A Spring Visit to Ivinghoe Beacon

14th April 2026

A beautiful Spring day so time to explore the hills around Ivinghoe Beacon. The first area to view was the slope below the car park where a Dark-edged Bee-fly was sunning itself on the warm ground.

On the bird front there were many of the usual suspects including singing Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps.

Also a single Whitethroat, my first of the year.

One surprise was this male Yellowhammer which I can't recall seeing on this slope before, but I am sure they must be there as the habitat is perfect for them.

Now down at the bottom of the slope and the start of the climb up to Galley Hill. The first birds to appear were a pair of Meadow Pipits which were already in song flight with their amazing parachuting routine.

And not far away a pair of Sky Larks which quite often sing from the ground................

.....................although never as inspiring as their song flight.

Now on top of the ridge and the far side of the slope is covered with small Hawthorn bushes which are home to several pairs of Linnets, with the males looking stunning with their rosy breasts.

And also a Willow Warbler, a relatively scarce bird these days, singing from the top of one of the Hawthorns.

At that moment there was a loud "kronk" overhead as a couple of Ravens flew over, one of which was in wing moult.

Now back on the flat in the area around the sheep pens and a male Stonechat sat up on a bare twig. The female kept her distance.

But the stars of the show today were the 15+ Wheatears in the area.

Some were fairly confiding, but there were also a couple of posers who had done all this before.

Nearly got this one in!!!!

Well what a fantastic morning and I'm sure another visit will be on the cards.

A Lesser Scaup at Wilstone Reservor

14th April 2026

On the 2nd April a possible male Lesser x Greater Scaup hybrid was reported at College Lake in Buckinghamshire. It stayed there until the 13th April, but after the first day was always reported as a Lesser Scaup. On the same dayit disappeared a Lesser Scaup was found at Wilstone Reservoir in Hertfordshire, presumably the bird from College Lake, and so far has only been reported as a Lesser Scaup.

On the first day it had been seen near the outflow but had now moved close to the shooting butts and therefore best seen from the hide. Unfortunately it was very distant, a distance of 350 yards as measured on Google Earth.

So I settled down in the hide waiting for the bird to come closer and was able to enoy the support acts of the usual suspects like Little Egret and a pair of Great Crested Grebes.

Also a couple of bonuses were a Stock Dove and a pair of Oystercatchers.

By now the bird had emerged from the trees on the spit and had moved a bit closer so time for some shots.

Well, this was my first visit to Wilstone for a year or so, not helped by the building works. And made even better by a trip down memory lane in the good company of Phil Luckhurst, Laurence Drummond, Sh4rpy and Dave Hutchinson. 

Also good to get Graham White as a year tick who these days is worth 50 points rarity value😊

Wheatear and Yellow Wagtails at Billets Farm...........and a Surprise!!!!

10th April 2026

After a great morning with the Nightingales at Fingringhoe Wick, time to try my luck once more with the Wheatears and Yellow Wagtails at Billets Farm. As before there was only one male Wheatear which spent all of its time feeding along the fenceline that runs along the reservoir bank and therefore always a bit distant.

However, this time instead of being just four Yellow Wagtails there were 20+, although free-ranging from the barn roofs to the fields around us. I prefer the fields to fence posts.

This bird was trying to catch an insect by the stock fence next to us, and you can see the insect in the 2nd and 3rd photos. This type of behaviour is ideal, as when they are chasing food they don't even know you exist.

And then to finish off the day nicely this bird flew in and landed on top of a Hawthorn bush just 20 yards away.

That will do nicely!!!

So what was the surprise? Well I knew something was up when I arrived at Billets car park as today there were double the most cars I have ever seen there, and surely they weren't all photographing Yellow Wagtails. I had checked Birdguides just before I left Fingringhoe and there was nothing unusual in the area.

However I soon found out that just five minutes previously Dave Low had found a 2CY Bonaparte's Gull in the middle of the reservoir. Unfortunately reservoirs are quite large and even on this side arm of the main reservoir the nearest opposite bank is 800 yards away as measured on Google Earth, and while I was there it always seemed to be about half way out.

So decent shots were out of the question, but I did manage some rather poor record shots when it was settled on the water.

What a great end to a great day!!!!