28th February 2016

No sign of the ring ouzel this am on Larkspur Crescent, but flyover Cormorant and 2 Canada Geese were both half-decent birds for North Yeovil. Had a look on the Openspace for an hour or so, producing the 3 Siskin in the Woods on the west side again, plus 3 more along the length of the stream. 3 each of Coal Tit and Goldcrest and a single Grey Wagtail were the only other birds of note.

Siskin - Yeovil Openspace

27th February 2016

Headed down to Portesham. When we arrived, I was told it hadn't been seen since early this morning and people were starting to give up, however within half an hour I managed to pick up the Pallas's Warbler deep in the vegetation, after which it gave really cracking views, not that you'd be able to tell from any of my grainy record shots!

 

Pallas's Warbler - Portesham

Plus a few in-flight shots to show the pale rump patch:

Much more obliging than last years bird at Brean Down!

Stopped off at Seaton Marshes breifly, but dipped again on the green-winged teal. A single grey wagtail was as exciting as it got here.

26th February 2016

Briefly saw the 1st winter Ring Ouzel again this morning. It was in the usual spot at 8:45, but had disappeared by the time I had got my camera.

23rd February 2016

Good thing I had the foresight to bring my camara with me today:

Ring Ouzel - Larkspur Crescent

Had good views of it in the NW corner of larkspur Crescent again this evening. Looking at the photographs, it seems it's a juvinile rather than an adult female.

22nd February 2016

Was walking home through Elliot's Drive, Yeovil when I noticed a female blackbird with pale wing markings feeding on the red berries outside number 57. I got closer, and saw that it was the female Ring Ouzel! I ran home to get my camara, but when I returned there was no sign of it. I spent an hour searching the surrounding area producing just a single male blackbird. I guess I will have to carry my camara around with me every day from now on!

21st February 2016

Headed up to Glastonbury Heath around midday, where I quickly picked up the handsome drake Ring-Necked Duck.

Ring-Necked Duck - Glastonbury Heath

I also had singles of Great White Egret and Marsh Harrier. Also had a look at Ham Wall/Shapwick Heath which produced another 2 Great White Egrets, at least 4 more Marsh Harriers and a drake Goldeneye on Noah's Lake.

20th February 2016 (Cornwall)

First stop today was Longrock, Marazion, where we scanned for the pacific diver, which we failed to locate. However, we did have a distant Red-Throated Diver, 3 Great Northern Divers, and many Guillemots, Razorbills and Shags.

Great Northern Diver - Marazion

Rock Pipit - Marazion

Herring Gull - Marazion

We then scanned from Battery Rocks, Penzance, which failed to turn up any divers, but we did have singles of Purple Sandpiper and Slavonian Grebe.

Purple Sandpiper - Penzance

Slavonian Grebe - Penzance

A walk along the cliffs at Pendeen quickly produced 2 Choughs, though they always remained distant.

Chough - Pendeen

Another look off Marazion produced nothing of note. Walked along the footpath west of Perranuthnoe and picked up two very distant divers which I didn't manage to identify before I lost them. Continuing to walk along, I picked up the HUDSONIAN WHIMBREL as it flew out of a bay and lost view of it as it headed west past a point. Unfortunately, I couldn't relocate it or any other waders on the shore beyond the point. It was later reported at Marazion.

Perranuthnoe

Returned to Dozmary Pool on the way home. Had the 2 Goldeneye again, but despite increased numbers of Tufted Ducks on the water, we still couldn't pick out the lesser scaup.

Goldeneye - Dozmary Pool

19th February 2016 (Cornwall)

Headed down to Cornwall today. Stopped off at Dozmary Pool on the way to look for the lesser Scaup but didn't manage to locate it; there were only 2 Tufted Ducks in the vegetation on the lake margin. 2 Goldeneye and a large flock of fieldfares was the best managed.

Fieldfare - Dozmary Pool

Dozmary Pool

Next stop was Newlyn where at first we failed to locate any glaucous gull, but we did have a Great Northern Diver, a Guillemot close-in, and several Shags and Turnstones. As we were leaving, I spotted 2 pale gulls in the habour. Pulled the car over and there were the 2 Glaucous Gulls.

Shag - Newlyn

2 Glaucous Gulls - Newlyn

Mousehole was the next stop, where we scanned through the gulls roosting on St Clements Isle, producing a few Grey Plovers and a Grey Seal. Eventually, we picked up the juvenile\1st winter AMERICAN HERRING GULL that has been roosting on the west side of Mount's Bay recently.

AMERICAN HERRING GULL - Mousehole

The unmarked, extremely dark brown underparts along with the extensively pale bill made this a really striking larid.

18th February 2016

Had a relaxing and surprisingly productive morning birding with my freind Lewis at Ninesprings Park in Yeovil today. On the main lake, I counted at least 20 Mandarins at 0815 hrs, but by 0900 most had moved into the vegatation overhanging the lake. Also on the lake was a Water Rail and a Little Grebe (both Yeovil ticks for me), and there was a second Water Rail and a Grey Wagtail on the river. Also seen were 2 Lesser Redpolls, 2 Siskin and a Cormorant, and a brief look at Wyndham Hill produced a single Nuthatch and another Cormorant.

2 Water Rails - Ninesprings

Little Grebe - Ninesprings

Lesser Redpoll - Ninesprings

Some of the 20 Mandarins - Ninesprings

Grey Wagtail - Ninesprings

Mute Swan - Ninesprings

Mallards - Ninesprings

Moorhen - Ninesprings

Dunnock - Ninesprings

Robin - Ninesprings

Song Thrush - Ninesprings

16th February 2016

Had a look over the Openspace for a couple hours this morning. 3 Siskins was the best managed. Also present were singles of Bullfinch, Song Thrush, Grey Wagtail and 4+ Goldcrest.

Adult Male, Partial Albino and 1st Winter Male Blackbirds - Yeovil Openspace

Song Thrush - Yeovil Openspace