18th & 19th February 2017

We had a choice go & join the throngs in Lincs for the Bluethroat or stick looking local!! Local won the day & we headed over to Abbey Fields on the Sat to see if the Whooper Swans were still present,no sign & to top it off got a puncture so had to drive back with the spacesaver on,meanwhile a txt from Tom Perrins telling me the Greenland White-front was showing well from the canal near Middleton Lakes just made things worse!! A quick stop at the Tyre Company & drive home was rewarded with a single Waxwing on Heath End Road on telegraph wires (A welcome Warks tick for Donna) we collected our cameras & headed off to Middleton not really expecting more than some record shots! Unexpectedly the goose flock actually walked towards where we were hiding behind the hedge giving us some cracking views 400 photos later & we were off with both Greenland White-fronted Goose & a little more distant Egyptian Goose in the bag..............

Sunday was again spent locally at Seeswood Pool where the Tundra Bean Geese x 4 were still present along with 3 Egyptian Geese & gave us our best views yet although still a very skittish flock....

12th February 2017

With the weather being poor over the weekend we again stayed pretty local just mooching but a trip over to Moseley to Swanshurst Park for the 1st Winter Iceland Gull brightened the weekend for us! A bitterly cold dull day & a 2hr wait for the bird to show up was well worth it even though it stayed pretty distant,also the 1st Winter/retarded 2nd Winter Yellow-legged Gull & 52 Waxwings in nearby Windermere rd made the trip worthwhile............... whilst a pretty confiding Redwing by the car was a bonus.

4th 5th & 7th February 2017

Spent the weekend of the 4th & 5th locally again with the 4 Tundra Bean Geese still present on Seeswood Pool & still getting a steady trickle of admirers & on the Sunday we headed over to Ladywalk NR for 1 of the 2 Bittern which had been putting on a bit of a show in front of Hide B we wasn't disappointed............. finally on the 7th I had a txt informing me that Waxwings were in my home town & less than 5mins drive away so a sneaky pre-work twitch to see the 40 birds in the Raywoods (much to Donna's disgust as she still needs them for Warks)..............

30th January & 3rd February 2017

A quick look before work on the monday morning & the Tundra Bean Geese were still present in the fields just North of the pool & showing reasonably well, no news all week whilst I've been on the Night shift so headed up Fri afternoon (3/2/17) & birds still present with 145 Greylag Geese!! Only the 7th Warks record & 1st since 2010..........

29th January 2017

With the weather looking good for the morning only I decided to head over to Lincolnshire for the White-billed Diver on the River Witham at Woodhall Spa which had been present for about a week & only the 4th Inland record & more incredibly the 2nd in 21 yrs on the same stretch of river.. Only my 2nd ever with my last being back in the winter of 91 on Anglesey but another lifer for Donna...........