Nice views of the Little Owl around the farm tonight in different lights. #NEbirding

It's such a buzz getting Marsh Harrier on the patch for the past 4 or 5 yrs. They usually turn up Aug/Sep. This young one has been around a couple of weeks & until now I'd only had brief glimpses. Tonight we got some lovely views. You can even see its full crop. Greedy pig! 👍 #NEbirding

The Little Owl showed really nicely at the farm at Whittle Dene this evening. Second sighting this week. Found the Tawny Owl day roosting again but it was buried in a bush so no photos sadly. #NEbirding

A fine evening up the reservoirs. With the help of a noisy mob of blackbirds I managed to relocate the Tawny Owl in the same copse as last week. Otherwise fairly quiet, in no small part down to Northumbrian Water's annual habitat destruction. Fuck those ground-nesting birds eh? #NEbirding

Always a very special moment when I get my first Osprey of the Spring at Whittle Dene. This one showed very well, catching a couple of Roach over an hour or so and even perching in a nearby tree to eat the 2nd fish. Was chased off South by Jackdaws from the farm. 👍👍 #NEbirding

Another glorious sunny evening up the reservoirs tonight yielded my first Common Swifts of the year with up to 13 on the Southern Res. Relocated the pair of Grey Partridge seen last week. This Song Thrush was making some lovely noises... #NEbirding

Gorgeous Spring evening up the reservoirs tonight. Highlights were 2 Grey Partridge (very scarce here now), 2 Yellow Wagtails, a Quail singing (my earliest ever here) and a fabulous sun-bathing Tawny Owl... my first for 4 years 👍 #NEbirding

Gropper is almost an annual record at Whittle Dene these days but I didn't get one last year so I was to delighted to have this little fella belting it out at dusk this evening! Also my earliest record at WD 👍 + Barn Owl, Willow Tit, first Common Whitethroats & Sedge Warblers #NEbirding

Glorious sunshine up at the reservoirs tonight but very chilly. 100s of Sand & House Martins and Swallows, 2 Redshank still hanging around, drake Shoveler which has been present over a week now and lots of displaying Common Sands. Still very few Yellow Wagtails sadly. #NEBirding

I found this notebook at Whittle Dene on 22nd April. It has field notes from a trip to Africa. If anybody knows any local birders who've recently been to Africa and may have lost it, please let them know I have it & to get in touch. Feel free to share on local WhatsApp & Facebook groups. #NEBirding

Female Garganey at Whittle Dene this evening! My first ever on the patch. Fantastic find by S Rippon #NEbirding #Patchgold🏅🍾

Great to get my first Yellow Wagtails at Whittle Dene this afternoon. Always my favourite Spring arrival. Also Lesser Whitethroat heard by S. Rippon. #NEbirding

Quality Spring afternoon at Whittle Dene today with the first Common Tern, Common Sandpipers, Blackcaps. Stars of the show were one late staying male Brambling with the finch flock and 2 fresh-in Little-ringed Plovers #NEBirding

Can't remember the last time I had a Ring Ouzel at Edmundbuyers, must be over 10 years, so I was delighted when I heard this one calling tonight. #NEBirding

Brobbey cost them €20m (@ £17M) we paid over £100m for Wissa and Woltemade.

A real treat to have a Slavonian Grebe just 15 minutes from home today. It wasn't showing when I arrived but soon appeared, drifting into the middle of the reservoir, spooked by dog walkers who weren't supposed to be in there 😡 it stayed distant but gave very nice scope views. #NEBirding

Impressive count of 62 Whooper Swans at Whittle Dene today and unusually they were on the smallest (Western) reservoir affording an opportunity for some decent pictures. First Chiffchaffs calling and Dippers displaying on Whittle Burn made for a fine Spring afternoon. #NEBirding

The Red-necked grebe at Bolam stayed in the middle of the lake so was always quite distant but still gave nice scope views. Also disappeared into the reeds for long spells. #NEBirding

Bit late to the party but it was a bonny day for a run up to the coast. The White-billed Diver at Blyth didn't disappoint. Kept its distance on the far side of the harbour most the time but gave us one very nice close approach. Hope it stays until its summer plumage comes in 👍 #NEbirding

Whittle Dene 2day. The 50+ White Fronts & 2 Tundra Bean Geese present until Weds were gone, replaced by 20 Whooper Swans. The 2 Taigas & Bean Goose spec were present at lunchtime but seemed to have gone by late afternoon. Maybe the end of their near 4 month stay? #NEBirding

Delighted to finally get GWEgret at Whittle Dene this afternoon. Long overdue & dipped many times. Flew from South over Welton Village and continued due North. 5 Bean Geese still with the goose flock on the Northern Reservoir albeit mostly out of view. 55+ RWF Geese still. #NEBirding

2 Taiga Bean Goose + Bean Goose spec. back Whittle Dene today (1st sighting for 8 days when previously on Ouston Moor) also 2 Tundra Bean Goose (1st sighting for 9 days) with flock of 58+ Russian White Fronts #NEBirding

The winter goose influx at Whittle Dene continued today with 2 Tundra Bean Goose this afternoon with the Greylags. Great find by S Rippon. The 2 Taigas and Bean Goose spec. were still on Ouston Moor but now very distant. No White Fronts seen today. #NEBirding

3 Bean Geese still at Whittle Dene (Ouston Moor), for the last few days they've been noticeably less confiding and not associating with the large mixed goose flock. The large flock still held at least 2 White-fronts in the fields East of the hide though very distant. #NEBirding

Visibility was down to about 30 metres at Whittle Dene today. The attached picture giving some idea of the murky conditions. We counted an impressive 23 White-fronts on Ouston Moor though there could have been more. the 3 bean geese also still present. #NEBirding

The now 4 White-fronted Geese at a very dreich and chilly Ouston Moor this afternoon. The Bean Geese were still present but very distant. #NEBirding

The 3 very bonny White-Fronts enjoying the Golden Hour sunshine at Whittle Dene this afternoon. #NEBirding

2 Taigas joined by 1 Tundra Bean Goose at Whittle Dene this afternoon. 2 RWF Geese still. all geese flew North @ 2pm per S Rippon. #NEBirding

3 Russian White-fronted Geese in the same field as the 3 Taiga Bean Geese at Whittle Dene this lunchtime, viewable from the hide on Northern reservoir. Per S. Rippon. #NEBirding

4 Egyptian Geese (possibly the returning Spring birds?) at Whittle Dene this morning in splendid sunshine. A single Twite was a nice bonus as they're really scarce on site. Sadly no sign of the the Taiga Bean Geese for over week now though. #NEBirding

2x Taiga Bean Goose at Whittle Dene yesterday (3rd). Sadly no sign among the Greylags today. Hopefully they didn't contract Avian Flu. First site record for this species and a patch & county tick for me 👍 #NEBirding

6 weeks since I contacted Northumbria Water & DEFRA about bird flu at Whittle Dene and signs have finally gone up. 1st large flock of Pinkies arrived late afternoon (43) and half of them landed in the infected flock so in a few days I'll be counting dead Pink Feet. So depressing #NEBirding

Very pleasant run up to Musselburgh today for lifer Marsh Sandpiper today with nice supporting cast of 8x Curlew Sand, Wood Sand, Little Stint, Greenshank, and Ruff. Unfortunately dipped the Icterine Warbler at Barns Ness but managed Redstart & Pied Flycatcher.

Despite the depressing sight of the geese and gull corpses piling up due to avian flu at Whittle Dene, there's been a few nice autumn visitors this week with osprey, greenshank, wheatear and ruff & reeve #NEBirding

Finally got to see North Tyneside's star attraction this afternoon. It was lazing on a Sunday afternoon. #NEBirding

Get in!!! Without doubt the latest I've ever ticked Osprey at Whittle Dene but worth the wait. One was spotted by Steve Rippon this afternoon but I got this one at 20.30. Showed really but no fishing attempts. Was being mobbed constantly by swallows. And relax... #NEBirding

3 singing Quail at Whittle Dene this afternoon per Steve Rippon, however the day really picked up when we found 2 juvenile Cuckoos!! Really nice views if a little distant. Only my 2 & 3 on the site so I'm owa the the moon 👍👍 #NEBirding

Dipped the Caspian Tern at East Chev by 10 minutes at 4pm this afternoon so went straight to Widdy Moor, Drurridge the Cresswell with no luck. Went back to Chev and waited 2 hours then the beast returned!! Long-awaited county tick 👍✔️🍾 #NEBirding

Juvenile Scaup at Whittle Dene this afternoon was an unexpected year tick and my first on site for 3 years. Challenging light made photos tricky 👍 #NEBirding

Osprey at Whittle Dene this morning at 10am per Steve Rippon. He had one on the Northern Res and then again on the Western Res, thinks they may have been 2 different birds. I still haven't had 🙄 @nebirding

Was delighted to find Spotted Flycatcher at Whittle Dene this week as we didn't record one last year. A bird that's becoming very scarce in the Tyne Valley, I picked one up briefly on Monday and then we found 2 Friday 👍👍 #NEbirding

This is worse than the Steaua v Barcelona final 😴

Didn't see Little Owl at all last year so was delighted that one was back around the farm this lunchtime. Also very happy that Common Tern 7.93 has returned for its 5th year in a row 👍 #NEbirding

A few more from Sicily 2/2

Sicily was a bit disappointing on the birds front. I'd expected a lot of spring migrants and lots of raptors. It turned out to be very quiet on both fronts despite its location and the excellent variety of habitats. Most of the reserves were empty but had bags of potential. 1/2

Sicilian bar snacks are on another level, the lager is Tenants! Go fuckin’ figure!! Searching for Apollonia #hwtl #nufc

First Yellow Wagtail at Whittle Dene this afternoon. Stunning male popped up onto a fence post about 20ft away POS P900 simply refused to focus on the huge yellow object in the middle so you'll have to use your imagination 😡 #NEBirding

Huge influx of common migrants at Whittle Dene today. Lovely to hear Willow Warbler and Blackcap singing everywhere in the sunshine. The 18 Whooper Swans have relocated to the fields to the North but the Egyptian Geese were showing very nicely from the hide 👍

No finer sight from the kitchen window.

RIP to Val Kilmer. One of my favourite performances by anyone in any film was his Doc Holiday in Tombstone 💔