Phal-uva day

Grey Phalarope on the Farnes...

Not a great photo but you can see what it is!

Proof it was the Farnes!



blurred but distinctive

29th December comments: We took our time, but with just three days of 2013 left, we bagged ourselves the final ‘new’ bird of the year. Whilst out around the islands, a large feeding group of Black-headed Gulls and Kittiwakes was discovered in Staple Sound which had lured in a first-winter Little Gull (a scarce visitor to the islands) but also something else…

Amongst this feeding throng, a small wading bird cut into view and dropped down onto the sea resulting in only one thing; a Grey Phalarope. These small specialist wading birds feed from the surface of the sea and the Farnes are one of the best localities in the UK for them. The islands have boasted annual records since 1999 and we even had six together on the sea in 2011 (getting greedy!)

However having broken the record this year for the total number of bird species recorded (we’ve recorded 192 species; three more than the record) we had failed to connect with a Grey Phalarope….until now! So we left it late, but it completes a phenomenal year for the islands with a total of 193 species recorded (including three ‘new’ for the islands. However in three days time we’ll welcome 2014 and we’ll be starting all over again…..bring it on!