Richard's pipit (lifer) was my first lifer of 2006 on 21/01/06. I dipped one in 2005 but had little trouble finding this long staying bird on the edge of the saltmarsh. On the way back from West Kirby I went to Inner Marsh Farm RSPB and had good views of a Green Winged Teal and a Stonechat year tick.
A trip to see Black Grouse 05/02/06 in Denbighshire was well worth the trip. With previous maximum counts of 2 female grouse I wasn't expecting many birds, if at all but on this occation a minimum of 9 birds were seen including 6 male birds and some very obliging females!
A wader ringing trip to Llanfairfechan on 03/03/06 - 05/03/06 with SCAN produced some year ticks and a few in the hand ticks. Dunlin, Curlew, Turnstone, and Ringed Plover were all ringed, Redshank (retrap) and Purple Sandpiper were also seen.
Ellesmere 11/03/06 produced a very obliging 1st winter male Scaup and in the roost of over 1000 gulls was a stonking adult summer plumaged Mediteranean Gull. The Heronry was also picking up pace.
The Brambling has always been a bird I love to see and on 12/03/06 a female appeared with a group of Chaffinch in my garden! What a garden tick! Now at 41 species seen from / in the garden I feel I'm doing pretty good.
After a bit of a quiet spell birding wise, an Alpine Swift (lifer) started a great day on 16/04/06. A year ticked House Martain was also welcomed. At Inner marsh farm had year ticks of Yellow Wagtail, Knot and 2 Avocets.
I moved down to Devon in May to work on the breeding ecology of Spotted flycatchers and managed to get some birdwatching in too. 3 Whimbrel 14/05/06 was a nice find at Aveton Gifford, the river was also full of feeding Mullet too.
A twitch to Braunton marshes 18/05/06 for a Gull-Billed Tern (lifer) was very successful as I saw it flying down the river out to sea. There was also an Osprey feeding on a large fish for several hours while we waited in vain for the tern to return. Unfortunately on the way home I tried for the Iberian Chiffchaff at Postbridge but with out success.
A Little Owl at a farm near Aveton Gifford was very welcomed as I haven't been able to catch up with them for quite some time. Another Farmland speciallity, the Turtle Dove (lifer) was seen while watching Spotted Flycatchers on 06/06/06.
I have tried for Wood Warblers (lifer) a few times but this time we made contact. Yarner Wood is very good for the woodland speciallities including Pied Flycatcher which was also seen.
Aveton Gifford is a good place to see Hobby's (250th lifer) I was told, but after a few months I was begining to dought it. I did manage to see one as it flew towards the river followed by alarming hirundines (17/07/06), it wasn't the best view in the world by far so I was delighted when one flew over my van in a nearby woodland. The mask, streaking and red feathers around the legs were clearly visable.
A Cetti's warbler at Thurlston was a great find but catching it in a mistnet ready for processing was even better 17/08/06.
Farlington marshes, nr Gosport 27/08/06 had a nice Spotted Redshank and 6 Yellow Wagtails and a Bar Tailed Godwit. Then we went to Hook-with-warsash reserve and obtained good views of a Garganey.
13/09/06 a trip to Ellesmere, Shropshire I found a ringed Black Headed Gull with a white darvik. The bird was ringed in Travparken, Kristiansand, Vest-Agder, Norway on 22.04.06!!! It was seen again at the same place on 12.06.06 (51 days after ringing) and then by me at Ellesmere, a distance of about 1800km or 1118 miles in 93 days. Black Terns were flying through on 15/09/06 and I saw one in the middlfe of the Mere at Ellesmere.
Me and Rachael went to visit friends in Lancashire and went to Morecambe bay and saw thousands of Oystercatchers! 23/09/06. Then a tour round Leighton moss produced an unexpected Pectoral Sandpiper (lifer) feeding on the fringes of a pool. Further south on the estuary I had Little Stint and 2 Spotted Redshank.
While we were in Lancashire an Isabelline Wheatear appeared on Anglesey but was still there when we got back. We went for it on 25/09/06 but dipped and missed the Tawny Pipit to but had great views of Chough and found a Hooded Crow at South Stack. So that day we saw all UK crows apart from a Jay.
I've twitched birds on the Great Orme, Llandudno twice and both times failed to find the birds. On 30/09/06 I tried again and succeeded with good views of the Short-toed Lark (lifer) and juvenile Woodchat Shrike (lifer). Happy days.
Just before I fly to Peru a Hoopoe (lifer) turned up half an hour from Salisbury which was too good to resist. I had great views of it on the side of the road. 13/10/06
