Had a walk around the lower part of Friday Woods, Colchester this morning before the worst of the heat. Still can’t track down Purple Emperor in last years territory but did have WL and Purple Hairstreak, plus Brown Arg and W Admiral.

Nice (hot 🥵) walk around the southern part of Friday Woods, Colchester this am. Nice to see White Admiral, Banded Demoiselles and an active, showy Nightingale. Then some parenting going on nearby. #essexbirding

Birders, I’ve now been to two bird named pubs/bars…The Crow Inn (Sheffield) and today, The Rook Taproom (Brighton). It’s always a joy to find bird related places, and both of these were excellent. What bird related/named places have you been to? Gull pic from Brighton yesterday #birding

Minsmere had some great birds this week when I headed up there for the day with @swallowbirding.bsky.social and @esbr-essex.bsky.social. Pictures include Roseate Tern, Dartford Warbler, Sand Martin and a Marsh Harrier following a successful hunt! It was a great day! #suffolkbirding

I carried out a BTO Birds in Greenspaces survey at a local site the other day. Nice to see some busy Swallows while I was there. #essexbirding @btobirds.bsky.social

Back from a few days in Hungary where the focus was more beer than birds, but couldn’t help squeezing a bit of birding in. Hooded Crow, Tree Sparrow and Black Redstart were the highlights. Checked East Mersea Stone point #essex on the way out too 😉 #birding

A very showy Nightingale on the local patch today. #essexbirding

Local patch walk first thing was mainly about butterflies including whirling Speckled Wood and Green Hairstreak. Also had my first Swifts of the year over Abberton today too. #essexbirding #ukbutterflies

Also from Tiptree, a very busy Song Thrush (one of many), and one of at least 3 Nightingales. #essexbirding

Nice little stop off in Tiptree this afternoon for one of my favourite songs of spring! Sorry about the 💨 noise! #essexbirding

Photos of a few sightings at Abberton yesterday. #essexbirding

Black Tern, Common Sand, Barn Swallow and Sand Martin from Abberton today. #essexbirding

Went for a near on 10 mile pedal powered 🚲 circuit taking the local patch and beyond the other day. Mistle Thrushes, Skylarks and a fresh in Nightingale were noted. Bluebells looked nice in the sunlight too. #essexbirding. #lowcarbonbirding

Abberton has continued to deliver this week. Little Gull and Ring Ouzel from today. Wheatear and Bonapartes Gull yesterday, the latter of which was the first I’ve seen, so that was ace ✅. Thanks to the finders! #essexbirding #birdsseenin2026

This week around Abberton and my local patch - LRP, Swallow, Yellow Wagtail and Red Kite. Also managed to catch up with my first Willow Warbler of the year - I love their song! #essexbirding

Abberton was the place I heard Nightingale for the first time this spring. I followed that up with one on the local patch later in the day, which was nice. #essexbirding

Abberton and Tiptree Heath were looking lovely in the sunshine today. #essexbirding

Purple Sandpiper from Holland Haven yesterday. #essexbirding #birdphotography

Siskin and Redpoll from castle park, Colchester today and my first Chiffchaff from the local patch earlier this week. #essexbirding

One of two Black-necked Grebes at Abberton this afternoon. Plus some busy Cormorants and a Cattle Egret that was making itself at home with the gulls. #essexbirding

It was a battle of the bills today. I’m not getting into that contest, but I was really pleased to have finally seen my first Glossy Ibis in Essex. #essexbirding

Nice flock of 10 Redpoll on patch today. Cool. #essexbirding

The Smew and White-fronted Geese entertained at Abberton today. #essexbirding

A gentle start to the year with a bit of local birding followed by an hour at Abberton. Missed some of the highlights but it was a nice time out. #essexbirding

Red-necked Grebe from today. Great to catch up with one! Thanks to @esbr-essex.bsky.social #essexbirding

Couldn’t resist popping back to see the Abberton Smew yesterday. They were good enough to not only stick around, but come a little closer. #essexbirding

It was a wildfowl elite kind of morning at Abberton yesterday with 2 Smew! #wildfowlelite #essexbirding

A few shots from a very sunny Mersea Island this week. #essexbirding

Three firsts for me this week, Brown Shrike, Crossbills and Arctic Skua, the later of which was thanks to birding pals @stuttonsparrows.bsky.social, @swallowbirding.bsky.social and @esbr-essex.bsky.social from a super trip to Norfolk. Also pics of Firecrest & Kingfisher to round things out. #birding

Crossed the Strood onto Mersea Island today. Here’s a few of the sightings. #essexbirding

Hummingbird Hawk Moth from the garden this morning. #essex #Sphingidae

After a few distant views, the Black Terns at Abberton finally done the decent thing this morning. #essexbirding

Swallows in abundance at Abberton this week. In fact lots of things to see including Little Gulls and Little Stints - both too camera shy for me though! #essexbirding

Quick stop off to Abberton and Mersea this morning. Lovely sunrise 🌅 and then Greenshank, Ruff and Spot Fly were on offer. #essexbirding

First Pied Flycatcher for me for this year on Mersea. Cracker. #essexbirding

Crossed the strood for a visit to Mersea Island in Essex this morning. Lots about including Willow Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Sparrowhawk. #essexbirding #birding

This mornings Wood Sandpiper at Abberton was a great find by @simonpatient1.bsky.social. A seemingly rather hungry Yellow Wagtail popped up too. #essexbirding #birding

Always look forward to seeing Wasp Spiders. There has been a few on my local patch this year. #nature #spider

Mandarin Duck from Abberton this week. What a smart bird #essexbirding #birding

Had a morning in the Brecks, and while I saw many things with wings, not all were birds. Nice to find a Turtle Dove though! #birding

Had an evening on the Suffolk heath yesterday. Saw Dartfords, Stonechats, Mistle Thrushes and the star of the evening, the Nightjar. Great to bump into @swallowbirding.bsky.social too #suffolkbirding

Turned up just as it was flying away, but just enough time to grab another life tick ✅ in the form of this Caspian Tern at Abberton this afternoon. #essexbirding #birdseenin2025

Super afternoon on the Suffolk heath where I saw one of my favourites, the Common Redstart. Great to spend time watching a pair doing their thing! #suffolkbirding

A few pics for the last week or so from sites in Essex and Suffolk. Always great to see Barn Owl! #essexbirding

One of my nest photos made it onto Springwatch’s Watchout programme this week, and birding gave me another win with swan knowledge helping me to answer a sequences question on Only Connect. A good week! 😀

Abberton’s Red Footed Falcon from today, and it looks like a dragonfly might have evaded capture in image 2. Also witnessed some aerial combat, Green Hairstreak style. #essexbirding #wildlifephotography

Black Tern from Abberton yesterday. Female Red Footed Falcon was present also, but far enough away to be in a different postcode. #essexbirding #birding

Witnessed some mid air battling between a Raven and Carrion Crow this afternoon in Essex! Once peace was restored, the Raven joined its mate for a chill out. Great to see Ravens so close to home. Safe to say the light wasn’t great for photos! #Essexbirding #Raven

Today was a good day to look up in north Essex! #essexbirding #flypast

Ring Ouzel from Landguard this morning. Also saw a lovely Black Redstart and some very smart Sanderlings too. #SuffolkBirding #spring