16th & 17th January 2016

Spent the weekend locally after my 1st week back at work after the Xmas break picking up some good local birds inc Jack Snipe,Cetti's Warbler,Bittern,Short-eared Owl,Water Rail & an impressive 50+ White-fronted Geese South over Ladywalk NR on the 17th a good Warks record also spent a few hrs with the juv Great Northern Diver at Shustoke Reservoir.......

Aythya Hybrid

More Photos of the Aythya Hybrid on Shustoke Reservoir.......

See here for a detailed write up by Alan Dean

7th January 2016

With news that the Whitacre Pools Great Northern Diver had relocated to Shustoke Reservoir with a bonus female Scaup also present Donna & myself set off however on arrival the heavens opened & we spent the 1st hour sheltering in the car,there was a break but only for about 5mins enough time to relocate the Scaup but no sign of the Diver.....A few snatched photos of the Scaup & then a fun txt of Steve Haynes asking if I was happy with this bird after the 2014 Hybrid bird!! Curiosity got the better of me so I compared photos sure enough it was the same bird even more curious it was still showing signs especially on the bill of being a 1st winter............

Below 2 Photos from March 2014

26th December 2015 - 5th January 2016

The last cpl of weeks of 2015 were spent locally birding without the camera but on the 26th December after gaining permission from the fisheries manager I managed a few photos of the juv Great Northern Diver at Whitacre pool,Ladywalk,Warks........

On the 27th December we headed east into Norfolk & spent a night down in Wells with good friends Dean Eades & Alicia picking up some good birds over the 2 days inc 3 Hen Harrier,3 Shore Lark & 1 juv Rough-legged Buzzard along with plenty of other goodies like Barn Owl,Woodcock,Brambling,RB Merganser,Avocet,Water Pipit etc (3 Lifers for Donna) so a good cpl of days....

On the 29th December we headed back over to Hinksford,Staffs for the Hoopoe but despite 3+ hrs on site again the bird wasn't playing ball....

The 1st cpl of days off the New Year were spent picking up Year ticks with some good birds inc Jack Snipe,Bittern,GN Diver,Scaup,Smew & Tree Sparrow to name a few..... On the 5th Donna had to go back to work & with the weather settled I decided to head to Coleshill GP,Warks to again look for Owls despite several negative visits with none seen since 13th Dec!! My luck was in with 1 Short-eared Owl & 2 Barn Owl + several Raven overhead....