April-June 2026: Local Birds & Rare Plover

Late April birding back in the UK was nothing special, but I did come across a flock of Whimbrel and also got some nice (but distant) shots of Osprey and Marsh Harrier near their nest sites. Round on the loop trail boardwalk, I also got good view of Cuckoo, which showed well in the evening light. Indeed, I got one of my best flight shots here one evening. Early May began well with more Whimbrel around at the usual places, and I enjoyed photographing common stuff, including summer migrants (Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting and Common Whitethroat). Local reserves became the foci of my photographic walks from early May to early June, with repeat visits to the estuary point in the hope of catching the odd skua. Common Whitethroat showed well, and I had fun photographing Turnstone in the waves.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I also fluked a Stoat (?) that popped up in front of me as I was photographing a Lesser Whitethroat at the end of the hedge line. Equally exciting was the sight of an Otter in mid-May (which reappeared on two or three other dates). Little Egrets provided some nice moments as I waited for the skuas to pass. I did see a few Arctics, a single Pomarine and a Great, but there was no sign of any Long-tailed.

• 

• 

Rumours spread quickly when I heard of a nearby Spoonbill, and I dashed over in time to get some lovely views and some very nice photographs. The Spoonbill was a superb adult and posed pretty nicely for the camera. In late May, I got side-tracked at the start of the walk by a Tawny Owl I’d seen briefly. My patience paid off and eventually, I got sight of the thing perched high up in a sycamore tree, looking down at me nonchalantly and with an air of superiority!

• 

• 

The next day, I had lovely views of Grasshopper Warbler and Stonechat  and also got some nice images of Garden Warbler.  The first of these showed especially well on the small bushes and wire fencing. I also heard, not for the first time, the distinctive, harsh ‘chut-chut-chut-chut’ of a Lesser Whitethroat in the hedge opposite the house, and this time I was determined to get a decent image (or what was, arguably, a bird on my garden list!), and whilst I struggled to get the perfect shot – because of the usual light issues and obstructing vegetation – I think I got my best images ever of this elusive species. At a local woodland, I had to settle for nice views of Goldcrest and Nuthatch. The Otter re-appeared at the end of May, and it was on this day too, I think, that I heard Quail from the house again (at night). A few days later, I was out walking at the ‘Little Track’ and heard another Quail. I returned with my camera and even clapped eyes on a bird quite close to me, but as I raised my lens, the damned thing took off and landed further away in long grass. There was at least one here, possibly two or even three. Such a shame I had no photographic evidence of any of them. And whilst I was taking shots of the local Avocets in early June, a bloke turned up and mentioned that he’d just been watching a rarity a few miles away. Without further ado, I whizzed off and got to the site to join a few other birder-photographers taking shots of a female Kentish Plover! I settled down and reeled off a few shots myself.