So far it has been an excellent spring for Ring Ouzel on Soil Hill, with this very handsome male now continuing into his third day!
However, he is a particularly elusive individual, and my sightings have been restricted to brief appearances!
#SoilHillBirding

I was beginning to wonder where the Soil Hill Wheatears were this spring...
So it was a relief to find a fresh dumping of 10 this morning!
Quite simply the finest bird in Britain!
#SoilHillBirding #UKBirding

An excellent morning birding on Soil Hill, in pleasant spring conditions!
The undoubted highlight was my 7th Soil Hill Osprey heading distantly north!
A very nice backup cast, including this rather conspicuous Jack Snipe not even requiring the thermal to spot!
#SoilHillBirding #UKBirding

Thanks Paul. Glad you liked it

Paraguay 2025 was an awesome trip, with 417 birds, 28 mammals and a host of other wildlife!
We had such a blast that the trip report required 93 pages!
I can absolutely recommend Paraguay as a fantastic birding destination!
www.cloudbirders.com/be4/download...
@neobirdconserve.bsky.social

I initially missed notifications about Common Scoters heading inland last night, so didn't start listening until 21:30!
A flock heard over the house at 21:40 convinced me to head up to Soil Hill, but after an hour I only managed a single flock of 6 birds!
#SoilHillBirding #UKBirding

A glorious return to Soil Hill for the week!
I hoped for some Whooper Swan action, and I got some with birds distantly on Mixenden Reservoir!
But the show was very much stolen by this handsome male Ring Ouzel, my 1st March record here!
The Hill never disappoints!
#SoilHillBirding #UKBirding

Nice to bump into a little flavour of the UK whilst out and about birding in Paris today! Enjoying the succulent Parisian lawns alongside two White Wagtails!

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker! Finally!
After dipping in 6 (SIX!) different counties, in my seventh I was able to rectify my most obvious omission from my British list! #UKBirding

💥SOIL HILL PATCH TICK💥
💥NUMBER 133💥
💥ICELAND GULL💥
I was not expecting much today, it being a blustery February morning!
But Soil Hill always produces!
Absolutely incredible scenes when this stunning white-winger flew past!
#soilhillbirding #UKbirding

Great Black-backed Gull!!!
For just the second time in my 19 years watching Soil Hill!
It's been a steady February on Soil Hill for my first visits of 2026, but I certainly enjoyed this brute heading north this morning!
#SoilHillBirding #UKBirding

What an absolute weapon!

Despite several visits to South America, before visiting Paraguay, I had never managed to see a Tapir!
However, that was laid to rest in spectacular style, with nine encounters during a month of traveling the country, including six in one night!

TAPACULO NUMBER 47!!!
Arguably my most wanted bird from Paraguay was the Crested Gallito!
Having heard but not seen this rather unconventional tapaculo in Argentina, I was keen to right this wrong in my quest to see all the Tapaculos!
Mission accomplished in the Paraguayan Chaco!

Not been in Calderdale that much in recent times, so it’s was nice that the local rarity waited two weeks for me to return!
An understandably very rare bird in the Pennines, I can now say that I have had a Halifax Shag!
#UKBirding

In addition to Paraguay's excellent birds and mammals, we also had memorable reptile encounters!
One snake is normally a good trip return, but Paraguay produced six, including three that could kill me; Painted Coralsnake, Painted Lancehead & Mato Grosso Lancehead!

A wet spring had turned the Paraguayan Chaco into a wader paradise!
A flock of 150 Stilt Sandpipers was the highlight, but double figures also of Wilson’s Phalarope and hundreds of commoner species! An awesome sight!

When planning this 28 day trip to Paraguay I set myself a target of 400 species!
This morning Spix’s Spinetail became the 400th species of the trip, with four days left to spare!
🍺🍻🍺🍻🍺

With no access to either site, it looked like the birding gods had decided we would not be seeing the Endangered White-winged Nightjar!
But driving up to the gate and begging for entry got us a fantastic evening in Paraguayan Cerrado!
Known from only 5 sites, it is a rare bird!

My photos are certainly not on par with those possible from the Pantanal, but there are only two pairs of Hyacinth Macaws left in Paraguay, making these birds very special!
Well worth the trip to seek out these spectacular parrots whilst birding here!

A very enjoyable start to a month birding in Paraguay!
Really enjoyed reacquainting myself with Sporophila Seedeaters, one of my favourite Neotropic Genus! Tawny-bellied Seedeater was the most abundant today, a species I have only seen once before!
@neobirdconserve.bsky.social

Well that’s a bummer!

But what a record for Halifax! If only I was there to see it!

Damn! All that proofreading and I miss something stupid like that 🤦🏻‍♂️

Smoky Jungle Frog

Humboldt's Squirrel Monkey

Paradise Jacamar

Sand-coloured Nighthawk

In the summer, I spent two weeks in the Amazon rainforest around the Peruvian town of Iquitos! A few targets missed, but overall very successful!
For those interested, I have compiled my experiences in a trip report, now free to gander on Cloudbirders!
www.cloudbirders.com/be4/download...

I was expecting the worst, so this was a pleasant surprise, if Ring-necked Parakeet can ever be called pleasant…
Pitiful counts of other species however!

💥SOIL HILL PATCH TICK💥
💥NUMBER 132💥
💥RING-NECKED PARAKEET💥
I was not expecting much for my final Soil Hill visit of the autumn, but then two RN Parakeet flew south! An unexpected patch tick!
Also my second Great Egret went north!
Absolute scenes!
#SoilHillBirding #UKBirding

I was 13 back in 2008, the last time I saw Pochard in Halifax!
All it said in my notes was the word ‘Pochard’ plus the location!
So it would have been rude not to clear up this record by twitching these three dapper drakes on Ringstone Edge Reservoir this morning!
#UKBirding

For now… give it a few years haha

Despite glorious conditions, it was a rather slow morning on Soil Hill!
But Soil Hill always offers something to enjoy! And today it was a flock of four Lesser Redpolls feeding on thistles with Goldfinches!
A nice change from the flyover views I usually get here!
#SoilHillBirding #UKBirding

Spent the day getting my cetacean fix with the fabulous Risso's Dolphins at Point Lynas, Anglesey!
Around 20 individuals drifting around the headland, pulling off some great acrobatics!
Well worth a day away from Soil Hill...