Avez-Vous un Cuppa?

Iceland Gulls saw loads in the year! Orchid of the Year- Bee Orchid in a Leicester Park! Pec Sand at Cosso and finally the highlight of the year for me 21 Killer Whales in Biscay! As I have been at work for the whole of the Christmas period, I probably won't be doing any more birding this year except for my annual trip to Caerlaverock WWT via my brother's home in Glasgow. So I thought I would have a review of the year of the sightings and my finds of the year. Winter: A good start to the year included a lifer in the form the Glaucous-winged Gull at Cowpen Landfill, Co.Durham. Other highlights in the month included a patch tick with a dark bellied Brent Goose at " Wanlip North Lakes " with the large mixed goose flock. The only other rarity for Leicestershire I saw was the mobile Great White Egret at Sheepy Magna, West Leicestershire on the 18th. February was all about me finding loads of white-winged Gulls at different sites in the county. It started with me findin...

Well as its that time of the year again, here is the Xmas Caption competition and includes Mr Drunkbirder and Mr Llama !? As usual the best quote will win a magic teabag and Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

Birding Taliban!?! No sign of the Gyr Falcon! With a Gyr Falcon staying put for a few days on the Gower, South Wales, me, John Hague and Colin Green decided to twitch the bird. Well to cut a long story short and after five hours staring at the same fields the bird did not show! So the moral of this story is that I should not twitch birds of prey as now this is the third Gyr I have dipped, other raptors I have missed included four WT Eagles, and thankfully now the rejected Booted Eagle! John and Colin were excellent company all day in sub zero conditions (that's why I looked like a Birding Taliban!??) but maybe sometimes I should make a few more jokes about Yorkshire and Leicester people!! ;-) [ See the Drunkbirder blog for more info ].

Adult Caspian Gull. 2nd-winter Iceland Gull. Yesterday morning I nipped down to Shawell GPs to check out the Gulls, as the previous day Neil Hagley had found an Immature Iceland Gull on one of the balancing pools. Arriving at the site I noticed that were a good number of gulls on the pools. So over the next couple of hours I picked out at least one adult Caspian Gull and two adult Yellow-legged Gulls among the assortment of large and small gulls. Then around midday I finally noticed the immature Iceland Gull which must have flown in just minutes earlier. Scoping the bird I noticed straight away that it was a 1st winter type due to its plumage and dark eye (actually looking at the photos it's probably a 2nd winter bird!) As usual I took a few record shots of the bird and then phoned out the news of the bird via Birdnet and John Hague. By this time my feet were now starting to get very cold so decided to call time at this site, dodge the traffic on the A5 and then home for a spot o...

Great Grey Shrike Views of Dersingham Bog NNR With another day off in the week I decided with John Hague that a day out to Norfolk was a good idea. So leaving a chilly Leicester at around 6.30am the first port of call via breakfast was Dersingham Bog NNR, near Wolferton. This site has hosted a Great Grey Shrike for the last few weeks so hopefully it would show and possible get some decent digishots? Walking from the car onto the Le Hair trail we were soon onto the main heathland just west of the boardwalk were the Shrike had been reported from. Scanning a silver birch on the nearby ridge I noticed the Great Grey Shrike straight away on top of the tree and then got John onto the bird. Digscoping the bird we took a few record shots and although the light was brilliant the bird was just too much bleached out by the low sun. Next stop was Snettisham RSPB and after the 1.5km march from the car park we finally reached the hides and the wash shoreline. Viewing the shoreline it was soon foun...

Via a message yesterday on my birdnet pager of 6 Whooper Swans at Swithland Reservoir had me driving over to the reservoir just before my late shift. With the minutes ticking away before I had to be on duty I finally saw the group in the south section of the reservoir and not the north section as the pager and website had said!? So as usual I took a few record digishots of the Swans and then drove like Sebastien Loeb in the country lanes of Charnwood to get to work on time!

Here is the new weekly Caption competition: It shows the formation of the Drunkbirders at the Pechora Pipit site at Toab in Shetland in 2007. Best quote wins a teabag!!

As it says on the tin, I had a couple of male Blackcaps in my garden yesterday. This is the first time I've seen Blackcaps winter in my garden for over five years so is there an influx of these Eastern European birds or did I just get lucky? Answers at the bottom please!

On my day off from work I thought I would potter around a few sites in the county. So I started in the far south of the county at Shawell GPs and Tip to look at the gulls. Over the couple of hours I was at this site the sightings included a nice looking adult Yellow-legged Gull in the large gull flock, a small group of six Tree Sparrows and up to forty Skylarks in a stubble field next to the tip. Whilst at the tip I received a text from John Hague to let me know that a male Black Redstart had been find by Carl Baggott at Old John in Bradgate Park. So you can guess were I was going next?! Reaching Old John it came apparent that I was too late and bird had disappeared as I meet up with Jim Graham, Ben Croxtall and Carl as the birds hadn't been seen for a good half an hour. With the no show of the Black Redstart I decided to nip home for a spot of lunch and then move onto Cossington Meadows for the Owls. Arriving at Cossington just after 3.15pm, I met up with Jim again and Steve C...

Although I'm not a big fan of Rutland Water due to fact that its just to big to do some birding, sometimes it can be brilliant! Starting at Whitwell and meeting up with Ben Croxtall, Andy Forryan( part of the Groby crew) and Matt Berriman mid morning we were soon looking at 3 Great Northern Divers and 2 Red-throated Divers viewed between Whitwell, the Dam and the North Arm. Moving on to the North Arm by Tim's cottage and meeting up with the Bretts, the group started to scan the nearby water and a number of sightings included a small flock of "wild" Barnacle Geese, a Little Egret, 5 Red-crested Pochards (3 males and 2 females) and then suddenly Andy Brett shouted out that he had found a Grey Phalarope flying down the North Arm! With in a minute or so the whole group had connected with the bird as it flew around the north arm and then briefly resting on the water in the large flock of ducks. At this point a Peregrine tried to have it for lunch but strangely enough th...

Here is the latest caption competition of a group of butterfly twitchers photographing a corking purple emperor! The best quote will win a prize of a magic tea-bag!?!

Here is a few more shots of "Harold" the Whooper Swan at Watermead CP South.

On the Sunday I did the monthly wildfowl count around Watermead CP North and Birstall section. So here is the scores on the doors!: Great Crested Grebe:27, Cormorant: 32, Grey Heron: 10, Mute Swan: 91, Canada Goose: 91, Wigeon: 205, Gadwall: 114, Teal: 184, Mallard: 184, Shoveler: 33, Pochard: 2, Tufted Duck: 92, Little Grebe: 3, Moorhen: 26, Coot: 277, Kingfisher: 3, Greylag Goose: 3, Lapwing: 136, Golden Plover: 213, Water Rail:2 and Goosander: 8. The highlights were the returning Goosanders, a excellent count of Coots and a nice flock of over 200 Golden Plovers on Wanlip Meadows.

Here is a couple of shots of the Whooper Swan which arrived at Watermead CP South in the last couple of days.

Looking at some photos I took at the Common Rosefinch twitch, I thought I would start a new feature the "Caption Competition". So here is the first one, and the person who comes up the best caption will win a prize!.................

After finishing my early shift today I nipped down to Cossington Meadows and saw three Short-eared Owls hunting over the Swan Meadow and the Moor from 16.30pm. One Barn Owl was also seen hunting over the nearby Wood Meadow and I heard at least three Little Owls calling in the nearby trees. Whilst waiting for the appearance of the Owls I noted that at least 2,000+ Starlings roosted in the reedbed by the Moor Pool.

Over the week I have been on nights at the General Hospital, so very little birding has been done. But looking at the weather for the next few days I predict that Leicestershire and Rutland might have a few pelagic species gracing this landlocked county? As it's quite late in the year I predict a twitchable Grey Phalarope or even a Leach's Petrel on one of the local reservoirs or gravel pits , but then again I might just be talking a lot of old bull?! Here's hoping...........................

Once again the cheating All Blacks beat Wales 12-19 and the hype of Dan Carter was over the top from the BBC! Dan Carter is a good player but he did a cheap shot high tackle on Martin Roberts, so why didn't the referee penalise him, because the All Blacks played the referee( ie Sledging, passing the ball forward and Richie McCaw as usual cheating in the breakdown). I'm passionate Welsh supporter so you can see why I get very frustrated when Wales play the All Blacks and one day Wales will beat New Zealand and finally swipe the arrogant smiles off the All Black faces!

Over the week I have been down at Cossington a couple of times and talking to other birders the total of Owls reads like this: Up to 4 Short-eared Owls (2 pale types and 2 dark types), 4 Barn Owls, 3 Little Owls and a single Tawny Owl . As Autumn finishes and Winter begins in earnest hopefully the numbers of Owls will increase even more and maybe even a Hen Harrier will winter in the area? (which the drunkbirder is wishing for!)

This week I got news via the post that I am now a Registered Mental Health Nurse (RMN) . So finally after three and bit years of training It's pleasing that I completed the course minus the odd hiccup! With my new career beginning I shouldn't have to think of a new career change for the forseeable future?!

Over the weekend and tonight I checked out Cossington Meadows with the Owls usually showing from 4.30pm. Up to 3 Short eared Owls, 4 Barn Owls and maybe 4 Little Owls have been recorded in the Swan Meadow area. If anybody gets a photo of the Owls can you let me know so I can put on the Soar Valley blog! One other highlight of the weekend was the sighting of a Swallow over Cossington churchyard.This was the latest sighting I ever had down the Soar Valley and Leicestershire so a nice surprise to say the least. As the Shorties seem to be the only one's inland at the moment I would imagine a constant flow of birders will be down at Cossington for the next couple of weeks?

Got up early this morning to do some vis-migging before my late shift at the General. Reaching Deans Lane at around 7.20am I noticed that the visibility was shite and you could only see about a mile distance in all directions! So over the two hours I was at Deans Lane, the highlight of the morning was a flock of 14 Crossbills in the nearby conifers just after 7.30am. Other sightings over included 630 Starlings, 248 Redwings, 4 Fieldfares, 156 Wood Pigeons, 39 Chaffinches, 19 Siskins, 8 Redpoll Sp, 12 Meadow Pipits, 13 Skylarks, 13 Finch Sp, 1 Stock Dove, 1 Blackbird, 2 Yellowhammers and 1 Grey Heron migrating South-West. As the weather looks pants for the weekend, strong winds and rain showers I will probably spent a bit more time in bed this weekend?

After yesterday's discovery at Cossington Meadows I went down again this evening. I met up with John, Roger Davis and Steve Campsell on the reserve. So over the next hour we scanned the Swan Meadow and the surrounding fields and found at least 3 Barn Owls (maybe even four?!), 2 Short-eared Owls , 3 Little Owls and a single Tawny Owl calling. Although it's only the end of October, I think its been an excellent year down the Soar Valley sites and just shows what potential this area can produce!

After finishing my night shifts this morning and a few hours sleep in the morning I decided to check out Cossington Meadows in the afternoon to see the long staying Barn Owls . Arriving at the site around 4.00pm it was pretty quiet for a half an hour as I scanned the Swan Meadow, but then briefly I saw a Barn Owl flying over the nearby "Moor" for a couple of minutes. I then meet up with Steve Campsell and his wife who had also seen the Barn Owl briefly. Over the next 20 minutes there was no sign of any Owls, Steve and his wife left me just before it started to get dark, and then suddenly I picked up two Short-eared Owls hunting over the northern end of the Swan Meadow. This was followed by at least one Barn Owl hunting over the same meadow. Then finally as I just about to leave for home I had two Little Owls calling in the nearby trees and the large hedge between Swan Meadow and the Moor. So an excellent fifteen minutes of sightings before dusk and I would imagine that a ...

Once again I'm on nights but what is interesting is that I can hear Redwings and Fieldfares calling as their go over the General Hospital and this is at 1.30am in the morning. Checking out the Trektellen website it looks like a major movement of winter thrushes is occurring as large numbers were recorded on the east coast between Norfolk and Flamborough Head and the West coast of Holland and Belgium. Although I will be asleep later this morning I would imagine good numbers of winter thrushes will be recorded at a number of inland sites via some visible migration?!......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8323930.stm

Two photos of the Little Bittern at Cossington Meadows LRWT. (copyright of Jim Graham). As usual after taking a week off from work, and back to work on the Monday the megas turn up! Firstly, Jim Graham found a Little Bittern down at Cossington Meadows, the first live sighting in Leicestershire period and a mega tick for the local patch. But as I was stuck at work I couldn't do anything about until the next day at the earliest. So to cut a long story short I spent the next two days at this site trying to re find the Bittern, but as usual the bird had probably flown the previous night? (I did however get a Soar Valley Tick though in the form of a Barn Owl hunting over the swan meadow, which was small compensation!). Following this two days later after I checked out Rutland Water for the Red-throated Divers and a variety of wildfowl in the north arm( Whooper Swans and Common Scoters ), I had a major blowout on my front left tyre driving towards Preston village on my way to Eyebrook...

Over the last week I been doing a lot of Vis Migging (Visible Migration) at Deans Lane, Beacon Hill, near Loughborough. The highlights over the week have included a Ringtail Hen Harrier flying SW over the lane on Wednesday. Large numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares have steadily increased over the week, with excellent count of Redwings on Friday and Saturday (1261 on Friday and 1485 Saturday). Other highlights have included small numbers of Crossbills , Bramblings and good numbers of birds of prey over this site. Like with seawatching Vis-migging can be very addicted and would I recommend it to any birder who interested in migration and hopefully in the next couple of weeks more exciting sightings to come?................

Above: Two record shots of the Brown Shrike at Staines Moor. Twitchers at the Brown Shrike! On Tuesday following info the previous day, that a Red-backed Shrike had been re-id as a 1st winter Brown Shrike at Staines Moor, near Heathrow, West London. So following news via my Birdnet pager it took me a couple of hours to drive to the site after leaving Leicester around 9.30am. Arriving at the moor, it was only a matter of time until I finally saw the Brown Shrike in the nearby hawthorn bushes. Over the next hour or so, I watched the shrike as it flew around the nearby bushes and as usual I took a few record shots of the Shrike. Happy with seeing the Shrike and it firmly on my tick list I drove home with no hold up on the motorways except for a couple of Tw*ts in a BMW and White Van Man driving like arseholes!!

Hi all, here is a couple of digishots of the adult Caspian Gull at Watermead CP South yesterday afternoon. I first saw it on the largest pit next to the car park and then on the large "sprint" building roof with other Lesser BB Gulls, before flying off north. I relocated the Casper later on at Birstall Meadows as the gulls came into pre roost at this site at around 5.00pm. Although its not a major rarity I think this is probably the first record for the Soar Valley? * Foot note* As Steve Lister thinks this bird is not a Caspian Gull I just wondered what other people think of the above Gull, I look forward to your comments..........................

Before my late shift today at the General I had time to do a bit of vis-migging at Dean's Lane, Beacon Hill in the morning. Meeting Steve Lister at the viewpoint at around 8.00am, it wasn't long before we started to pick up small groups of Redwings as there flew over the lane. Over the next two hours we saw good numbers of Redwings, an assortment of Finches, 4 local Crossbills and the probably the first two Fieldfares recorded this autumn in the county. Taken from the Trektellen website here is the count for the morning: Common Snipe 1 Song Thrush 1 Black-headed Gull 5 Redwing 119 Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 Starling 136 Skylark 14 Chaffinch 43 Meadow Pipit 7 Greenfinch 21 alba wagtail sp. 7 Goldfinch 3 Fieldfare 2 Totals: 360 individuals, 13 species, 2:35 hours With the movement of winter thrushes I can say that Autumn has finally arrived and hopefully some decent sightings in Leicestershire for the next few weeks?!

As I'm currently on my last night shift for the week and to pass the boredom I thought I would look up the different lists I keep. I don't know if its me or not but most birders or even males seem to have an Asperger's syndrome trait when collecting different lists. Looking up the different lists which I keep range from my current BOU list through to the number of orchids species I have seen in the UK and finishing with the list of Cetaceans I have seen in European and UK Waters. Here is a list of the current lists I keep!! Bird Lists: BOU List: 435 species Leicestershire (VC 55) List: 247+ two heard only (Bearded Tit and Lapland Bunting). Local Patch List: Soar Valley, Leicestershire 183 species. Midlands Region List: Not sure but probably close to 300 species? Leicestershire Day List: 110 species seen on 29th April 2007 with help from Mr Rob Fray (county record). Orchid Lists: UK Orchid List: up to the present day 38 species + numerous varieties and hybrids seen out of a ...

After finishing my latest entry(see below) and what goes and happens but a Pectoral Sandpiper is found at Eyebrook Reservoir! (Thanks to John and Colin for letting me of the bird). Although I didn't need it for the year as I had connected with the two spring birds at Cossington Meadows, you never say no to a Yankee wader in the county. So after finishing my early shift at the general hospital, I was soon at EBR, but one slightly problem happen as I got out of car, the bloody thing flew off!, Bugger!! So over the next half an hour I searched for the bird around the island but of course I should have just gone to the inflow end as the bird reappeared there in the matter of a few minutes. Reaching the inflow end I meet up with Dave Mack and his daughter Hilde and spoke about next week if a biggy was found on the Scillies? Scoping from the roadside I picked up the Sandpiper in a large group of Lapwings as it feed on the muddy shoreline, and as usual I took a few crappy record shots of...

With the proverbial fan going off in the Northern Isles, Leicestershite has been very quiet by comparison over the last week. As usual we had a couple non twitchable Arctic Skuas fly through Rutty Water, but the rest of the county has been devoid of any note able birdlife! I've flogged the Soar Valley to death over the week and the only highlight has been a single Little Egret at Cossington Meadows ,and a few Golden Plovers on the scrape at Wanlip Meadows. On the vis-migging front the highlight so far has been a late Yellow Wagtail over Dean's Lane and a good passage of Meadow Pipits over the week at this site. As I have got nights this week, I will hopefully get out in the afternoons to see if anything unusual have been reported in the county?! Here's hoping.........................

On Wednesday I finally found out that I had passed my last assignment for my nurse training. So now my job title will be changing to Staff Nurse and the end of the era as I will not be a student any more!! I will still be working at the General Hospital but I will have more responsibilities like giving out medication and stabbing people legally with needles and hopefully a bright future in my new job role?!

Common Rosefinch OMFL!! For most of the early morning, myself, John Hague, Steve Lister and Allen Pocock had been doing some vis miging (Visible Migration) at Dean's Lane, Beacon Hill. The only highlight of the early morning was seeing a good passage of over 800+ Meadow Pipits and small numbers of Siskins. However this all changed when John received a phonecall from Andy Mackay whilst in the local Mcdonalds to let us know that Andy Smith had just rung a Common Rosefinch in his back garden. Finishing our Mc D's breakfast in Loughborough we were soon parking up in Thornton village as the first birders on the seen. Meeting Andy Smith in his back garden he let us know were the bird had been seen and it was only a matter of time before the bird returns? Joined by Steve and Allen again, it wasn't long before a few familiar faces appeared in Andy's garden. At this point Steve refound the Rosefinch in a nearby tree and panic suddenly set in as we tried to get on the bird! In r...

With my pager megaing almost daily for the last week for the Tufted Puffin, Sandhill Crane and formerly the Blackburnian Warbler .I just wished that these birds were closer or would stay put for more than just a couple of days. Over the last few years I have reduced my twitching trips and I have always said that I won't twitch off island, but I must admit the Sandhill Crane is very tempting even if it's on Orkney!! Let just hope over the next month the Mega's are on the mainland or within driving distance of Leicestershire?! But then again I just probably tempting fate?!?.................

On Saturday after working the early shift, I counted Ducks, Geese and Swans down at Watermead CP North(+ Birstall) for the start of the winter season wildfowl counts. Here is a list of the birds I recorded: Mute Swan: 33, Canada Goose: 110,Wigeon: 63,Gadwall: 56, Teal: 5, Mallard: 72, Shoveler: 4, Red-crested Pochard: 1 (Eclipse male:first record for the count!),Tufted Duck: 36, Little Grebe: 5, Great crested Grebe: 21, Cormorant: 31, Grey Heron: 5, Moorhen: 28, Coot: 112, Lapwing: 88, Kingfisher: 2, Greylag Goose(domestic):4, Sparrowhawk: 1, Kestrel: 2. Highlight of the count was of course the first record of an eclipse male Red-crested Pochard and good numbers of returning Wigeons.

After finishing my early shift at the general, I drove over to Cut End, which is the Witham/Wash river mouth(Basically were the river meets the sea!), near Boston, Lincs. I was told that the the best time to go was around hide tide with a north-east blow to push the birds close towards the river mouth. Arriving at the Cut End Hide at around 5.00pm in the middle of high tide, I joined the group of birders who watching the sea. My sightings of the next couple of hours included: 16 Arctic Skuas, 1 Bonxie, 1 Fulmar, 10+ Sandwich Terns, at least 30+ Eiders, a single Common Scoter (10 metres off the hide!) and good numbers of the usual waders. Scanning the nearby salt marshes I also picked up at least 7 Marsh Harriers , and over 40 Little Egrets . Although I couldn't pick up the long staying King Eider at this site due to the choppy conditions I was pleased what I had seen at this new site for me and would visit it again as soon as possible. As I walked back to the car the final sightin...

Views from Mill Hill viewpoint looking towards the visitor centre The East Dunes As the weather looked good for a movement of migrants from the continent, me and John decided to check out Gibraltar Point NNR , near Skegness in Lincolnshire. Although over the last three times I have been to Gib I've had a shite time dipping the main target species, this time it felt different. For a start the reserve was devoid of twitchers (not birders) and you could find your own birds. Starting at the Beach car park we slowly walked towards to the Mill Hill viewpoint and tried to find the previous day's Common Rosefinch (which in fact was in a totally different part of the reserve!). Reaching the viewpoint, the only birds of notes along the path was a group of Linnets and Goldfinches but no sign of the Rosefinch. At the viewpoint we scanned the surrounding sea buckthorn for migrants and noted good numbers of Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps,Lesser Whitethroats a couple of Marsh Harriers passing through...

Great White blob at Saddington Reservoir . Possibly due to lack of motivation after my Biscay trips and me being on night shifts in the week I didn't go out birding until late afternoon on most days. So the highlights I saw included see the Great White blob at Saddington Reservoir, a couple of trips to Eyebrook Reservoir for an assortment of waders, a covert operation to Rutland Water to see Curlew Sandpiper and eleven Red-crested Pochards and finally a few trips down the Soar Valley to see nothing except for a couple nice looking Hobbies .

photos by Gillian Mackie and Glenn Overington and the Autumn Ladies Tresses by me! After nine days at sea guiding for the " Company of Whales" I arrived home in the early hours of Sunday morning. The highlight of the trip was me finding the family group of 21 Killer Whales in front of the ship and of course a few expletives which the guests didn't mind due to the excitement of the moment!! In over twelve years of doing the Biscay trips this was almost certainly the best Cetacean sighting I have ever had in the bay. On the birding front we had an excellent count of seabirds during the three trips with in excess of 100+ Cory's and Great Shearwaters, at least seven Little Shearwaters, 38 Sabine's Gulls, numerous Sooty, Manx and Balearic Shearwaters and at least five Long-tailed Skuas. Highlights in Bilbao (Mt Serantes area, Santurzi) included a few firsts on the hillside for me, these included Red-rumped Swallow, Savi's Warbler, Firecrest, good numbers of Cir...

As of tomorrow evening I will be on my annual Biscay trip and will be on the Pride of Bilbao for the next ten days. I'm hoping for some excellent sightings and will let you know what I see over the next ten days in the Bay of Biscay.

A juvenile Monty's Harrier honest!! Following info via the LROS website, a text from Andy Mackay and a phone call from John Hague I drove over to Burrough Hill CP, as Andy was watching a Harrier Sp flying over the hill. As I got to the hill fort I saw Andy scoping the bird over the nearby pines, joining him I picked up the Harrier as it flew away down the valley. Although it was a Harrier but what species could it be, was it a Juvenile Monty's Harrier or even possibly a Pallid Harrier?! Andy had taken a few record shots of the bird and it looked pretty good for a Pallid Harrier, which was good for me as it would have been a county tick. At this point we were joined by Steve Lister and Andrew Harrop who had just missed the bird as it flew over the ridge. Over the next half an hour or so the bird didn't show and we thought that maybe the bird had buggered off to the south. Andy left us to go home and check his photos of the Harrier to see if it was a Pallid Harrier? Then all...

Hi all, here is a list of sightings I saw yesterday down the Soar Valley. Wanlip Meadows LRWT: Most of the sightings were on the scrape (except for the Hobby!) 1 Juvenile Wood Sandpiper 1 Greenshank 4 Green Sandpipers 6+ Snipe 1 Hobby Watermead CP North: 1 Juvenile Sandwich Tern seen on King Lear's Lake between 16.10 and 17.45pm when it flew off low east. 8 Common Terns (including 3 juveniles) over King's Lear's Lake. So looking at the sightings I had a pretty good afternoon down the valley finding a Wood Sand on the scrape and then putting the icing on the cake by the sighting of the Juv Sandwich Tern flying around King Lear's Lake!! Some times local patch working does have it rewards.

Alex Horne enteraining the Birdfair crowd (thanks John for the photo!) Myself, John and my Dad visited the British Birdfair yesterday at Rutland Water, and for once it was an enjoyable experience. Highlights of the day included meeting comedian Alex Horne ( who was doing a shorten version of his excellent live show on Birdwatching Watching),chatting to BBC "One Show" David Lindo about Urban Birding, collecting the new Leicestershire and Rutland Bird Avifauna and Bird report from the LROS stand, playing football with the ORCA team(Whale Madrid) and meeting new and old friends at the social birding event of the year. My Dad was also happy because he spent loads of money on a new camera (Canon D5) and got a good deal, £400 off the usual price!!

Two sleeping Garganeys honest! As the orchid season is coming to a close, I've started Birding again and here is a list of birds I have seen over the last week. 6th August: Eyebrook Res Female/Immature Marsh Harrier 2 Little Egrets 1Black Tern 3 LRP 1 Green Sandpiper and usual raptors! 7th August: Eyebrook Res Juvenile Spotted Redshank Juvenile Wood Sandpiper Eclipse Drake Garganey 4 Green Sandpipers 2 Common Sandpipers and lots of rain! 13th August: Swithland Res Black-necked Grebe Hobby Cossington churchyard 5 Spotted Flycatcher Eyebrook Res Wood Sandpiper Juvenile Peregrine 2 Eclipse Garganeys 2 Greenshanks 3 Dunlins 7 Ringed Plovers .

I checked out a secret site in the north-west of the county (well a wood near Cloud Wood LRWT) and found at least 23 Violet Helleborines in the south-east corner of the wood. Most were around the public footpath which cuts across the wood, but I did find a few off the beaten track.

On Thursday during the rain showers I checking out the Violet Helleborines at Great Merrible Wood LRWT . In between the light and very heavy rain I found at least 74 flowering spikes, with one impressive plant near the path had 18 spikes!! The Helleborines were coming into flower so there should be at there best for a week or so?

Views of the Creeping-Ladies Tresses and sleeping Spoonbills. As I had the day off from work I spent the day in Norfolk with Dave Mack, looking at a Pacific Golden Plover at Breydon Water next to Great Yarmouth. Seeing thirteen sleeping Spoonbills , a probable "Baltic Gull", and a free pasty at Cley NWT, and finally finding some Creeping Ladies Tresses in Holkham Woods. Not far from the nudist beach at Holkham we found at least eight flowering spikes of these small orchids and about ten rosettes under the pines. So a new orchid for my British list and just another 15 species until I've seen all the British Orchids!

Over the last couple of weeks I have been checking out Cloud Wood LRWT for the different varieties of Broad-leaved Helleborines. I found at least 140 flowering spikes around the rides of the wood. The Helleborines are highly variable ranging from the "normal type"to the rare form "Var.viridiflora" and some even looking like the very rare Young's Helleborine! I did notice that most of the plants were along the rides but the more interesting varieties occurred on the nearby spoil heaps or were major coppicing had taken part in the wood.