18th November 2009 – Nearctic Wader Double in East Lothian!
Most of northern Britain seems to be engulfed in heavy rain and strong winds currently. However a trip to East Lothian with Chris gave us a pleasant surprise in the form of blue-skies and sunshine! Our first place to visit was Musselburgh Lagoons where a 1st winter Wilson’s Phalarope had been present the previous few days. Thankfully, we were not to be disappointed; the Phalarope was feeding on the western most pool. Although the Wilson’s Phalarope was a bit far away for photography (as my pics and video clip (below) demonstrate), the views were still good in the bright sunlight. We watched the bird for some time as it typically span around in circles as it fed.

14th – 16th November 2009 – Dip, Dip, Dowitcher…
‘Hexham Ray’ had found a Long-billed Dowitcher at Port Carlisle the previous day and Darren had located it again on the 14th. Chris arrived at mine just after lunch and we made our way to Port Carlisle in the hope of seeing the dowitcher. On arrival we learnt that the bird had not been seen for some time, things did not get better and we didn’t manage to see the bird. However a couple of Little Egrets and a Spotted Redshank made the trip worthwhile. The following day I attempted (and failed) to see the Long-billed Dowitcher during the afternoon. As can be seen by the really crappy second half (even crapper than the first half) of the a

23rd October 2009 – Eastern Crowned Warbler in County Durham…..!
Late last night I checked Birdguides only to discover that an Eastern Crowned Warbler had been found at Trow Quarry in County Durham! This species breeds in Japan, Korea and the extreme south-eastern areas of far Eastern Russia and winters in Malaysia and Western Indonesia. Prior to this record the species had only been recorded in the Western Palearctic four times (Germany 1843, Norway 2002, Finland 2004, Netherlands 2007). This species has been on my mind for many years, it was one of those ‘dream birds’ that I knew had potential to turn up the UK, yet I thought I would never see! I had got barely any sleep that night, which is certainly not the great start so

12th October 2009 – A Jay & a Teal
The afternoon started well when a Jay flew over the garden, this was a new ‘garden record’! The weather was bright and sunny, so Kath and I made a short trip to Siddick Ponds. On arrival it was not long before I located the female Pintail and drake Green-winged Teal that had been on the pond for the past few days. The Green-winged Teal showed reasonably well, though frustratingly it was roosting with its head tucked in most of the time!

11th October 2009 – Northumberland
Chris arrived at my house at 0700hrs and we were soon on our way to Northumberland. The weather was damp and dreary until we got to the Cresswell area where it was in contrast; bright and sunny. We had a quick look at the north end of Cresswell Pond before heading onto Druridge Pools. The previous day a Radde’s Warbler had been found in the bushes alongside the path to one of the hides. We hoped the bird was still present! Amazingly, as soon as we arrived the bird was in view. We managed some nice views of the bird, before it disappeared again into a gorse bush. Next we made our way to the hide in the hope of seeing the Glossy Ibis again. I could not quite believe how