A rare sight these days since the DEFRA cull. They almost wiped them out but there are still a few left, this one was at Wilstone Reservoir today.
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Airlander 10
Coming back from an unsuccessful trip to Pitsford Reservoir for a Corys Shearwater we stopped off at the impressive Cardington Hangars to see Airlander 10 the worlds biggest airliner. It is 92 metres long and weighs 20 tonnes. A few days later it broke free from its mooring and crashed into a field injuring two people. Cardington hangars are massive and can be seen from some distance when driving on the A421 near Bedford.
Crewe Alexandra 1 Luton Town 2
A good result that kept us top of League 2.
Rock Thrush
Having had to bring our departure from Scilly forward by a day, due to the impending arrival of “Storm Brian”, I was hoping to see the Rock Thrush that has been at Blorenge in Wales for the last couple of weeks on the journey home. The weather was not looking good and one of the Severn crossings was already closed as we approached Wales. When we arrived at the site the weather was truly atrocious and I was not sure we would see the bird. There were about 5 other birders on site and we were lucky as the Rock Thrush suddenly appeared in front of us, within a couple of minutes of arriving at its favourite quarry. It was on view for about 2 minutes before flying back towards the quarry wall and disappearing underneath a rock. I managed to fire off a few photos of the bird which was looking a bit on the wet side.
Rock Thrush
This photo taken by my brother gives an idea of the conditions at the time.
Scilly 2017
Day 4 – Scilly Pelagic.
Sightings:- 2 sooty Shearwater, Arctic skua, 6+ Bonxie, Puffin, 2 Great Northern Diver, 3 Common Scoter,2 Pale-bellied Brent geese and Portuguese Man O’ War.
Great Northern Diver
Bonxie
Portuguese Man O’ War
Gannet
Scilly 2017
Day 3 – Spent the day walking around St Mary’s.
Isabelline Wheatear
Pale-bellied Brent geese
Scilly 2017
Day two on Scilly – Isabelline Wheatear on the airfield, American Golden Plover at Porthellick, Yellow-browed Warbler, Spotted Crake at Lower Moors and brief flight views of Rose-coloured Starling at Buzza Tower. Weather wasn’t great but improved as the day went on.
American Golden Plover
Spotted Crake
Scilly 2017
On the way down to Penzance I stopped at Davidstow Airfield where there was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and a large film crew in the process of shooting scenes for a film. Someone told me the film is ” The Boy who wanted to be King “.
Once I arrived on St Mary’s I immediately got on another boat to St Agnes and after a couple of hours wait managed to see the Cedar Waxwing. Only the second one I have seen after seeing one in Nottingham in 1996.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Cedar Waxwing
White-winged Black Tern
A moulting adult White-winged Black Tern was showing very well this morning at Willow Farm Lake, Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits near London Colney.
Swiss Birds
Best birds seen on this trip were two Lammergeier near Rothorn. There were Yellow-legged Gulls at Lake Geneva, lots of Alpine Chough around the Gornegrat, Nutcrackers, Citril Finch and Crag Martin around Zermatt and Alpine Swifts in Lausanne.
Alpine Chough
Yellow-legged Gulls
Crag Martin
Alpine Swift
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