bfbsoutdoorramblings-Business-Insider

Friday 14th October at 15.35hrs:

A WOODCOCK made a guest appearance in my non-rural Graden, certainly a first and possibly a last. It flew in and made a very quick landing on one of the flower borders and seemed to try to grab at a pear before taking off again...... Incredible garden visit!

About the Woodcock:
The woodcock is a large bulky wading bird with short legs, and a very long straight tapering bill. It is largely nocturnal, spending most of the day in dense cover. Most of the birds in the UK are residents; in the autumn birds move to the UK from Finland and Russia to winter here. The breeding population has been falling recent years, perhaps because of less habitat as conifer plantations become too mature for woodcocks to find open enough breeding areas.
It can be found in suitable habitat in summer throughout the UK, except for south-west England. In winter, birds are widespread in lowland areas. You would be very lucky to see one, but you may inadvertently disturb one from its resting place, when it flies off, zigzagging between the trees and dropping back into cover.

Just been playing around... its either that or watching Coronation Street

This male Sparrowhawk has been visiting my garden on and off for a while. A few weeks ago he posed close to the feeders and very near an empty nest box

Oriental Pied Hornbill

The last day in Malaysia back in March. To be honest it was nothing more than a day of travel back to the airport. We had seen a few sightings of this species on our travels but usually in flight and distant so when Paul shouted stop (in the fast lane of a dual carriageway) we knew it must be worth stopping for.

We pulled off the carriageway and turned around back towards the bird where it was showing at the back of a small cafe in a banana plantation.

Its always a trade off when anticipating the eagerly awaited Shearwater and Skua cruise off the East coast in late autumn..... A nice North Westerly wind could always push in a few exciting migrants, however its a long drive across country to have the sailing cancelled due to poor weather..... so a calm North Sea awaited Chris E and myself when we arrive into Bridlington Harbour.
This first cruise was in early Septemeber, and as I had lost my camera to a down pour a few weeks prior, I had no option but to just take the binoculars and enjoy the seabirds. Undoubtedly the highlight of the trip was the Sabines Gull that gave astonishing views, not only flying around the boat but also sat on the sea..... most certainly a life bird in the bag. Arctic Skuas showed well, and put on brilliant displays of aggression while chasing the Terns..... and I was lucky enough to bag another life bird when we passed a Grey Phalarope sat on the sea while we chased down yet another Arctic Skua...... plenty of people missed this one, but we got excellent close up views.

Overall the trip gave me 3 life birds (although the Red Throated Divers were very distant... however this would be rectified a few weeks later with far better and nearer views)..... of course there are no images this time but plenty of lasting memories, especially that Sabines.... STUNNING
Sometimes the camera gets in the way of really enjoying the birdwatching, and this was a cracking birdwatching trip.......

......... New Camera to hand and and a new cruise in October.

I prayed for another view of the Sabines Gull. This turned out to be a trip of no lifers but some great action with Shearwaters and Skuas.... As we left the harbour we had our first flocks of Shags, smaller than the Cormorant, they nest at the base of the cliffs... it certainly seems to have been a good breeding season for this species.

As we ticked off the more common species such as Herring, Black Headed, Greater Black Backed and  Lesser Black Backed Gulls we started to pick up large numbers of Little Gulls... our smallest breeding Gull, the juveniles showing stunning plumage.