Deeping Lakes & RSPB Nene Washes :: 06 January 2026

Kev @kev07713 and I had a chat about whether we could fit in a birding trip during the week. Kev was tied up on Monday, while I already had commitments on Wednesday and Thursday, so we settled on Tuesday. After weighing up the options, we decided on our annual pilgrimage to Deeping Lakes in search of long-eared owls. The site also regularly holds little owls and, at present, a lone snow goose that has been associating with a mixed flock of mute and whooper swans.

With freezing conditions forecast, we agreed to meet a little later than usual, at 6.30am. Whatever we did, we were likely to miss the snow goose leaving the roost as the swan flock headed out to the fields to feed. Continuing a recent pattern, we took an alternative route from Banbury to Northampton because of road closures linked to HS2 works and Google Maps having a mental breakdown; once on the diversion, the satnav sent us off the signed route and along a maze of back roads and villages, eventually depositing us at the far end of the A43 before Northampton - a very strange start to the journey.

We hoped for an update enroute that would give us a steer on where to look for the swan flock. We stopped for breakfast along the way and, sure enough, the update came through: the flock containing the snow goose had relocated to fields alongside Deeping High Bank, north of Crowland Road and east of the Deeping Lakes Reserve.

Armed with this pin drop, we navigated to the indicated fields and pulled in by the roadside to scan the swan flocks. There were two distinct groups: one mainly of mute swans and another, further along the road, dominated by whooper swans. It took only a few minutes before Kev picked out the snow goose and handed me his binoculars so I could confirm it for myself. We then drove on to a small pull-in at the sharp bend in the road leading up onto the Welland Bank, which runs alongside the River Welland.

As we set up the scope and retrieved the camera from the boot, the snow goose promptly sat down, tucked its bill under its wing, and went to sleep - typical! Fortunately, after a few minutes it stood up again and began feeding among the almost 250 largely whooper swans; it sat down a couple more times but was soon back on its feet, strolling about once more. Although the flock was fairly distant, we still enjoyed good views through the scope.

Eventually, I climbed the bank and looked out over the river, picking up various ducks and a grey heron. Over the surrounding fields a few red kites drifted, while sizeable gatherings of corvids moved about in the distance.

By now we were itching to get onto the reserve. We were soon parked up, boots on, scopes balanced on our shoulders, and setting off from the car park. A birder was already stationed on the bank of the River Welland, peering through his scope, so we climbed up to join him to see if he was watching anything in particular. On the river there were at least six goosanders, little grebes, three or four great white egrets, a few Canada geese, and a wide assortment of ducks and coot.

After a while the birder moved on, and we were fortunate to be in position when a large flock of greylag geese lifted from below the far bank and dropped onto the water. We began working through the flock carefully, checking that there were no white-fronted geese among them. Kev then picked out a single pink-footed goose, which swam away from us and out towards the middle of the river.

From the bank it made sense to go through the gate and make our way down to the area where the little owls are usually seen. On the way we spoke with a birder who had already been there and who described the tree in which the bird had been sitting. Before long we were setting up our scopes and scanning the indicated tree, but there was no sign of it. Before I could move on to check the surrounding trees, Kev picked up our bird in a tree further to the left, initially very obscured by twigs.

We repositioned ourselves slightly to the right and, although the view was still not completely clear, we were able to watch the bird much better - I took a few photos while Kev captured some video. A green woodpecker then flew through the area and later returned to land on the far side of one of the trees.

Eventually it was time to pack up and head back along the main track. Kev had already put his scope away while I finished scanning, but I had to call him back when I spotted another little owl, deep in cover in a tree even further to the left. Kev rejoined me and we watched this second bird until it retreated down into a hole, which may well be where they roost or nest.

It was now time to push on towards the hide where the long-eared owls roost. Along the way we encountered a flock of long-tailed tits, and at the head of the group were two treecreepers - a welcome year tick. We also passed several volunteers busy with site management, trimming back trees to let in more light and keep the paths clear. One group was tending a small fire made from the thinner branches; they had the best job of all, being at least close to a source of warmth.

When we arrived, the hide was empty and one long-eared owl was immediately visible, although largely obscured by ivy on the tree. Kev and I each picked up different additional birds, and so between us we felt there were at least three owls roosting. It is always interesting how these birds choose to roost so close to the hide and appear unconcerned by people watching them from little more than twenty feet away. We paused to enjoy some coffee and tea before other birders arrived, and we pointed out the owls to them. While it was good to see the birds at all, it was a little unfortunate that they were so well concealed - though whatever makes them feel comfortable and safe is clearly what matters most.

We later stopped along the track to scan the trees and bushes on the opposite bank, where we have seen long-eared owls perched before, but there was no sign this time. We eventually returned to the car and decided to head on to RSPB Nene Washes (aka Eldernell), hoping to add a few more species to both the day and year lists.

Arriving at Eldernell we climbed up onto the bank and saw a birder scanning the bushes, the same guy we'd talked to at Deeping. It was lucky we had bumped into him as he had a thermal monocular and had located three long-eared owls, one of which was in reasonably clear view (for a long-eared owl), with great scope views.

As soon as we were on two of the owls, the chap with the infrared monocular moved on to see what else he could find. It wasn’t long before we started to pack up to followed him but spotted something land in the trees beside us, calling - a kingfisher. Kev had heard the call and was onto it in a flash, just as a second bird called from our right. The long-eared owl reacted to the kingfisher landing so close and woke - the moment captured brilliantly in one of Kev's videos (here). They continued calling as we searched for them, and then one suddenly popped into view in the tree right in front of us - how we hadn’t seen it sooner was a mystery. The two birds then flew back along the hedge line, one of them remaining pleasingly exposed.

Looking out across the fields, we could see marsh harriers quartering the reeds on the horizon or passing through. Several kestrels were hunting, and a pale-phase buzzard was perched on a series of posts.

The chap with the infrared monocular later returned and began showing another couple of birders where they could get views of the long-eared owls. I was slightly suspicious that the most difficult owl to see might actually be a short-eared owl, and once I had the scope on it the differences in facial structure and eye colour became apparent. It was buried deep in cover and extremely difficult to photograph. We chatted with the other birders, and it soon became clear that the much-photographed tawny owl was not around this year and was no longer giving views from its usual tree hole. There was also no sign of the barn owls, although a new box has appeared on land where we have previously watched one hunting.

It wasn’t going to be a four- or five-owl day; but three is more than enough, and there’s no need to be greedy.

As the light began to fade, we made our way back past the car park towards the area where egrets are known to roost. Although we had seen plenty of great white egrets this year, I hadn’t yet come across a little egret. Before we got too far, Kev spotted a sparrowhawk crossing a field and disappearing into some trees - I was too far behind to see it. A little egret flew past, followed shortly by a great white dropping in among a flock of sheep with three grey herons, and then another sparrowhawk zipped through. In the distance, we also picked up two more marsh harriers.

As we reached the car, two fighter jets roared in the sky, instantly drawing our attention - F-35 Lightning II's; it doesn’t just sound loud, it dominates the soundscape, combining raw power, depth, and weight in a way that is intimidating and unforgettable. The F-35 is a fifth-generation stealth multirole fighter built by Lockheed Martin, combining low observability (although we could see it 😂), and supersonic performance. Apparently one of the most capable combat aircraft in service today.

Most of the UK’s fleet consists of the F-35B variant, designed for short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) operations. This allows the aircraft to operate from the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, as well as from shorter or less-prepared airstrips ashore.

The UK currently operates around 37 F-35B jets, based at RAF Marham, near King’s Lynn in Norfolk. The aircraft has a maximum speed of Mach 1.6 (around 1,200 mph) and is powered by a Pratt & Whitney F135 engine producing approximately 19,500 lb of dry thrust, rising to around 40,000 lb with afterburner and lift fan engaged.

Knowing the journey home would take at least two and a half hours, we packed up our gear and set off, content after a full and rewarding day in the field.

Year list 96.

Hurley, Warwickshire :: 05 January 2026

This feels like the first real day of my new life. Normally I would have returned to work, but as the business relocated to Sheffield a year and a half ago, and the younger members of the team have since voted with their feet, I have resigned and, in effect, retired early - what a lucky position to be in!

Various events around me meant I was unsure what I could do over the weekend, so when I heard that Kev @kev07713 and Karen @karenheath62 Heath had gone to see the showy yellow-browed warbler on Sunday at Hurley, Warwickshire, and with Charlotte off playing pickleball, I decided to make the trip myself. Kev promised I wouldn’t be disappointed with the bird and expected good photo opportunities - I hoped it wouldn’t turn out like the twitch for the Ortolan bunting last year, which departed overnight before I arrived, and would be my easiest twitch ever!

I reached the site and met another birder on the track who confirmed the bird was present and showing well - he had taken some cracking photos, if he said so himself. I parked the car at the end of the lane and put on warm clothes and gloves as the temperature was still below zero. One positive was that the sun was out, making the day feel crisp and frosty. I did realise, though, that if the bird appeared in the low sun the light would be quite harsh, and so I hoped it might show just out of direct sunlight.

The bird had been feeding in scrub on either side of a ditch, the water strangely unfrozen. It seemed to work along the ditch to the left and right of a bridge crossing onto MOD land - instructions clearly state not to cross if the flag is flying on the pole beside the bridge. Behind the right-hand ditch is a compound attached to the water treatment works. I thought it would be best if the bird stayed on the right-hand side of the ditch, as although this would reduce the available light, it would avoid the harsh glare. However, within a couple of minutes I found the bird on the left-hand side, working its way back toward the bridge. There was no need to chase the bird along the ditch, as whenever it left the bridge area it soon returned, feeding predominantly on the far bank, often partially obscured or moving through the grasses and scrub like a mouse. Then, briefly, opportunities would appear as the bird showed itself in the open before darting from stem to stem. It paid no attention to me or the three other birders who had now joined me. Views of this species really don’t get any better than this!

From time to time the warbler would loosely associate with one or more of the roughly four chiffchaffs feeding along the same ditch. One was very pale underneath, presumably the Siberian chiffchaff reported by others, but it went awol before I had a chance to get a photograph and I didn’t see it again. The other three chiffchaffs showed regularly and were easily distinguishable by their differing colouration, one being particularly pale. It does seem that many more chiffchaffs are overwintering in the UK these days.

While watching the ditch, a few other birds worked the margins: a stonechat, a common snipe, a pair of wrens chasing and singing, and a couple of robins. Around the edges of the compound, blackbirds, redwings, and fieldfares fed on berry bushes, while in the field behind a flock of 50+ linnets mixed with goldfinches, skylarks, yellowhammers, and meadow pipits.

Having walked along the ditch to the left of the bridge, I eventually decided to head back up the slope to see what might be found in the hedge. The linnets relocated to the tops of the trees, joined by yellowhammers, while chaffinches and a couple of reed buntings worked the hedge itself. There had been talk of a potential merlin across the field, but that didn’t materialise - though with flocks of small birds present, it’s easy to see why one might favour this area.

I could have waited and hoped the merlin might appear, but by now I’d lost all feeling in my fingers. Having seen what I’d come for and logged 26 species, I decided to head for home.

Year list: 84.

WWT Slimbridge & Aust :: 02 January 2026

To properly kick off our birding year, Kev @kev07713 and I decided on a trip to WWT Slimbridge, and we were delighted when his wife, Karen @karenheath62, chose to join us. Overnight, the weather in Banbury had taken a turn for the worse, with snow falling and estate roads left icy and snow-covered, but Kev drove steadily and without drama. We made good progress down to Slimbridge, taking an imaginative route choice as we drew closer. Although there were already plenty of people on site, we were still early enough to need to enter through the Members’ gate.

We stopped by the Peng Observatory to work through the ducks and geese in the welcome warmth, enjoying the numbers of Bewick’s swans and pintails. Before long, though, we were keen to get out onto the reserve and see what else we could find.

We headed for the Estuary Tower but paused first to overlook Rushy from the hide, then passed through the new gate beside the Martin Smith Hide. Before we could turn back into the hide, we came across a small group of people gathered at the junction, apparently waiting for a firecrest to reappear. It had been seen on the far side of the track but had flown across and dropped out of view.

In the week ending 7 December, Slimbridge’s Latest Sightings report noted a firecrest present along the Withy Bed path throughout the day, with a second bird seen near Welly Boot Land. Our own notes also record our sighting on 6 December, while other trip reports from late December mention further firecrest sightings along the Decoy boardwalk.

We joined the wait, scanning patiently and picking up plenty of goldcrests along the way. After about fifteen minutes, a birder behind us called that the firecrest was showing in some ivy. It took a moment to pick it out, but there it was. I tracked the bird with the camera but couldn’t get it clear or in focus, and then it flew back across the track - had I missed my chance?

Fortunately, the bird dropped low into a bare bush and began working its way into the open, darting from branch to branch. This time I finally locked on, and as it paused briefly, I managed to grab a couple of shots.

From the Martin Smith Hide we scanned the pools, working through the wigeon and teal in the hope of picking out the green-winged teal that had been present on previous days, but without success. We then turned our attention to the distant geese, where a handful of white-fronted geese were visible but no sign of any tundra bean geese - there had been up to 12 reported a day ago. Large numbers of golden plovers were mixed in with the teal and lapwings along the edges of the pools, and the ducks frequently dashed onto the water, sending the lapwings and plovers swirling into the air as a peregrine regularly cruised through, searching for an opportunity.

We continued on to the Robbie Garnett Hide and scanned once more for the geese and the hoped-for green-winged teal. Beside us, another birder was already scanning far out to the left into the shallows, reporting that he thought he’d picked out a little stint. We swung round and quickly got onto it - then another, and then a third. Three birds feeding in the shallows alongside the dunlin, a very good tick.

Eventually we moved on to the Estuary Tower and began scanning through the geese, picking out the regular Ross’s goose and bar-headed goose combo, more white-fronted geese, barnacles, and a couple of decidedly farmyard-looking geese. Kev continued his habit of spotting birds in entirely different counties, calling a peregrine flapping way, way, way off to our left, apparently having just pinned down a recent catch.

We worked through the common cranes and counted eleven, far too distant for photographs, before three lifted off and relocated closer, off to the right.

We carried on working through the flocks when a birder to our right mentioned he had what he believed was a tundra bean goose in his scope. We joined him, and there it was among the geese we’d already scanned, clearly having dropped in after we’d moved on.

As we worked through the group more carefully, I gradually counted a total of ten bean geese.

A reserve volunteer then came down from the outside platform to let us know there were a couple of pink-footed geese off to the left. It didn’t take long to pick them up - birds we’d somehow also missed earlier, despite having scanned the geese near the two farmyard-looking individuals. Armed with news of the bean geese, the volunteer then charged back up the stairs to pass the information on.

We dropped into the South Lake Discovery Hide in the hope that the green-winged teal might have relocated there - it hadn’t - or that there might be some black-tailed godwits - there weren’t. We scanned through the ducks and could only add eight avocets to the day list.

We hoped to connect with redpolls in the alders but could only manage two “possibles”. While searching, however, we did pick up a lone chiffchaff calling and a great white egret flying over. We then retired to the Visitor Centre for a spot of lunch, before setting off for Aust in the hope of catching up with the penduline tits - up to three reported lately. Interestingly, the penduline tits are using a different area from the one where we saw an individual in mid-November last year.

Instructions advised parking in Aust village and accessing the area via a footpath off Common Lane, near the Boar’s Head pub, with viewing restricted to the footpath. From there it was a 15–20 minute walk to the area where the birds have been recorded in the stands of Typha. Birders heading back told us they’d seen the bird earlier, though it had since gone to ground, with two of the three having flown off earlier in the day.

We arrived to find around half a dozen other birders already in place and scanned both ahead of and behind us. The bird hadn’t been seen for over an hour but was almost certainly still somewhere in the area.

We waited for about an hour before one of the chaps to our left came over to tell us that one of the guys beside him had seen the bird on the far side of the reeds, but it had since dropped; the woman to my right then said she had it briefly in the same area before it dropped again. Then a couple of minutes later someone called that it had appeared on our side and much closer - it took us a moment to lock on but thankfully it was feeding in front of us. As I raised my camera I got a couple of tugs on my camera strap - it was Adrian Sparrowhawk. His companion Bryan Manston greeted us in a more conventional way - "Hello - and happy new year".

Eventually the bird took to the air, flying high and over to a patch of brambles, presumably to roost, even though it was only a few minutes after 3.00pm.

It wasn’t seen again, but we did enjoy a good chat with a birder using Swarovski’s new stabilised scope, the AT Balance 18-45x65. The scope uses a combination of a gyroscope and voice-coil motor (VCM), sampling movement more than a thousand times per second to counteract shake and deliver a continuously smooth, stable image. Battery-powered, it offers up to twelve hours of use in the field, and the stabilisation produces impressively sharp, steady views - ideal for fast, reactive wildlife observation. The chap couldn’t speak highly enough of it, also remarking on how compact and lightweight his setup now felt - I'm sure it would be seriously helpful when videoing through the scope, even in wind.

With no further sightings, we walked back to Aust village with Adrian and Bryan, said our goodbyes, and began the journey home. It’s always satisfying when a plan comes together - having dipped this species on several previous occasions, it was particularly pleasing to connect on my last two attempts.

Year list: 75.