Daryl Rhymes

@BirdGuides Arctic Warbler at Gt Wigborough, Essex. Please note that there is a church service at St Stephens tomorrow morning, so access to the car park will be limited. Alternative parking for tomorrow only has been arranged in a field directly opposite the car park entrance

@birderkettle @HughHarrop @yellbirder A mere 33 years ago, remember it well. We saw the Sibe Thrush on N Ron the day before as well!

@HughHarrop @yellbirder @DarylRhymes 2 Essex boys on tour! 😂👍

Thought my day had peaked early with 7 Crossbills in the garden & a Grey Wag at Windhouse, until I got a call from @yellbirder Christian Melgar saying he had found an Eyebrowed Thrush in north Yell at Gutcher. Also seen there Icterine, 3 xbill and a WW.

I had another couple of hours at Hanningfield Res this pm. It may not attract rarities, but there's always something of interest, today a lingering Osprey & a Black-necked Grebe were the best. Also 1w Med Gull, 45 Little Grebe, 34 RC Pochard, 5 Common Sands & 2 Hobby

Here's a few more shots from The Naze yesterday. As well as the bird & Red Admirals, there were plenty of Painted Ladies, Holly Blues, loads of Whites, Speckled Woods, Small Heath, Willow Emerald, darters & hundreds of Migrant Hawkers.

Yesterday I had my first full day's birding at The Naze for 2 years. 10 hours & 10 miles later l left after a very enjoyable day, seeing 7 Pied & a Spot Fly, Tree Pipit, 14 Wheatear, 4 Whinchat, hundreds of hirundine, lots of common warblers & a large passage of Red Admiral.

@jrmjones @ecoevoenviro Thanks Josh - yep, certainly looks the same. It's a bit messier at the moment but assume it's moult-related. I'll try to locate it again tomorrow and maybe get some better shots. Bizarre looking bird!

@DarylRhymes @ecoevoenviro I think this is the same bird I had in South Lincolnshire back in early June, came to the same conclusion. Pics: ebird.org/checklist/S180…

I had a few pleasant hours at Hanningfield Res this morning in the company of 2 Black Tern, 4 juv Little Gull, a Garganey, 2 ad Yellow-legged Ģull, 3 Ringed Plover, 2 Pintail, 35 RC Pochard & one of the oddest aythya-type hybrids I've seen (parentage unknown, suggestions welcome)

@ecoevoenviro Thoughts are that it's a Tufted x Rosybill. Latter is a pretty cool South American species but frequently kept in collections too.

@DarylRhymes iNaturalist thinks its something really special 😂 its doesn't do hybrids!

@AH_birdartist Cheers Alan - same thought from others too. Possibly Rosybill x Tufted.

@DarylRhymes Probably got some Rosybill in there

@birderkettle I'd give up mate if I were you - just twitch birds found by Tracy 😂

Tracy strikes again! I’ve been out all morning and seen 1 Pied Fly, come home to I’ve seen a large warbler here’s the photo! Barred Warbler! Garden tick. Luckily I did see it chasing off a Garden Warbler.

@step_dove @ukbirdingpins I'd have one but have dropped from 300 to 298 with the Redpolls. Guess I'll have to try harder. How about a separate one for self-found anatidae, the UK35 club?

Quick visit to Hanningfield Res this pm, not too many birds of interest today - but good counts of 40 Little Grebe & 26 RC Pochard, 3 Common Sandpiper, Marsh Harrier, lots of Willow Emerald, a Lesser Emperor & a few Speckled Wood.

The Marsh Harriers at Abberton today were good value, five of them seen including two juvs that were hanging around together at west end (probably locally bred).

It was a Migrant Hawker festival at Abberton today, they were everywhere in good numbers. Also Willow Emeralds in one of their usual spots.

Two of the ten Garganey at Abberton Res this morning were quite close in & not too worried about people wandering past.

Birding was slow at Abberton, but still 10 Garganey W of LDLH causeway, 28+ GW Egret, 2 fem RC Pochard, 3 Blackwit, Snipe & 5 Marsh Harrier (incl 2 lingering juvs at west end). Stanway GP devoid of gulls (landfill is not operating) but 4 LR Plover, 8 Green & 1 Common Sand there

In keeping with the rest of 2024, it was a very poor butterfly transect at Abberton today - total of just 50 of 9 species. The only Painted Lady was nice though. Also several Southern Hawkers & Southern Migrant Hawkers in the same area.

@AduBrodie I was only on Layer Breton causeway for about 15 minutes at about 4pm. There were quite a few birders & photographers there.

@DarylRhymes Must of saw you today

I took Jan & my Mum to see the Canvasback today (had to take them blackberrying & for a pub lunch first though!). They were suitably unimpressed. Also seen at Abberton were 9 Spoonbill, juv LR Plover, Ruff & lots of Egrets of various sizes!

@birdbrainuk Not really sure - but seems to have happened since they raised the water levels at Abberton. Doesn't seem like a coincidence.

@DarylRhymes thats surprising - I wonder what made them move?

Abberton WeBS total today was really poor at just below 4k, but that did include Canvasback, 33 GW & 10 Cattle Egret, 5 imm Spoonbill, a Black-necked Grebe (not seen by me), LR Plover, 11 Common & 3 Green Sand & a Greenshank. Also good arrival of 300+ Swallow & 30+ Sand Martin.