Long-tailed Shrike

I'd had my usual early (really early) walk around KGV today, seen a Dunlin, 5 Redshank, 4 Oystercatchers and a Peregrine among the highlights of the 56 species today and was ready for a lazy day at home with Suzanne until the news landed that a Long-tailed Shrike had been refound at Eastleach Martin on the Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire border.  A quick call to Jimmy and I'm off to pick him up and drive the 96 miles around the M25 and up the A40.

We arrived and found the car park area with relative ease, paid the parking donation and walked up the road a few hundred metres to be put straight on the Shrike by one of the 300 or so other birders already present. We watched the bird for about 90 minutes, chatted with many of the crowd that we know and then set off for the two hour journey home. In my haste to get going for the twitch I'd forgotten my memory card for the camera which was a bit disappointing.

LIFE TICK 457

A little history of Long-tailed Shrikes in the UK.

The first record came in 2000 with a bird on South Uist which was twitched by a few but more memorable for the charter boat that required rescuing on route and resulted in one of the biggest most dramatic dips in this crazy hobby of ours.

The second bird came this year when a moulting bird was found in Fife Scotland and this bird was widely twitched until the evening of 8th July when it seemingly moved on.

The third! Todays bird (and yes its a different bird to the Fife bird) was found in Eastleach Martin on the border of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire on the 8th July and remained until 17th but wasn't seen yesterday. News of the birds present was apparently suppressed because the road to view it is very narrow with no parking, the local farmer was also away and needed consulting I'm told but on his return he agreed to open a field for parking (for £5 a car) and I'm told as well as the twitch allowing him access down the lane for his farm machinery he was also concerned of the fire risk posed by a large crowd attending with his crop being so dry. Thankfully local birders with the farmers help arranged things and when the bird was re-found this morning news was quickly shared and the twitch was on and the rest as they say is history!

A couple of picks from KGV today.

Redshank

Egret

Peregrine

Sand Martins (House Martin and Swallow too)

Dunlin

New bird for the reservoir

New birds don't come along very often for me at the George hence the chase for monthly totals and year totals to add a little spice but today I walked up to the causeway counting Ducks and Grebes as is normal these days. I wasn't very hopeful of anything on the causeway as there were two vans parked on it and one of the three fishermen was walking along the causeway back to the vans so I guessed anything there would have flushed. It was cold and misty as I scoped the bank and straight away found myself looking straight at a brick red Black-tailed Godwit. I called Jim and a couple of local guys that might A) want to see it and B) let others know in the Wassap group but before I put the phone back in my pocket a police helicopter came over quite low and put up everything on the causeway. I watched the Blackwit fly high north and over the north end of the reservoir so nobody else would be seeing this rare visitor to the KGV.

Black tailed Godwit in the early morning mist

It's my 141st bird for the site since I started walking it about 17 years ago. 

It's also my 117th bird this year and my 81st bird this month.

The Blackwit is my 12th wader of the year up on the George but I'm still hopeful of another one or two before the years out. 

Also of note today was a count of 12 Common Sandpipers, 183 Parakeets which is high as I usually see a dozen or so and again the five Mistle Thrush showed. Tufted Ducks are now somewhere between 750 and 800 birds from the 52 that started July. 56 Species seen in total today which is about right as most days If I work hard enough I get north of 50 species. Also saw my first juvenile Common Terns and enjoyed watching the adults teaching the kids how to fish with them almost dragging them out of the water at times. Nev had two juvenile Med Gulls after I left which I guess I missed as I got wrapped up checking leg rings on the juvenile Black-headed Gulls with at least four ringed birds so far all coming from a couple of miles up the road at Fishers Green.

Anyway....onwards and upwards.

Juvenile Black headed Gulls

Some of the hundreds of Starling

A Greaylag goose among the Canade Geese today

Common Sandpiper

Common Tern

Common Tern

The 18th saw another complete circuit which delivered a surprise in the form of a smart 2CY Caspian Gull along with a Juvenile Med Gull. A Peregrine was seen and is very actively hunting the reservoir at the moment. I also saw three Black-tailed Godwits fly over, 4 Oystercatchers, 5 Redshank, a Dunlin and 12 Common Sandpipers among the 65 species encountered on this visit. (Sadly one of the Common Tern chicks seems to have perished)

Starlings

Oystercatcher

Common Terns

Common Tern

Common Tern

Common Tern

Caspian Gull

Peregrine

Peregrine

Peregrine

Record shot of the three Blackwits 

Med gull

Took Dad for a lifer

My Dad loves a lifer, a new tick, a reason to update his list but he was away in Bruge with two of my (six) brothers on Monday so couldn't make it, Tuesday I was tied up with family stuff so I asked if he'd like to tick a new bird on Wednesday. He said he'd rather wait for news before we go so I started my day at the George where I added Great-black backed Gull to my July site list and ticked a total of 56 species before he called to say the Godwit had been seen and I shot off to pick him up for the trip.

A Great black backed Gull

We arrived and found the bird with relative ease and Dad enjoyed adding it to his life list. The bird was in Suffolk where as it was in Essex when we saw it Monday so it's now found its way on two of my county lists. We headed for home via Abberton but failed to find the Ring-necked Duck and missed a Caspian Tern that flew in about an hour after we'd left. I'd had a stone fly up and crack my windscreen on the way home so turning round for the Caspian Tern was an option even with it being a full fat Essex tick for me.

This morning another walk of the George delivered 59 species with the highlights being Teal and Common Gull both my first returning summer birds. I also saw Peregrine and recounted the Tufted Ducks (750) Coots (320) and Crested Grebes (69). I find it fascinating watching the numbers grow but this year I've watched it in more detail than before. It's also noteworthy that when the spring migrants arrive you work mostly with your ears but now we've reached summer and breeding is well under way or even finished that I now find myself less reliant on my hearing and more reliant on my eyes as the birds are much quieter now. I wanted to see 80 species for July and today I pulled that off with the Teal and the Common Gull. (Others have seen LRP and Ringed Plover this month but these are the only two species reported that I haven't personally seen.)

Common Gull

Teal with Tufted Ducks and Coots

Missed opportunities first half of 2026

Opportunity for life ticks has been limited but I've managed to pick up four new birds so far this year (Killdeer, Tawny Pipit, Eastern Sub-alpine Warbler and a FIRST FOR BRITAIN with the Western Reef Heron) but here's a list of the new birds that I've missed in the first half of 2026. I put this together for my own interest but hopefully one or two people reading it might find either the detail interesting or the fact that I find the detail interesting, interesting. 😉

Bufflehead: The drake that was first found last year remained at Foryd Bay Caernarfon until 29th January but would go missing for long periods during it's stay which put me off from making the long almost six hour drive for it. The bird was refound at Llyn Coron, Anglesey on 9th February and remained until 20th but again the journey was beyond me for a duck that I figure will one day be found closer to home.

(First accepted record was on Scilly in 1920 and since then there have been a further sixteen records with the most recent being the Warwickshire bird that covid restrictions prevented me from twitching. There have been two Suffolk records as well as one dating back to 1961 in Bucks plus Dorset in 2010 and Lincolnshire in 2012 so it feels like I'm due a chance to nail this one at some point without putting in a 12 hour return drive for it.)

Stejneger's Scoter: The bird found in Fife in 2022 has been accepted as a first for Britain. Another this year has been reported as a second winter male or possible hybrid (Stejneger's/Velvet) but later confirmed as a full Stejneger's Scoter and remained into May with it's last reported sighting on 3rd May. Its such a long trip for a sea duck that I'm afraid it will have to wait a while longer.

A Tengmalm's Owl was discovered on Shetland on 12th March and was still there on 13th but not after.(33 previous records but only 7 since 1961) 

A Lesser Kestrel at Goonhilly Downs in Cornwall, found at Croft pascoe pool on 1st May it remained until the early evening on 6th May. (22 previous records with the last on Scilly six years ago.) Distance and family commitments prevented me entertaining the 12 hour drive for this one but I regret not finding time or motivation for it.

Wilson's Storm Petrel have been reported again this year with the first as early as 29th January from Penzance followed by two on a Scilly Paleagic on 29th May and the last on 29th June with a dozen in between from the Cornish Coast and the Scilly paleagics in June.

A Thrush Nightingale was seen on Foula on 19th May and another on Fair Isle on 20th and again both outside my mainland target listing zone.

A Collared Flycatcher was photographed at Insh in the highlands on 29th May but not seen again and in no way twitchable not that I would have tried at this distance.

A Northern Parula was found on Fair Isle on 23rd May and remained until 26th May but is of course well outside my twitching zone. (15 previous records but none since 2010)

A Little Swift was "photographed" on 6th June at Granton-on-Spey but wasn't seen again

A Green Warbler was at Winterton on 16th June. Originally ID'd as Greenish Warbler it was later found to be the rarer Green Warbler after study of sound recordings.

A Trumpeter Finch spent some time in Irleland before relocating to Fair Isle where it was seen between 28th and 30th June.

So with all the above and my lack of twitching the islands I've missed with regret the Bufflehead in Wales, Lesser Kestrel in Cornwall and the Fife Scoter. All involved a lot of miles and hours travel and as much as I'd liked to see these three birds I couldn't justify the time away chasing them all.

Hudsonian Godwit in Essex

I've seen Hudsonian Godwit twice in the UK with one in Hampshire (Titchfield Haven 2025) and my first a bit further away in Cheshire (Burton Mere 2024) but when one turned up at Minsmere in Suffolk I was thinking maybe if that hangs around I'll put in the two hour drive to see my third but the bird sadly didn't hang around. It arrived on 1st July but wasn't seen again until it was picked up with the Black tailed Godwit roost at Stutton Mill in Suffolk on the evening of 12th July. The interesting thing about this is that the river Stour it was roosting on defines the border between Essex and Suffolk and an Essex tick of this rarity seemed possible.

Roll on to yesterday morning (13th) and I was walking the reservoir as is often the case these days when news came out that the bird had indeed crossed the river and could now be seen from the Essex side so after a quick call to arrange things with Jim I headed back to the car picked my partner in crime up and headed up the A12 parking outside the CO-OP supermarket and walking up onto the river bank. A group of Godwits were feeding about 100yards along the bank and a returning birder said our target was in that flock but on arrival my Essex birding pal Mike was to tell me the bird had flown down river so we headed along the path crossed the main road and continued down river where we found the bird feeding on the far bank with a Redshank and a couple of Avocet for company. By now it was about a mile from the 120 strong flock of Godwits which seemed odd behaviour. A flock of 8 Redshank arrived and it flew off with them so we set off to look for it further down river but only found 13 Greenshank for our trouble. On the walk back to the car the bird had been relocated and we enjoyed another few minutes in it's company. Two Common Sandpipers, a total of 19 Greenshanks, a Curlew, a Whimbrel and lot's of Oystercatchers made up the best of the rest.

Lesser black backed Gull

Little Egret 

Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit

Hudwit

Hudwit

Hudwit 

The Essex tick was bagged and moved my county list to 287

We diverted to Abberton on the way home as Jim wanted to see the Ring necked Duck that had been reported but sadly we couldn't find it but we did see Spoonbill, Gt Egret, Cattle Egret and Common Sandpiper before setting off for home with another short diversion to year tick Osprey as one was sat in a dead tree over looking Hide bay. 

Ruddy Shelduck

Ruddy Shelduck

The UK year list now sits at 226

A quick update on the George since my last post on 10th.....

11th: 61 Species with the highlight being not one but two Med Gulls on the causeway, 4 Oystercatchers, 7 Common Sandpipers, a Redshank, 4 Red Kite including what appear to be 3 fresh juvenile birds and an early Meadow Pipit which was my first since the end of April.

Red Kites 

200 Coots

Little Egret

Little Egret

Oystercatcher

Med Gull

Common Sandpiper

Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Egyptian Goose

12th: 57 species with the highlight being 4 Oystercatcher, a Redshank and a Common Sandpiper but I only did half a circuit as a guy was fishing on West bank. 

13th: 55 species in a very quick visit due to the twitch for the Hudsonian but I did see 4 Redshank, 7 Common Sandpipers, 2 Oystercatchers and my first Hobby of July, oh and the five Mistle Thrush were feeding together in the field again too. Also of note is the amount of Lesser Whitethroat I'm seeing on this months visits and I have the feeling I could find lot's more if I had the time to walk even slower than I do which is about 3 hours to cover the four mile circuit with all the stops to look and listen as I go.

Record shot of the FOUR Redshank (for the doubters and there's always one or two 🤣)

Tufted Duck numbers seem to have stuck at around 600 over the last few days.

Had a day off today but I'll back over there tomorrow or Thursday for sure as another birder has reported Common Gulls and Teal today which would both be new for July as I chase a silly target I gave myself of 80 species this month (need two at the moment to achieve that and I still have no LRP or House Martin which I assumed to be bankers) Both LRP, Ringed Plover and a Great black backed Gull have been reported by others too this month so that's a total of five species I've missed so far.

Onwards and upwards!