Great day birding around Rhyl north wales with @paullegge25 fantastic views of lesser yellow legs, black redstart, common sandpiper, 4 stonechat, Reed bunting, rock pipit, redshanks, curlews, turnstones, dunlins, common gulls, wigeons, teal, oycs, little egrets , little grebes.

Bit random but with the recent movement of geese and wildfowl I remembered this book I was gifted many years ago! I imagine maybe a collectors item now!

Over 70 tufted duck again on nertherton rezza , must be frozen out as some days we don’t have 1! The single drk pochard still amongst them this morning, sadly scarce around our area now!

For sale Magenta bat5 bat detector inc hard case, immaculate condition, only used a handful of times. £80

Nice birding belated catch up with glen Kirby around netherton rezza -bottom of netherton hill, a pr of teal and 30+ tufted duck were weather driven birds, teal being very scarce! 2 water rail showed fantastically on the frozen canal! Nuthatch, redwings, green, gs woodpeckers.

After some of my saltwells group saw the elusive water rail on the ice this morning I finally clapped eyes on it at the bottom of netherton hill! I even managed to get a photo!

Afternoon new year visit to netherton rezza and hill via the canal. Treecreeper, 2 green, 1 gs woodpeckers, coal tit, heron, goldcrests, green and chaffinchs, redwings, sprawk noted ,bullfinch heard only. 1 gc and a minimum of 11 little grebes counted on the rezza.

Happy new year to all I follow, followers and finders in the field! It’s been an enjoyable year further finding my feet locally again! Here’s to 26!

Quiet couple hrs around the rezza and the bottom of nerherton hill, decent numbers of winter thrushes. Packed up and visited a small nursery in kingswinford and spotted this from the gardens.

A 20 minute watch from the wall over netherton rezza on Boxing Day morning, nothing new in until 4 drk goosander circled once before carrying on over netherton hill, these were a welcome sight up there and the first notable birds for me at the rezza since the goldeneyes.

Where farmland takes over from the urban black county at lutley it was nice to watch this wintering pr of stonechat (thanks @ChaterTodd) in the Boxing Day sunshine, also a few mipit and several skylark over.

Merry Xmas to all the birders I know and have crossed paths with one way or another!

Our local canals seem to be the preferred hunting grounds for the goosanders around here. 3 on a short walk up the 9 locks brierley hill yesterday.

A mooch around parts of saltwells reserve this morning produced great views of a jack snipe in flight, green woodpecker, small flocks of redwings, 6 plus little grebe, 6 r n parakeets, several goldcrest plus the usuals.

2 goldeneye on netherton rez, kingfisher, grey wag also.

Great calendars supporting our local nature reserve with photos from local photographers.

As I suspected but only just confirmed today I’ve got 2 firecrest showing from the railway bridge path to beach , kiln park Tenby.

Firecrest showing again with 2 goldcrest kiln park Tenby from railway bridge on path to beach in brambles.

Firecrest by the rail way bridge path from kiln park Tenby to south beach next to hole 15 on golf course. @BirdGuides @PembsBirds

A different feel and different birds up netherton hill early morning. c100 redwings over in various numbers, a single calling skylark low over, 1 Chiffchaff, green woodpecker and a welcome hill tick for me when 2 little egret dropped in next to the canal briefly 👍

Popped into grimley on the way back from birders store, highlight was bumping into old friend @TerryHinett and rosemary! 2 stonechat, Cettis, mipits, Reed bunts , Chiffchaff, a few little egret , lapwings and plenty wildfowl inc a wigeon flock.

An autumn wheatear at the bottom of netherton hill this morning was very welcome, a few mipit over. Best I could do with no camera 🫣

Pulled over in Birmingham today for a 5 mins cheeky look…. 4 possibly 5 black redstarts showing well inc an adult male singing! Fantastic!

Nothing yesterday.. then today yet another 4 stonechat( 2 ad male) together but very mobile on nerherton hill, r n parakeek over, female muntjac seen.

A male stonechat on netherton hill this morning was possibly a new bird from Friday? as none seen yesterday by hill birders..a kingfisher, m blackcap, green woodpecker, 3 mipit, 2 swallow, grey wag over.

Netherton hill, 7.30 -9am, a calling common snipe , 2 crossbill over were very welcome!, 3 r n parakeets over, only 1 swallow and a few mipits compared to many yesterday. 2 siskin down on the hill , green woodpecker, sprawk.

2 hrs on netherton hill with graham and @saltwellsbirder , another stonechat found by Andy t, good numbers of swallow and mipits through. Com white throat, green woodpecker, and a big male muntjac.

2 hrs on nertherton hill.. 1 redstart briefly, f stonechat ( several through this week) , kingfisher, 2 green woodpecker, many mipit and swallow through. G s woodpecker, nuthatch, sprawk. Painted lady in my garden.

10+ meadow pipit on nertherton hill were my first up here of the autumn, all heavily streaked, calling away and overall darker looking in comparison to last week’s fresh in the mind tree pipit (s) gave nice comparison. Ad lsr whitethroat, 2 green woody, several swallow through.

Managed a photo of the one pipit on netherton hill this morning.. very clean.. no meadow pipit calls heard when accidentally flushed.. tree??

Nice to get back on netherton hill after my hols! 2 pipit ( presumably meadow but never called) lsr whitethroat, f bullfinch, small copper, red admiral.

Hummingbird hawk moth at rest high up on my house this morning!

A recent boat trip off southern Tenerife to look for wildlife produced a fantastic encounter with a pod of pilot whales, several bottle nosed dolphins, a flying fish and loads of cory’s (type) shearwaters 👍

Just had another crossbill over garden towards saltwells at 19.30 calling away constantly!

After bashing netherton hill for an hr or so I gave in and had look at the large coppers at bumble hole! But today’s highlight was seeing a peregrine circling low over the molineux first half of the match! 👍

A common sandpiper skimming low over the water on nertherton res was welcome this morning, nearby on the hill a sizeable mixed flock of tits, warblers and crests contained showy lsr whitethroats and garden warblers. Pr of bull finch noted and 2 swallow through.

Work took me over blithfield res this morning, I couldn’t resist pulling over for 5 mins, last time I was here was for a squacco heron!! As I reminisced a birder pulled up… to my surprise it was Graham mant! He was equally shocked to see me , it had been well over 20 years! 👍

Popped down to eymore wood this morning, this male crossbill posed nicely for me!

Early morning twitch down to grimley, nice to catch up with the bc night heron (my 3rd in the mids) saw it flight, perched in its roost tree and skulking amongst the reed edges. Also hobby, 2 + Lrp, 3 com tern, common sandpiper, gw egret .

Another juv redstart through netherton hill this morning! This one found and photographed by local photographer Lisa Reynolds and her partner, despite the great photo it was very elusive when I was looking for it shortly after.

Exciting day on nertherton hill for early July!!! Found a female redstart this morning, then @ChaterTodd added 2 juveniles with it further up the hill! Then he found a juv cuckoo! Brilliant local urban birding!

Early autumn movement with a nice female redstart on netherton hill this morning.

Popped in to grimley clp today as I was passing, nice views of the female (looking) marsh harrier on arrival, gw egret, several little egret, interesting to see was a male Reed bunting faking a broken wing as I was presumably close to its nest or fledglings.

Mid morning mooch around netherton hill, female Reed bunting, many whitethroat and blackcap, gs woodpecker, goldcrest, sprawk with a kill, 2 linnet, good views of a female muntjac and these bee orchids were interesting to see.

Lovely views of a singing male cirl bunting on berry head, a few manx shearwaters seen amongst the usual sea birds there, 2 shelduck past, family party of stonechat, rock pipit, 3 common dolphin and a sum plum dunlin at nearby Brixham.

Lovely walk across the canal from nine locks to nertherton hill.. pleased with 3 singing sedge warbler near Merryhill., then I found this on my patch at netherton hill! Thanks to Lisa Jayne Reynolds for the photos 👍

Just found a female ring ouzel bottom of netherton hill! Showing well, first I’ve found for this site since returning to bird here.

2 sedge warblers singing! One above kfc Merryhill and one at the waterfront opposite Brierley hop house pub both along canal!

Garden warbler singing and showing on netherton hill, 3 lsr whitethroat singing (1 seen well), many com whitethroat, 2 willow warbs singing, many blackcap, 2 r n parakeets and a swallow through.

No sign of the lapal hoopoe between 7- 9 am, muntjac seen and a good long catch up with martyn yapp. 2 lesser white throat singing at the bottom of netherton hill, the usual migrants and 2 swallow through.