1st signs of Spring

Things are looking up.....

Snowdrops in flower, garden birds singing and a few passage birds moving, with Lesser Black-backeds arriving and Siskins moving in numbers.

A beautiful 1st winter Caspian eluded me by seconds yesterday but looks nice on the video;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dYMNVb6Kps

And today, a displaying pair of Peregrines at

what I believe to be a new site in Cleveland.

Not sure how many pairs we have now but

I'd guess at 1/2 a dozen. Good to see these majestic falcons doing so well :)

Bloody Gulls!!!

Seems that gulls are going to haunt me this year

We have the Slatyish gull winding me up, a decent looking Thayer's candidate in Galway and now it appears Kelp Gulls are still at Khniffis after all, this picture being taken there last week.

Reckon we should have checked every inch of that bloody lagoon by boat.....

Think I'll go mad soon!

Gulls

Gulls continue to frustrate......

Following the confusions of the large black-backed gulls at Khniffis Lagoon, which appear to all be GBB Gulls this winter and the reappearance of the 'Slaty-backed' thing in London, at least it's nice to be able to rely on the local tip to produce.

This Glauc has been around for a while now and Caspians continue to be seen by lucky observers. Maybe with the number of gulls at Seaton Meadows, something even better will turn up yet?

Back to normality....

... staring at tips with no rare gulls and walking round Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park are a far cry from Oukaimeden and Dakhla!

The Ring-necked didn't even have the decency to come within camera range.

Still, the weather was nice for a change and this Goldeneye was looking good in the sun.

Saharan Road Trip

Back from a seven day drive through the desert roads bordering the Atlantic coast of Western Sahara.

Target species all nailed with the exception of Kelp Gull, which remains an enigma at Khniffis, and a wonderful week of excellent company, great birding and pleasant weather.

Highlights included the resident Pied Crows 169 km north of Dakhla and Royal Terns and Cricket Longtails in the deep south.

A total of around 3800 km also added lucidus Cormorant (split as White-breasted under IOC) and a potential (in fact pretty certain) tick in African Reed Warbler - just waiting the results of their dna studies for confirmation.

Add African Crimson-winged Finch for Graeme - successful on his third attempt up Oukaimeden and it was a great trip all round.

Now back to the mundane of Cleveland year ticks...