A few from locally over the last week. European Adder, Green Hairstreak, Barred Grass Snake, and Rhyssa persuasoria (I think)! #EssexWildlife #UKWildlife #Herping #WildlifePhotography

Had a great morning at @rspb.bsky.social Old Hall earlier this week. I was pleased to find this Pectoral Sandpiper to go with the American Golden Plover already present! Also Temminck’s Stint, Little Gull, 2 Wood Sand, Ravens, Cuckoos, & Spotted Redshank. #EssexBirding #UKBirding

Razorbills, Northern Gannets, and B-L Kittiwakes, also from RSPB Bempton Cliffs! #Birding #UKBirding #UKWildlife #WildlifePhotography

Northern Gannet, Northern Fulmars, Peregrine Falcon, and Common Guillemot from RSPB Bempton Cliffs! #Birding #UKBirding #UKWildlife #WildlifePhotography

Just got back from 3 days of birding further north. Here are just a few of the highlights. Northern Gannet, White-bellied Dipper, Northern Wheatear, and Osprey! Plenty more photos to come… #Birding #UKBirding #UKWildlife #WildlifePhotography

Nice to see my Pom Skua photo feature this week!

Incredible views of Ross’s Gull at Thameside this afternoon! Then a pair of B-W Stilts at nearby Rainham Marshes. #Birding #UKBirding #UKWildlife #EssexBirding

A few from Abberton earlier this week! Eurasian Blackcap, Western Cattle Egret, Common Swift, and Common Tern. #Birding #EssexBirding #UKBirding #UKWildlife

Pomarine Skua. One of 5 seen this morning past Dungeness with @olicwildlife.bsky.social #kentbirding #ukbirding

Sea-watching at Dungeness with @eb263.bsky.social this morning produced both Pomarine and Arctic Skuas, as well as Auks, Gannets, and lots of passage Waders! #Birding #UKBirding #KentBirding #WildlifePhotography

Iberian Chiffchaff at Westleton Heath earlier this week! #Birding #SuffolkBirding #UKBirding #UKWildlife #WildlifePhotography

A few shots from a couple of North-Essex sites this afternoon! Eurasian Spoonbills, European Adder, Common Nightingale, and Eurasian Sparrowhawk. #Birding #EssexBirding #UKBirding #WildlifePhotography

Great day with the EBWS at SWT Carlton Marshes yesterday. Highlights included a pair of Ring Ouzel, Bittern, Cattle Egrets, Y-L Gull, Ruff, Avocets, Pintail, & lots of raptors! #Birding #UKBirding #SuffolkBirding

A great day at sunny Dungeness earlier this week! Chough, Hen Harrier, Black Redstarts, Harbour Porpoises, RTDivers, Guillemots, Peregrines, Wheatear, Bearded Tits, and Sedge Warblers. @swallowbirding.bsky.social #Birding #UKBirding

Bonaparte’s Gull, Wheatear, and Yellow Wagtail from Billets Farm, Abberton, yesterday! #Birding #EssexBirding #UKBirding

A few more shots of the nest-building Treecreepers at RSPB Minsmere! #Birding #UKBirding #UKWildlife #Treecreeper #WildlifePhotography #SuffolkBirding

Some more male Adders from last week! #Herping #UKWildlife #WildlifePhotography

My first visit of the year to RSPB Minsmere! Pair of Garganey, Bitterns, Med Gulls, Sandwich Terns, an early Common Tern, Sedge Warblers, nest-building Treecreepers, Grass Snake, and 13 Adders! #UKBirding #SuffolkBirding #Birding

I was pleased to find this drumming male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in Essex earlier this week with @eb263.bsky.social! Managed a couple of record shots despite the low light. A very special bird! #EssexBirding #UKBirding #WildlifePhotography

Successful hunt for Lesser spots today in an Essex woodland with @olicwildlife.bsky.social. At least 1 bird seen. @lesserspotnet.bsky.social #essexbirding #Ukbirding

Had a fantastic day #ukbirding in @essexbirdnews.bsky.social at both #TollesburyWick & #AbbertonReservoir with @chrisgibson3940.bsky.social & great to catch up with @olicwildlife.bsky.social Bearded Reedling Sand martin Great scaup Spoonbill Smew Goldeneye Ringed & Little ringed plover (79 species)

Very pleased to finally get a Common Crane in Essex with this surprise fly-over during our “Guide in the hide” session at EWT Fingringhoe Wick on Saturday. What a beauty! Plenty of other wildlife around too, such as this Muntjac fawn sleeping in the brambles. #EssexBirding #UKBirding

Some shots from a (50% successful) double twitch in East Anglia with @eb263.bsky.social today. Hume’s Warbler, Purple Sandpipers, Black Redstart, and Marsh Harrier! #Birding #UKBirding #BirdingSuffolk

I enjoyed guiding for RSPB Chelmsford & Central Essex local group on the EWT reserve at Abberton yday. Birds included YLGull, Peregrine, Fieldfare, & Goosander. Then some of us moved round to other parts of the res for Canvasback, Spoonbills, WFGeese, & 2 Smew! #EssexBirding #UKBirding

Some of the by-catch from my twitching this week! Displaying Goshawks, nest-building Nuthatches, Firecrests, Ravens, Med Gulls, Bullfinches, and my first Sandwich Terns of the year. #Birding #UKBirding #UKWildlife

A few rarities from down South this week. Forster’s Tern, drake Ruddy Duck, and Great Grey Shrike! #Birding #UKBirding #UKWildlife

Amazing views of the brilliant Forster’s Tern down in Poole this afternoon! #Birding #Birds #UKBirding #UKWildlife

Staying in Ashdown Forest is lovely, even if it means you miss an Abberton eagle! I cheered myself up with some birding here. Great to see Crossbills, Brambling, Dartford Warblers, Firecrests, Ravens, Adders, and the long-staying Red-flanked Bluetail! #Birding #UKBirding

A few more shots from the last couple of days. Iberian Magpie, Perez’s Frog, mating Lesser Kestrels, and Meadow Pipit. #Birds #Birding #BirdingSpain #WildlifePhotography #Extremadura

Black (Cinerous) Vulture, Bonelli’s Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, and Griffon Vulture from Monfrgüe NP yesterday! #Birds #Birding #Extremadura #BirdingSpain #AvesDeEspaña

A few from the heronry in the middle of Merida yesterday. #Birds #Birding #Extremadura #BirdingSpain

Went on a very scenic hike this morning which ended up producing a lot of good birds! They included Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Rock Bunting, Thekla’s Lark, and Alpine Swift. #Birds #Birding #BirdingSpain #Extremadura #AvesDeEspaña

What an awesome day! Great Bustards, Black-bellied & Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, mating Spanish Eagles, Long-eared Owl, Hen Harriers, Wild Boar, and Ladder Snake (moved safely off the road) among other things. #Birding #AvesDeEapaña #Extremadura #BirdingSpain

I spent this morning around the wetlands where there was plenty of interesting wildlife. Great Spotted Cuckoos, Bluethroat, B-W Kite, Squacco Heron, Iberian Grey Shrikes, Merlin, Otter, and lots more White Storks! #Birding #AvesDeEspaña #BirdingExtremadura #BirdingSpain

What an awesome first full-day in Extremadura! Black, Egyptian, & Griffon Vultures, Spanish Eagles, Black Stork, Cranes, Hawfinches, and Otter among other things. #Extremadura #BirdingSpain #AvesDeEspaña #Birding

A few shots from Trujillo Castle in Extremadura this evening! Absolute heaven. #Birds #Birding #Extremadura #BirdingSpain #Aves #AvesDeEspaña

A few shots from some @rspb.bsky.social farmland surveys during the last few days. Red Kite, Common & Black-headed Gulls, Common Shelduck, and Common Buzzard! #Birding #EssexBirding #UKBirding

A really nice morning leading the @rspb.bsky.social Chelmsford & Central Essex Local Group walk at EWT Hanningfield Reservoir! Miserable conditions but lots of birds, including Goosander, Pintail, Goldeneye, and Treecreeper. #EssexBirding #UKBirding

Some of the (roughly) 10 thousand Starlings coming to roost on the edge of Colchester a few nights back! #Birds #Birding #UKBirding #BirdWatching #UKWildlife #EssexBirding

Mind-blowing views of Bittern at Fishers Green, Lea Valley, today! Pleased to find a Tundra Bean Goose on 70 Acres Lake too, although it didn’t stick around for long. #Birding #EssexBirding #UKBirding

Don't forget to watch tomorrow night's 'Birds of Essex' LIVE on YouTube, and send your 2026 pics, your most surprising missed species so far, and any birding 'selfies' you may have from the past to: [email protected] Watch the show at www.youtube.com/live/M1cfbA4... #essexbirding

Some shots from a nice afternoon guiding for Chelmsford & Central Essex RSPB Group at windy Old Hall Marshes today. Highlights included Ravens, Great White Egrets, Marsh Harriers, Pintails, Avocets, Brown Hares, and hundreds of Golden Plover! #Birding #UKBirding #UKWildlife

Some shots from our enjoyable walk around Walthamstow Wetlands for the first @essexbirdnews.bsky.social field trip of 2026! Great company and a very interesting site which was new for many of us. #Birding #UKBirding #LondonWildlife

A few shots from WEBS at the Hythe today with @eb263.bsky.social! Highlights included great views of our year tick Christmas Tree heading downstream. @essexbirdnews.bsky.social #Birds #Birding #UKBirding #WildlifePhotography

Some shots from North Norfolk with @swallowbirding.bsky.social yday. Birds included Purple Sandpiper, Firecrest, Tawny Owl, Spoonbill, and superb views of Red-breasted Merganser and 2 immature Great Northern Divers! #Birds #Birding #UKWildlife #Norfolk

Some great species at Abberton today! 3 Tundra Bean Goose, 17 White-fronted Goose, Long-tailed Duck, 5 Smew, 3 Bewick’s Swan, 5 Black-necked Grebe, and 4 Red-crested Pochard among others. #EssexBirding #Birding #UKBirding #WildlifePhotography

Lovely but decidedly cold afternoon visit to Copt Hall yday. Highlights incl BARN OWL found by @olicwildlife.bsky.social plus 6+ M HARRIER, ROCK PIPITS, GOLDEN PLOVERS, STONECHAT and hundreds of BRENT GEESE. #essexbirding #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birds #birding #nature @britishnatureguide.bsky.social

Just got back from a great day of birding in The Brecks! It was finches galore with Hawfinch, c100 Crossbill, 13+ Brambling, Bullfinch, Redpolls, and Siskins among others. #Birds #Birding #UKBirding #UKWildlife

Great views of Short-eared Owl at Billets Farm, Abberton, this evening! A Drake Smew, 6 RCPochard, and my year tick Long-tailed Duck also. #Birds #Birding #UKBirding #EssexBirding

Joining the Smew photography club! Layer Breton Causeway this morning. What a bird. #EssexBirding #Birds #Birding #UKWildlife