January 2026 is nearly over and, just like last year, I've already got to 99 species within 5 miles of home!  Once again, this begs the question might I get to 100 again in January?  I did last year but things have stalled this week so it may be touch and go!

January 1st kicked off well with two, presumed, returning birds staying into the New Year at Verulamium Park.  Firstly, the second-winter Mediterranean Gull gave itself up relatively easily in the morning while the Yellow-browed Warbler made me work a bit harder.  However, a second visit in the afternoon gave me exceptional views.

Also kindly hanging around in the New Year was the male Garganey at Coursers GPs, now resplendent in summer plumage.  I needn't have worried with this one though as the bird has been seen since on the main pit at Tyttenhanger, cavorting with the male Teals.

Other New Year's Day highlights included the over-wintering Jack Snipe at Stanborough GPs along with the Barn Owl pair cosied up in their box.  Tyttenhanger GPs also produced a single Brambling with the large Chaffinch flock and the regular female Stonechat.  I finished the day on 72 species and then headed down to Cornwall for a week.

Notable by their absence were the White-fronted Geese, the Cattle Egret and the Great Black-backed Gull present locally over the Christmas period.  Would I be able to find them in 2026?  I returned from Cornwall to news on 10th Jan of 9 Common Cranes over the Bedmond area.  Just within my 5 mile area these would have been a good addition for the year had they not headed off SW immediately.  Just 10 days into the New Year and I'd already missed something!

Over the next few days however, I managed to add 2 or 3 new birds for the year each day.  The 10th saw a nice adult Yellow-legged Gull (#74) at Stanborough GPs and later the regular Little Owl (#75) in its hole at Willows Farm.  I found the Firecrests (#81) in Garden Wood the next day and Crossbills (#85) in Symondshyde Woods the day after that.

The New Year always has its surprises and this one came on 14th Jan with a female Goosander on Tyttenhanger main pit.  A bird I don't always connect with locally so great to get it on the list!

Jan 16th brought more good news with the re-finding of the French-ringed Great Black-backed Gull in the sheep field at Stanborough GPs.  A bird I thought I might have to wait until December to see again!  Indeed gulls seemed to be a theme with a nice first-winter Yellow-legged Gull present at the same sight that day and then a very smart adult Caspian Gull (#95) the following day at Tyttenhanger GPs.  Not an easy bird to come by and it got me wondering if this could be the 3rd year bird that lingered last year, now in its 4th year.  My only hesitation is whether any sub-adult traits would still be present as this bird was a stunning full adult.

In amongst these larid ticks a few others were welcome additions, such as the Blackcaps in my garden - hard to come by sometimes in January - and the Woodcock in its habitual place at Highfield Farm.  A visit to the Watercress LNR in St Albans got me a smart male Bullfinch while Coopers Green GPs delivered me at least 16 Mandarins (#97).

A walk around Redbournbury with John on 22nd Jan brought a surprise encounter with a female Marsh Harrier.  I say surprise partly because I had listed it as a wish for the walk but also as it is the first I've seen locally for a little while.  Having had many sightings earlier last year they seemed to peter out as the year went on.  Almost as soon as I had ticked the harrier off news came in of a single Golden Plover at Stanborough GPs.  A scarce bird so far this winter I had to make the dash across St Albans where it was waiting patiently in amongst 220 Lapwings.  Number 99 was in the bag but will I get one more this month...?

With a record 155 species on my 5 Miles From Home List for 2025 could the final month take the total any higher? Of course it could! Cold easterlies ensured that birds were on the move and December proved remarkably lively. An indication of this was the annual Herts Bird Club Christmas Count recorded a record-breaking 118 species during the period between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.

The eclipse male Garganey I found at Coursers GPs on 23rd November stayed until year end, by which time it has almost completely moulted into summer plumage. The photos below show the bird as it first appeared in November to how it appeared late December but in flight it was always immediately obvious with its pale blue-grey wings.

A Cattle Egret also appeared at Willows Farm on 7th and then remained until Boxing Day.  Possibly the same bird that was seen on 25th Oct, although where had it been in the meantime? The bird was easily viewable as it fed amongst the cattle in the old pumpkin field and was joined by several Little Egrets. On 14th Dec, with a Great White Egret on site, I was able to see all 3 egret species at one site on the same day - I think a first for me in Herts.

While chasing egrets at Tyttenhanger on 14th December I noticed a white blob on the fishing lake and putting bins to eyes revealed a beautiful male Goldeneye! My first locally for several years and perhaps the first male bird I had seen at Tyttenhanger.  More importantly, a new bird for the year coming in at #156.

With family birthdays and Christmas festivities taking over mid-month the news of flocks of White-fronted Geese flying over the county on Christmas Eve got me itching to get out searching. The obvious starting place would be Willows Farm where a regular and sizeable flock of Canada & Greylag Geese had accumulated. Come Boxing Day I headed to Willows Farm and sure enough 13 White-fronted Geese had joined the goose-flock!  My first White-fronted Geese locally since the single bird at Stanborough GPs in 2021 and #157 for my local list.

It was great to have these wild geese from the Russian (albifrons) population feeding with the more familiar Greylags and Canadas and somewhat dwarfed by them. They were last seen on 29th but who knows, we may get more if the easterly chill continues.

​The closing weeks of 2025 felt a little bit like a 'Groundhog Year' with many birds in place by the 31st that were also in place in 2024. A Jack Snipe reappeared at Stanborough GPs while a Black Redstart spent a day there on 19th. Like clockwork, a Great Black-backed Gull appeared at Coursers GPs on 28th - the same day as in 2024. While tempting to think that it might be a returning bird this one was ringed and further research revealed it had been ringed in Le Havre, France in May 2024 so clearly not the same bird as the un-ringed bird last Dec!

The real Groundhog moment came with the discovery of a Yellow-browed Warbler on 31st Dec at Verulamium Park in St Albans. Along with the returning (now 2nd winter) Mediterranean Gull the end of the year finished as it had begun with a group of birders and photographers all assembled near the Fighting Cocks Pub for views of this, presumably returning, Siberian gem.

A great variety of birds wrapped up 2025 but would any of them stay to 2026? The year had proved to be exceptional, not just for my local list with 157 a new record but county-wide too.  Long may it continue!

Double-checking my 2024 lists I realised I'd made a couple of omissions despite my best efforts.  Well, maths never was my strong point but somehow I managed not to add either Rock Pipit or Hobby to my Five Miles From Home local list, despite mentioning them in blog posts! 

With these additions, it turns out last year really was a record-breaking year for me with 153 species recorded within 5 miles of home.  The notable 150th species was not actually the Red-crested Pochard that I wrote about on 16th Nov 2024 but the far more suitable Yellow-browed Warbler I found at Redwell Wood Farm on 9th Oct 2024.  I had crossed the line earlier than I thought!

The counting has not stopped either and I mused at the end of my last post about the possibility of reaching 100 species before the end of January.  Well, I think I might be in with a chance given the week or even the last few days I've just had!

A brief visit to Tyttenhanger GPs took me along the footpath at the back of Garden Wood and what should fly out but a Hawfinch.  It had no doubt been feeding on the yew berries at about head height but then flew into the wood at treetop height.  I walked into the wood a little way and stood in a clearing, trying not to fall down the many rabbit holes.

I saw it fly again so followed it and then I glimpsed it fly back into the top of a tall pine but I could not see it.  I walked back to my original spot in the clearing and caught the tiniest of movements at the top of the tree.  Zooming in with my bridge camera I could just make it out sitting perfectly still on a branch and almost hidden.

I set up my phone on my telescope and tripod in the hope that it would give better views but it flew down into the yews and I thought I'd lost it.  I walked in the direction it had gone and all of a sudden there it was, perched lower down and in full view!  The video below says everything and is certainly the best recorded views I ever had of a Hawfinch.

The Hawfinch was #95 for my local list and a most unexpected and welcome addition!  But more was to come the next day...

I spent the next morning working in town (St Albans) but planned to walk back home along the River Ver at lunchtime. I went via Verulamium Park as my daughter was walking Max the dog so I joined her to walk home together.  However, it seemed rude not to walk the length of the lake to see if the Yellow-browed Warbler was showing - it was but we had just missed it so I scanned the Black-headed Gulls instead.

Out of the 10-20 Black-headed Gulls on the small boating lake one immediately grabbed my attention: a first winter Mediterranean Gull! I love Med Gulls - they are superficially similar to Black-headed Gulls but always very smart in whatever plumage age or season they are in.  I only had my binoculars with me but thankfully local birder and photographer Rose Newbold took some great shots for the record.

The Med Gull of course took me to #96 but I had one more target in mind - the Bullfinches reported at the Watercress Local Nature Reserve - on my route home.  On arrival the reserve was buzzing with activity as usual including a sizeable flock of Siskins intermingled with some Redpolls and other finches.  I waited awhile and then, sure enough a female Bullfinch appeared followed by a beautiful male - #97!

But the day was not yet over and a message from a friend at Shafford Farm informed me that a Blackcap was visiting his bird feeders.  I jumped in the car and carried out a 'mini-twitch' to see the lovely male Blackcap in his garden - #98.

Since leaving Cornwall a week has already gone by and each day has delivered one or two additions to the 2025 5 Miles From Home List.  In fact I am 6 species up on the same date last year so the local area has certainly been delivering!  Since my Cornish trip I have added a further 17 species to the list - some of them expected such as Greenfinch, Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker, Raven and Red-legged Partridge but others not so expected.

The Little Owl headlining this post is always a pleasing find - especially as this one at Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits has been harder to find in recent years.  After what appeared to be a good year with 2 pairs at nest holes they then disappeared and have not been regularly seen in the last couple of years.  Knowing they are still there is reassuring as I know of at least two other sites where the main nest tree has been felled - either by the land manager or by strong winds.

Two star birds reappeared while I was away - the Yellow-browed Warbler at Verulamium Park in St Albans and the Black Redstart over-wintering in the roof of St Albans Abbey.

The Yellow-browed Warbler had been giving astonishing views low down at the lake's edge but I had to make-do with treetop views.  Local birder Murray Brown had re-found it on 7th January after it went missing during Christmas.  The Black Redstart - presumably last year's returning bird - was a somewhat peculiar sighting in that the bird has taken up residence in the cathedral roof.  It's believed to be feeding on a healthy supply of Ladybirds but can only be seen when it appears at a small diamond-shaped window at the west end.  I trust it knows how to get out but is no doubt benefiting from the shelter and free food!

The same day saw me visit Stanborough GPs where I flushed a Jack Snipe and Garden Wood at Tyttenhanger GPs where I found an over-wintering Firecrest - both great birds to get on my list so early on.  I was a bit slow with the camera but did manage a distant shot of the Jack Snipe as it (unusually) chose to fly around quite high before dropping back down.

A very pleasing find on 14th came in the form of a Woodcock in a wood at Highfield Farm on the edge of St Albans.  It has become my most reliable site for the birds and will hopefully remain that way for many years more.  A dog walk around the Munden Estate, Bricket Wood the next day gave me a pair of Mandarin Ducks but these were out done on 19th with a flock of 15 at Coopers Green GPs!  The dog walk the next day brought brief views of a Barn Owl that has been regularly hunting at Redbournbury and at least 2 of the resident Cetti's Warblers there.  My list now stood at 90 species.

I was extremely pleased to get the Barn Owl - after all I've yet to hear or see a Tawny Owl this year.  However, that same evening I popped into Stanborough GPs and was rewarded with a distant Short-eared Owl.  It appeared to fly up from Cromer Hyde farm but then headed off north-west flying higher and higher.  This is a real bonus bird as I didn't record one locally in the whole of 2024 despite there being 4 in the area at the end of 2023.  To have it 'in the bank', so to speak, this early on bodes well for the 2025 year list!

The week was not done however and with gulls on my radar I spent some time checking local roosts.  I trekked out to the back of Coursers Farm where a newly scraped area has been attracting gull flocks.  After some scanning I was rewarded with an adult Caspian Gull that with the Little Owl took me to #93.  A visit to Coopers Green GPs today also revealed a healthy gull roost with a surprise Great Black-backed Gull among them.  This is a bird I usually have to wait until Christmas to see and is maybe the bird that appeared at Coursers GPs this Christmas just gone.  Either way, it takes me to 94 species for my local list and begs the question as to whether 100 is possible before the end of January?  Watch this space...!

As has been my wont for the last few years the New Year saw me visiting The Lizard in Cornwall for a week.  There is nothing that I like better than to walk out along the coastline and encounter the elements and the wild ruggedness of the landscape.  Lowland Point (pictured) is usually one of the first places I head to where usually it is just me and the sea and the rocky shore.  There's always something of interest, either in the bird and marine life or in what the sea has thrown up.  I've learnt to linger, even in a storm, and take time to sift through what can be found.

Mediterranean Gulls and Firecrests are common encounters at this time of year giving the feel of rarity.  Wintering Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps also pop up hinting at the warmer climes - although no sense of that on the first day I arrived.  Instead a storm blew from the southwest throwing foam onto the beach and driving rain.  Guillemots and Razorbills sat on the sea while Kittiwakes along with a single Fulmar and Manx Shearwater sheared past.  And then a small wader flew up from the beach and settled just ahead of me - the first treasure in my search: a Purple Sandpiper!  This was my first ever at Lowland Point in over 40 years of visiting.

Further along the shore I came across three large eels washed up on the rocks.  Each about a metre long I realised they must be Conger Eels - a species I had only ever heard of and never seen.  Perhaps victims of the storm or more likely a fisherman's by-catch.  They looked fairly fresh with just the first marks of gulls beginning to feed.

In the afternoon I opted for the shelter of the wooded valley that leads down to Tremayne Quay on the Helford River.  Along the way, more Firecrests and a brief glimpse of a Marsh Tit as it made its way along with a flock of Long-tailed Tits.  The river banks held Curlew, Redshank and Greenshank - all welcome additions to my year list and by the end of the day I had run up a total of 57 species.

The next day I took advantage of a break in the weather to visit the Helford River again in search of a Red-necked Grebe.  I knew one had been sighted a while back and in previous years I had managed to find one just off the mouth of Frenchman's Creek where it enters the main river.  I scanned with my telescope for a while finding several Great Northern Divers in the process.  Just as I began to lose hope a Red-necked Grebe swum into view - a juvenile bird - and gave good but brief views as it constantly dived, only staying surfaced for less than a minute at a time.

Later in the day, another bird - an adult - was found by another birder and at times both birds showed together.  I, however, had moved on, picking up a very smart Black-throated Diver off Dennis Head and the usual wintering Common Sandpiper on Gillan Creek.  A brief look at Coverack Sewage Works revealed at least 4 Chiffchaffs along with a very pale Siberian Chiffchaff of the tristis race.  This was to be the first of several 'Sibes' with another 3 seen at Helston Sewage Works later in the week along with another obliging Common Sandpiper.

I finished the day on Goonhilly Downs with a hunting male Merlin, my Cornish tally now up to 70 species.  The next day saw me back along the Coverack coast from Lowland Point with the target set as 'Grey Beach' - a sheltered cove that often attracts passerines and waders thanks to the abundance of insects out of the wind and the, presumably, warmer section of sandy cliff.  Last year I found a Water Pipit feeding amongst the seaweed with the Rock Pipits...what might be in store this year I wondered?

Despite there being a flock of around 20 Rock Pipits my search revealed no unusual pipit.  However, I did note many Chiffchaffs flitting around on the cliff, catching flies so I turned my attention to them as previous years had revealed a Siberian Chiffchaff and a Black Redstart.  However, the bird that caught my attention this year was a little Yellow-browed Warbler - my 5th find of this species this year!

Making the most of the sun I visited Kynance Cove in the evening where a pair of Choughs were enjoying the clifftop thermals and a Peregrine soared across the downs.  The rain however, returned with a vengeance the next day so I headed out in the car for some roadside birding.  In a sodden field full of Redwings I found 3 Cattle Egrets but the rain denied any decent photos.  At this time of year, finding any livestock puts you in with a good chance of finding these birds and flocks of up to 100 have been seen in previous years.

Moving on to Gunwalloe Cove and some more car window viewing I found a Red-throated Diver on the sea with a lone Guillemot.  Diving constantly, the diver (and the weather) denied me any decent shots but I did manage just one record shot!

The next day, in contrast, was sunny and bright and I joined two local birders - Steve & Joe - for a visit to Loe Pool in the hope of locating the regular wintering Bittern.  Joe had a secret weapon in the form of a thermal imager and very quickly located a likely heat-blob in the reedbed.  Sure enough a Bittern-like area of feathers could be seen but the bird quickly moved further into cover and out of sight.

We moved around to the other side of the reeded area noting several Cetti's Warblers, a Firecrest, Kingfisher and at least 3 squealing Water Rails as we did.  Once again we located the likely Bittern heat-signature and before long we had managed to train my scope onto the bird.  We all had reasonable views of this highly elusive and highly camouflaged bird before once again it disappeared.  The short video clip below shows how well-hidden it remained!

Three Goosander were also on Loe Pool and on the way home I picked up a juvenile Marsh Harrier near the Lizard village and Golden Plover and Snipe over Goonhilly Downs.  My Cornish year list had reached 89 species with one day left but more rain forecast.

Undeterred, the next day I headed out to Lowland Point for a good soaking but, truth be told, I find battling the elements somewhat therapeutic - especially when I know there's a hot shower to go back to!  The wind was blowing directly onshore with no chance of shelter.  In a short lull in the rain I scanned the sea revealing a steady passage of auks - Guillemots and Razorbills - along with a strong passage of Kittiwakes.  Three Manx Shearwaters went past too and a Cetti's Warbler called from Godrevy Beach.  The real find however, and a sad one at that, was a dead Common Porpoise on the beach.  The Great Black-backed Gulls had begun to tuck in and when I walked back later the tide had reclaimed the corpse.  It is not the first cetacean I have found on this beach and it is always a sorry sight, particularly as I had seen a small pod of porpoises heading past Lowland Point just a couple of days ago.

I reported the dead porpoise to the Cetacean Strandings Investigations Programme (CSIP) based at the London Natural History Museum.  Here you can report both dead and live strandings and hopefully the information will contribute to a better understanding of these ocean-going creatures.

My time in Cornwall was up but my stormy visit to Lowland Point gave me one more gift in the form of a Whimbrel - a scarce wintering bird and no doubt one of the first to be recorded in Britain this year.  Soaked through I could return for my hot shower with 90 species under my belt for the week and a respectable 114 for my British Year List 2025.

Happy New Year everyone!

New Year's Day saw a Herts Bird Challenge to see who could find the most species on New Year's Day and kick-start those year lists.  Sadly the weather was terrible so few ventured into the field and yours truly, being perhaps the most lunatic of all, found the most birds!  No prizes but just the confirmation that time spent in the field, regardless of the weather, can produce a good variety of birds.

Before the rain set in I managed to find 2 of the 3 the long-staying Great White Egrets at Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits along with a brief appearance by an adult Yellow-legged Gull.  The usual species were present including a squealing Water Rail so with 45 species under my belt I headed to Stanborough Gravel Pits.

Again, the usual highlights were present including Wigeon, Stonechat & Green Sandpipers.  A lingering Lesser Redpoll was also a welcome New Year addition.  The real highlight was a single Golden Plover that battled low against the driving wind and rain taking my day total (and year total) to 65.  My nice new notebook was already soaked through with the elastic strap detached from the soggy paper.

A quick visit to Frogmore Lakes on the edge of St Albans got me lovely eye-level views of about 30 Siskins all feeding on alders in the rain.  I finished at Verulamium Park, hoping that the Yellow-browed Warbler might reappear but instead had to settle for Egyptian and Greylag Geese, Peregrines on the Abbey, a Mistle Thrush, and fly-by Kingfisher.  My New Year total finished on 75 species and I went home to dry out!

The next day, I added a Great Spotted Woodpecker and caught up with the juvenile Marsh Harrier at Coursers Gravel Pits.  2025 was off to a good start with 77 species on year list and most importantly on the Five Miles from Home 2025 List!  Now, to focus on my 'other patch' with a trip to The Lizard in Cornwall.

2024 is almost over and 'man-flu' and heavy misty weather had somewhat subdued the final week of the year.  However, a few final highlights were to be had most importantly in the form of an adult Great Black-backed Gull that appeared on 28th Dec at Coursers GPS.

Now a really scarce visitor to Herts (less than 10 records this year in the whole of Herts), this sighting becomes #151 for my 2024 Five Miles From Home List and mirrors my only sighting last year on 24th Dec 2023.  This also means that my local list hits a new record count with the previous highest total being 150 in 2023!

Gulls unsurprisingly have been the focal point for December and Coursers GPs together with the fresh quarry scrape at Stanborough GPs have been the key areas.  Both a third winter Caspian Gull and an adult Yellow-legged Gull have been seen on and off at Stanborough while a smart adult winter Mediterranean Gull appeared at Coursers GPs on 22nd Dec.

Aside from gulls December has been fairly quite apart from the already-mentioned Yellow-browed Warbler at Verulamium Park in St Albans last seen on Christmas Eve.  Sadly it could not be relocated in time for the Herts Bird Club Christmas Count.

That's it for 2024 (I think) so Happy New Year one and all! Let's see what 2025 brings...

A weekend of family and friends staying over meant that my expectations of getting out birding were quite low.  However, the great thing about birds is that they can and do turn up anywhere.  A leisurely stroll around Verulamium Park in St Albans with family in tow held no great expectations but the lakeside and riverside habitats always make me keep my radar out for something like a Firecrest.

Pausing to point out the ducks and fish along the river to my 5 year old nephew coincided with some noisy calls from a bird across the river that I knew immediately to be that little Siberian gem - a Yellow-browed Warbler.  I had my camera with me but only 2 hands so I enlisted my daughter's help to both video the general area with her phone and play the call on playback on my phone while I fumbled around with my camera.

The warbler responded to the calls but never came close enough for a glimpse let alone a photo and instead seemed to move further into the wooded area.  Time was up and I had to make sure that neither my nephew or my dog ended up in the water and returned to join the family group.

Pleasingly, others were able to locate the warbler the next day and David Hutchinson took the excellent photo of the bird that heads this post.  The find was my 3rd local Yellow-browed Warbler this year and follows the big autumn influx across the country.  I wonder how many more are waiting to be found?

Yellow-browed Warblers - I do love them and they seem to love me!

Today I was walking Max the dog up at Redwell Wood Farm and noting the complete lack of birds on the move!  Compared to some other recent visits, the skies were empty, the wind was dead still and very little was calling in the way of birdlife.  However, as I returned to the car I decided to check the hedgerow for Ring Ouzels and as I did a single high-pitched call came from behind me.

I knew immediately that it was a Yellow-browed Warbler but having only called once I immediately had doubts that I had really heard it.  However, I knew I had so I retraced my steps back to where I had seen the same species just a couple of weeks before - in the willows by the ponds.  The bird then called a few more times and showed very well along the edge of the bushes.  It even sat still long enough for me to get some 'classic' warbler shots - through the twigs.  A Firecrest also joined it briefly - an exact repeat of 2 weeks ago when both species were present!

It seems likely however that today's bird is a new one - after all I have walked past many times over the last few weeks without so much as a hint of a warbler.  To my mind, today's bird also appeared duller and had it not called I might have considered the possibility of a Hume's Leaf Warbler!  This is now the 3rd Yellow-browed Warbler I have found this year and the 4th ever that I have found within 5 miles of home.

After all the excitement of the previous day (Cornwall Delivers! - Day 1), I decided to walk from the house I was staying in and stick to the coastline immediate to me.  I knew the stretch of coastline well - after all it included one of our family's favourite swimming spots.  The circuit would take me out through Treleaver, along the mighty serpentine cliffs to Kennack Sands and then up a wooded valley before heading back across dairy farmland.

Of course, I hoped I might find a Yellow-browed Warbler with many being reported just the week before and the strong chance that some may have lingered.  I also dreamed of a rarer warbler - maybe in one of the wooded valleys along my path as I had noted the discovery of a Western Bonelli's Warbler further SW along the Cornish coast the day before.  But birds or no birds, it was going to be an enjoyable walk.

Halfway between Black Head and Kennack Sands I heard a wimpery bird call just ahead of me on the path.  I wasn't sure what it was but it recalled young Bullfinches or a young bird.  I turned the corner (probably too noisily) and saw a small bird fly into the one and only bush sticking out of the heather.  I got my bins focused and wow! A Wryneck!  Having never found my own Wryneck until just a month ago this was a real surprise not to mention a treat.

The bird stayed put just long enough for a quick 'record shot' before disappearing deeper into the undergrowth.  I waited for it to reappear but eventually had to move on leaving it to its disappearing act.

The walk through Kennack Sands produced very little else save a few Chiffchaffs and the ubiquitous Firecrests.  However, as I climbed out of the valley by Trevenwith Farm I encountered the first foraging flock of warblers and tits of the day along with more Goldcrests and Firecrests.  I began to hear what sounded like a Yellow-browed Warbler but very faintly.  However, as the flock moved through it called loudly a few more times and showed itself very well right in front of me!  I managed to capture one call in a short video.

The walk had indeed been a success as far as birds were concerned but the next day the weather closed in limiting my options.  However, in the evening I returned to Treleaver valley and was reward with my first Ring Ouzel of the autumn flying up the valley along with quite a few Blackbirds.

The following day (17th) saw me join local birder, Steve Wood, for a seawatch at the Lizard Point.  From 7.30 - 9am we witnessed the continuing (and extraordinary) passage of Cory's Shearwaters - at least 60 past - along with smaller numbers of Manx Shearwaters and a single Great Shearwater.  Seeing large shearwaters regularly off the Lizard has become expected in the last 5 years but prior to that they were very scarce so close in and certainly not as late as mid-October!  A group of 7 Choughs also left the roost noisily at first light.

After the seawatch I traipsed around the Lizard fields looking for rarer pipits but with no joy.  The highlight, however, was a group of 20+ Ringed Plovers roosting in a freshly ploughed field.

My final day on the Lizard saw me walk a long circuit of Kynance Farm and the surrounding moorland.  While the Bluetail appeared to have well and truly gone I was rewarded with another Ring Ouzel that dropped in near the ruins at Kynance Farm along with a flock of 60+ Golden Plover circling over Predannack Airfield.  Walking out across the moor and I encountered a couple of Dartford Warblers scolding me from the scrub along with 5 late Swallows heading south.  I finished the day with a late afternoon seawatch from Porthoustock that turned up very little save a steady flow of Mediterranean Gulls, a few Manx Shearwaters and a single Great Skua that I managed a distant photo of.