Lovely all-purpose visit to PBO late afternoon: Med Brocade and sev other good moths in the fridge, Scarce Blue-tailed Damsel in Crown Estate Field and Turtle Dove in Obs garden. Near-obligatory Red Kite just in Somerset on way home. Enjoyable mix after another day prepping for house move.

#ohitmustbe And it is...!

On this date 11 yrs ago I left Portland Obs in a hell of a hurry: birdingtales.blogspot.com/2020/05/citr...

Anyone else having trouble installing the (seemingly mandatory) update to WhatsApp this morning?

Big Year 30 Years On: No rarities on 4 May 1996, just a potter round Somerset with Hobby, Garden Warbler, and Wood Warbler the year ticks. But an interesting illustration of how spring migrants are arriving earlier: this year I year ticked each in Somerset on 19, 18, and 18 April, respectively.

Wood Sand today on Tealham Moor👍 Also LRP, the male Channel Wag and several Yellow Wags (perhaps as many as 8)

Big Year 30yrs On. Few days late for these, but 2 huge birds on 17/18 Apr 1996: Am Coot and Calandra Lark. I wrote this up as one of the original Birding Tales. And yes, the title is a homage to the classic and v funny 'Tales from the Coot and Corncrake'. birdingtales.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-...

Big Year 30 yrs on: 14 Apr 1996. I was part of one of many crews who headed up overnight to Girvan, Ayrshire to see two female Harlequin Ducks. Dubbed the Harlequeens, they showed ever so well - still the only ones I've seen anywhere. Only other year tick was an early Swift over the M5 on way back.

Big Year 30 yrs on: 31 Mar 1996. Ring Ouzels still bred on Exmoor back then so I went looking at Chetsford Water: I found one in the combe, then a quickly moving passage flock of 15 at the top! The last one was a wacky, partially leucistic bird, with largely white secondaries + one white primary.

1996 was my biggest of Big Years, finishing on 355 BOU (I'm unlikely to ever attempt it again, for various reasons). March had already provided Wb Diver, Redhead, Pine and Little Buntings, and Ross's Gull, but today (30 Mar) was a little more prosaic, with a bunch of early common migrants in Devon.

Not a bad little evening trip up to Chew. Flight views of an Osprey over the east side from Herons Green Bay. Then stared at the drake Scaup in HGB which was giving off Lesser Scaup vibes, despite being mostly asleep. Eventually it and the female with it woke up - a pair of Lesser Scaups!

Forster's Tern showing well on post on E side of boating lake, Poole Park 9.38am + 2 Sandwich Terns. #UKBirding

On way home from a grand day out in Northumberland. Great views of White-billed Diver, 30 yrs to the day since my lifer excellent views of one at Tattershall Bridge, Lincs. Other highlights today; Eiders, Pinkfeet and Whitefronts among other geese, flock of Twite, and a fine drake Smew.

Best birds on a day of welcome sunshine once the early rain had cleared were a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a singing Dartford Warbler on the Quantocks. #somersetbirding

Another twitching anniversary today: 19 yrs to the day since a lot of us ticked the 1st Pacific Diver for Britain, on a private pit at Farnham, Yorkshire. Many thanks to the managers at the Treves factory alongside the site, who allowed us to park and view from their grounds - v much appreciated!

Caught up in other things, so forgot that yesterday was the 30th anniversary of me seeing this bird. Thought it looked a bit weird for a Bonxie at the time, but didn't know enough (nor did many others, seemingly). Took 25 years before I could tick it - still much needed by many other birders.

Mind-blowing message from Dave P this evening - he's just found a new live nest cam in NZ - Kakapo! And there was I thinking my 1st British Killdeer for 32 years was going to be bird of the day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfGL...

Worth a watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ffF...

Fun raid down into Devon today, despite the weather: Red-necked Grebe, 9 GNDs, 9 Com Scoter off Broadsands, plus c.15 Cirls in the 2nd car park. GND in Brixham harbour and Grey Seals showing v well. The Little Stint and 2 Spoonbills still on Big Marsh North at Otter Estuary NR (formerly LORP).

Wet Moor absolutely on fire this pm: Bonaparte's Gull, 3 Bewick's Swans, 50+ Whitefronts, 5 Tundra Beans, Garganey, and plenty of Cranes. That after a brief Penduline Tit at Shapwick Heath this am (on 30th anniversary of my 1st ones at Dungeness), plus a Firecrest. Not a bad day!

Tundra Bean Goose still behind west pool at Dunster Hawn 11.45.

OTD 24 Nov 2001. A surreal but generally successful day's twitching round East Anglia: an oiled Snowy Owl in Felixstowe, what would become the 1st modern-day accepted Baikal Teal at Minsmere, dipping Ross's Goose by 30 mins in Norfolk, but seeing the v late 1st-winter Gull-billed Tern at Titchwell.

Desert Wheatear still by Bridging Camp 1.20pm favouring dung heaps by footpath and showing v well. Also Black Redstart. #dorsetbirding

2 of the 3 Snow Bunting seen at Bossington today #somersetbirds

Brilliant it was too, even though the rest of my carload stayed in the car out of the biting wind until I banged on the door and yelled 'I've got it!' Great artwork as ever, Stew.

This may answer your question, Dawn @debalmer.bsky.social

Nice views of the Red-breasted Flycatcher behind Avalanche Road Hump c.4pm today, depite the foul weather.

Fabulous! #gothmoth

Wryneck, Firecrest, and Marsh Harrier the best of a relatively quiet few hours for me @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social today.

Good to hear that European fans at the Ryder Cup have been giving the American fans (some of whom overstepped in their shouts on the course) a good taste of football chants, e.g. (according to BBC website): 'Stand up if you're seven up' 'Sacked in the morning' 'Can we play you every week?' 😀

Little Owl calling just outside the garden just now - 1st I've heard here for at least 3 years.

Rn Phal views fairly distant this am but in direct comparison with Grey Phal, so differences obvious. My 4th in Somerset (Meare Heath 2006, Steart Marshes 2015, Holnicote 2020) with good views of the Rb Shrike at Portbury later too. Cheddar has been on fire recently. Somerset yearlist now up to 210.

Burnham seawatch not as varied as yday but 3 Grey Phals at 2.05pm and 2 more at 3pm, plus Manx. If all diff individuals I've seen 12 Grey Phals in Somerset in last 2 wks and found 8 of them! Would swap a few for @burnhambirder.bsky.social's "Sab's flushed by L-t Skua' at low tide this am though.

V enjoyable seawatch off Burnham, esp the hour up to HT: Leach's Petrel, juv Sab's Gull, Bonxie (flew off inland), Grey Phal, plus juv Marsh Harrier, Peregrine and at least 1 (poss 3+) Harbour Porpoise.

Cheddar Res this pm: Little Tern 2, Black Tern 1, Glossy Ibis 7, Curlew Sand 3, Little Stint 3, Ruff 4, Knot 1, Blackwit 2, Common Sand 3. Plus 15+ Ringed Plover, 7+ Dunlin, and 54 Great White Egrets.

Fantastic trip from Falmouth with @ak_cruises. Others have posted numbers and photos of birds. 1000’s of birds in changeable weather. Wilson’s Storm-Petrol, Euro Stormie, Cory’s, Great Shearwater, Scopoli’s Shear, Sooty Sheat, Fulmar, Manx, Balearic and Sunfish.

Beast. 😍

V hot dragonfly transect at Ham Wall this am/early pm. Highlight 20 (!) Lesser Emperors, including 2 ovipositing pairs. 25+ Brown Hawkers, 12 Emperors, 3 Southern Hawkers and 1st Migrant Hawker of year. Temp in car on return to car park read 42 degrees!

OTD 2 yrs ago in Taman Negara: Gould's Frogmouth, Garnet Pitta, but only heard Rail-babbler. OTD in PNG 1 yr ago a fabulous morning's birding up the Telefomin Rd, with Sooty Shrikethrush being a lifer for Birdquest, never mind our group. Lots of goodies: Splendid Astrapia lived up to its name too.

OTD 2 yrs ago was 1st day of 3 at Taman Negara, Malaysia with Tropical Birding - Malayan Crested Fireback plus lots of subtle babblers and bulbuls. OTD 1 yr ago the Tabubil area in PNG produced Torrent-lark, Salvadori's Teal, Carola's Parotia, Obscure Berrypecker, and (just for me) Papuan Eagle!

OTD 2 yrs ago I was at Bukit Fraser, Malaysia with Tropical Birding, seeing among others Red-bearded Bee-eater, Bamboo Woodpecker, and the exquisite Himalayan Cutia. OTD one year ago I was in PNG with Birdquest, stuck in Port Moresby as our flight to Tabubil was cancelled. It got better!

30 years ago today, 2 July 1995, James McGill, Alastair Stevenson, and I were at Wyke Down, Dorset listening to a Quail calling from a barley field. Legging it up the footpath, we flushed another one! The 1st Quail I'd ever seen, and I've only seen one more in Britain since, again by chance.

Osprey in tree at Bridge Marsh, Seaton 6.30pm, viewed from gateway off A3052. Been around all afternoon, apparently, though mobile over short distances. #devonbirding

Red Kite low W over my garden just now.

Desert Wheatear still showing v well at Somerdale, Keynsham 2.50pm at least.

V enjoyable dragonfly transect at Ham Wall this pm. Brown Hawker, 3 Norfolk Hawkers, 2 Lesser Emperors the highlights, but also NFY Black-tailed Skimmer and Small Red-eyed Damsel. Birds included flyover Bittern and Red Kite.

Reminder: Nobel-prize winning PCR (1983), used in basically all genetic tech today, was only possible because of extremophile bacterium discovered in 1964 in Yellowstone funded by a small ~$80k NSF grant with no obvious application at the time. #science 🧪 www.richmondscientific.com/how-a-discov...

White Stork circled over Loxtons at Ham Wall c.12.25 then headed W past Durstons peat works. #somersetbirding