Black-throated divers at the end of the rainbow

A wonderful flat rainbow at Firemore today. There must be an impressive pot of gold at the end of it surely?  Well there certainly was, a flock of 22 stunning summer plumage black-throated divers in the bay at Firemore beach. 

In all seriousness, is there a better looking bird on the British list? Or a more evocative bird? Just breathtaking.

Stinky minkes in the Minch

Have you ever smelled a whales breathe? No? Then you've never lived. Minke whales are often given the nickname stinky minke because if you're down wind of them when they blow they..... well you get the idea. 

It was the first of my scheduled whale watching trips from Gairloch this morning, with Hebridean Whale Cruises, on board the Humber rib "Orca 1". As usual it was the most wonderful of experiences, loads of whales and dolphins, even more seabirds, stunning scenery and an exhilarating, high speed 100km (60 mile) ride as well. What's not to love? A bargain at £110. 

Today we travelled to the north tip of Trotternish on Skye, past the Quirang, Kilt Rock and the Old Man of Storr, then through the Gap of Rona and past Raasay before heading back to Gairloch. We saw about seven minke whales, plus lots of common dolphins and a few harbour porpoise. 

Birds were really good, best being a juvenile long-tailed skua which went over our boat twice and then chased a kittiwake. Other birds included a couple of sooty shearwaters and a few storm petrels, all quite close to the boat. The weather has been ok generally but the wind forecast over the next few days is hit and miss so fingers crossed that I can get out again on Wednesday!

Minke whale.

Common dolphins.

Long-tailed skua in the Minch

Juvenile long-tailed skua chasing a kittiwake.
Photo © Karen Munro

The highlight of todays whale watching trip for me was this stunning juvenile long-tailed skua which has been so wonderfully captured in these images taken by fellow passenger Karen Munro. We were just off Kilt Rock when somebody called out "skua!", and I saw the bird approach and watched it fly low over our boat. It was clearly a very small, slender skua and could be immediately identified as long-tailed on size alone. It did a couple of fly pasts and then chased a juvenile kittiwake for a minute or two about 10m from the boat before flying off south. Later I was surprised to learn that long-tailed skua is a description species in the Highland recording area.

Juvenile long-tailed skua chasing a kittiwake.
Photo © Karen Munro

Minke whales at Peterburn

A flat calm day today, perfect for whale watching and midges, and Peterburn, just north of Gairloch, is a great place for both. Following another good morning at Big Sand with more views of the black-throated diver flock. I spent the afternoon at my favourite mainland viewing point and counted at least seven minkes scattered across the huge panorama of the Minch. 

The midges were just awful but honestly, who cares when the reward is this?

Looking towards Skye.

Pacific diver at Caolas beag

Caolas beag is the straight between Longa island and the mainland at the northern end of the entrance to Loch Gairloch in North West Scotland. Eight days ago an adult winter plumage Pacific diver was found in the straight, loosely associating with black-throated divers and sometimes shags. It was reported for about five days but then nothing, no news either way. I wasn't completely surprised by this, Caolas beag is a long way from anywhere, even Inverness is a two hour drive, and Pacific divers aren't that rare these days, so it was unlikely to draw a big crowd. I did however expect a few birders today given that it's weekend and it's still a mega rarity in Scotland, with most UK records coming from England and Wales, so I thought that a few Scottish birders might be looking to add it to their Scottish lists. Be that as it may, I was the only birder on site this afternoon.

It's a place I know well from previous visits to this area and though I'm not exactly local at the moment, I am staying at Aultbea, a village about 17 miles away, so it was no trouble to visit this wonderful site today. 

I'd been told that it was the only black-throated type diver in the straight in non-breeding plumage, yet even so I had to scan he water several times before I picked it up, quite distant with a flock of 12 breeding plumage black-throated divers. It had a completely different jizz to its cousins, being obviously smaller with a finer, shorter bill and a rounder head shape. The difference was so stark that it actually looked like a grebe swimming amongst the divers.

Crucially, it did not have the white flanks of black-throated which is a diagnostic feature of Pacific. It's face also lacked the the white cheeks of non-breeding black-throated and the overall impression at that distance was of  a bird with a grey head and  pale throat rather than the usual grey head and pale face of black-throated. 

Obviously there is variation amongst individuals, perhaps even sexual dimorphism, but the overall size, head shape and bill size was quite different from the accompanying black-throats. I had no doubts that it was indeed a Pacific diver, even though it was much too far away to see the chin strap, which by the way is not diagnostic of Pacific diver because a proportion of black-throated divers also show this feature, as you can see in the photo below which I took on Barra in October 2023. 

Black-throated diver with complete chin strap, 
Barra 2023.

It was quite a sunny afternoon and as the sun moved round to the west viewing became more difficult and the birds more silhouetted, so at that distance there was no chance of a photo. I'll try again tomorrow morning.

Also on the straight today, at least four great northern divers, including a breeding plumage adult, and four breeding plumage red-throated divers.

The pipistrelles over the garden

The bats over the garden have been putting on a good show this summer. For an hour after dusk and an hour before dawn they swirl around the garden, sometimes coming quite close, sometimes going over the neighbours garden, but always coming back to us. We usually watch them through our large patio doors which overlooks the garden. 

The sunset in that direction can be quite dramatic, imagine the sunset for which Pennington Flash is renowned, well we get that through our patio doors. Then, just as it starts to fade and the sky is turning pink, the bats come out and entertain us. It can be so good that often we will turn off the tv, if it was ever on, turn off the lights and just sit there chatting with a beer and looking out at the sunset and watching the bats. Honestly it's better than anything on telly. They're usually around from about the end of March to the end of September but occasionally will come out in winter if we have a mild spell.

We've had bats for at least 10 years, I suspect that they are in our building, probably under the facia at the front. but I've never seen them emerge. I really hope so, I don't want this fabulous experience to depend on sympathetic neighbours who may of may not appreciate the bats. There are three bats in this video, but you'll have to be quick to spot them all!

A few years ago using a bat detector that I borrowed from work, I identified them as soprano pipistrelles broadcasting at around 55 kHz. I've just assumed that that's what they still are, but they could be common pipistrelle, or perhaps both. I no longer have access to a bat detector so I can't check.

Willow emerald completes the set at Bickershaw

With the summer rapidly drawing to a close, bringing more unsettled weather, the pressure was on if I was to complete the set of odonata at Bickershaw in 2026. I mean, how many more suitable days will there be for dragonfly watching this year, especially since I have a holiday to Scotland approaching soon which will take out a sizeable slice of the time available. So today, with a bright sunny afternoon forecast, albeit 15 degrees celsius cooler than it was a couple of weeks ago, I decided that it was an opportunity to seek out the last remaining species on my personal site list that was missing so far this year.

Since I started visiting the site in June 2025, I've managed to record what I think is an amazing 24 species of dragonfly and damselfly. The only one of those 24 species that I hadn't managed to see this year was willow emerald, a late summer and early autumn species. Last year we saw it on a small pond near Fir Tree flash and later on the stock pond in the north of the site. 

Frustratingly when I arrived at the small pond today, the sun was behind a cloud and there was nothing flying so I continued on my way.

However, when I reached the stock pond the sun was out again and almost immediately I managed to see this stunning willow emerald perched on exactly the same tree that we saw them in last year. What a fantastic looking damselfly this is and easy to recognise, being obviously larger than common emerald (up to 4.8cm long) with no large patches of blue in the abdomen, pale pterostigmas (the rectangular patches at the end of the wing) and a prominent spur like mark projecting into the cream on the side of the thorax.

So that's it, if I'm to add to my total for this year I'll need to find something new for the site. Red-veined darter springs to mind, or possibly scarce blue-tailed damselfly. There's always something to look for and Bickershaw has proved to me that anything is possible.

Clifden Nonpareil, St Helens

What a week it's been for moths in St Helens, hot on the heels of Mondays striped hawk-moth, last night brought a Clifden Nonpareil to Ray's trap in Parr. Another migrant, this is a big moth, larger actually than the striped hawk-moth with a forewing of up to 48mm (just under 2"). Unsurprisingly it's in the same family as red underwing. A first for me and the third for St Helens.

Glossy ibis on Teal scrape, Pennington Flash

The glossy ibis from yesterday evening was still present this morning in exactly the same place on the gull raft island just off the spit and showed no inclination to move away from the island. It's routine was sleep for 20 minutes, wake up, preen for 5 minutes, walk right feeding for about 5m, fly back to it's original position, preen for 5 minutes, sleep for 20 minutes, repeat, repeat, repeat etc......  

It continued more or less in this way all morning up until 11am when it suddenly decided to fly east over Horrock's hide, was lost to view behind trees, and was presumed to have gone. However, at 12:25 it was relocated on Teal scrape, viewable from Charlie Owen hide.

I called in again after lunch on my way to do the weekly shop to find only one other birder present in the hide but the ibis showing well and much closer in far better light. 

Why it decided to relocate here is hard to know, it seemed to be feeding quite well in it's original position, but perhaps it just fancied a change of scenery or diet. I wasn't totally surprised, the only other glossy ibis that I have seen at the flash was also on Teal scrape on 8th May 2018 (opens in a new window). 

Glossy ibis on gull raft island

A phone call from Phil had me gulping down my tea and shooting off to the flash this evening in an attempt to see a glossy ibis that he had just found. It was only viewable from the ruck so I headed for Common lane, parked up and crossed the footbridge over the canal then dropped down to the Point. It was on the island with the gull raft on the north side of the spit. It spent some of its time out of view depending on which side of the raft it was on but when it was feeding it was a decent enough view. My second glossy ibis at Pennington Flash following one on Teal scrape on 8th May 2018.

Striped hawk-moth, St Helens

A Striped hawk-moth caught by Dave Owen last night was a first for St Helens and also a first for me. This is a migrant species and it's appearance is not completely unexpected in a year when so many other migrant insects have been seen locally, such as hummingbird hawk-moth, clouded yellow butterflies and lesser emperor dragonflies.

More days of dragonfly hunting at Bickershaw

It's easy to forget that I saw my first small red-eyed damselflies just last year. This year they seem to be everywhere, even in the crane pen at Martin Mere! This pair were at the stock pond, Bickershaw.

Last year we failed to find ruddy darter at Bickershaw but there's been quite a few so far this year.

Juvenile Mediterranean gull at Pennington Flash

A cracking juvenile Mediterranean gull on the car park at Pennington Flash today. Also today, female common scoter and juvenile whinchat, the latter not seen by me.

Another wave of clouded yellows and black darter at Bickershaw

A decent couple of days at Bickershaw, highlights being another three clouded yellows and an excellent array of dragonflies including my first black darter of the year bringing my Bickershaw total to 22 species in 2026. Also today a few ruddy darters, common darters, four species of hawker and a lingering keeled skimmer. Just need willow emerald now to complete the set at Bickershaw this year.

Spoonbills, quail and avocets on the Ribble

I was at Hesketh Out Marsh for 6:30 this morning, my second visit of the weekend following a late afternoon visit yesterday. With Marshside and Banks now little more than dust bowls, HOM is virtually the only place with water on these marshes, and even here it appears to be drying rapidly. I walked east for about a mile and a half, to the point where the River Douglas joins the Ribble. 

I was accompanied on the way by the song of at least four quail in the fields, while on the pools there were three spoonbill, an adult and two juveniles, 16 avocets, spotted redshank, 600+ black-tailed godwits, around 40 common terns, many redshanks and perhaps most impressively, 26 greenshank. 

On reaching the Douglas I found even more avocets, 40 in total, plus another two spoonbills, the adult and juvenile in the photo at the top of this post.

Quail have bred here this year with adults and chicks seen on at least one occasion, spoonbills breed in the local vicinity and avocets are now long established. It's impossible to walk here these days without seeing at least 20 little egrets and two or three great white egrets. Should we be happy or concerned? Short term happy I guess, but long term? Who knows?

Wood sandpiper and yellow wagtails at Martin Mere

After a long, hot, dry summer there is very little water left at Martin Mere. Vinsons and Woodend marshes are completely dry and there's just a puddle left on Sunleys. The only water really is on the Mere and at the reedbed. Langley's brook still flows, albeit with more mud than normal, but Boat House sluice looks as full as ever. 

Even so, there are still plenty of good birds to be seen, with up to five great white egrets on site, plus 20 cattle egrets and a few little. Wood, green and common sandpipers are all still around and there's a growing flock of 22 ruff. The damp mud of Sunleys is attracting decent numbers of wagtails, with at least 20+ yellow and probably around the same number of alba wagtails today. A kingfisher fished on Boat House sluice.

This wood sandpiper has been on the mere for about four days and can show really well at times, as it did yesterday. However, today it was right at the back of the mere and for a brief spell relocated to Langley's brook where it joined four green sandpipers.

The mere is actually looking really good for waders and if it can stay like this for another month it may be the place to be during late August / September. With so many other places completely dry, it may become a magnet for passage waders.

Hungarian black-headed gull at the flash

A black-headed gull with a yellow ring H2Z8 was on the car park at Pennington Flash today, ringed at  Királyszentistván, near Budapest, Hungary on 18/01/2026, a distance of 1619km from Leigh.

This is a first for me from Hungary which means that I have so far recorded black-headed gulls from Poland, Finland, Holland, Germany, Norway and now Hungary all on the car park at the flash. Reading the rings and submitting them to the relevant authorities makes life so much more interesting than just walking past a group of gulls.

Black Storks at Gayton Sands, Dee Estuary

I embarked on another spontaneous twitch this morning when news came through that two black storks that had been seen at Parkgate yesterday evening, had been seen again in the same area early morning today. I abandoned Pennington Flash immediately and headed to the Old Baths car park at Parkgate, where I arrived an hour later at 9am. I then walked north for about 1km to the viewing area.

The birds were apparently on the ground but in one of the channels on the saltmarsh which combined with the height of the vegetation meant that they were completely out of view despite their size. At least we knew where they were so in theory all that I had to do was stick it out and wait for them to fly, whenever that might be.

Fortunately I didn't have long to wait, after about 45 minutes the shout went up that they were in the air and suddenly I saw them, directly out from us, perhaps 500m away and in line with Bagillt on the other side of the estuary. That last piece of information is important but I'll get back to that later 😄.....

A really magnificent sight, they circled around climbing higher all of the time, coming as close as 100-200m at times, until finally they were little more than dots and appeared to be heading off east. Except that they didn't go east.

I was surprised at how many people just ignored them and left after the initial sighting. People were packing up and saying "are we off?" and leaving, with the birds still circling overhead. Having made the effort to go I was determined to watch them as long as I could and perhaps see where they went. Pretty soon there were just two of us left, still watching the storks as they suddenly dropped and came down, now heading north before appearing to land behind trees somewhere beyond the golf club. Later in the afternoon, long after I had gone, there were two further reports, again of the birds distantly and briefly on the saltmarsh, confirming that they hadn't left the area earlier. The last report of the day from the Dee was from Burton Mere Wetlands at 13:20, and with a report of two black storks at Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire at 17:30, it looks like this time they really have gone.

These birds were just my second ever sighting of black stork in the UK, the first being on Walney Island in October 1985.

"So why is it so important that the birds were in line with Bagillt?", I hear you ask. Go to the end of this post to find out.