From Ghost Town to Caernarfon Town - A British First - Gwynedd, June 2026

I'll never forget where I was when news broke of the first British Western Reef Heron on 6th June 2026. I was wandering around the 2-Tone museum in Coventry, on a family day out that also involved a visit to Coventry cathedral.

At the 2-Tone Museum in Coventry

The magnificant Coventry Cathedral

Whist both venues were fantastic, as most twitchers will know, being somewhere and not in a position to drop everything and go is pure torture.  Working full time I'm used to this scenario, but this was particulary hard given it was a Saturday.  I actually did well and didn't mention it to anyone until we had left the Cathedral and were on our way home. "I thought you were a bit distracted" was the subsquent comment.

On working out the logistics of dropping the family home and leaving again, I realised time was against me.  The bird was continually being reported at Foryd Bay south of Caernarfon, but I worked out that leaving Coventry with a 2 hour drive home in the late afternoon, followed by a 3 hour drive through north Wales, was cutting it fine to get there before dusk.  Aftger a quick 10 minute turnaround at home to get the optics gear in the car, I was on my way.

After what seemed like a lifetime I arrived on site to see only a handful of birders along the road overlooking the bay, and no-one seemed to be looking at anything in particular.  I eventually found someone who was actually viewing the bird, and they quickly shouted that it was flying north. I raised by binoculars to see the Reef Heron flying out of view.

Although I'd seen the bird, it was brief and distant, so I decided an overnight stay in the car was required.  The plan was to see it first thing Sunday and then leave early morning.  After a night with virtually no sleep (the night was cold and, given it was mid-summer, short), I started at dawn scanning the estuary where the bird was last seen.  It wasn't present, so I headed south to view from near the ide where it had spent a lot of the previous day, with more and more birders who were arriving.

After a couple of hours there was no sign, then news came through that it had been refound below Caernarfon Castle, a short drive away.  Everyone jumped in cars, and headed for the Castle, and soon the bird was showing incredibly well in the small estuary.

Western Reef Heron

The Heron worked its way up the narrow estuary until it was out of view, and it was time to head home. I had a birthday celebration to attend at midday, so it was nice to celebrate with a few drinks in the afternoon.

The bird was subsequently seen for around 10 days in various locations in North Wales.

Thanks for looking.

Cornwall for Lesser Kestrel - May 2026

After arriving home from Suffolk on the Saturday, I was back in the car on the way to Cornwall on Sunday night after a Lesser Kestrel had been present for a couple of days on Goonhilly Downs.  With only a small number of UK records, and the first for some time, I was keen to see this fabulous bird.

The plan was to drive down and get a couple of hours sleep before dawn.  As usual, a number of road closures slowed things down so it was already getting light when I arrived. Only a couple of other birders were present at 6am, so we split up and went in different directions to try and locate the bird.  After about 30 minures I got a mesasge with news that they had found the bird in a tree on the downs nearby.  

I was soon in the right place and watching my first Lesser Kestrel in the UK.  As the sun came up it started hunting invertebrates between the small trees and on occaision came close, performing really well and giving some great views for the growing crowd of birders arriving.

Lesser Kestrel

As is always the case with Cornwall, it was a long journey home, but worth it for such a stunning bird.

Thanks for looking!

Tawny Pipit in Suffolk - May 2026

Tawny Pipit is one of those birds I'd never come anywhere near seeing in the UK - an increasingly sarce visitor, and predominately to the South of the UK where they don't tend to hang around too long.

News of one at Languard Point in Suffolk in late April wasn't an option as it was midweek, but it stuck around for a couple of days so I thought it was worth an attempt on Friday evening.  After finishing work early I was able to head down to Suffolk, traffic allowing I should arrive before dusk with a change of seeing it that evening. If not I'd stay over and try again in the morning.  

As it happens the traffic wasn't too bad for a Friday, and I made it with a good couple of hours of light to spare.  On arrival there were a handful of birders surrounding the fenced-off area where the Tawny Pipit was feeding.  It took a while, but I eventually had a few decent views of the bird over a 30 minute period, before it became more elusive.

Tawny Pipit

I was elated to see the bird, more so as it disappeared overnight and was not seen the next day!

I spent the night up the Suffolk coast at Westleton near Minsmere. I had always gone there in early May to see Nightingale, but I hadn't visited for around ten years.  It was great to hear numerous birds singing through the night at the heath and actually around the village, some must have been in peoples gardens!

Thanks for looking!

Back to Hampshire! Killdeer - January 2026

Britain's first mainland Killdeer for over 10 years was found in Hampshire in late January.

Unfortunately it meant another long drive south for a dawn start on a cold winters morning.  Luckily the forcasted rain didn't materialise and it was dry and sunny at the location where the North American wader was found the previous day - Ripley Farm Reservoir, a slighlty odd area adjacent to a pig farm.

Dawn by the pig farm

With around 20 birders present at dawn, and more arriving, there was no sign of the Killdeer for around 30 minutes before someone picked up a distant wader hunkered down from the wind. Eventually the bird stood up and confirmed itself as the Killdeer, giving really nice, although distant, views on the far bank.

The bird fed for an hour in the same area, never coming closer, before being flushed and flying west.  Five minutes later it was back in the same location to the relief of the regular stream of visitors arriving.

It had been a fairly straightforward twitch and nice to get a new bird chalked up for 2026!

Thanks for looking.

A Very Long New Years Eve - Black-winged Kite, December 2025

With the Black-winged Kite seemingly showing well in Norfolk, I was keen to get better views of this species which was only new to Britain a couple of years ago.  The bird in Norfolk, and later Essex, in 2023 proved very popular, but I only had brief distant views of it.

After a long overnight drive, I arrived just after dawn at Ludham Bridge, Norfolk, and walked up the path along the river Ant, to where the bird was generally seen hunting from time to time.  A couple of hours passed and there was no sign of the Kite.  A few birders had continued up the river, and after a while a report filtered through that it was showing well about a mile further along.  After what seemed like a long trek, the bird cam into view sitting on one of the few small trees in amongst a large reedbed.

We had great views but only for a few minutes as the Kite  then flew off west and then seemed to head back to where we were orignally stood earlier that morning. 

After walking south again, the bird was nowhere to be seen at the original location, so I headed back to the car park and drove to nearby St Benet's Abbey where is had sometimes been seen hunting.  There as no sign of the bird there, although a couple of common Cranes where feeding in nearby fields.

After relocating back to the orginal site, the bird was soon on show again, giving great views, preforming well and seen hunting and capturing prey, and eating it in a row of poplar trees.  The Kite finally headed south and it was time to head home, It had been a nice way to end the year.  Somehow, despite having no sleep the night before, eight hours birding and eight hours driving, I even made it out for midnight to see in the new year.

Thanks for looking.

Great-tailed Grackle, Hampsire, Decemeber 2025

A Great-tailed Grackle was found at Calshot in Hampshire in late autumn, and despite it's almost certain status as a bird that had just hopped off a boat originating in the US, it has proved a popular attaraction during its extended UK stay,

A few days after arriving it relocated a short distance to Holbury, where it was being fed in a specific garden, so the hope was that it wouldnt be hard to find in its suburban location.

Arriving just after dawn, it was soon present on top of a telepragh pole, before flying to its preferred gardena and feeding on the grass under some feeders.  The bird was very confiding and a bit of a character, having to be moved out of the road at one point, then buzzing my head as it swooped from the garden across the road into the trees,

Its beautidul blue sheen pluamge was evident in the sun,

A faecal sample taken a few weeks previously, analysed by the Aberdeen University team, confirmed it to be a male of the Central and Eastern US subspecies.

A steady number of visitors came and went to enjoy this rare visitor form the US, the second occurance in the UK.  As of March 2026 the bird is still in the area and interestingly another was found at Speke near Liverpool in early 2026.

Thanks for looking!

Lesser Crested Tern, Devon, December 2025

A couple of images of the Lesser Crested Tern at Dawlish Warren, Devon, that was found in early December 2025.

This was only the 10th record for Britain and 20 years since the last occurance.  A long and rainy overnight drive to Dawlish Warren and the Exe estuary was rewarded when the bird was refound shortly after dawn and spent the first couple of hours providing decent views before flying north up river.

Thanks for looking!