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Juvenile Red-Necked Phalarope at Swithland Res A quick phonecall from Allen Pocock this evening, had me driving over to Swithland Reservoir, as he told me that he was watching a Phalarope Sp. at the end of Kinchley Lane. When I arrived at Kinchley Lane, Allen and Ben Croxtall were trying to get a better view of the bird, but were having problems seeing the bird due to surrounding vegetation. I quickly walked up the Lane and scoped the bird from the stone wall viewpoint and concluded it was probably a Red-necked Phalarope , but needed better views. Rejoining Allen and Ben we all climbed over the metal railings to see the bird through a gap in the vegetation. With better views of the bird we all came to same conclusion that the bird was a juvenile Red necked Phalarope. At the same time I also took a few record shots of the bird. Driving back to the viewpoint I met up with most of my birding mates (John, Dave Mack, Jez Robson and Brian the wearside whippet!) and got approved views of the ...

A Shag at EBR! Juv BN Grebe at SWR. Autumn Lady's Tresses no.1 Autumn Lady's Tresses no.2 I spy a grey Knot! Another view of the Shag at EBR. My original plan for the day was to check out the last orchid of the season at a site near Wisbech but following a text message from John Hague that Steve Lister had found a Black-necked Grebe at Swithland Reservoir I quickly drove over to Swithland Res. Joining Steve at the Kinchley lane viewpoint, it was only a matter moments before I had year ticked the Juvenile Black-necked Grebe. The Grebe showed reasonable well, and I took a few distant record digishots of the bird. Reverting back to my original plan I thanked Steve for finding the Grebe and then drove to Wisbech (well near it) to check out my regular site for Autumn Lady's Tresses (Spiranthes spiralis). Parking next to the pumping house, I climbed over the fence and started looked at the nearby short turf and after a few minutes of searching I found good numbers (at least 80+)...

I spy the Spinnaker tower Short-tailed Blue Cetaceans sightings Transporter bridge at Santurzi Over the last few days I have been on my annual Bay of Biscay trip with the Company of Whales to look for Seabirds,Cetaceans (Whales and Dolphins) and hopefully the odd Shark. The weather wasn't the best I've ever had crossing the bay, in fact it was probably the worst I've experienced on the southern crossing for over ten years! Due to the bad weather on the southern crossing, we saw an excellent number of seabirds. Over the three days the group recorded six species of shearwater: 1 Little Shearwater , 6 Great Shearwaters , 114 Cory's Shearwaters , 10 Sooty Shearwaters , 2 Balearic Shearwaters and 6 Manx Shearwaters . Also other pelagic birds recorded included 9 Sabine's Gulls , 3 Grey Phalaropes , 14 Storm Petrels , 4 Arctic Skuas , 3 Great Skuas , 10 Sandwich Terns , 15 Arctic Terns , 1 Common Tern and 1 'commic' tern . Due to the rough weather spotting Cetace...

I just spent a couple of days with my University friends, Sarah, Cherie and Ivor in Cork, Ireland. Based near the University College, I was pleasantly surprised how nice Cork was from the hospitality of the locals to the very much understated city centre. Over the two days we spent quite a bit of time in the local Pubs and Bars but we did go a city bus tour which was an excellent choice to see the city sights. Hopefully in the future I will visit this city again and the surrounding countryside as it would make a great base for a longer holiday.

It was great to see Nicole Cooke win the Gold Medal in the Women's Cycle Road Race this morning. Wales's greatest female cyclist timed her sprint to perfection at the end of the race and sprinted passed her four rivals in appalling weather conditions to win by a couple of bike lengths. Nicole is the first Welsh person to win a Gold medal for 36 years. Let hope this is the start of a few more Olympic medals over the coming week?

Here is a list of bird sightings I saw today: Eyebrook Reservoir: Eclipse Drake Garganey, 3 Green Sandpipers, 3 Dunlin, 2 Common Sandpipers, 1 LRP and 6 Yellow Wagtails. Rutland Water: Manton Bridge Adult Spoonbill, 8 Ruff, 7 Dunlin, 3 Black tailed Godwits, 2 Green Sandpipers, 4 Curlew, 5 Common Sandpipers,1 Greenshank and 1 LRP. Rutland Water: North Arm Juvenile/first winter Sandwich Tern, 1 Turnstone, 2 Little Egrets, 5+ Yellow legged Gulls, 1 adult Caspian Gull and 1 Hobby. So basically I saw lots of waders and a couple of good county year ticks!

Another Orchid tick Narrow-Lipped Helleborine A good example of Broad-Leaved Helleborine Another angle of the NL Helles Another shot of the BL Helles Following top secret instructions of the location of this site, I arrived at the site mid morning to look for the Holy Grail of British Orchids in the form of the mythical Ghost Orchid(Epipogium aphyllum). Although it is now over ten years since the last time Ghost Orchid was recorded flowering this country. The recent poor weather conditions over the last couple of Summers has increased the possibly of the orchid flowering. Checking around the surrounding Beechwoods, I saw plenty of mushrooms and toadstools, which was a good sign of possibly flowering, as the Ghost Orchid is saprophytic and grows only in deep leaf-litter where the ground is virtually bare of vegetation. Whilst look for the Ghost Orchids I came across a group of 20+ Narrow-Lipped Helleborines(Epipactis leptochila) . The majority of the plants had gone over, but I did fi...

Berry Head, Brixham. Cirl Bunting. Having arranged this trip earlier in week,Leaving Leicester at 2.40am myself and Dave Mack drove down to Brixham, Devon to do a bit of Seawatching off Berry Head. This was the first time I have been to this site as I usually seawatch in autumn from Flamborough Head in Yorkshire and my regular annual trip to the Bay of Biscay. Arriving at Berry Head just before 6.15am, the first bird sighting of the day we had was of two Cirl Buntings singing in the car park! This was a lifer for Dave Mack, so to say Dave was pleased was a bit of an understatement!?! As we didn't really know to view from we decided to watch from the end of the head next to the small lighthouse. Over the next half an hour we scanned the sea and saw the usual seabirds associated with the English Channel like Gannets, Shags, Cormorants, Kittiwakes, Fulmar and a variety of seagulls. A few moments later, Dave picked up an Arctic Skua as it flew west past the head and then we had a Ma...

Dark Red Helleborine Dark Red Helleborine no.2 Dark Green Fritillary Mating Golden Ringed Dragonflies. Myself and John spent most of the day in North Derbyshire to check out a few sites. The first site of the day was Curbar Bridge to look for Golden-ringed Dragonflies and Black Darters. Checking out the surrounding moorland and the nearby stream and pond, we saw a good number of damselflies. Then walking around the pond John found a female type darter which looked like a Black Darter but after a bit of discussion and research at home later in the day, John decided it was just a Common Darter . So no Dragonfly tick for me!! As we walked back to the car we check the area next to the road bridge and I picked up a large dragonfly flying around the other side of the stream. I shouted to John of its presence which he then saw land on some rushes on the opposite side of the stream. This was when the Indiana Dave mode kicked in as we both transversed the difficult stream! After a bit of searc...

Little Egrets at Cossington Little Egrets at Cossington no.2 Red Kite over Eyebrook Reservoir I spend most of the day out in the county Birding and Orchid Hunting (see the previous post). Here is a list of sightings I saw yesterday: Eyebrook Reservoir : 1 Black tailed Godwit , 1+ Wood Sandpiper , a sub-adult Yellow-legged Gull , 2 Red Kites and a couple of Little Egrets . Great Merrible Wood LRWT : 2 Marsh Tits. Cossington Meadows LRWT: 1 Hobby, 4 Little Egrets, 4 Common Sandpipers, 2+ Green Sandpipers, 1 Dunlin and at least 15 Common Terns around the reserve .

Violet Helleborines at Great Merrible Wood LRWT. I checked out Great Merrible Wood yesterday afternoon to look for Violet Helleborine (Epipactis purpurata) and found over 75 flowering stems, which was the most I have ever seen in this wood. I found one plant which was close to the path which had a cluster of twenty stems on it! It looks like it has been a very good year for Helleborine species as high numbers have been recorded all over the country. I think also it might have something to do with last year's weather conditions, as this orchid is affected by dry summers and grows better in damp conditions. If I get time over the next couple of weeks I will try visit this site again to see the Helleborines in there full flowering glory!