Waxwings at last!
Well, having missed out a couple of times, I ended up pinning down some of these beauties, this time in Dumfries town centre. The light...


Lakeside Stonechat but no Bittern
Castle Loch did not look promising in the drizzle and breeze, and the Bittern seen the day before decided not to show. a pair of...


Another (better) RND and Ravenous Redwings
There were no Waxwings at Penrith but some gorgeous Redwings made up for this. Further east, an adult Ring-necked Duck at Ellerton gave...


Longtown Firecrest
New site for me - Longtown sewage works! And my first Firecrest for Cumbria. Took a while, though. And didn't really play ball for long....


Immaculate Med & smart Short-eareds
An adult Mediterranean Gull and a Purple Sandpiper showed well at St Mary's Island (but there was no sign of the Caspian Gull). Indeed,...


Young Ring-necked outshines Scaup
The sub-adult Ring-necked showed well this time at Pine Lake, Lancashire. (I'd missed it on a previous occasion.) The light was good,...


Dipper and Eastern Wag pose perfectly
After a failed attempt at Black Grouse nearby, I decided to try my luck with Dipper. Four were seen easily at Langholm but I still did my...


Return of a familiar rarity to local shores
A Long-billed Dowitcher anywhere is likely to draw something of a crowd but especially in Cumbria where they are extremely rare. I had...


Leighton Reedlings and Sizergh Hawfinches
An early start enabled me to connect with one of my favourite species at Sizergh (Hawfinches) and as anticipated, four of these...


Not so rosy Starling but perfect peckers
The presence of an adult Rosy anywhere is always going to arouse interest and given that nobody had posted a photo of the bird, I thought...

