Wednesday 26 November 2014

The first ISABELLINE WHEATEAR for County Durham

See link here - http://bbabirding.blogspot.co.uk/

Thursday 13 November 2014

UK Trips Schedule for 2015



BIRDING TRIPS INSIDE THE UK IN 2015
 
Just launching my itinerary for 2015 in terms of the UK where I can offer the following -:
 
ROUND BRITAIN TOUR 23-31 JANUARY 2015
Designed to see as many of the winter specialities as possible depending on weather conditions, recent tours accumulating around 180 species and 93% success; targets include Great Northern, Black-throated & Red-throated Divers, Slavonian, Black-necked & Red-necked Grebes, Fulmar, Gannet, Shag, Bittern, Cattle & Great White Egrets, Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill, Whooper & Bewick's Swans, Snow Goose, Greenland White-fronted, Eurasian White-fronted, Tundra Bean, Taiga Bean, Pink-footed, Icelandic Greylag, Barnacle, Pale-bellied Brent, Brant & Red-breasted Geese, Ruddy Shelduck, Mandarin Duck, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal,Red-crested Pochard, Ferruginous Duck, Greater & Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, King Eider, Common, Velvet & Surf Scoters, Long-tailed Duck, Smew, Goosander, Ruddy Duck, White-tailed Sea & Golden Eagles, Marsh & Hen Harriers, Rough-legged Buzzard, Goshawk, Peregrine, Merlin, Red & Black Grouse, Ptarmigan, Grey Partridge, Golden Pheasant, Water Rail, Common Crane, Avocet, Purple Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Jack Snipe, Ruff, Common Sandpiper, Bonaparte's Gull, Ring-billed, Mediterranean, Caspian, Yellow-legged, Little, Glaucous & Iceland Gulls, Rock Dove,Little, Barn, Short-eared & Long-eared Owls, Kingfisher, Ring-necked Parakeet, Shore Lark, Water & Rock Pipits, Dipper, Waxwing, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Dartford Warbler, Cetti's Warbler, Siberian Chiffchaff, Yellow-browed Warbler, Crested Tit, Willow Tit, Bearded Tit, Great Grey Shrike, Red-billed Chough, Hooded Crow, Common Raven,Tree Sparrow, Brambling, Twite, Hawfinch, Common Crossbill and Snow, Lapland, Cirl & Corn Buntings.
 
SCOTTISH LONG WEEKENDER: 17-20 APRIL 2015
Departing Little Chalfont early evening Thursday, we arrive in Scotland for dawn and displaying BLACK GROUSE. The schedule then follows a well-rehearsed routine, taking in all of the Scottish Specialities and visits to the far North West and outlying islands such as Skye. Expect to see CAPERCAILLIE, BLACK & RED GROUSE, PTARMIGAN, WHITE-TAILED SEA & GOLDEN EAGLES, OSPREY, DIPPER, CRESTED TIT & SCOTTISH PARROT CROSSBILL with a boat trip excursion for close-up views of WHITE-BILLED DIVERS, Seaduck & Auks included and if available - a SNOWY OWL diversion.
 
ROUND BRITAIN TOUR 7-14 JUNE 2014
Another repeat of my highly successful summer tour concentrating on seeing all of the UK's resident breeding birds and summer visitors, recently accumulating weekly totals in excess of 205 species and a record 209; the long list of targets include GREAT NORTHERN, BLACK-THROATED & RED-THROATED DIVERS in breeding attire, breeding SLAVONIAN & BLACK-NECKED GREBES,  Manx Shearwater, Storm Petrel, nesting SPOONBILL, WHOOPER SWAN, MANDARIN DUCK, GARGANEY, KING EIDER, WHITE-TAILED SEA & GOLDEN EAGLES, OSPREY, MONTAGU'S & HEN HARRIERS, HONEY BUZZARD, GOSHAWK, HOBBY, PEREGRINE, RED GROUSE, GREY PARTRIDGE, QUAIL, CRANE, CORNCRAKE, STONE CURLEW, WOODCOCK, RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, ARCTIC & GREAT SKUAS, LITTLE & ROSEATE TERNS, PUFFIN, BLACK GUILLEMOT, ROCK & TURTLE DOVES, CUCKOO, NIGHTJAR, WOODLARK, DIPPER, COMMON REDSTART, WHINCHAT, RING OUZEL, DARTFORD, GRASSHOPPER, MARSH, SAVI'S & WOOD WARBLERS, FIRECREST, SPOTTED & PIED FLYCATCHERS, CRESTED TIT, BEARDED TIT, HOODED CROW, RED-BILLED CHOUGH, COMMON RAVEN, TREE SPARROW, NORTHWESTERN REDPOLL, SISKIN, HAWFINCH, COMMON & SCOTTISH PARROT CROSSBILLS & CIRL & CORN BUNTINGS.
 
AUTUMN 2015 week-long trips concentrating on rarities in Shetland, etc still to be finalised
 

Accommodation is either B & B or Travelodge/Premier Inn, whilst birding is traditionally dawn until dusk. Vacancies are available on all 3 trips at present - please email LGREUK400@aol.com for further details and bookings

Thursday 6 November 2014

DESERT WHEATEARS arrived today

Two first-winter male DESERT WHEATEARS were discovered today - one at Reculver Towers in Kent and this one in Suffolk at Lowestoft North Denes - both showing typically well. A particularly special rendezvous....















































Saturday 1 November 2014

The Official LGRE Account on Twitter

Please note that Lee Evans has just ONE official Twitter account - @LeeEvansBirding

An account bearing the name @leeevansuk400 is fraudulent and is contacting individuals claiming to be me and being rude and offensive. Please IGNORE all such messages and report any such contact/tweets to Twitter. I have contacted them and they claim that they can discover the identity of the imposter; I have also reported the matter to the authorities following a number of concerning matters over the past six months