23RD - 30TH JUNE 2008

The 23rd produced three calling Common Quail at Llanilid, while the 24th produced five Common Sandpiper and a very early Common Gull at Ogmore Estuary and a pair of Common Redstart with chicks at Trelewis and a pair of Red-billed Chough with chicks on South Gower. The 26th saw an incredible five Common Quail and a Eurasian Hobby at Llanilid and a Red Kite was at Pontardawe. Eleven Common Crossbill were in Caerphilly and an adult Mediterranean Gull was at Aberthaw Marsh. On the 27th ten European Storm Petrel, twelve Common Scoter and thirty Northern Gannet were off Port Eynon and another was at Nash Point, where there were also 245 Manx Shearwater. Another 93 Manx Shearwater were off Kenfig Sands, along with a Sandwich Tern and 35 Common Swift were over the pool. On the 29th, two European Storm Petrel, four Manx Shearwater, five Black-headed Gull, five Northern Gannet and a Black-legged Kittiwake were off Porthcawl. Two Egyptian Geese and two breeding plumaged Black-tailed Godwit were on the River Neath. The 30th produced 39 European Storm Petrel , a second winter Mediterranean Gull and a Great Skua at Mumbles Head. A juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake was at Ogmore Estuary.

16TH - 22ND JUNE 2008

The 16th saw several Wood Warblers still in song at Llanwonno, while the 17th produced an unseasonal Black Redstart was on Gower and a Eurasian Nightjar was at Pellena Forest. Two Eurasian Hobby were at Llanilid. Sea watching off Porthcawl on the 18th produced two European Storm Petrel, fifteen Black-legged Kittiwake, two Common Scoter, thirteen Northern Gannet, four Common Guillemot, two Razorbill and 1700+ Manx Shearwater. More sea watching on the 19th produced three European Storm Petrel, twenty five Manx Shearwaters and five Northern Gannet. On the 20th, four Common Crossbill and a Spotted Flycatcher were at Clydach, Neath and 42 Manx Shearwater were at Lavernock Point. A Red Kite was in Gorseinon and a first summer Mediterranean Gull was at Rhymney Estuary. A very windy day on the 22nd saw more sea watching with counts of six European Storm Petrel, 1000+ Manx Shearwaters, three Sandwich Terns and ten Northern Gannet from Porthcawl, four Sandwich Tern and a Basking Shark from Cardiff Heliport and fifty Manx Shearwater and a Common Guillemot were at Lavernock Point.

9TH - 15TH JUNE 2008

On the 9th, four Tree Sparrows were at The Monktons Farm, while the 10th produced a reeling Grasshopper Warbler in Swansea and five European Nightjars at Llanwonno Forest. A Red Kite was at Llancadle and Common Cuckoos were ins several places indicating an arrival of birds. A Lesser Whitethroat was still singing at Kenfig Pool on the 11th and four Black-headed Gulls and two Common Shelduck were unseasonal records there. Up to five Atlantic Puffins were off Worms Head on the 12th, along with fifty Northern Gannets and thirty Manx Shearwaters. Three Wood Warbler were in Maesteg. On the 13th, an Osprey was over Mynydd Eglwysilian and two Northern Gannets, five Black-headed Gull and two Manx Shearwaters were off Kenfig Sands.

On the 14th, at least three Atlantic Puffins were again at Worms Head, along with 100+ Manx Shearwaters, fifty Northern Gannet, 200+ Common Guillemot and 100+ Razorbill. Nine Red-billed Chough were at Ogmore-by-Sea and a pair of Spotted Flycatcher were in Maesteg.

NORTH EAST ENGLAND

OUR NORTH EAST ENGLAND tours again proved extremely popular with three filled, and once again, a fine selection of birds were seen. Top of the bill went to the Broad-billed Sandpiper that was at Kilnsea and the Lesser Grey Shrike at Creswell, but once again, we proved our ability to judge the best dates to go on tours with a supporting cast of migrants that included quality species such as Red-breasted Flycatcher, Golden Oriole, Icterine Warbler, three Red-backed Shrike, Greater Short-toed Lark, five Dotterel, Common Nightingale, Roseate Tern, drake Long-tailed Duck, male Ring Ouzels and Eurasian Woodcock. Resident species and breeding migrants included Black Grouse, Red Grouse, European Golden Plover, Dipper, Common Redstart, Wood Warbler, Pied Flycatcher and Tree Pipit, as well as the spectacular seabird colonies on The Farne Islands and Bempton Cliffs and Flamborough Head. We will run two tours next year from 29TH MAY – 4TH JUNE & 5TH – 11TH JUNE, so PLEASE BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT as these are extremely popular tours.

POLAND 1ST - 6TH JUNE 2008

I made my second visit to the forests and marshes of EASTERN POLAND after an absence of fourteen years at the beginning of June and we have now found some amazing new accommodation to go with the excellent birding in this beautiful part of Europe. We were a little late for a couple of species, which we knew in advance, but as this was to be a fact finding trip, it was not so important. The real highlight was probably the Greater Spotted Eagle that cruised overhead at not much over ten metres height as we stood in our hotel garden in the Biebrza Marshes! These birds have been found to winter at Lake Victoria, which is some migration from there. The hotel grounds also provided us with dancing Common Cranes, Hoopoes, Black Redstarts, Golden Orioles, European Serin, Icterine Warbler, Hawfinch, Spotted Flycatchers, Fieldfare, White Stork, Red-backed Shrikes and Thrush Nightingales, as well as a few others and the restaurant provided us with fantastic traditional Polish meals in an amazing setting. A singing Aquatic Warbler was in our telescopes for a good ten minutes, one of several Savi’s Warblers showed so close that we could almost touch it and we also enjoyed superb views of Pygmy Owl, male Red-breasted Flycatcher, Three-toed, White-backed, Black, Grey-headed and Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, as well as the three species we get in the UK, River and Marsh Warblers, White-spotted Bluethroat, Crested Tit, Common Rosefinch, Penduline Tits nest building, several Honey Buzzards, Montagu’s and Marsh Harriers and Lesser Spotted Eagles, a second calendar year Caspian Gull, a Corncrake crossing a road, Great Grey Shrike, Barred Warbler, hordes of White-winged, Black and Whiskered Terns, Whinchat and Blue-headed Wagtails, a pair of Citrine Wagtail, Whooper Swans, European Bee-eaters, Short-toed Eagles and a very unseasonal Tundra Bean Goose!! Whilst we didn’t seen any European Bison in the wild, we did manage several sightings of Wild Boar, Red Squirrel and a few European Elk – on one occasion with calves. Our tour next year will run a week earlier from 21ST – 28TH MAY 2009, which should enable us to encounter the species not seen this time. For an unforgettable experience, we recommend early booking for what is sure to be a sell out tour. COST £1199.00 + £100.00 Single Room Supplement.

1ST - 8TH JUNE 2008

JUNE began with twelve Common Crossbill and singing Garden and Wood Warblers in the Neath Valley on the 1st when an Osprey was at Aberthaw Marsh and a Red Kite at Lisvane Reservoir. The 2nd saw a Red Kite in Swansea and Tree Sparrows at Norton Farm, Gower. A juvenile Common Cuckoo being fed in a garden in Clydach, Swansea was an unusual record on the 3rd and a Common Redstart and Garden Warbler were singing near Bridgend. Small numbers of Manx Shearwaters were off Porthcawl, along with a single European Storm Petrel. A singing Grasshopper Warbler was a late record at Kenfig Pool on the 4th and a European Storm Petrel was again off Porthcawl on the 6th.The 7th saw a Red Kite over Bridgend and a Northern Goshawk in Cardiff. On the 8th, a Eurasian Hobby and an Otter were in south Cardiff. A pair of Spotted Flycatcher were at Llanilid and another was in Caerphilly, while a Black Kite was reported but not confirmed at Llantwit Major.

CENTRAL & SOUTH EAST TURKEY 2008

OUR THIRD CENTRAL & SOUTH EAST TURKEY tour from 24TH MAY – 4TH JUNE 2008 again proved to be a winner with some truly fantastic birding on offer during our record breaking visit that recorded 209 species! No less than seven Steppe Eagles were noted, along with an Eastern Imperial Eagle, Egyptian and Griffon Vultures and a Lammergeier [all now very scarce in Turkey], as well as the much wanted Iraq Babblers, Caspian Snowcock, Striated Scops Owl, Finsch’s Wheatear, See See Partridge, Radde’s Accentor, Red-fronted Serin, White-throated Robin, Black Francolin, Dead Sea, Pale Rock and Yellow-throated Sparrows, Desert Finch, Graceful Prinia, Kruper’s and Eastern Rock Nuthatches, Olive-tree Warbler, Upcher’s Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Menetries Warbler, White-winged Snowfinch, Grey-headed Swamp-hen and White-throated Kingfisher The extensive supporting cast included Spur-winged Plover, Little Swift, Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Bimaculated Lark, White-headed Duck, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Whiskered Tern, Glossy Ibis, Blue Rock and Rufous-tailed Rock Thrushes, Short-toed, Golden and Booted Eagles, Black Kite, Crimson-winged Finch, Black-eared Wheatear, Masked and Lesser Grey Shrikes, Sombre Tit, Slender-billed Gull, Collared Pratincole, Asian Short-toed Lark, Tawny Pipit, Lesser Kestrel, European Roller, Marbled Duck, Cinereous, Cretzchmar’s, Ortolan, Rock and Black-headed Buntings, as well as the semi wild Bald Ibis colony; phew!! e also managed to see a whole host of butterflies, amphiobians, reptiles and dragonflies as well as Golden-fronted Jackal, Red Fox, Souslik and Ibex. If you would like to join us from 27TH MAY – 7TH JUNE 2009; please BOOK EARLY as we are strictly limited to a maximum of 8 participants on this amazing tour.

OUTER HEBRIDES

OUR new OUTER HEBRIDES tours enjoyed some fantastic birding and wildlife watching including the finding of a Killdeer. The weather wasn’t conducive to the hoped for Pomarine and Long-tailed Skua passage, but we could hardly complain with other exciting species including TWO White-billed Divers, TWO Snowy Owls, a European Bee-eater [first for the Outer Hebrides found by our group] Black-crowned Night Heron, Iceland Gull, Wood Sandpiper and a Ring-billed Gull. We also saw multiple sightings of White-tailed Eagle, Short-eared Owl, Merlin, Peregrine, Red Deer and Otter, as well as Golden Eagles, Corncrakes, Great and Arctic Skuas, Dotterel, large numbers of Long-tailed Duck and Great Northern Divers. Greater Scaup, Ruff, Black-throated and Red-throated Divers, Greater White-fronted and Pink-footed Geese, Common Cuckoo, Whinchat, Manx Shearwaters and Black Guillemot were also noted. We are returning for just one tour from 2ND – 9TH MAY 2009 , the cost of which now includes a flight from Glasgow to Benbecula for easier travel and this tour is sure to fill up quickly.