to tiny specks in the haze.

Next stop after Bowling Green was Mamhead where our luck diminished somewhat, and we were unsuccessful in locating any Crossbills although a Lesser Redpoll called briefly overhead. A quick check from the viewpoint yielded nothing, so we decided to make Dawlish Warren our final port of call.

Here, we eventually picked out the 5 very distant Velvet Scoters that had been offshore for the last few days. Towards Exmouth was a distant flock of 40+ Sandwich Terns, and a long, long way out were at least 60 Common Scoters.

The estuary was lifeless, due to the tide being at its lowest point and a couple of dog walkers swaggering around right out on the middle of the mudflats. Morons. After a brief visit to the hide, we made our way back towards the car park, via a singing Reed Warbler in the reedbed by Greenland Lake.

This was all we had time for, and Josh dropped me off again at 17.45. A good day's local birding, all in all. 

Once again, an early start and a lift to the station, in time to catch the first train of the day to Weymouth.

After a brief change in Castle Cary followed by a 13 minute delay, I arrived in Weymouth at 11.05, and was met by Steve Menzie, Steve Rutt and Joe Stockwell all of whom were having a crap week at Portland. I squeezed into the back of Menzie's Almera, and we set off towards Wareham, our target being the Ring-necked Duck that had been present for a couple of weeks at Swineham Gravel Pits.

After navigating through Wareham to the site, we set off down the main track, hearing 2 Cetti's Warblers and a Willow Warbler at the edge of the reeds. A thorough scan of the main pit revealed only a couple of Tufted Ducks and 4 Black-tailed Godwits amongst other things, but there was no sign of the Ring-necked Duck.

I phoned Kev Rylands (who saw the duck last week) to confirm that we were at the right spot - we were, the only problem being that the bird wasn't. We continued around the pit, and scanned from the other side. A Blackcap was singing close by in a willow, and a Reed Warbler was noted very briefly before dropping down into thick cover and not re-appearing.

After checking the two smaller pits, it became apparent that the bird was not present, or else it was sitting tight in the reeds somewhere. We gave up, pointed the car in the direction of Hampshire, and set off.

We soon arrived at Blashford Lakes, and made our way towards the Woodland Hide where a "probable Greenland Redpoll (Carduelis flammea rostrata)" had been reported almost daily for the past week. The first thing that caught my attention once in the hide was the high numbers of Bramblings, up to 14 of which were feeding together on the ground. To the left was a loose flock of around 30 Lesser Redpolls. Scrutiny of this flock revealed 2 or 3 Mealy Redpolls amongst them, as well as a number of 'intermediate' type birds, which, if someone tried, could be claimed either way. Eventually the 'Greenland Redpoll' joined the flock, and we had good close up views of it feeding on the ground. For full details on plumage, structure etc. have a look at Menzie's Blog (which he will no doubt update when he is back from Portland). After some debate, we came to the conclusion that there were few if any features on this bird that would eliminate out a large flammea.

Steve R and myself had a quick look at Ibsley Water, where 2 Little Ringed Plovers were sitting unobtrusively on some shingle to our right, and 30+ Sand Martins swarmed like insects over the water. My second crap record shot of a LRP this spring...

A pair of mating Lapwings were a sure sign of spring, but just as I was beginning to scan through the gulls (!) we realised that my train left Weymouth in just over an hour!

We headed back to the car park, where Menzie and Joe were already at the car. We got in, and drove straight off towards the nearest traffic jam. Time ticked on and I realised that I wasn't going to make Weymouth in time, however Dorchester Station was not far off, and fortunately my train stopped of there so after a nervous wait, I got the right train.

Apologies for the rubbish photos, I didn't take the DSLR and my compact is really buggered.

Thanks to Menzie, Steve and Joe for a good afternoon.

After various failed lift attempts and ongoing indecision, at 1.30am on Tuesday morning I was eventually persuaded to head down to Cornwall for the Great Spotted Cuckoo that had been in residence near St. Just.

Whilst on the morning train to Penzance, I texted Paul Freestone, and half an hour later he was picking me up from St Erth station, saving me 2 hours and 2 buses from Penzance to get to the cuckoo site.

We arrived just after 10.30 to find a few birders wandering aimlessly over Bartinney Downs, the large expanse of moor/heathland that the cuckoo had been favouring. Mark Halliday joined us, and we set off over the downs.

To cut the next 4 hours short - we spent the afternoon walking around every inch of Bartinney Downs and the surrounding area, scanning every bramble and every wall again and again. At least 8 other birders did the exact same thing, but no, we were out of luck. The bird was either being incredibly elusive, or had died in the night, having struggled to feed in the wet and windy weather the previous day. Either way, it didn't show. Single Willow Warbler, Wheatear and Swallow were sadly of no interest, as we struggled on through the wind from one side of the downs to the other and back again.

Mark and Paul eventually left at about 14.00, whilst I decided to stay on until 17.00 and get the bus back to Penzance. Fortunately this was not necessary, as after another couple of hours of aching legs and howling winds, I got a lift back to Penzance station (via a chippy, of course) with Al Orton, who had come down from Cheshire for the bird.

I had half an hour to spare when I reached the station so I wandered down to Jubilee Pool on Penzance seafront, where my spirits lifted slightly at the sight of 15 Purple Sandpipers close in on the rocks. They were no real consolation however, for what was a highly tiring and unsuccessful day. Various people have reminded me that "you can't win them all", but it would be nice 'win' just every now and again wouldn't it?

Total journey time: 6 hours

Total miles walked: c5

Total money spent: £18.50

No. of Great Spotted Cuckoos seen: 0

It being a warm Sunday afternoon, my family decided they'd like to have a walk along the beach at Branscombe. Fair enough. Branscombe being near Seaton, I thought I'd try and squeeze in a few hours birding while they were lazily soaking up the sunshine elsewhere.

I was dropped off at Colyford Common shortly after 13.30, and made my way down to the hide where Kevin Hale was scoping the marsh. Upon arrival he put me onto a distant Little Ringed Plover that was on the edge of the scrape to our left with 2 Curlews. Possibly a new bird, as opposed to one of the 3 here yesterday? Who knows. I got a crap record shot.

Over the course of the next 3.5 hours, we didn't see much. 2 Swallows made their way purposefully north up the Axe valley, having presumably come straight in off the sea, and a Chiffchaff fly-catched in some bushes close to the hide, whilst a handful of Rock Pipits displayed endlessly overhead. Aside from this, the place could be described as either quiet or dead, depending on your perspective.

On the way back to the road we bumped into Karen Woolley who had fared no better at Beer Head. We discussed the chances of the Cornish Cuckoo showing itself tomorrow, and then went our seperate ways.

A short walk around the patch at lunchtime yielded little, but the first patch Chiffchaff of the year was a welcome sight, and indeed sound. 2 Cirl Buntings were seen briefly in one of their favoured spots, but were very mobile. Otherwise there was just a small selection of residents, with 2 Skylarks, a Meadow Pipit, a Green Woodpecker and 2 Mistle Thrushes. Roll on May.

The morning was spent on Dartmoor in search of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. Is anyone doing anything else at this time of year? It seems not...

I arrived at the site around 07.30, and set off along one of the woodland trails. Drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers were everywhere, but it was not the drumming that I wanted to hear. Rounding a corner, I came across a finch flock. Settling down to scan through them, I ended up with 16 Siskins and 4 Lesser Redpolls, dangling from the tips of the birch trees. Nice, but not nice enough.

5 Roe Deer leapt through the undergrowth, and a single buzzing note from the edge of Trendlebere Down alerted me to the presence of a male Yellowhammer atop some gorse. I carried on round the wood, listening to singing Marsh Tits and encountering numerous flocks of Long-tailed Tits, but there was no sign of my quarry. 3 Ravens croaked overhead and a Green Woodpecker 'yaffled' with all his strength, but I had still not had even a hint of a Lesser Spot. A dead birch tree ahead of me rekindled my interest however, as it had the tell-tail signs of a woodpecker's drumming. I moved back, took a seat and waited. 45 minutes later and nothing had happened save the monotonous chanting of a Great Tit from just behind me, so I moved on.

Just as I was walking back down towards the small car park, I heard the unmistakable 'pee-pee-pee' of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Before I could pin down its exact location though, it stopped calling, and once again all I could hear were tits. I stood where I was for the next ten minutes but still no joy. David Bradford arrived and joined me in my search. We spent the next half hour scouring the area where I had first heard the call, and tantalisingly, the bird called again while we were walking along a higher path. But once again the bird remained hidden, and was not heard again.

The pager buzzed, and then buzzed again. A Devon rarity... Expecting to see something like '3 Cattle Egrets still at Powderham', I glanced at it. 'Devon probable Alpine Accentor on 27th February 4mls WNW of Dartmouth south of Allaleigh near Woodlands Holiday Park in area with no general access.' WHAT THE ....? I sent out a few texts asking if anyone knew anything else, and soon had Kev Rylands on the phone. He didn't know anything, and neither it seemed did anyone else. Then Mark Bailey called, and informed me that apparently the report had come through Birdnet. With this information, I called Stephen Menzie and demanded details. He said that he had a number but no name for the guy who had rung it in. The finder was a non-birder who had seen what he at first thought was a Redwing. However, he said it had a 'lot of grey in the head' and that it was too small. It had apparently approached with a few yards of him, and he later looked through a book, finding only Alpine Accentor to match the bird. His description had seemed good, so Menzie put it out as a probable. Mike Langman (county recorder) had been given the guy's number, and would be in touch.

I relayed this information to Mark and Kev, and then tried to forget about it, concentrating instead on atempting to relocate the Lesser Spot.

I was out of luck however and the bird had seemingly moved on, despite our best efforts to pin it down. 

Disappointed, I left at 10.45.

With the final day of half term being free, I took the opportunity for a final bit of birding and made an afternoon visit to West Charleton Marsh, near Kingsbridge.

On the way, a quick stop was made at Frogmore Creek, which produced 2 Greenshank, 3 Redshank, 3 Oystercatchers and a Curlew but nothing more due to high tide.

Upon arrival at West Charleton, a Chiffchaff was actively feeding in willows near the small sewage works, and 2 Pied Wagtails were around the buildings.

Out on the marsh were 3 Little Egrets, and the reedbed held 2 very vocal Reed Buntings. The rest marsh was quiet however, so I turned my attention to the estuary. A Great Crested Grebe was quite close in, and 51 Brent Geese were far out in the bay. Loosely associating with them were 14 Red-breasted Mergansers, just 4 of which were males. 9 Shelduck were scattered across the water, and feeding on the edge of the bank was a group of 7 Wigeon. 11 Curlew were roosting on a small spit, before taking flight and heading across to the very distant far bank.

The sunset over the water was stunning, whilst Curlew calls in the background made it feel like a summer evening, as opposed to a chilly February afternoon.

I left at 17.50, and headed home to tackle a mountain of coursework, which had inevitably been postponed throughout half term and now needed dealing with. Easter soon...

After a call from Perry Sanders on Friday evening, I arranged my third trip up to the Otter Estuary in a week.

Dragging myself out of bed at 06.50 (regular readers of this page will no doubt realise by now how hard I find getting up!), I had gathered up scope, bins, and had managed a bit of breakfast before heading outside.

I walked the mile and a half in the pre-dawn gloom to our arranged pick up point, where I arrived at about 06.40. Perry pulled in five minutes later, and we set off eastwards. When we reached Budleigh Salterton at around 07.50, Paul Welling was already on site. 10 minutes before we arrived he had had an interesting dark first winter Herring type on the estuary, but did not get good enough views to confirm it as the American Herring. Unfortunately the flock then dispersed, which made the search a lot more difficult.

As it was Saturday, people soon began to arrive, and by mid-day there were around 20 birders on site. The whole estuary and the rocks just offshore were being covered, but there was no sign of the bird. 8 Common Scoter and 2 Red-breasted Mergansers passed offshore, and another welcome distraction came in the form of 2 Water Pipits on the flooded meadow a couple of fields down from Budleigh Salterton cricket pitch. The birds were very active around a small scrape, and showed well at about 10.00, albeit rather briefly. 

At mid-day, Josh Marshall and Bill McDonald arrived, and joined us on the viewing platform. Unfortunately Perry had to leave at about 13.00, but Tom Bragg was now on site, and as he planned to visit Seaton later in the afternoon, I was able to stay on longer. Paul called it a day shortly afterwards, and slowly people began to curse the cold and their boredom, and started to drift away. 

I stayed until 14.00ish, and then left with Tom for Seaton. Here after quick phonecalls to Kevin Hale and Phil Abbot, we located the juvenile Iceland Gull on the far bank of the Axe Estuary, between the tram sheds and Coronation Corner. We watched it for about half an hour but it remained fairly distant - whenever you tried to move round to get a better angle, the late afternoon sun hit you full in the face. As a result, none of my shots are any good, I managed nothing better than below.

At least 4 Mediterranean Gulls were also on the estuary, although I did not attempt an accurate count - leave that to Steve Waite.

After a brief scan from the famous Farm Gate, we headed back to Budleigh Salterton, where we stopped for a quick look just in case. There was barely a gull in sight, and no other birders either. The female Eider was still offshore but nothing else was noted.

Powderham was our last port of call, but we were out of luck in terms of Cattle Egrets, the regular 3 that have been present since 31st January in the field behind a circular house were not in residence. 9 Little Egrets were seen going to roost, but the Cattle Egrets were not with them.

Driving down to Powderham Park, we scanned across the small lake and instantly located a roosting Spoonbill, presumably the same bird that has been seen on both the Teign and Exe estuaries regularly over the past few weeks. At about 18.00 it flew, drifting over the railway line and onto the Exe. 3 Reed Buntings in the tiny reedbed were the final noteworthy birds of the day.

Many thanks to Perry and Tom for the lifts, and to Paul, Bill and Josh for excellent company during the day.

Enjoying a half term lie in, my phone went off 3 times in succession just after 10.00. 'American herring back on the otter'. Oh crap...

An hour later, I had managed to succeed in persuading family friends to give me a lift up to Budleigh Salterton. The most challenging task now over, all I needed was for the bird to stay...

I arrived at Budleigh Salterton around 12.00, and headed straight for the viewing platform. Andrew Cunningham was already there, and I was soon watching the first-winter American Herring Gull, Devon's second record of this species, out on the estuary. Terry Smith and a few others soon arrived, with the bird showing fairly well out in the main channel. The salient features were noted, including a dark smooth brown chest and underside, a dark wash on the greater coverts, almost completely dark tail with extensive barring on the uppertail coverts and vent, very dark tertials with thin pale fringes, and a reddish-pink base to the bill. Looking through bins as opposed to the scope gave a good impression of the bird's jizz, and its overall bulky and dark appearance clearly set it aside from the nearby Herring Gulls. Brian Heasman's excellent photos can be found here.

I took my eye off the bird to scan through the rest of the gulls, and shortly afterwards, most of the flock got up and flew. I managed to pick out the smithsonianus in flight, allowing the dark tail and heavy barring on the uppertail coverts to be easily seen, as well as the overall bulky structure and general dark colouration. The flock circled round the small headland, and dropped below the horizon behind a belt of conifers.

Realising that the beach ridge would now be a better spot to relocate it, most of us made our way back along the path and out onto the beach. Here it was possible to scan back over the estuary, which revealed the wintering Whimbrel on the mud. Offshore was last week's female Eider, and a Great Northern Diver which called plaintively four or five times. 

Scrutiny of the rocks at the estuary mouth produced reasonable views of the gull, which had presumably drifted back round the cliffs while we had been walking along the ridge.

At 13.45 I left, grateful to have had a second opportunity to see the bird which I had dipped the previous weekend.

A fairly early start, I arrived at Yarner Wood around 07.30. It was mild and overcast with a few patches of drizzle - not great conditions, but at least it wasn't windy.

After checking the pool by the car park for Mandarin (no luck), I headed up the track which leads towards the hide. One of the most vocal species was Coal Tit, closely followed by Marsh Tit. Up to 10 of the former were regularly calling loudly, whith a minimum of 5 of the latter also making their presence known.

A Green Woodpecker called briefly from the other side of the valley, and anxious alarm calls from the tits around the feeders alerted me to a Sparrowhawk, which appeared through the trees carrying a doomed male Blackbird.

4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a Nuthatch were happy to take the piss and impersonate Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, but sadly there was no sign of my target species. 2 Fieldfares and a Redwing passed overhead, and a pair of Ravens called continously from the area of pines across the valley.

A Jay raided the feeders by the hide, screeching loudly and scattering the tit flock far and wide. In the canopy was a Chaffinch flock, which eventually revealed 11 Siskin and a Lesser Redpoll. 

The scattered feathers of a pigeon kill lay on the bank, but there was nothing else of interest.

By 10.00 having not located any Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, I headed back.

A quick look along the Dart at Stoke Gabriel from 14.00-15.00 yielded little, but it was nice to finally see some sunshine.

Stoke Gabriel Millpond held 3 Little Grebes and a Redshank, as well as 40 Black-headed Gulls, several of which had already moulted into full breeding plumage.

The tide was fairly low, and on the far bank between Tuckenhay and Dittisham was a small scattering of waders. Closer scrutiny revealed 24 Curlew and 17 Lapwing roosting along the edge of the mudflats. A wide scan of the whole estuary produced a minimum of 36 Shelduck, but nothing else of interest was noted aisde from 3 Buzzards overhead.

Is it spring yet?

I spent the morning at Broadsands, in search of the usual divers and grebes.

Arriving at 09.30, I checked through the assembled Black-headed Gulls in search of a Mediterranean, but was not in luck. Turning my attention to the dead calm sea, I soon picked out a distant flock of 13 Eider, and 5 Red-breasted Mergansers. The calm conditions were a mixed blessing, as birds were easy to watch, however they were far out in the bay. 

I carried on round the small headland, picking out 18 absurdly distant Common Scoter (which were later reported off Preston seafront - about 4km away!). The sea off Elbury was dead, aside from 3 Great Crested Grebes and a handful of Fulmars, so I headed back towards Broadsands beach.

Scanning towards Goodrington, I located a smart Black-throated Diver, my first of the year. A little further behind it was a Great Northern Diver, and about 10 minutes later I picked up a single Black-necked Grebe. A handful of Guillemots and a single Razorbill did not generate much interest, although a Slavonian Grebe was nice to see, and was my 5th grebe species of the year.

3 Rock Pipits were the only notable birds along the beach, so after half-heartedly checking the car park (17 Goldfinches and a female Sparrowhawk), I left.

I eventually succeeded in getting a lift up to Budleigh Salterton in the afternoon, to search for the American Herring Gull that had been found the previous day. When I arrived at about 13.30, Dan Pointon, Kevin Hale and a couple of others were already present, scanning from the beach ridge over the estuary mouth.

Despite much searching, there was no sign of the bird over the next couple of hours, and as a few birders came and went, very little was noted.

Kev Rylands and Ivan Lakin arrived around 15.30, with Bun leaving shortly afterwards. A 4cy Yellow-legged Gull could be seen preening on the rocks at the estuary mouth, and just offshore was a single female Eider and a flock of 18 Common Scoter. A distant Red-throated Diver passed, but there was nothing else of interest.

Pointon eventually called it a day, as did several others, and Kev, Ivan and myself were left still scanning over the estuary in the fading light. An adult Glaucous Gull drifting up the estuary and landing on the rocks was a very welcome surprise. The light was really crap, but I managed a digiscoped record shot.

The wintering Whimbrel was also in the estuary, and a few Rock Pipits flew over (prompting a bored discussion about calls), but eventually it became too dark and too cold, so we left for Ivan's car, in time to hear that England were as expected, losing to Wales in the rugby.

After catching the first train of the day, I eventually arrived at Penzance station 20 minutes later than planned at approximately 11.40.

I set out along the seafront in the direction of Newlyn, and after a slow and ambling walk in the winter sunshine, I reached Newlyn Harbour at about 12.15. After a short scan of the habour, I located my first target bird of the day, a 2cy Glaucous Gull wheeling through the air with a flock of Herring Gulls. It was another half hour before I connected with the other white-winger that was present, a 2cy Iceland Gull.

The Glaucous went to sleep on a roof, whilst the Iceland disappeared down to the other end of the harbour.

Henry Cook arrived, fresh from dipping the Snowy Owl, and he joined me in my attempt to relocate the Iceland. We were successful, and the bird showed well on the edge of the small marina.

At least 2 Great Northern Divers were also present around the boats, although they were difficult to photograph, only showing on the surface for a few seconds before disappearing for long periods beneath the water.

Making our way back towards Penzance, 3 Rock Pipits and a Black Redstart flicked around on the beach, although a scan of the bay revealed nothing of note.

The rocks around Jubilee Pool predictably held the wintering Purple Sandpiper flock, numbering a minimum of 25 birds.

Getting on the 14.45 bus, we headed off towards Helston, where the bus dropped us next to the boating lake. Here, we soon obtained excellent views of the 2cy Ring-billed Gull, which performed at close range for the next half hour, allowing us to note all the diagnostic features that seperate the species from Common Gull - a sturdy bill, pale mantle with dark crescents, dark chocolate-brown tertials with only small pale tips, and a variegated tailband with dark flecking extending uptowards the rump.

Henerz then left to check the woodland around Helston Loe Pool in search of Firecrest, and I got the bus back to Penzance, where after a 45 minute delay, I took the train home.