Black-winged Pratincole,Frampton Marsh,18th June 2019.

After receiving news from birding buddy Tim that a Black-winged Pratincole had been found at the wader mecca that is Frampton Marsh,the remainder of my shift at work dragged like hell.
 Two reasons,this bird was not only a lifer for me,but it would incredibly be the 3rd species of Pratincole i had seen on this superb reserve.
 After getting home from work,it was grab the gear and head out,the drive south being pretty frantic it has to be said,getting stuck behind several slow drivers.
 As i neared the reserve,it began to bloody rain,but at least it was warm.I grabbed the kit and power walked to where the crowd were watching the bird.
 At first it was pretty much hidden as it huddled in the grass trying to keep dry,but as the rain eased off it showed much better,albeit only on the deck,but what a cracking bird!.
 Bit by bit as it preened,the main ID features were pieced together and finally i had seen my 3rd species of Pratincole,not just for my life list,but also for Lincolnshire as well.
 Unfortunately because of the distance involved,i did not get any photos of the bird as it never flew while i was on site,but there are plenty of cracking images out there,particularly by Steve Keightly.
 This constitutes my 324th species in Lincolnshire and 54th species of wader,what a county Lincolnshire is for the latter!.

Lathkill Dale,Sunday 16th June 2019.

Another visit to another stunning part of the Peak District today saw us visiting the beautiful Lathkill Dale in the 'White Peak' area near to Bakewell.
 We began the walk by parking in Upper Haddon and walking along the river Lathkill up to Monyash.Some of the scenery is absolutely stunning and reminded me a little of Gordale Scar in the Yorkshire Dales,particularly at the Monyash end.
 The flora and fauna here is varied with some lovely wildflowers including the nationally rare Jacob's Ladder and we saw birds including Dipper,Grey Wagtail,Redstart and a family of Mandarin Ducks.
 A few insects encountered,included Small Heath & Wall Brown butterflies,the latter,the first i had seen this year.
 It is a typical habitat mix of the limestone areas in the 'White Peak',with rocky areas interspersed with some ancient woodland and also some nice historical features from the bygone days of Lead mining in the area.
 All in all it was a very nice area to visit and one we will certainly do in hopefully better weather next time.

Jacob's Ladder.

Jacob's Ladder.

Male Grey Wagtail

Small Tortoiseshell Larvae

Brilliant Bolton Abbey & Black-headed Beauty!....Sunday 9th June 2019.

After spending the night at the Holiday Inn at Brighouse after the epic Muse concert at Manchester,today was going to be a much calmer affair...or so i thought.
 We had planned to visit the lovely Bolton Abbey estate on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park,an annual event it seems,as we have visited there for the past 4 years in spring now.Today's visit was as nice as ever,with some lovely warm sun to enjoy also.
 Highlights bird wise went to at least 8 singing male Redstart and a couple of Pied Flycatchers,with singles of Common Sandpiper and Dipper along the River Wharfe.Other niceties along the river included 2 female and half a dozen Mandarin ducklings and a lovely female Goosander with 1 duckling.
 Wildflowers abounded here,as on my visits in the past and included Sanicle,Ramsons,Welsh Poppies,Herb Robert & Bennet amongst others.
 What a fantastic place to enjoy the hobby,this really is and it's a real privilege to visit.

After arriving home from the Dales,it was apparent that the male Black-headed Bunting was still present at Flamborough and i decided to go for it.
 An hour and a quarter later and i was parking up in the lighthouse car park and getting the gear together.
 The short walk up to Old Fall was a frantic one,as the edge of a rain front passed overhead and just as i arrived at where the Bunting was i saw it dive into cover....crap!
 The rain thankfully,soon passed over and it began to warm again.This had the desired affect and the Bunting soon made an appearance again,showing nicely through the scope.
 What a smart bird these are and a pretty rare one as well it has to be said,averaging only 1-2 records per year in the UK.
 After watching this stunning bird on and off for at least an hour and a half i went and had a half hearted attempt at seeing the reported female Subalpine Warbler,but sadly drew a blank.

A bit of a crazy day,with quite a few miles covered,but well worth it in my opinion,adding my second new bird of the year to my life list.

Female Goosander,With Duckling.

Male Blackcap.

Male Redstart.

Mandarin Duckling

Female Mandarin.

Male Black-headed Bunting....honest!,Old Fall,Flamborough.

Selwick's Bay,Flamborough Head.

Wykeham Forest Raptor Fest......01.06.2019.

My annual trip here today to hopefully see the Honey Buzzards which visit the area to breed each summer didn't disappoint.
 I set off fairly early and had a nice relaxing drive across the Wolds as the sun shone,seeing a lovely Barn Owl hunting the grass verges near to Fox Holes.
 I arrived at the viewpoint and as on most of my visits,i was first here,the forest fairly quiet,apart from the lovely song of Wood Pigeons.
 The first couple of hours were pretty steady with only a Kestrel and a Common Buzzard and some nice views of a local Roe Deer Doe,but then a flurry of activity saw the pale male Honey Buzzard flying over our heads and out over the valley and subsequently putting on a fine bout of displaying.This has to be one of the finest raptor display flights and it defeats gravity how these wing clapping males stay in the air,what a poser!.
 We eventually lost him to the north east,distantly over Troutsdale,but it wasn't long before we had another nice bird to watch,a Red kite.
 The Kite also looked like it flew in from behind us and proceeded to thermal up until we lost it giving some nice scope views.
 In between watching for raptors some great banter was had with fellow local patch birder Robbie and we had a few passerines which included a handfull of  Crossbills and Siskins,a singing male Garden Warbler and a Tree Pipit.
 More raptor watching saw us seeing at least 3 different Goshawks,with about half a dozen sightings in all,a Peregrine,10+ Common Buzzard,one of which was mobbed by a Hobby and at least 2 Sparrowhawk.Another very distant view of the pale male Honey was had later,but not everyone got onto the bird.
 Sadly the forecasted rain set in and we all decided to call it a day,but it had been an entertaining 7 hours,with 8 species of raptor logged.I look forward to my next visit to this fantastic raptor mecca.

Northumberland......Monday May 27th - Thursday 30th May 2019.

Finally i have got time to posting on this superb trip Tracey and myself enjoyed,visiting this wildlife rich county in the north of England.We visited many places including Warkworth,Alnmouth,Beadnell,Seahouses,The Farne Islands,Bamburgh,Lindisfarne & Berwick On Tweed.WE had many fantastic encounters with the local wildlife,including the super tame Eiders of Seahouses,to the beautiful Arctic Terns on the Farnes and an amazing encounter with the local Bottle-nosed Dolphins.The Following are my favourite photos from the trip.

Female Eider,Amble.

Female Eider,Amble.

Sandwich Tern,Alnmouth.

Male Eider,Seahouses.

Male Eider,Seahouses.

Eider Ducklings,Seahouses.

Atlantic Grey Seals,The Farne islands.

Atlantic Grey Seal,The Farne Islands.

Longstone Lighthouse,The Farne Islands.

Arctic Tern,Inner farne,The Farne Islands.

Bridled Guillemots,Inner farne,The Farne Islands.

Bridled Guillemots,Inner Farne,The Farne Islands.

Shag,Inner Farne,The Farne Islands.

Razorbill,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Inner Farne Lighthouse.

Atlantic Puffin,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Atlantic Puffin,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Atlantic Puffin,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Atlantic Puffin,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Inner Farne.

Arctic Tern,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Arctic Tern,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Black-headed Gull,With Newly Hatched Chicks,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

A Brooding Shag,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Puffin,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Arctic Tern,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Arctic Tern,Inner Farne,Farne Islands.

Bottle-nosed Dolphin.

Bamburgh Castle.

House Martin,Lindisfarne.

Swallow,Lindisfarne.

Lindisfarne.

Meadow Pipit,Lindisfarne.

Fulmar,Lindisfarne.

Little Tern,Long Nanny.

Sanderling,Long Nanny.

Arctic Tern,Long Nanny.