Elton res this am. First Swift & Whitethroat back. Common Tern NE. 3 House Martin amongst the 300+ sand martins. Plus my first hare of the year

Early start at Elton today. Slow going but patch tick with 2 male Crossbill flying north also common scoter, black-necked grebe, 2 willow warbler, displaying curlew, Barn owl and a distant flock of 30+ golden plover north

Patch Gold this morning with 2 White-fronted Geese flying through Elton res NW. also some spring migrants with 2 willow warbler, LRP, 4 swallow & 160+ sand Martin. Very little vis mig 5 Siskin, redpoll, 3 linnet & a curlew the best. 6 goldeneye remain on the res

Good couple of days at Elton res with our first 2 LRP back today. Yesterday Black-necked Grebe. Plus Sand Martins, Chiffchaffs, skylarks mpipits, redpolls siskins and linnet & woodpigeons passing over on vis mig

My first sand Martin of the year at Elton res this morning. Slavonian Grebe still present with 18 goldeneye & a shelduck. 356 Pinkfeet over along with small numbers of skylark, mpipits & alba wags. Spring is here!

Frosty morning at Elton res. Slav grebe still showing plus 2 barn owls, 37 Goosander, 14 goldeneye, 180 Pinkfeet NW, 3 skylark, 3 oystercatcher and increase of 115 lapwing

The Slavonian grebe was showing nicely at Elton this morning.

Loves a game of fetch this one! #dogs

Trip down to Norfolk today to see the Black winged Kite which showed distantly. Supporting cast of cranes, cattle egrets, whooper & Bewick swans, Iceland and Caspian gulls, snow buntings, Geese & SEO made for a great day out

Still Baltic conditions at Elton res. 480 Pinkfeet, 96 Fieldfare, 167 redwing NW and 131 lapwing sw possible signs of cold weather movement. On the small patch of unfrozen water 12 gadwall, 9 goldeneye, 2 GCG & 9 little egret.

Another freezing morning at Elton res with even parts of the river Irwell freezing over! Jack snipe in the feeding station stream the best. 5 snipe, 6 gadwall, 90 tufted, 30 teal, 2 goldeneye and 2 Cettis best of the rest #birds

Ended the day with 72 species on the local Bury patch. Highlights being Curlew, Dipper, 30+ Siskin, Barn Owl, increase in wildfowl (Elton, springwater & Heston park) walked 11.5 miles #birds

A very cold Elton res this morning! Increase in waterfowl with wigeon, 101 Teal, 6 shoveler, 5 Gadwall, 86 Tufted Duck, 12 Goldeneye, 18 Goosander, Little Grebe, 10 snipe, Woodcock, 48 Lapwing & 20 mute swan. The GWE & Cettis remain

This one has been the best family support dog the last few weeks 💔 ❤️ #dogs

And to you. Glad to see the back of this year 🫤

Last bit of 2025 birding for me at Elton this am with a respectable 64 species !!

Woodcock, 2 snipe, 500+ lapwing Barn owl, buzzard, spahawk and kestrel, 6 gadwall, 2 shoveler, 30+ teal, GWE, 8 little egret, 2 Cetti’s warbler, water rail, 100+ Fieldfare, 200+ redwing

good birding for 2026

They say that a man’s best friend is a dog! Well this one bucks the trend the best family support system after loosing our dad just before Xmas 😢

16 Swans flew west over heaton park this morning. 15 where Whooper swans The flock split into 3. The straggling 2 birds had a significantly smaller swan tagging along with them. Too distant to get positive ID but did wonder if it could be Bewicks 🫣

Those puppy dog eyes 🥺❤️ #dogs

She’s honestly the best! She’s loves spurn but I can’t take her local patch birding other wise she ends up in Elton res! But she’s kept me going over a difficult time 🥰

Snoring her little socks off 💤 my little best buddy ❤️ #dogs

Staying near Mossyard in Dumfries on a non birding break but had 600 skylark, 200 linnet, 77 swallow, 70 alba wags, 3 crossbill, 80 chaffinch, 30 Siskin, 178 mpipit and 180 Pinkfeet all heading west in an hour over the caravan

Whooper Swans at heaton park res today.

My first Pinkfeet of the autumn with 1000+ east over heaton park. Also Juv Arctic Tern, GWE, 400+ mpipits, 5 skylark, 24 Siskin, 100+ swallow all heading south

The patch finally delivered today. 3 black tern, 2 Greenshank, 2 little stint ringed and little ringed plover. 6 little egret, 4 wigeon, 16 shoveler, 500+!swallow and 10 Siskin south

Finally a good morning on the local patch with an Osprey SW at 7:58 am over heaton park res. 510 swallow, Swift, 26 Sand Martin, 269 House Martin, 150 goldfinch and 5 Grey Wag S/SW also Ringed plover west and a Hobby east

Ever get that feeling you are being watched? #dogs

Local birding has nearly seen me give up the completely this year. Just seeing so many things in decline and the demise of what have been in the past good sites has been quite frankly sole destroying

Nice to get out of Manchester and see some birds yesterday Zitting cisticola and Black Stork both showed well. Really need to start keeping track of my UK list .. no idea what it’s on 🤷🏽

When the weekend fun is still hitting hard 💤 #dogs