Brian's birding blog

Thursday, 25 June 2026

update on the George

So I wanted to see 80 species at the George this month which is a fair challenge (for June) but yesterday I managed it when I found a juvenile Skylark on the footpath in the north east corner. There was a Ringed Plover on the north side of the causeway which is my second this month/year. A Redshank on south basin was my fifth of the year and the Oystercatchers are still going back and fourth towards the Girling. Ravens are a little harder to find now but I generally get at least one if I work hard enough around the north west corner. I've added Nuthatch to my June list for the reservoir and indeed is y first ever for the site. At this point nobody has seen a bird at the George this month that I've not seen which is some going.

My wader list for KGV this year is now 11 with Common Sandpiper, Golden Plover, Greenshank, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Ringed and Little Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin, Sanderling and Whimbrel.

I've regretably missed Snipe, Spotted Redshank and Green Sandpiper with the Green Sandpiper being the most painful as I think I was there when others were seeing it but I somehow missed it. The Snipe and Spotshank were found in the early mist and departed before anybody but Henry could see them.

In total I've seen 115 of the 132 species reported for the site this year so even giving it the effort I currently am it proves that it's sometimes just about being there at the right moment as many birds simply use the site as a quick stop off.

Main thing is it's close to home and I'm still enjoying it.

House Sparrow

Skylark

The blond Egyptian Goose

Great spot Woodpecker on the pylon

The day before the mowers came out

Little Egret

Swan

The first Pochards are back (only one pair so far tho)

Redshank

Crow

Lapwing

Little ringed Plover

Great Cormorants

Little Grebe

Tufted Duck

Getting Dad a grip back

Dad had missed out on Black Winged Kite on a few occasions now, firstly it didn't show when he came with us to Horsey Mill and wasn't with us the day after when Jim and I got it. Last year I went to Ludham bridge and saw the Kite again but Dad couldn't make that trip so for fathers day I committed to take him for another go and that's what we did. After the long trip for the Reef Heron the two hours to Sea Palling didn't seem so challenging and we arrived at 7.30am parking at the amusement arcade we checked for directions before setting off. Dad found a couple of dog walkers who happened to know were people had been watching the kite and said we could have parked for free a mile further down the road but having now paid |£4.50 we set off to walk the mile or so down the road to the "metal gate" which is the second metal gate down the road to be clear. Within seconds I'd picked up the target bird hovering in the distance before it settled on the overhead wires and then later dropping to catch something and rest at the top of a bush to eat it. Dad was delighted to get this one back on us and after watching it for a while we popped up onto the beach to see the Little Tern colony. Jim and Dad walked a short distance down the beach to scope the colony whilst I walked a bit further stopping a good distance before the rope that has been set as boundary for dog walkers and lies a few metres outside of the fenced off area too so it keeps a decent area outside the actual breeding ground. I reckon I saw more Little Terns here than the total I've seen in my life time with numbers approaching a thousand birds by the end of the fledging season last year. (270 pairs raised 455 young) Ringed plovers must breed here too as there were five walking about on the beach and Jim picked up a fine drake Scoter in the small bay.

Stone Curlew at Weeting heath

Sedge Warbler at Sea Palling

Common Scoter at Sea Palling

Common Scoter

Little Tern

Ringed Plover

With this success and having had a terrific morning we headed for home with a short break at Weeting heath to allow Dad to pick up a year tick with the Stone Curlews. From one hide we saw the old pair that are unable to produce eggs now and from the other hide we saw the younger pair with one of their two chicks on show. We found three of the four Spotted Flycatchers present before calling it a day. Happy fathers day Dad

Year list now 222

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

Still walking the George

I'm still strolling the four mile circuit of the reservoir as often as I can in search of something interesting and watching the movement of birds on and around it. The twitch to Wales on Friday was a nice distraction and Saturday / Sunday saw me busy with the kids school fate and baby sitting duties so by the time I got over the George on Monday I'd had three days off.

I got a good soaking walking around on Monday but found my first ever Nuthatch for the site so the soaking was worth it. My second Pochard of the summer was present with a drake on north basin and a Common Sandpiper on the causeway was a welcome June tick too in a total of 55 species for the day count.

The bread put out for the horses attracts a good few birds too

Pochard

Yesterday I visited a little later in the day, traffic problems on the M25 split over into surrounding roads making it an interesting couple of miles down to the reservoir but my local knowledge allowed me to navigate around the back roads to a degree. On arrival I found a Common Sandpiper on south basin and at the causeway a Little ringed Plover before finding a new bird not only for June but for the year in the form of a Lapwing on the north side of the causeway and I think this is the first I've ever had on the deck here too. For the day I had a species count of 51 and found it a little harder as many of the birds had gone quiet.

Crow

Tufted Duck

Lapwing

Little ringed Plover

Common Sandpiper and LRP

Little Grebe

Cormorants

Cormorant

Common Sandpiper

Tufted Duck

My year list for the reservoir is now 115 with the recent additions of Mistle Thrush, Nuthatch and now Lapwing whilst the site has seen a total of 131 species so I've missed 16 despite my best effort. I struggled to hear Treecreeper in the spring where as younger ears picked them up. I missed Whinchat although I think we've only had the one bird so far this year. Henry had two Snipe and a Spotted Redshank in the mist on a day I didn't make it over but these birds were gone within minutes of his finding them. Other birds seen this year that I've missed include Coal Tit, Rook, Yellowhammer Pintail, Brambling, Med Gull, Sandwich Tern, Redstart, Brent Geese, Green Sandpiper, Stonechat and Redpoll.

My life list for the George stands at 139 with a couple of historical records still to be submitted when/if I can pin down the dates with some accuracy.

I do love a list

onwards and upwards!

Saturday, 13 June 2026

11th June at the George

Had another visit to the George on Thursday before Fridays Welsh adventure. Best of the action came in the form of the five Raven which for the first time had taken an interest in the bread that's always put out for the horses in West paddock. I watched them for a while and managed a couple of images but there was little else of note within the 54 species seen on this visit.

Western Reef Heron

Since the Western Reef Heron was found up in north Wales last weekend I've been watching news and admiring peoples ability to drop everything and go to see it. For me time is rarely on my side with these things unless they're close enough for a dash that still allows me to fulfil my family commitments. I've found myself less ready to put in the hard miles required for some of the distant twitches and of course there's also an equation to be made over cost too. All that said and I still very much wanted to see the Reef Heron and with Friday free I told the Jims I was thinking of making the trip and they were willing and even committed to stopping overnight if two days were required.

Setting off at 2am we covered the 282 miles with just a quick coffee stop on the way and arrived at Foryd Bay for 7am. On arrival at the hide we found only familiar faces. All that way from home and I bump into Essex birders, Mike, Steve, John and John along with Chris from Herts and Shaun from Staines plus a couple of Herts/Essex guys who's names I didn't know. News was that the bird was present at 5.30am when they arrived but the tide had pushed it off and it hadn't been seen for over an hour. We set about checking the area and within moments Jim had found the bird out to the far east corner from the hide. We had our lifer! The bird was first found according to a face-book post in Pembrokeshire on 13th May and appeared next at Foryd bay on 5th June. It's the first record of this species for Britain and as such has caused quite a twitch throughout the week. We enjoyed the bird and the company for a couple of hours before heading off to make the most of the miles we'd put in to get to the area.

South Stack was just 45 minutes drive away so we decided on that as our next target hoping to get Dad some much wanted coastal ticks. On arrival we had two Chough before we'd even got out of the car and then walked down to the Lighthouse where I thought it a good idea to walk down the steps to the bottom of the cliff not thinking about the climb back up. Here we picked up thousands of Guillemot, hundreds of Razorbill, Kittiwakes, Gannet and Fulmar. Puffin were hard work but we found two and three Shag. Four Raven flew around the Lighthouse calling and I picked up a few Manx Shearwater out in the bay. From South Stack we headed a bit further round the coast to Holyhead Fish Quay in search of Black Guillemot which we quickly found. Our last venue of the trip would be Cemlyn which is home to the largest Sandwich Tern colony in Wales. Among the Sarnies we found a few Common and a few Arctic Terns along with five Med Gulls. Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Oystercatcher made up the best of the rest. Great place to visit. From here we headed for home arriving back at about 9pm after what was a good days birding.