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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Decent morning around Clodgy. Firecrest early am. A Merlin dashed west along cliff line and a Dartford Warbler popped up and back down briefly in a gorse ‘island’ in the midst of the bracken. #cornwallbirding

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Niall Machin @niallmachin1.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

My son James found this booted warbler in Zennor, Cornwall last thing today. Top find! #cornwallbirding

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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Full haul from the Challenger Expedition #UKBirding

White-faced Storm Petrel- one from Challenger 1 expedition to continental shelf; also Madeiran Storm Petrel (19 September), 3 Barolo-type shearwaters (19, 20 and 21 September), South Polar Skua (19 September), Desertas-type petrel (19 September), 1+ Scopoli's Shearwater (19 September), 102 Wilson's Storm Petrels, 14 Grey Phalaropes, 8 Long-tailed Skuas, 3 Leach's Storm Petrels, 707 Great Shearwaters, 1,457 Cory's Shearwaters, 15 Pomarine Skuas, 63 Sooty Shearwaters, 191 European Storm Petrels and 2 European Turtle Doves (!), plus Leatherback Turtle, Northern Bottlenose Whale, 3+ Fin Whales, Risso's Dolphin, 10 Blue Sharks, swordfish sp and 3 Ocean Sunfish, all between 17-23 September

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Strange but excellent morning at The Island. Flat light, flat calm, great visibility after early fog & mist. Pied Fly, 2 Tree Pipits & 2 Wheatear in the fog. Then 2 petrels - 1 Leach’s, 1 Wilson’s (?!) w/ 3 Arctic Skua, 27 Manx, C & S Terns, 12 C Scoter, 6 Teal & Grey Heron ‘in/off’ #cornwallbirding

Wheatear - one of 3 seen today across Clodgy and The Island

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Andy Stockhausen @andy-1963.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Wow! P Hall's image of Red-billed Tropicbird off Porthgwarra this morning #ukbirding

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

So 3 days after finding a Pec Sand at Staines, I’m in Portugal on a non-birding trip and I find another during a walk to ‘just check this outlet’ … bins only - no camera with me so shocking iPhone video and photos only. #aves #portugal

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Decent couple of day’s #patchbirding - Lesser WT, Redstart, 2 Spot Fly, 2 Whinchat, several Yellow Wags & Tree Pipits at Pewley. Y’day an unexpected Pec Sand popped up for me at Staines. Today finally went for the Shrike with James M - with a bonus adult Ferruginous Duck #ukbirding #ukrarebirds

Pectoral Sandpiper - flew in from the ‘west’ pitching down in front of me. This may be the same one reported from Walton a few days ago? Anyway, it loves a bit of ‘sewage foam’. Staines truly at its best …

Lovely bird. Shame about the toggers surrounding its tree but I guess it’s used to it by now.

We went to Dix looking for a female type and ended up with a superb adult male. There is a female Tufted there with very white undertail coverts….

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Pectoral Sandpiper - Staines Res. #ukbirding

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Intense morning at St Ives yesterday - Barolo S, dark juv LT Skua, 2 Wilson’s, 3 Leach’s, 30 ESP, 3 Grey Phal, juv Sabine’s, 4 Great Shear, 2 Cory’s, 19 Sooty, 30k Manx, 27 Arctic Skua, 3 Bonxie, Black Tern & good turnout. Today - Clodgy’s 2nd Wryneck in a week & other goodies #cornwallbirding

8 squeezed on to the NCI ‘platform’ with several more at the railings. The most intense morning’s seawatching I can remember

Cracking Wryneck with LL on Clodgy - following one from 5 days ago. Birders have been looking so maybe this is a new one.

Osprey hovered over Stithians for a minute or 2 and left

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Amazing what a bit of rain does - #patchbirding at Clodgy with @liamlangley1.bsky.social then on to Bussow, Nance, Zennor & Trewey. Superb Wryneck at Clodgy plus Pied & Spot Flys, Yellow Wags, Tree Pipit, Green Sandpiper etc. Also a ‘nocmigged’ Pied Fly yesterday evening #cornwallbirding

Wot a luverly burd! Autumn hasn’t really started until you clock one of these.

Pied flycatcher in the lashing rain at Trewey. I couldn’t work out whether to celebrate the bird or celebrate the fact it was lashing rain and quite nice to experience again

Spotted Fly in the same lashing rain as the pied fly… there were at least 3 of them possibly more.

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Liam Langley @liamlangley1.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Excellent morning loop of Clodgy Point with @lobb66.bsky.social who found this Wryneck along the drystone wall above the point - a cracking patch tick! Plenty of other common migs around including my first Tree Pipit of autumn and a flyover Yellow Wagtail! #UKBirding @patchbirding.bsky.social

A small brown bird sits in a bare twig in the centre of the frame. It has a dark eye stripe and a warm buff throat and some spots on a paler belly. The beak is pointed and grey and the short, stiff tail is grey with dark horizontal bars.

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Decent morning around St Ives. Lesser Whitethroat, Snipe, Teal west, Ringed Plover over. Green Sand, Whimbrel, Dunlin all ‘noc-migged’ last night. Lots of Chiffies, Blackcaps, Whitethroats new in. No ‘knee tremblers’ but some good ‘St Ives 20k’ birds … #patchbirding #cornwallbirding

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

White Stork over the A30 drifting west at 1:30 pm. #cornwallbirding

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Tree Pipit and Lesser Whitethroat with a Wheatear the best of an early morning trot around St Ives Island and Clodgy Point. Decent activity this am. #cornwallbirding

Slightly better shot but in the morning light it looked very rufous

Lesser Whitethroat top right, Common Whitethroat bottom left.

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Ace couple of days around Pewley & local areas - Whinchat, Redstart, Pied Fly, several Tree Pipits, Yellow Wagtails, Goshawk, Black Tern, 4 Ruff, 6+ Greenshank, 3 Dunlin, Hobby & a Lesser Whitethroat. #patchbirding

A Pewley mega! Pied Fly. There was a spring male earlier which I missed. Good to grip back with a classic 1CY on the fence … as they should be! Spring male Pied Fly is like cheating …😎

Whinchat bang on time. Funny - but I seem to find all the Redstarts and @merecci finds all the Whinchats. And so with this one. I was standing next to him at least this time …

Black Tern - sitting on its favourite buoy on Staines north basin.

Those 2 waders are Ruff/Reeve - not that you’d know it - but more to show how low the water is on the south basin at Staines. There will be a Pec or a Buff-breasted Sand on here soon …

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

94 sp for non-birding trip to south France. Could have hit 100+ if I’d used the Camargue time better. But Greater Flamingo, Swamphen, Gull-billed, Little Terns, Crested Lark and a few others made it. Missed Slender-billed Gull, Lesser Flamingo & Marsh Sand … #oiseaux #birdsseenin2026

The ‘parc ornithologique’ at Gau is a bit of a zoo but there are some good birds in it just yards from a million screaming kids.

Nice to see Spoonbills as they should be seen and not huddled up against an October bracing westerly on the Hayle …

In an attempt to pull a Slender-billed Gull out of the bag … I have 20 photos like the above of a big flock of gulls on a flooded field. Around 1000 each of BH, Med and YL gulls … with Glossy Ibis and BN Stilts chucked in there too. It might take me a while but I’m sure there’s an SB gull in these photos …

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Great Reed Warbler at Le Puy de Ste Réparde, Provence. Had a hunch that a raspy/‘chak’-y call was a GRW and so it came to pass. One of 2 this morning before the heat sent everything underground. Including me. With RC Pochard, Pochard, Squacco Heron & more butterflies #oiseaux #birdsseenin2026

A cracking Great Reed Warbler. They really are the size of Song Thrushes …

Nice when a hunch is proven right. This guy chakked and rasped his way slowly up a reed until popping out as a Great Reed Warbler

A Woodland Grayling hiding in the shadows of the heat at midday

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Liam Langley @liamlangley1.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Excellent morning seawatch from St Ives Island 05.38-10.45 with JM: Wilson’s Petrel (7+), Euro (40+), Cory’s (33), Great (4), Manx (30,000+), Arctic Skua (1), Whimbrel (14), Dunlin (2), Swift (1). An excellent morning with some amazing close views of Wilson’s! #UKBirding @patchbirding.bsky.social

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

A ‘non-birding’ break in southern France has so far yielded Golden Eagle, Rollers, Golden Orioles, Melodious & Sardinian W, Bee-eaters, Crag Martins, ST Treecreepers, Firecrest, Cirl Bunting, Black Kite, 2 Turtle Doves & Nightingale + some cracking butterflies. Wonder what day 2 will turn up … 😎🤣

Melodious Warbler - at 7am - so pre-breakfast birding is the order of the day. Not much moves around after 10am.

Rollers are about the only birds that are active throughout the day. Juvenile on the left.

Scarce Swallowtail. Pretty common in any rough ground area. They are stunning. Probably my favourite butterfly.

Spotted Fritillary - again pretty common in the rides and rough ground areas between fields.

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Staines Res this afternoon. Sum plum Turnstone, 4 sum plum Black-tailed Godwits, LRP, Ringed Plover, at least 4 BN Grebes, & the imm Goldeneye with the entire Thames basin population of Cormorants (est) - way more than I was expecting in the heat … #patchbirding

Turnstone on the corner of the tern raft

These 4 Blackwits flew off shortly after locating them. Didn’t see them land.

Finally - after many visits - I located the Ringed Plover that didn’t have a whacking great yellow eye-ring! The LRPs were further along the north shore of the south basin

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Liam Langley @liamlangley1.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Excellent morning seawatch off St Ives with @lobb66.bsky.social et al. 05.42-11.10: Cory’s (465+), Great Shear (2), Sooty (7), Manx (20,000+), Fulmar (45+), Bonxie (1), Common Tern (1), Sandwich Tern (1), Kitt (16) Med Gull (1). Incredibly Cory’s passage and a patch count record for me! #UKBirding

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Liam Langley @liamlangley1.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Unexpected patch gold this morning when a dispersing juv Green Woodpecker circled the island as I was heading home from my seawatch - July is clearly the time for tricky residents here! Great Tit next? Also notable were 6 Whimbrel W and 2+ Harbour Porpoise. #UKBirding @patchbirding.bsky.social

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Goldeneye wasn’t on my Staines Reservoir bingo card today. Together with at least 5 summer BN Grebes, an out of season Common Gull, several Pochard, 4 Common Sand, 5 Little Ringed Plover & a Redshank. #patchbirding

Goldeneye on Staines Res south basin this afternoon.

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Reposted by Alan

Dan Grey @dangrey.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Badenoch just said, on national TV, that UK's carbon emissions have gone up "in total" because of the 2008 Climate Change Act. They have, in fact, declined by more than half. Did #Kuenssberg break in to point this basic fact out? Of course not

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Been a little obsessed with the Song Meter Micro 2 last few weeks. 5 new birds added to the Pewley list - reaching the dizzy heights of 107. Common sandpiper over early this am & overnight Moorhen, Coot & Little Grebe. But the banging highlight was 2 Quail on the 26th June. #patchgold #nocmig

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Steve Rogers 🟰🟰 @runnelstone.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Adult Wood Sandpiper at Drift Res today (12th July). My first of the “autumn” returning birds.

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Pewley has had a good run recently … Cuckoo heading South 3 days ago, Marsh Tit yesterday, & today I waited to see what a bunch of Jays, Blackbirds, Tits & a GSW were harping on about … juv Tawny Owl scrambling about looking for a proper perch while a parent looked on #patchbirding

I don’t think this guy is long out of the nest. Unsteady on his feet and clearly unsure of himself .. what a privilege to see his/her first steps

Viewable from the path - I’ve been hearing ‘mobbing activity’ around this area for a while now but until today I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I suspect the nest is not far - next to a reasonably busy path and a row of houses.

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Roseate Tern this morning with the Common, Little and Sandwich Terns at Church Norton. It was rosy!! #ukbirding #birdsseenin2026 #sussexbirding

Heat hazy shot but clearly white/roseate underparts, long cap reaching well down back of neck, black, long, "pointy" bill, red/pink legs and very pale mantle

It was always head on so didnt get much on the tail streamers but I hadn't noticed how different the bill structure is on Rosy Terns ... thicker at the base but more pointed at the end than Common - created a very distinctive bill-look. Not sure how useful that is on a seawatch tho ...

In some lights it was noticeably pink and clearly white rather than greym of the Commons either side of it.

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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Robert Gros made £27m selling useless gowns via the VIP PPE Lane, of course he never paid back a penny, he bought 2 mansions instead. RT and see if we can make him as famous as Michelle Mone.

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

10 days in Scotland - a mix of personal & birding. 157 species - a few dips - RB Shrike, both WB Divers but outweighed by good stuff & scenery. Cuckoos all over Caithness (46), Quail, WTE, Ring Ouzel, Whinchat, King Eider - & 2 "interesting scoters" to finish ... 👍 #birdingscotland

RB Fly ... hearing it sing in a Scottish wood as the rain poured down and the dogs barked incessantly in the background will be a long term memory

Obligatory WW Scoter shot ... showing off its white bits

Interesting Scoter pic ... second from left ... Distant so this was a lucky shot out of several i tried - but lots of yellow on a very bulbous bill, thick necked, chunky structure in the field - if a Black Scoter is reported any time soon from Kirkaldy I'm having it ...

Sunrise at 4:15am looking North over John O'Groats from the cabin

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Hi @wilsonjaredm.bsky.social - this am before the WW showed up, a flock of 17 Common Scoter were distant offshore. One had a lot of yellow on the bill. Reviewing the shot i managed, 2nd bird from left has an interesting bill shape/colour/neck structure? An FYI in case still present?

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Whinchat singing from a roadside pine tree; Grasshopper Warbler reeling at the excellent Dalchork bird hide; Osprey overhead at Loch Dola & 2 dark phase Arctic Skuas, a single Puffin & Arctic Tern at Helmsdale. Trip list - 139 #ukbirding #scotlandbirding

Despite having never heard a singing Whinchat before or genned up on them - when this guy started up behind me - somehow, I knew what he was before i turned round. ‘Bird sense’ is an amazing thing.

Seriously what’s not to like about Scotland in May. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised the roads and scenic places are full of ‘vanners’ …

6000 auks (but only 1 Puffin), 3000 Kitts, 2 Arctic Skua, 1 Arctic Tern with Manx, Fulmar, etc - Helmsdale Seawatching place

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Travelled from west to east stopping along the way. 128 species now for the trip. Scotland just keeps giving #ukbirding The Loch Fleet King Eider needed a little finding - eventually pinned down with the main Eider flock at the estuary mouth

Slavonian Grebe - amazing to watch them displaying

A bonus 2 Whooper Swans. I’d already recorded them as Mutes … until I actually looked at them… never take anything for granted in Scotland in May

King Eider - in the Eider flock at the mouth of Loch Fleet. I saw my first KE many years ago at exactly the same spot

King Eider - you need to get your eye in with this one. Once you find him he’s easy to pick out but I’d grilled 100 Eider before getting on to it.

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Scotland Trip Day 2 - it was 7 degrees & a 3-layer morning at Cuil Bay … Trip list up to 108. Nothing special so far but birds in great nick. Wood W, RTD, GND, Spot Fly, Tree Pipit, Puffins, etc … but I’d like that Loch Ness WB Diver to hang about for 2 more days … 🤞 #scotlandbirds

Tree Pipit in a west coast tree up a forest track.

Spotted Flycatcher - 2 of these in the same area singing and calling.

11 Red-throated Divers in a small area of Loch Linnhe. All but one in breeding plumage.

Tysties - Black Guillemots - plenty of these on the sea lochs.

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

A stomp around Marshside and Plex Moss has been ace! 2 Spoonbill, Little Gull, a fantastic Ruff who was so ‘excited’ he was lekking at Godwits, Tree Sparrows, Corn Buntings, Yellow Wags, 2 Marsh Harriers, LRP - lots of stuff I don’t get to see very often … #ukbirding #lancsbirding

A small colony of Tree Sparrows out on the moss was a bonus. Don’t see many of these a year.

This photo does not do this Ruff justice - a vision of black and gold. His hormone levels must have been through the roof as he displayed to anything that came near him

Awful photo of the Little Gull. Sat away from BH Gull colony and distant - then lost it in the BH uproar when a Marsh Harrier went over

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Would have been rude not to stop on the way up to the far north and not see the Spotted Sandpiper #ukbirding #ukrares Earlswood Lakes

Very obliging Spotted Sandpiper. Good to get the subtle differences between it and Common … ignoring the bloody great spots of course

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

#cornwallbirding St Ives Island 6:30 to 10:30. Dank, drizzly, misty first thing meant someone ⬇️ stayed in bed until something decent went past. Turned into a great morning with 10 Sooty S, 18+ ESP, 26 Puffins, 30k Manx etc. Puffin was almost the commonest auk this am With @liamlangley1.bsky.social

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

#cornwallbirding Kentish Plovers like buses … a second one in pretty much the exact same place as the first one about 3 or 4 weeks ago. Surely they can’t be the same bird … if it is, where has it been? Not running up and down the dog infested Marazion beach, that’s for sure

KPs really are small and dinky. A nice trio of the birds it was hanging out with on the beach.

Adult male Kentish Plover - a lovely thing

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

The first St Ives Birders Big Day with @liamlangley1.bsky.social , James S & Billy N. 92 species, 33k steps, 25 site checklists, 16 hours & all in an irritatingly, strong east wind ebird.org/tripreport/5... Nothing rare but a good list of stuff and a long, lovely day out birding. Photos by Billy

Dawn over St Ives bay looking towards Godrevey lighthouse from the Island.

We thought Peregrine might be tricky to connect with - we ended up with 3 in total and thinking they were everywhere. This one was around 6am over St Ives having nailed its breakfast early

Cuckoo was also one we wanted to get ‘in the bag’ early. We saw and/or heard at least 4 including this one at St Gothian Sands which was unexpected.

Half way up Buttermilk Hill, early on. There were 4 Wheatears and a cuckoo up here.

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

A day of good birds but shocking photos. 2 Lesser Whitethroat on Pewley was a great start. 6 (six) White Storks at Riverside. 3 on the deck and 3 high SW. Probable Wood Sand in the heat haze at Tice’s, 2 Yellow Wag, Tawny Owl, 5 Woodcock & at least 3 Nightjar are back. #patchbirding #ukbirding

These are 3 White Stork heading SW - after finding 2 on the deck

The 6th White Stork in the area. Presumably from Knepp.

I’d like to think that this was a Wood Sandpiper but the truth is the heat haze was terrible and the light too and it was distant … it felt Woody … but it could be a Common, or a Green .. or a piece of wood ..

Classic Nightjar watching conditions. Heath, dusk, warm and still. It’s also pretty good for mosquitos

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

A lovely Bar-tailed Godwit on the causeway bank at Staines Res. A slightly less lovely and way more distant Grey Plover also. 3 LRPs, 2 Common Sand, 8 Common Tern, 2 Yellow Wags best of the rest. #ukbirding #birdsseenin2026 #surreybirds

Cracking Barwit - and amazingly it was super-close on the causeway bank

This LRP was difficult to see as it blended into the pebbles and background so well. Like the Barwit - surprisingly close

Grey Plover making sure it stays away as far as possible from any view point. It didn’t stay long once a fox started exploring the same bank …

… the fox, no doubt picking up the scent of a Grey Plover

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Staines Reservoir has been good to me this year. This trip gave me 2 Black Terns, Whimbrel, GBbG, 3 Yellow Wags and a single LRP today. Then a walk around a nearby heath to end up not finding a Cuckoo … but that’s ok #birdsseenin2026 #ukbirding

Black Terns don’t often sit down when they’re at Staines. This one did for a few seconds on the North basin before resuming its patrol of the South.

It’s mate clearly wanted in on the sitting down action

The heat haze was quite something at midday. This GBbG didn’t quite avoid detection but it was close …

Darties are lovely things. Nothing says late spring than a Dartford Warbler in amongst the blooming gorse.

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

#cornwallbirding Kentish Plover Marazion beach - chased east by dog walker - with 2 Dunlin #ukbirding

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Howling easterlies for the past 4 days has meant tough going with everything keeping its head down… but have managed some decent year birds … #cornwallbirding #ukbirding

The Mullion Woodchat clinging on for dear life …

Bussow Reservoir is paying back the attention it’s getting recently. This Green Sandpiper is one of at least 2 in the area recently.

One of 3 Cuckoos on one day and none since in the area …

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Alan @lobb66.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

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

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 …

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