James Dee Birding

30th December 2024 On the second attempt in two days, I found myself at Oukaïmeden in the High Atlas.  There was a lot more fresh snow then I had expected.  Crunching up past the ski lifts I met Dutch birder, Jaap Gijsbertsen, also on the look out for Finches.   We took different paths in our searches after a short conference, only to converge again for lunch. I was surprised to see a Levaillant's Woodpceker  above the snow line, in the only trees to be seen.  After a short walk, I returned to the hamlet, Rock Sparrow , Rock Bunting,  Atlas Shore Lark and Red-billed Chough were all apparent, searching out seeds after the morning's melt.  After lunch, I went to explore the small lake where Jaap had seen a Water Pipit and  White-throated Dipper.  As I crossed the bridge, I became aware of a small flock of birds behind me.  There they were!  After several hours searching, the African Crimson-winged Finches , had found me.  F...

 

This Richard's Pipit  had been around for a few days but I'd not had a chance to come look for it.  AT 3pm I arrived at the meadow known as Schäferiängarna at Ottenby headland.  There were a handful of people looking for it but no confirmed sightings since the morning. I zigzagged the meadow chatting with several birders not knowing the best place to look for it in what is a large grassy and marshy area.  Eventually, it flew out of cover with some Skylarks and called.  I could see by the size it was a candidate but when it called I was certain of the ID, so I waved to other birders to come my way.  We tried relocating for another 15 minutes or so and I could see they had doubts, but then one of them flushed it. It would fly and land in cover, running or walking most of the time.  That's when someone produced a thermal imager.  It was very hard to pick up and we had a few false positives before finally locating it and allowing  me to grab this...

 

On the 18th October, Gabriel, Robert and myself travelled to the North end of Öland, arriving after dusk.  Early the next morning we headed to the recent location of the bird.  It took about twenty minutes to first spot the Asian Desert Warbler , and another hour showing it to arriving birders and trying to capture a photograph.   We spent the rest of the day birding the Northern cape.  The highlight was 45 Twite,  1 Hawfinch and 2 Long-tailed Duck. On the 20th, we went to see the Desert Warbler again aafter a morning birding the far North cape.  Highlights included a R ough-legged Buzzard , with a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker  heard on a stop on the way home.

One of three Pallas's Warbler seen today around the Ottenby headland.  The max day count over this period was five or six!  They came amongst a fall of hundreds of Goldcrest.  Two Firecrest were also seen.  

The day started at 7 am, meeting up with Gabriel Säll and Robert Lager at Ottenby nature reserve for five hours of vismig and a wander around the forest.  We managed 45 species from   Södra lundspetsen including; one Black Kite , two Rough-legged Buzzards , Woodlark, 600 Common Crane, one Osprey, one Hen Harrier, five White-tailed Eagles, one Yellow-browed Warbler , eight Hawfinch , a Fieldfare, 250 Goldcrest, a Merlin and 2000 Siskin. At 3pm we managed to see the Pectoral Sandpiper  in pools along the road to the lighthouse. At 4.45pm a call came over the radio that there was a  Brown Booby  at Segerstad Fyr, 25 minutes drive up the peninsula.  We bundled into Robert's car and were on our way.  By the time we arrived, there were already fifty plus birders.  We rushed to the shore where it had been feeding for the past thirty minutes, to see it begin to fly away South.  Photos were grabbed and it was gone! But that wasn't the last sighti...

  A Melodious Warbler  was present in the moat at Dungeness Bird Observatory during the morning but it was the finding of a much rarer Cirl Bunting that stole the day.   The bird was seen and photographed briefly by the rail track behind Southview Cottage before flying to the West.  I was the sole observer and despite trying to inspire other birders to help come relocate the bird only Tom Wright found the time.  However, neither of us could relocate it and gave up after an hour or so as the day warmed up. I had originally thought that it must had come from from a nearby secret breeding site, similar to the one in West Sussex perhaps, but apparently not.  If they are present somewhere on Romney Marsh it's yet to be discovered.  It seems more likely that it was a vagrant from the continent.  Previously, Cirl Bunting had not been seen at Dungeness for 20 years, and then 60 years before that.  I hope that, this bird, or one like it, will som...