I think Lesser Whitethroats are my favourite warbler. Uncommon, skulky, a song that sounds exotic … but enough of them knock about to know you’re always in with a shout of seeing one

Thanks to @mmereci for letting me know this was around at Rivetside.

A male Redstart - counted 5 of them in a small area - there are clearly more than that which is wonderful …

A good day out - always good to see a local Lesser Whitethroat, Common Sand are not common, good numbers of Redstart already at Thursely with a single Tree Pipit giving it some whelly from its chosen tree top. #patchbirding #ukbirding

Sad news Steve. Didn’t know Royston well but whenever I saw his ‘van’ I knew I was in the right spot and would see some good birds and he was always up for a chat.

1 of 2 LRPs at Staines - flew in from the north basin and hung around the south basin just off the causeway. Thanks to Jim Sweetland for the advice on how to find them.

This White-tailed Eagle flew in and put everything up. Which was great because it’s only then that I knew how many Teal etc were actually present. Count went from 12 to 86 in seconds ….

This time 4 days ago there was not a Whitethroat to be had on Pewley. This morning I lost count after 15 … now just waiting for a Lesser, or a Redstart or dare we wish for a Nightingale …

These Grey Partridges have been great value. Rare in Surrey, not always easily seen, and good looking. Never really looked at them before … but they’re a subtlety lovely bird. I reckon most Surrey birders have now made the Pewley Partridge Pilgrimage … shame they’re probably from a shoot somewhere but we’ll never know. And it doesn’t matter.

Love this time of year … stuff arriving, passing through and all in good nick. Nothing super rare but good nos of Wheatear & Whitethroat on Pewley; Common Tern, 2 LRPs on Staines today; a spectacular WTE at Pulborough & ‘my’ Grey Partridges continue to attract the ‘crowds’ 🤣 #patchbirding #ukbirding

… early am or late afternoon best for the GPs, Bill. They were there early at 7 today but jittery …

This is a Grey Partridge on Pewley at around 7am. Lovely light.

Staines at its best ….

I’d forgotten how good Yellow Wagtails can be. This was a pristine looking one. It must have been quite tired as it sat for long periods - at one point it was close to being stood on by a togger.

I’ve said it before … but man alive, there is no finer bird than a spring Wheatear … one of 3 on Pewley Down this afternoon after Peter had found 1 - by the time he’d chased me down it had turned into 3.

First decent migrant weather for weeks. 2 Grey Partridge still on Pewley first thing. Gave Staines Res a bash - GND, 1 BN Grebe etc - but then a banger of a Yellow Wagtail hopped on to the causeway & a Sandwich Tern did a few circuits of North basin. 3 Wheatear at Pewley in pm visit. #patchgold

Is there a finer looking bird than a male Wheatear in spring? I think not.

There ARE 2 Wheatear in this shot. Male on the left. The female or 1CY male on the right.

Thought it was enough to cause a minor twitch for the Grey Partridges today as I wandered up to see if they were still about - they were - but then not 1 but 2 Wheatear popped up on the main field AND a calling Brambling in the tree behind - oh, my days I need a lie down #patchbirding

Male and female Grey Partridge. Never really looked closely at GP’s before. They’re quite smart little things.

The male was particularly alert.

Male calling. Maybe they’ll stay? The local Red-legs might not be too impressed.

#patchgold this morning at Pewley. Without the biting wind it felt like a Wheatear or something would pop out … but even better - 2 Grey Partridges! This is a mega Surrey blocker! 🤣

Nice, Dan. You can take the rest of March off now … 👍

A lot of people spend a lot of time ‘curating’ & ‘editorialising’ their lives through social media to make them look fun & interesting. Imagine if those same people spent the same amount of time making their lives fun & interesting. Wouldn’t that be more .. er .. fun & interesting? #fun #interesting

@jonesgareth.bsky.social might be able to help ..

1 of 3 breeding plumage Med Gulls on Riverside NR today. They didn’t stay long tho. Malcolm missed them 15 minutes later.

Med Gulls have to do something special to generate excitement these days. But 3 absolute immaculate bangers did exactly that today on #patchgold. Of course, today I left the camera in the car 🙄. But a camera guy came by & after some cajoling & pointing I got a BoC shot - of 1 of them. 🤨🤣 #riverside

A female Mallard with some of her recently hatched brood

My daily trot around Riverside and Slyfield tip finally gave up a Yellow-legged Gull. A near adult. Been hoping for one for ages. With 6 new-in adult LBBG suggesting some spring movement? Gadwall on the Wey & a Mallard with at least 6 ducklings already - #spring #patchgold

White-tailed Eagle wasn’t on the menu today but one heading South high over Riverside with a caravan of 3 ‘tiny’ Buzzards was a bit of a shock. Presumably one of the south coast birds? Looked like a 4/5CY #patchgold #birdsseenin2026 #surreybirds

Curlew Sandpiper in a wader roost. First record in modern times….

Pacific Diver - 1 of many photos

Absolute scenes! at St Ives Island with @jonesgareth.bsky.social & @liamlangley1.bsky.social with 3 megas in 12 hours. Last night a roosting Curlew Sand. This morning - a Magpie! - followed by a Pacific Diver drifting W on dropping tide. Maybe it will return …
#cornwallbirding #birdsseenin2026

A male Wheatear fresh in looking like he owns the place already.

A male Wheatear off to stir someone else’s soul for the afternoon …

With everything else kicking off around us, that these little guys make the effort to come here for the summer and arrive looking like this … blimey, nothing else really matters, does it? With 3 Sand Martins at a glorious Marazion this am
#cornwallbirding #birdsseenin2026

Showing all the classic winter Boney’s features - short pink legs, light grey ‘shawl’ up the back of the neck, short black bill, slightly darker mantle than BHG.

Lovely small black beads along primary tips - much cleaner than BH. I have another shot of the white underwing.

Garganey doing its best impression of a Wigeon. This is the second Garganey of the winter. The first one was a juv female. Strange times. It’s quite hard to pick out in amongst its Wigeon buddies. Especially at 200 mtrs in the rain and murk.

You can’t get more Iceland than this. Pure white primaries … no hint of any Kumlien’s genes here.

Just spending the day around Hayle paid off. A new (as far as I know) adult Bonaparte’s on Copperhouse popped in, with a pristine adult Iceland earlier on the main drag, an ‘argentatus’ Herring Gull (I think) plus the male Garganey hanging with the Wigeon #cornwallbirding #birdsseenin2026 #gulls

Coffee was spilt, flasks were dropped, stunned silence was heard - when this drifted into view, landed briefly and then ghosted away over the top of a hill

A male Hen Harrier disappearing quickly over the side of the valley.

… a classic view of a male Hen Harrier - a white rump disappearing rapidly into the sun …

Site record 111 RT Diver off St Ives this am going west, east, in & out of the bay with @liamlangley1.bsky.social
RB Gull at Hayle, Great Egret at Marazion, Dusky Warbler at Boscathno (finally, after 10 attempts 🙄) - but the real star today was a male Hen Harrier - With Billy N. #cornwallbirding

This Scaup has been around for at least 2 months. It looked pretty drab when he arrived - look at him now!

Super pleased to find the Pacific for the year. Saw it in December. Still looks pretty smart and was close in. Still has his chinstrap although not as noticeable as it was a few weeks back?

This could have been a great photo … but the PD was very active and fishing/diving constantly. At one point it must have gone over 50 metres underwater. Difficult to keep tabs on it.

Bonaparte’s Gull at Hayle. Fortunately Steve R had already picked it up as I arrived - I would probably have missed it as it disappeared 5 minutes later. Thanks to the finder.

Drake Scaup looking dapper on Long Rock this am after 60 Manx, GND, RTD & 1 BTD off St Ives. Found the Pacific Diver close in at Roskilly - showed way better than my photos suggest - then jammed in on the Bonaparte’s at Hayle before it disappeared in lashing rain #cornwallbirding #birdsseenin2026

Malay Plover adult on the right - 1CY Malay on the left. Like a ‘dinky’ Kentish, rounded head, black ‘collar’ almost meets in the middle, black extends round back of neck/collar.

It waited!! Great performance as it fed in the harbour, washed off Tolcarne Beach and flew to and from the roof of Lidl at Wherrytown.

It’s moulting its imm tail out.

Kentish Plover - larger size, squarer head, no black around back of collar/neck, black on upper breast not close to meeting in the middle

The planets all aligned - 2 days ago it was Malay, Kentish & Tibetan plovers on a beach in Thailand. Today it was a gull in and around Newlyn harbour. It was also 25 degrees cooler & quite a lot wetter… a bit tired now .. #cornwallbirding #birdsseenin2026

Spotted Wood Owl - male.

Collared Kingfisher

Ruddy Kingfisher

Mangrove Pitta

#Thailand … what a day out North of Phuket! 5 sp of Kingfishers, 2 Owls, a load of plovers from Kentish to Pacific Golden via Tibetan & Malay, RN Stint, 50 Oriental Pratincole, c100 Red-throated & Paddyfield Pipit, Osprey …. & 2 Mangrove Pittas … #birdsseenin2026

Black-naped Monarch. A vision of electric blue zipping through the undergrowth

Stripe-eared Bulbul on Mount Phou Si a subtly lovely bird

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher. About the only time one say still long enough.

Another day another Phylosc session. Eastern Greenish for me this one. A Greenish type call, single wing bar, long strong whitish super reaching forehead and towards nape, short primary projection … Mount Phou Si is the best place in Luang Prabang. Easy to get to, central in town, but the 200 steps straight up are challenging

#Laos #birding Luang Prabang, Mount Phou Si is the most reliable place. Early am is the best time (obvs). Rather unsettling, you can buy caged Scaly-breasted Munias for $1 from street vendors to release for ‘luck’. My $30 released c50 of them. I’m not sure I’m the lucky one #birdsseenin2026

White-capped Water Redstart. We found a couple of these.

Scarlet Minivet - quite common in parts of Thailand and across Asia

This is the back end of the spectacular White-rumped Shama … shame my photography skills aren’t.

1 of a possible 38 or so Phyloscs that knock about Thailand in the winter. Two-barred Warbler was the consensus.

Some spectacular birds in Thailand and Laos the past few days. And some less spectacular leaf warblers - several pages of them. Good to know that the locals struggle with them too … #birdsseenin2026

Taiga Flycatcher. Tonnes of these around the reservoir.

I have this down as Thick-billed Green Pigeon on account of its … thick bill but also eye crescent and tail pattern.

I don’t know what this is. Very large pipit or lark? Nothing seems to fit.

The forest & mountain beyond the immediate reservoir. Don’t let the slight Disney-esque feel of the place put you off. At the weekend this is where Chiang Mai people get a bit of R&R. Early weekday mornings it’s pretty empty.

Beautiful morning around Huay Tueng Thao reservoir nr Chiang Mai. 60sp identified. Loads of sp missed! Figuring out what’s what on yr own is part of the fun. But it’s super intense! The need & force to be ID’ing everything is strong within one - but it’s impossible without a guide
#birdsseenin2026

Hong Kong it’s the same - Tree Sparrows all over the place. @stevewg.bsky.social I wonder why?

Commonest Sparrow in BKK. Tree Sparrow. This group was nesting in and around a highway underpass. Why don’t they do this in the U.K?

A Plain Prinia …

Start of Thailand trip - Bangkok. Long way & with an early start to Chiang Mai tomorrow, today was a stroll in the park - Yellow Bittern, Javan Pond Heron, Pacific Swift & Indochinese Roller. Bird of the day? Tree Sparrow. Plenty of them in this vast urban metropolis weirdly …?

#birdsseenin2026

My first Little Owl for several years! Been a bogey bird of mine - just don’t seem to be able to ‘bump’ into them anywhere.

This one performed beautifully - flying between a few coppiced trees. At one point was mobbed by a few Great Tit, Greenfinch, Blackbird but they really didn’t seem to be too bothered by it.

Quite a decent size - I thought they were smaller - however despite being ‘small’ they’re well built and more ‘robust’ than I remember. Maybe that’s why i don’t see them - my search image is all wrong …

Not seen many of these over the years - for many reasons my last one was at least 10 years ago (don’t ask) - so it was cool to connect with one after some gratefully received local ‘gen’. Performed well within small area of water meadow/farmland
#birdsseenin2026
#littleowl
#patchbirding
#bogeybird

It’s not ‘just a big stripey Ringed Plover’. Although it IS big, and it IS stripey .. x

It’s long tailed and funky looking .. and a decent looking bird ..

… but it’s only when preening it suddenly showed all its good features / spectacular tail and orangey buggy rump.

I caved and went for the Killdeer today. Nice bird, a tick ‘n all that - and a good day out via a few other spots - but I got more excited about the Woodcock that flew over the road. There’s a lesson here for me somewhere. 🤔
#birdsseenin2026

That’s quality, Jack! And well done for being persistent and ignoring my Fieldfare suggestion! 🤪

👍

Fieldfare?