A game of 2 halves yesterday at Minsmere with @david-walsh.bsky.social! A relaxed morning around the heath and scrape turned into an afternoon of raptor madness! Pallid Harrier and 2 White Tailed Eagles! Although they were all high and distant at times, it was an unreal experience!
Great to see the ringing demo today - we saw Cetti’s and Sedge Warblers, and the visitors’ interest level was fantastic!
Headed up the coast with @joshuapeverley.bsky.social for what proved to be a wonderfully uplifting day. It’s always special hearing the first Nightingale of the year, today with someone who hadn’t heard one before. Overall we tallied exactly 100 species, mainly at Westleton/Minsmere. #suffolkbirding
Update. I managed to read the ring, and have discovered that the bird was ringed by @btobirds.bsky.social Suffolk rep Mick Wright at Melton, 17 km away, in 2024, Incredibly it is the 7th ringed Reed Bunting in my suburban Ipswich garden since 2021 (five Suffolk, singles Essex & Kent) #suffolkbirding
My 3 shrikes print is currently at the framers and will join the @edkeeble.bsky.social original and treasured Mal photo (see pinned post) in my office...
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#Art #Photography #Refined #Classy #Gentleman
Headed to Giffords Flash early afternoon y’day to follow up Adam Gretton’s excellent find of Lesser Scaup. Great to confirm there was indeed a pair. Perhaps the same birds which spent 6 days there in Apr 2024? Stills from video; the scope views were actually pretty good! #suffolkbirding #ukbirding
Reed Buntings have visited my garden in 12 of the past 13 years. I feared I might draw a blank in 2026, but two males have just appeared! The only other year with a first visit as late as April was 2019. One is ringed, so I hope it returns for me to try and read the ring #suffolkbirding
The next guided wildlife walk from The Froize pub at Chillesford takes place later this month. Hopefully by then spring migration will be in full swing! A superb lunch is guaranteed. See froize.co.uk/product/guid... for booking details.
Bittern, Sandwich Tern, Mediterranean Gull and Stone Curlew from Monday’s @naturetrek.bsky.social day at Minsmere. We also saw Woodlark, Marsh Harrier, Avocet, Snipe and a black Adder! See www.naturetrek.co.uk/about-us/tou... for details of more Suffolk day walks #suffolkbirding #ukbirding
My @naturetrek.bsky.social group at Minsmere on Monday had a terrific day, and it ended with us watching this Bittern out in the open for fully twenty minutes! Places still available on several Suffolk day walks this spring, see www.naturetrek.co.uk/about-us/tou... #suffolkbirding #ukbirding
Brilliant!
Time to call a halt on a paint of a juv Roughleg boinging up and down on thin thorn branch before I am tempted to tinker about with it. I miss these chaps more than any other mild winter no-show I can think of. #BirdArt
Nipped to Alton Water this afternoon for a quick catch up with @edkeeble.bsky.social. The two long-staying Scaup were remarkably close and very lovely in the sunshine #ukbirding #suffolkbirding
Wonderful to finally catch up with the black-winged kite today at Ludham Bridge, watching it catch a small rodent and then perch to eat it, though under the close gaze of a local peregrine #norfolkbirding #birdsseenin2026
Young birders offered rare chance to work at Fair Isle Bird Observatory www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/Y...
A very fun and successful weekend on Patch at Walthamstow Wetlands, Marshes and Waterworks NR. Bittern (my 2nd here), White-fronted Goose, Marsh Harrier, 3 Jack Snipe, 3 Common Snipe, Rock Pipit, 6 Sand Martin (my earliest ever), Scaup, 3 Goldeneye, Siskins and Common Sandpiper!
A feeding Spoonbill on the flash at Boyton was one of the highlights of the Naturetrek walk on Friday. We also enjoyed Woodlark, Dartford Warbler, White-fronted Geese, Ruff, Red Kite, Cattle Egrets. Here’s a link to further walks in Suffolk this spring www.naturetrek.co.uk/about-us/tou... #ukbirding
A fun day up the coast with @joshuapeverley.bsky.social catching up with @tsbirding.bsky.social. Enjoyed Purple Sandpipers & Peregrines at Ness Point before close views of American Wigeon, White-fronted & Tundra Bean Geese at Carlton where we ate our picnics in the warm sunshine!
We did indeed!
It’s all relative!
An awesome day with @naturetrek.bsky.social in Ecuador. We started watching a Cock-of-the-rock lek, definitely something on my ‘most wanted list’. Giant Antpitta followed, so I could pose in front of the reserve sign having seen both species on it! Toucan Barbet was a bonus. Over 100 lifers already.
Patience was rewarded this morning for our @naturetrek.bsky.social group in Ecuador when these Rufous-fronted Wood-Quails finally appeared at the feeders!
I booked ‘last minute’ on a short @naturetrek.bsky.social trip to Ecuador and we had a truly wonderful first day y’day. No fewer than 27 species of hummingbird (photos to follow). At Zoroloma we enjoyed seeing three Antpittas - Equatorial, Chestnut-naped and Chestnut-crowned - and heard Undulated.
An excellent day’s birding in south Suffolk. With @joshuapeverley.bsky.social I enjoyed Tundra Bean Geese near the Deben and Snow Buntings at Landguard. Then nipped to Alton with another local young birder and saw Smew & Scaup, bettered by the two Bewick’s Swans which flew overhead calling: magic!
Bittern, 80+ Snow Buntings and the Temminck's Stint were among the highlights on a recent trip to the Suffolk Coast with @david-walsh.bsky.social @noahbai-123.bsky.social @tsbirding.bsky.social @lucasnature.bsky.social and others!
Just to share the joy of a drake Smew on patch at Alton- the last one a few years ago had felt like a last chance to see already. Not the full set of white head plumes on this chap, but pearls of water on its back when it upped from dive. #BirdArt
Delighted to watch a drake Smew at Alton Water today, my first there for many years. Another cracking find by Steve Babbs #suffolkbirding
