End of Year total ..253!

After a fantastic year of spotting and twitching, my total for the year is #253.
I managed to get the numbers wrong all year until I totalled it up tonight.

Final number was a Bewick Swan at Minsmere on New Years Eve. Also saw a flying Bittern and a couple of Marsh Harriers.

Suffolk Birding

A great few days with our friends Leon and Claire, and my wifie Anna and the dog Oscar.

I was lucky enough to go to North Warren RSPB where lots of geese hang out.

Best views and pictures of Bean and White fronted I hve had so far in my birding life.

The walk back to Southwold with Denz - comedy times indeed

Marsh Tit at Minsmere

Bittern in flight at Minsmere

Tundra Bean Goose

European White Fronted Geese

Red Breasted Geese and Barnacle Geese

A Goose fest

Egyptian Goose

Turnstone

Stop in back from Harrogate - #262 velvet scoter

A stop in to the large Swithland Reservoir in Leicester - two female  VELVET SCOTER showing extremely well very close to the dam - fortunate for sure !!

That's #262 lifer - two in a week very nice!!

Also a goldeneye floating past.

Velvet Scoter at Swithland

A pair!

Head on

Defined head

Drake Goldeneye on the ressie

LEO -Merry Christmas Twitch #261

An early morning start sent me packing from Harrogate to Blackpool - Marton Mere.
Thanks to a friendly local dog walker I was shown the spot where the LONG EARED OWL were showing - hidden in the bushes roosting. No way I would have located them on my own. 3 hour round trip worth every minute. Back in time for a lunchtime beer.. Awesome!
#261 for life, #245 for 2012... 250 looks doubtful this year

LEO in Blackpool - Christmas Day 

Blackpool Tower from the Mere

LEO seen just above my head!!

Stone Rings Xmas Eve

As usual a very active bird feeder with some not so usual species
Check out my eBird entry for specific details

Species count on 24 Dec at Stone Rings

Shots from the house 

Bullfinch and Siskin

Buff Bellied Pipit MEGA at Queen Mother Ressie

After the work Xmas do in Ascot, I dropped into the QMR in Datchet.
A big twitch - loads of people there and crippling views of the pipit. Seen it before on Scilly with Rob earlier this year

Buff Bellied Pipit in Berkshire - it should be in the USA

Grey Phalarope lifer #260

Thorn near Dunstable was the venue for a GREY PHALAROPE - lifer #260
Quite a distance away, but the lumix did the trick
Free access to the sewage works which was nice

Wokingham Waxwing

About 10 waxwings seen by Screwfix going from oak tree to berry bushes - told pops about the twitch but no luck !!

Waxwing down Molly Millars Lane

Waxwings at work

Well what a pleasant half an hour lunch I had today!
Heard on the network some waxwings very close by....
A 2 minute walk from my desk - and after about twenty mins, after I had to head back for a meeting, 9 waxwings flew overhead onto berries just by Jennetts Park.
Result !!
Dashed back to get these pics before an afternoon of work stuff and a take out Xmas lunch . Yum!!

Waxwings in Bracknell 

Dipping Sunday in Cambs

A trip to Cambridge after dropping Denz off to a singing course - first stop the Ouse for a dip of a Penduline Tit - 3 mile trek for nought.

Then a stop at Milton tip - now what gulls are these?? Will have to iSpot them!

Great Black Backed juv gulls at Milton

Herring or something more exciting at the tip

Hawfinch Lifer #259

A morning outing to Bramfield resulted in multiple HAWFINCH , lifer #259. A species I have been after for a while. Pleasing !!

Hawfinch at Bramfield