RSPB Freiston Shore & Avenue Washlands NR :: 03 & 05 September 2026

In the space of just six days, I’d managed to miss two wrynecks, so when I heard that one was repeatedly showing well, and, rather remarkably, doing so in the Freiston Shore RSPB car park, it immediately caught my attention.

It wasn’t as though there weren’t plenty of other birds to see, but wrynecks are one of those species that can be surprisingly difficult to catch up with. Miss a couple when they turn up and, before you know it, you can be waiting a long time for another opportunity to get one onto the year list. Having already struck out twice in less than a week, I thought it was probably time to put an end to my wryneck losing streak. Fortunately, Kev @kev07713 was up for an attempt, keen to get some better views after his fleeting glimpse a few days earlier and supporting my attempt to see 300 species for the year.

Wrynecks are one of those birds that turn up in the UK during autumn migration and cause quite a stir among birders. Although they breed across much of mainland Europe, they are a relatively scarce passage migrant here, with most records occurring in late summer and autumn as birds make their way south towards their wintering grounds in Africa. Only around 100–500 wrynecks are recorded in Britain in a typical year, making them a genuinely scarce autumn visitor.

They weren't always the scarce visitors they are today. They were once a breeding species in Britain, particularly across southern and eastern England, where they inhabited open woodland, heathland, orchards and other areas with plenty of dead wood and ants – an important part of their diet.

Sadly, numbers declined steadily through the 19th and 20th centuries, and wrynecks eventually disappeared as a regular breeding bird.

Despite being a member of the woodpecker family, wrynecks are anything but typical looking. Their intricately marked, brown and grey plumage gives them superb camouflage, allowing them to disappear remarkably easily against tree bark, leaf litter and dead vegetation. They also have an unusual habit of creeping around on the ground rather than spending much of their time climbing tree trunks like most woodpeckers.

Their migration largely brings them to coastal parts of Britain, when suitable weather conditions can result in several birds being discovered around the country. Finding one, however, is another matter entirely. Their cryptic plumage and secretive behaviour make them notoriously difficult to locate, even when you know one is somewhere in the area.

By all accounts, though, this individual was being exceptionally cooperative. It had been showing remarkably well, apparently allowing birders some excellent views as it fed and moved around the edge of the car park, rather than behaving like the typically elusive wryneck that can vanish into the vegetation at the slightest disturbance.

That combination of rarity, strange appearance and sheer elusiveness makes the wryneck a particularly rewarding bird to find - and a particularly frustrating one to miss!

Kev picked me up and we made our way up towards Boston, stopping enroute for a comfort break before hitting a growing queue of traffic as we approached the town. The reason soon became apparent. Stage 2 of the cycling Tour of Britain was running from Boston to Skegness that day, so the roads were considerably busier than usual, with the normal mix of work and school traffic joined by supporters, race vehicles and other event traffic.

Adding to the spectacle was a convoy of more than 30 police motorcyclists, accompanied by four police vehicles, which certainly wasn't something you see every day on the way to a birding site. Eventually, after slowly making our way through the congestion, we reached the car park.

There were already around a dozen people gathered together, all looking towards the same area. This had to be the spot. Presumably, the wryneck was showing, or at least had been showing, somewhere in front of them.

We grabbed our cameras and binoculars and joined the group. Initially, the bird was tucked away in cover, but it was only a few minutes before it emerged into view, although it remained partially obscured in the centre of a dense patch of scrub.

Apparently, it had been feeding well and was now taking a short break before continuing. Chatting to some of the other birders, it soon became clear that the wryneck had a particular favourite spot: a tangle of twigs towards the front left of the scrub. There was a sizeable nest of ants there, which presumably explained why the bird kept returning to the same spot. If the food was good, there was little reason to go elsewhere - and it was probably one of the things that had encouraged it to stick around.

We watched as it slowly worked its way around the scrub, gradually disappearing from view before eventually reappearing at the back. From there, it began making its way down the slope, giving us the first real opportunity to watch it as it moved through the vegetation.

It paused on the slope for a moment, seemingly taking in its surroundings and surveying the growing crowd of birders watching its every move. It didn't appear overly concerned by all the attention - perhaps it was simply taking a moment to count how many admirers it had managed to attract.

It continued down the slope and immediately began feeding, initially keeping low among the sticks, just below their height. Gradually, though, it worked its way upwards until it was perched right on top, giving us much better views as it fed busily.

It was fascinating to watch as it moved methodically through the sticks, pausing frequently to probe into cracks and crevices with its bill. Every so often there would be a sudden movement as it located something, followed by that wonderfully bizarre tongue flicking out to investigate further.

Wrynecks have an unusually long tongue, perfectly adapted for their diet of ants and their larvae. Once it had located a likely target, the tongue would shoot out surprisingly quickly, reaching well beyond the end of the bill, before disappearing again almost as quickly. Watching this close up made it easy to see just how specialised the bird is for extracting ants from places that other birds would struggle to reach.

It would occasionally pause, before continuing its methodical search through the vegetation. Given the sizeable ant nest, it was clearly onto a good thing and seemed in no particular hurry to leave.

A dog walker appeared just after the bird had disappeared back into the scrub but thankfully caused no significant disturbance. We heard that on previous occasions the wryneck had flown from the scrub over to the apple tree behind, but this time it seemed quite content to stay put.

Once it reappeared in the open, a couple of walkers/birders made their way down the slope and, perhaps unsurprisingly, sent it scuttling back into the deeper cover. At least it remained within the same patch of scrub, so we weren't having to start the search all over again.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before it emerged once more, this time climbing onto a pile of sticks where it sat beautifully in full view. It seemed almost to realise that everyone had cameras pointed in its direction and decided to cooperate. There it sat, patiently posing for us and providing some excellent photo opportunities - a real little poser!

With more birders arriving and the wryneck currently out of view, we decided it was probably a good time to retreat to the car, pack away our kit and leave the growing crowd to it. After a short discussion, we decided to head over to RSPB Frampton Marsh, where we could grab some breakfast and have a look around the reserve.

We had one target in mind: merlin. Kev still needed one for his year list, whereas I had somehow managed to tick one 'accidentally' back at the end of January. I'd been out birding on my own, trying to catch up with a few species that Kev had already seen while out with his sister and her partner, when a merlin had rather helpfully crossed my path.

We checked with the reserve volunteers, who confirmed that merlin had been seen around the reserve recently, and we asked whether it was still favouring its usual perches. With that information in mind, we stopped to scan the likely spots but again came up empty-handed.

Moving further into the reserve, we started scanning the muddy edges and pools to see what else might be around. We soon began finding plenty to keep us occupied, including two little stints, more than 15 Spoonbills, a couple of ruff, our first pintails of the autumn, a few returning wigeon and a couple of avocets, along with the usual assortment of waders and wildfowl.

No merlin, but there was certainly no shortage of birds to look through while we hoped for one to put in an appearance. We decided to make our way down to the sea wall and scan the saltmarsh, hoping that a merlin might be perched on one of the posts or anything else that gave it a slightly elevated vantage point. We scanned and scanned, but the merlin remained absent.

There were plenty of kestrels to keep us occupied, with up to four in view at times. A couple even took exception to passing marsh harriers, mobbing them as they crossed the marsh. The kestrels themselves occasionally caught our attention when they settled on the posts, giving us that brief moment of excitement before we realised they were, unfortunately, exactly what they looked like - kestrels rather than the merlin we were hoping for.

Eventually, we worked our way back towards the Visitor Centre, stopping for a well-earned drink before making a final few scans of the reserve. With no sign of our target bird, we decided there was little more we could do, so we packed away the kit and headed for home, leaving the merlin for another day.

Saturday arrived and, after a bit of discussion, we decided to head out in search of a red-backed shrike. There were two birds on offer, but the choice was straightforward. One was a little further away, but reports suggested it was showing well, while the other was being described as ‘elusive’. Both were first-winter birds, so there was little to choose between them on appearance - the main objective was simply to make sure we didn't dip!

We did have a backup plan, though. If the shrike received a negative report, we would divert to Lisvane Reservoir and try for the grey phalarope instead. As it happened, a positive report came through at around 7.00am, so that settled it - Derbyshire it was.

We set off, stopping at a service area for a comfort break before leaving the M1 and continuing past Chesterfield, with the prospect of a red-backed shrike waiting somewhere ahead.

We arrived at the car park and set off down the hill noticing the new housing estate and a field full of travellers below but our area was in the opposite direction and the pool around which our bird was feeding.

Avenue Washlands is an interesting wetland reserve just south of Chesterfield, occupying part of the site of the former Avenue Coking Works. It's one of those places where the industrial history of the landscape is difficult to imagine now, with reedbeds, marsh, ponds and grassland providing a surprisingly attractive setting for wildlife.

The reserve lies in the valley of the River Rother and has developed into an important site for wetland and farmland birds. Depending on the season, the pools and marsh are reported to hold species such as wigeon, teal, snipe, little grebe and lapwing, while the surrounding grassland and scrub support skylarks, yellowhammers, linnets and various warblers. The reedbeds can also attract migrants and, on occasion, something rather scarcer - bitterns have been recorded here.

It's also a good site for wildlife beyond birds, with water voles, great crested newts, grass snakes and a good selection of dragonflies and other insects recorded around the reserve. There are viewing screens and a mixture of paths and boardwalks, making it relatively easy to explore and scan the wetland areas.

Perhaps one of the more spectacular seasonal events mentioned is the autumn passage of swallows. The reedbeds have previously held between 10,000 and 15,000 birds as they gather to feed and roost before beginning their long journey south to Africa - an impressive sight over a reserve that has come a remarkably long way from its industrial past.

Red-backed shrikes are a particularly interesting bird in the British context. They weren't always the scarce visitors that they are today; once they were a widespread breeding species across much of England and Wales. Their fortunes changed dramatically from the middle of the 19th century onwards, with numbers steadily declining as suitable habitat disappeared and changes in agriculture reduced the availability of the large insects and other prey on which they depend.

By 1989, the species had effectively disappeared as a regular breeding bird in Britain, although there have been occasional breeding attempts since. These days, we're more likely to encounter them as passage migrants. In an ordinary year, there are probably only a few dozen birds nationally - 2024 was exceptional with a major spring influx producing at least 302 birds across Britain during 20–27 May alone.

That makes seeing one a rather special occasion. They also have a habit of sitting prominently on fence posts, bushes and other vantage points while watching for prey, which can make them surprisingly easy to spot when they're being cooperative. And when one is showing well, as ours was, it's hard not to appreciate just how smart looking these little shrikes are.

It wasn't difficult to work out where the bird was - a line of birders were already pointing scopes, binoculars and cameras in the same direction. We joined the group and were quickly told where the red-backed shrike had been seen, although, naturally, it had decided to disappear just before we arrived.

While we were scanning the area, Kev suddenly pointed towards a distant wire - “there it is.”

Sure enough, there was the bird, moving between the wires and fence posts - the shrike was clearly on show.

The shrike then flew from the fence and into a tree to our left, but unfortunately chose a less cooperative perch, partially obscured by branches and leaves that were constantly moving in the breeze.

The shrike then worked its way around the edge of the pool, darting to catch insects, dropping down into the bushes and grass. It regularly perched on brambles, branches and reed stems, giving us plenty of opportunities to watch its behaviour as it hunted.

Unfortunately, the light wasn't ideal. The harsh sunshine created a noticeable haze and, combined with the constantly moving vegetation, made getting decent photographs rather challenging. But it's not always about the photos, and the shrike gave us some excellent views and, more importantly, plenty of interesting behaviour to enjoy.

We eventually made our way back to the car, stopping at a couple of sites on the way home. First up was a regular spot where we'd seen merlin a few times before. We had a look, but despite scanning the likely areas, there was no sign of one this time.

We then dropped into Balscote Quarry for an hour or so to see what we could find, with the bowl looking particularly dry and little, if any, water remaining. Even without the water, though, there's always something to see, and the quarry didn't disappoint. We recorded 23 bird species, along with six clouded yellow butterflies, three muntjac deer, and a hare.

Eventually, it was time to call it a day and head home, ready to get myself organised for an evening out.

Year list: 288.

Dernford Reservoir, Aldeburgh & Merthyr Tydfil :: 28/08 & 01/09 2026

The weekend arrived and I was going to be birding solo, as Kev was away at a family weekend for the whole weekend. Looking at potential birds to visit, I noticed that the weather in the east was looking best for much of the day, and there were a couple of Temminck’s stints at Dernford Farm Reservoir, near Cambridge - a species I’d yet to see this year and one that is slightly unusual for the time of year.

Temminck’s stint is a scarce passage migrant in Britain, with most records occurring during spring, particularly in May. Autumn birds are much less frequent, although August does fall within the recognised autumn passage period, with the BTO describing the species as occurring “sporadically in autumn”.

Dernford Farm Reservoir is a relatively small, fairly new reservoir, created following gravel extraction and now used as a water-storage reservoir. Despite its modest size and inland location, it has quickly gained a reputation as a productive birding site, particularly for passage migrants. The open water is surrounded by fields and hedgerows, while falling water levels can leave exposed muddy margins that are particularly attractive to waders. The site has apparently produced a surprisingly good variety of birds over the years, making it one of those places where a quick visit can sometimes turn up something rather special.

I left early to try to stay ahead of the weather and decided not to stop for breakfast on the way, wanting to give myself the best possible chance of seeing the birds if they were still present after being confirmed there the previous evening. I arrived in the car park and made the roughly (only) 125-metre walk to the reservoir, where three birders were already watching. They confirmed that the stints were still present, although they described them as being rather “flighty” and said they had lost track of them for the moment.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before we picked them up, as they seemed to be favouring two spots around the water’s edge. We watched from our original position for a few minutes before a couple of us, myself included, walked further along the path in the hope of finding a better angle for photographs. Fortuitously, the two stints then came together, close enough for me to capture both in the same frame.

With the stints safely in the bag and nothing else of note showing on the reservoir, I checked BirdGuides and noticed that a wryneck was still being reported in the bushes at Aldeburgh. I was already halfway there, so decided that, as I was heading east anyway, I was still going in the right direction - although it would add considerably to the distance for the return journey.

A wryneck is certainly worth the extra miles, particularly as I had dipped one at Farmoor Reservoir the previous day. On that occasion, only half a dozen or so birders had managed to see it, including Kev, as it had shown briefly on the far side of the bushes from where most of us were standing. Then, just as they were hoping for another opportunity, a torrential downpour arrived and the bird disappeared, never showing again when I eventually got there.

I checked the pin drop and chose a parking spot that would put me within a relatively short walk of the bird and fortunately found somewhere to park without too much trouble. I picked up my kit, put on my boots and set off along the track, looking for a way down to where the wryneck was supposedly showing.

I came across a conservation area access gate and took that route, as it seemed to lead further along the track than the position marked by the pin. Unfortunately, when I reached the end, there was no way to take the left turn I needed. I retraced my steps and walked back to see if I could access the field from an earlier turning, only to find that wasn't the right route either.

I then bumped into a family group, whose son was carrying a camera and was also hoping to see the wryneck. They had been in the field behind but, like me, couldn't see any birders or work out how to access the area marked by the pin. Helpfully, the details stated that it was “still in scrub along river wall footpath by old brick dock”, but for a first-time visitor that didn't really tell us much.

I continued working my way around the area and spent about 45 minutes trying to make sense of it all before finally finding another birder - by then the family had given up and left. He explained that the pin drop was incorrect and, even better, that the bird had been seen about half a mile from where I was standing. Brilliant!

He gave me some directions, and off I set once again, this time hopefully in the right direction. Worryingly, he said that he and several other birders had been unable to relocate the bird, despite earlier reports and birders suggesting that it had been showing intermittently.

I reached the sea wall and the wooden steps and began working the area, hoping to get a view of the bird. But after more than an hour and a half of searching, I still hadn't found anything. All the while I was completely on my own, with no sign of any other birders to increase the pairs of eyes looking. I did at least have a fly-through sparrowhawk, although it was little consolation given what I was really hoping to see.

I decided to make a circuit of the marsh and, along the way, had good views of sandpipers, common terns, ruff, yellow wagtails and several other species, but they did little to make up for the continuing absence of the wryneck. When I reached the area where it had been showing, I returned to the task of searching and was soon joined by two local birders who seemed to have even more specific information about where it had been seen.

It turned out I had been searching in the right area, but even with the additional details we still couldn't relocate the wryneck. Eventually, the weather and rain caught up with me, and I decided it was time to call it a day. I made my way back to the car empty-handed and very wet, ready for the long journey home, only to encounter a deluge on the way. The rain became so heavy at times that visibility was severely reduced, and it was difficult to even see the road ahead.

Still smarting from dipping wrynecks twice, I contacted Kev on Monday to see if he fancied a trip to Merthyr Tydfil to look for an Ortolan bunting. It would be a lifer for me, having dipped one at Wykeham Forest a couple of years ago, but not for Kev, who had already seen this bird a few days before my visit. Unfortunately, he was busy until Thursday, so rather than wait and risk missing them, I made plans to visit solo, setting off at breakfast time on Tuesday morning.

The journey was uneventful, and I pulled into the recommended parking area, finding a couple of other cars already there. I could see three birders down by the railway tracks, in the area where the Ortolan bunting had been reported over the previous few days. I walked through the gate, onto the trackside verge and along towards the first birder I came across.

He turned around and greeted me with, “Hi Kyle!” It was Steve Wilson @stevewilson1706 who Kev and I had chatted with online and met on a couple of occasions this year. Perhaps the accent had given me away and jogged his memory! Steve had been the first person on site at about 8.00am and had agreed with the other two birders that they would alert each other if any of them located the buntings. We settled in for the vigil, scanning and walking up and down the tracks on either side in the hope of picking up a glimpse. More birders trickled in and increased the pairs of eyes looking for the birds.

They were reported to favour the rough grass and scrub along the railway, often dropping out of sight into the grass and then appearing briefly before disappearing again. Given the open nature of the habitat, it wasn't surprising just how difficult they could be to locate, with even several birders searching the area.

The Ortolan bunting is a compact, sleek little bunting, roughly the size of a reed bunting but with a more streamlined appearance. The head and upper breast are a distinctive grey-green, contrasting with a yellowish throat, moustachial stripe and prominent yellowish eye-ring. The upperparts are warm brown and heavily streaked, while the lower breast, belly and flanks have a warm orange-buff tone. The small, conical bill is pinkish, as are the legs, and the dark eye stands out against the paler facial markings. The tail is dark with conspicuous white outer feathers, particularly noticeable when the bird takes flight.

At one point I got a little excited when I picked out what appeared to be a bunting perched on a bush, but a quick review of the photos I'd hurriedly taken revealed it to be nothing more than a female reed bunting. We found plenty of stonechats and meadow pipits, along with more reed buntings, but there was no sign of the Ortolan buntings among them.

Steve and I joked that, as the birds had first been reported at around 10.30am each day, perhaps that was when we'd finally locate them. As if on cue, at 10.30am the chap next to me turned and said he thought he'd just seen them in a tree along the far fenceline. Unfortunately, by the time he'd mentioned it, the birds had already flown down and disappeared. He had, however, managed to get a photograph, and although it wasn't the clearest of images, there was enough of a pale moustachial stripe for Steve and I to agree that they were indeed Ortolan buntings.

We quickly shared the news with the other birders, and suddenly everyone's attention was focused on the area where the birds had apparently dropped from the tree.

It was only about five minutes before a call went up that one of the Ortolan buntings had landed on top of what looked like a berberis bush, the colour of the bush adding to the views in the sunshine. I picked it up quickly in my binoculars and, just as I raised my camera, it flew, but fortunately dropped lower and to the left, remaining within the bush and still in view. I quickly fired off a series of photos, relieved that I'd managed to keep it in sight.

The bird then flew to the left and out of view, but as we followed, both it and the second bunting took to the air and continued further along to the bushes at the far end of the track, close to the gate and the road leading back up to the cars. One stopped briefly in the grass, and I watched as it crawled through the stems like a mouse, but was soon off to join the other bird. We followed and, as we scanned, Steve picked out one of the birds perched right on the edge of a berry bush. Unfortunately, it was partly obscured by foliage from a tree in front and further obscured by the fence and barbed wire running along the top.

I tried to get a photograph, but with so much in the way, the result was less successful.

We lost sight of the birds and waited to see if they might emerge from the bush, perhaps giving us another opportunity if they landed on the fences or wires. After about 15 minutes, though, we noticed that some of the remaining birders further down the track had picked up a bird and, judging by their concentration, it was probably one or both of the buntings. The birds must have slipped out from the back of the bush and moved on unseen.

We headed over and caught up with them, finding one of the buntings feeding along the base of the wire fence, below and to the left of a group of conifers. It started to come a little more into the open, and I was getting ready for a photograph when it suddenly flew up into the conifers and disappeared once again.

Steve and I continued chatting, and he mentioned that he was tempted to head for Dale, where a buff-breasted sandpiper had been reported earlier that morning - another two hours further into Wales. Eventually he succumbed to the temptation, said his goodbyes and set off, planning to grab a quick lunch on the way. He later posted that the sandpiper had been a no-show and that his unsuccessful detour had resulted in an impromptu hotel stop. As far as I could see, the bird wasn't reported again that day or the next.

Steve is absolutely smashing it this year and is already up to 297 species, so I'm sure there are plenty more to come.

I stayed for another half hour or so, but eventually I had to call it a day and make my way home, with an evening out planned and preparations to make.

Year list: 286.

Suffolk, Eyebrook, & Eastleach Martin :: 22-24 August 2026

We’d left visiting the zitting cisticolas (fan-tailed warblers) at Walberswick until late this year, but with the youngsters now fledged, it seemed like a good opportunity to finally slot them into our plans. If I hadn’t needed them for my year list, I’m not sure Kev @kev07713 would have been quite so keen, so I was grateful that he was happy to make them our main target for the day. It helped that there was also a black stork not too far away, giving us the chance to turn it into a proper day out rather than simply two long journeys there and back for the possibility of seeing a single bird species.

With such a long drive ahead of us, there was no argument for taking a comfort break and grabbing some breakfast as we got closer. We reached the beach by 8.20am and set off along the advertised one-kilometre walk, which seemed to pass surprisingly quickly. Kev spotted a couple of birders further along the path running parallel to the beach, presumably already searching for the bird. As we made our way towards them, we picked out a lone whimbrel feeding in the pools to our right and a departing spoonbill. Out over the water, common terns were busy fishing, with juveniles among the first handful of birds we picked up, followed by a couple of adults further along.

We eventually caught up with the two birders, who told us they had already heard the birds calling - a sharp, metallic, rhythmic “zit ... zit ... zit ...”. At times the calls had sounded surprisingly close, but despite one of them having been there for almost two hours, neither had managed to see one. As if on cue, we heard a call ourselves and immediately began scanning the area, checking the sea buckthorn beyond the shingle, as well as the marram grass and coastal reeds. Then Kev spotted one perched in the buckthorn. It showed for barely ten seconds before disappearing back into the foliage, leaving him with little more than a brief but satisfying glimpse. I missed this as by the time I looked it had already gone.

We carried our scopes down towards the buckthorn bush to our left and continued scanning picking out whinchats, stonechats and the whimbrel relocating further along the coast.

The feeding behaviour of the cisticolas is quite distinctive, as they tend to forage low down among vegetation, particularly in rough grassland and scrub. In this coastal habitat, they work their way along the edges of the marram grass, reeds and sea buckthorn, frequently disappearing before reappearing a few metres away. They are constantly on the move, rarely remaining in one place for long, which made keeping track of them quite difficult. They can hover briefly or make short, fluttering movements to reach prey. They perch on grass stems or bushes between feeding bouts, then drop back into cover.

I caught sight of what looked like a cisticola flying up and back down along the edge of the grass in front of us, but despite watching and waiting, I couldn’t get a positive identification. We continued to hear calls from in front of us and to our right, roughly halfway back towards where the other birders were standing, with Kev picking up the calls around twice as often as I did.

A couple of other birders had now joined us and were making their way along the sea wall between our positions when a call went up that a cisticola was in view. We grabbed our scopes and quickly headed back to get directions. I managed a look through one of the birders’ scopes and, by the time I pulled away, Kev had picked up the bird, and I was able to get onto it through his scope. I quickly raised my camera and tried to grab a photo, but the bird had dropped back into cover almost immediately, and I missed my chance. This individual was rather plain and warm-toned compared with more distinctive adults and so we believe it was a juvenile.

According to the Suffolk Bird Group, at least 11 zitting cisticolas were present as of 6 August, comprising up to three males, at least seven juveniles from three broods, and at least one other adult. On 14 August, reports suggested that nine birds were being seen across the area, while another source put the maximum at six. Despite their elusive nature and the difficulty of getting good views, we felt confident that at least three individuals were present during our visit.

We kept watching and I picked out several strong candidates, but none of them sat up enough to give us a decent view. After two and a half hours on site, we decided that we had probably seen the birds as well as we were going to, even if we stayed for the rest of the day. The black stork had meanwhile been reported at Hazelwood Marshes, having been flushed from a dyke and into a field north of the hide. With that as our next target, we walked back to the car and headed over to the reserve, which was a new site for both of us.

Hazlewood Marshes is a Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve on the Alde Estuary near Aldeburgh, but the landscape we were visiting has apparently changed dramatically in recent years. Until 2013 it was a freshwater marsh protected by a river wall, but a powerful tidal surge on 5 December that year breached the defences and flooded the reserve with salt water. Rather than rebuild the wall, the Trust allowed the area to develop naturally into an intertidal landscape, with mudflats, creeks and saltmarsh gradually replacing the former freshwater habitat. The change has proved hugely beneficial for wildlife, attracting large numbers of waders, while the developing marshes also provide feeding habitat for a wide variety of other species.

We stopped at an elevated section of the track, giving us a good view across the bay as we scanned the areas highlighted on the BirdGuides map where the black stork had recently been reported. The exposed mud was covered with birds, including large numbers of golden plovers, black-tailed godwits, shelduck and lapwings, with the tide now almost at its lowest ebb. Despite searching carefully, there was no sign of the stork.

We continued along the track towards the hide, where we met a couple coming the other way who brought disappointing news: the bird had not been seen since the earlier report, when it had flown away from the bay and over the trees. They also pointed out some trees where it had apparently roosted during high tide the day before. With the tide already close to its lowest point, this information was interesting but probably of little relevance to us on this visit. As we talked with them, we watched two clouded yellow butterflies fly through the field below us.

We continued along the track but soon stopped when we came across a couple of butterflies that neither of us had seen before. The second fluttered around us for a minute before eventually settling on the track, allowing us a much better look. It turned out to be a grayling, a new butterfly for both of us and a bonus.

The grayling is a beautifully camouflaged butterfly associated with dry, open habitats, particularly coastal grassland, sand dunes, and rocky areas. Although widespread in parts of Britain, it can be quite localised and is often surprisingly difficult to spot when settled, thanks to the excellent camouflage provided by the mottled underside of its wings, which blends easily with bare soil, sand, rocks and dry vegetation.

When disturbed, graylings tend to make a short, powerful flight before settling again, often choosing a track or other bare surface. Once settled, they characteristically hold their wings closed and angled towards the sun, helping them regulate their body temperature while remaining remarkably inconspicuous. The upper wings are brown with distinctive orange patches and eyespots, although these are often only revealed when the butterfly takes flight or briefly opens its wings. The underside is considerably more cryptic, with mottled grey, brown and buff colouring that blends beautifully into its surroundings. We were damned if we could get a decent photograph of it with its wings open, or even one in flight.

Eventually, we set off again and made our way towards the hide, passing good numbers of black-tailed godwits, redshank, dunlin, golden plovers and lovely summer plumaged grey plovers along the way. When we entered the hide, we found two people already in position. Kev scanned one side while I concentrated on the other, with the couple leaving after around 15 minutes.

Although I was looking in the opposite direction to Kev, we could both see good numbers of greenshank among the species we had already encountered. Five youngsters then walked along the channel towards a RIB with outboards, eventually pushing it into deeper water and rounding the corner until it disappeared.

A few minutes later, I spotted a bird approaching from my left and immediately recognised it as a raptor - a juvenile osprey! I alerted Kev, who came across to join me, and as we snapped away with our cameras, a second bird followed. The two ospreys circled the bay together before passing over the hide and onto the side Kev had been scanning, eventually heading back out over the estuary and disappearing.

We presumed the birds had been resting on one of the structures out on the estuary and had been disturbed by the rib as the youngsters set off, inadvertently giving us some excellent views in the process.

We continued to search but we weren't getting any views of the bird we wanted. We could see some tasty properties on the edge of the marshes and as we scanned around, we could see a golf course. The area around the tees and greens were lush, short-cut, and healthy, with a smooth, even surface typical of a maintained putting green, suggesting regular watering and close mowing. The fairway was dry, brown, and patchy, with large areas where the grass has thinned or gone dormant. It looked sun-scorched or drought-affected, giving a rougher, uneven texture compared with the greens.

Eventually, we had to admit defeat and accept that the black stork wasn’t going to be added to our sightings. We returned to the car and headed for home.

The following day, I was easing myself into the day when a report came through that a red-necked phalarope was still at Eyebrook Reservoir. Having missed a stunning individual at Farmoor Reservoir by just five minutes earlier in the year, I still needed to connect with one for my year list. I picked Kev up on the way and set off, with Google suggesting a rather unusual route through Daventry. It seemed a strange way of getting there, but it worked, and we eventually arrived on site.

As we pulled up, we stopped to check whether the bird was visible from the viewing platform. Kev went in for a look and returned saying he had seen it, so naturally I jumped out to have a look myself - well, you never know! We then drove another couple of hundred metres and pulled over at a stretch where we could look out across the inflow. From there, the phalarope was visible, albeit at some distance, feeding along a channel in front of a line of ducks and lapwings. It was constantly on the move as it worked its way along the water, making it difficult to keep track of at times, especially trying to take a video on our phones through our scopes. There was plenty of tutting.

The red-necked phalaropes are now heading south after breeding in the Arctic and sub-Arctic. Although they spend much of the winter at sea, migrating birds will stop at suitable inland wetlands to feed and rest, making reservoirs such as Eyebrook an important staging point. The shallow margins and exposed mud around the inflow provide particularly good feeding habitat, and the phalarope was making full use of it, constantly working its way along the channel among the other birds.

The phalarope suddenly took to the air along with the surrounding birds, although there was no obvious predator in sight to explain the disturbance. It wheeled around a couple of times before eventually dropping back down onto the nearest shore, giving us a much better view, although it was still some distance away. The views through the scope were excellent, but the heat haze continued to play havoc with both photographs and video.

We continued enjoying views of the phalarope, along with greenshank, green sandpiper, snipe, ruff and more on the water, when a shout went up that an osprey was approaching from our right. It wasn’t actively fishing and simply flew straight through, but it would prove to be the first of two birds/passes we would see that day. The second was rather more interesting, with the osprey carrying a fish as it passed by.

Ospreys wouldn’t be the only raptors we’d see, with a distant buzzard also appearing, followed by a flyby from a kestrel.

We chatted with some of the other birders, but we had only come out to see one special bird. We'd pack up and head home, again directed along a route that made no sense compared to many previous visits.

As has become normal these days, Charlotte and I headed out for a couple of hours of pickleball on Monday morning before stopping for lunch, and Charlotte then went out for part of the afternoon. Kev and a few other friends had returned to see the long-tailed shrike at Eastleach Martin, this time now that it had completed its moult.

When I had first visited, the shrike was already beginning to moult, with its plumage looking a little untidy as it started replacing its feathers. This time, the transformation was obvious. The moult was complete and the bird looked considerably smarter, sporting a fresh set of neatly formed feathers that gave it a much cleaner appearance. It was a nice reminder that even when returning to see the same individual, there can still be something different to appreciate.

I arrived to hear that the bird had been showing but had retreated inside the scrub under a tree and had been out of view for 5-10 minutes. I waited and sure enough in another 10-15 minutes it popped out and perched on the front of the tree. Within a couple of minutes it was on the move, dropping down onto the ground catching beetles and predominantly grasshoppers. The grasshopper population must have taken a hammering since the appearance of the shrike.

The long-tailed shrike at Eastleach Martin had already been around for some time before most birders knew about it, first being recorded at Macaroni Farm on 8 July 2026 and remaining there until at least 16 July, although news of its presence was not immediately released. It was subsequently seen along a hedge beside a minor road before apparently disappearing.

The bird was relocated on the morning of 19 July, when the news was released and birders began arriving in large numbers. This was no ordinary twitch, as the long-tailed shrike was an exceptional rarity in Britain. Remarkably, another long-tailed shrike had been found at Crail in Fife just days earlier when I had travelled north to see it, meaning two had appeared in Britain within the same month.

Identified as a first-summer bird, it was already undergoing moult when it was found, and this likely has contributed to its prolonged stay. During July and August, it has been a popular attraction, with birders able to watch it hunting from hawthorn bushes, fence posts and wires before dropping into the grass to catch insects. As the weeks have passed, its appearance gradually changed as the moult progressed.

The large number of visitors also created some logistical challenges, particularly as the bird was in an agricultural area during the harvest and the weather was exceptionally hot and dry. Fortunately, the local farmer opened a field for parking, with donations going towards conservation, allowing the many visiting birders to see the bird while minimising disruption to the surrounding farm.

What had started as an extraordinarily rare bird quietly occupying a Gloucestershire hedgerow had become one of the biggest birding attractions of the summer, eventually remaining in the area at least into the end of August.

While watching the bird, I got chatting to a woman who turned out to be Heather England @Heather24623189, someone I follow on both X and Bluesky. Heather is a regular source of sightings from WWT Slimbridge, frequently sharing her observations and photographs from the reserve and providing a useful picture of what is being seen there. She’d had some great views of the shrike and taken some lovely photographs - we had a very pleasant conversation while enjoying excellent views of the bird feeding its way up and down the hedge.

I’d been hoping to get home before Charlotte, but I got rather caught up watching the shrike, along with whinchats, wheatears, redstarts and more, and eventually arrived home just in time for dinner. A great visit all round, and a chance to see the shrike looking its absolute best in all its finery.

Year list: 284.