Jon Cook
Birder, mostly local patch, sometimes further afield | Photography, wildlife, the outdoors | Northamptonshire county bird recorder: https://joncookbirding.wordpress.com
- Snow Bunting at Cairn Gorm today. Walked up the Allt Mor trail from Glenmore: a winter wonderland.
- Great Northern Diver today at Draycote Water, Warwickshire #ukbirding
- Sparrowhawk, with Moorhen prey, this morning at Ravensthorpe Reservoir #northantsbirds
- A bright and breezy day to end a short trip to East Sussex and Kent. Med. Gull and Kittiwake at Dungeness; 60+ White-fronted Geese at Pett Level; a raft of Red-throated Divers off Winchelsea Beach.
- Goldeneyes in the murk this morning at Ravensthorpe Reservoir. Close enough to hear the males making a low-frequency buzzing sound that I’d not heard before, in addition to the usual loud, mechanical ‘cree-creek’ call. #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Smew this afternoon at Pitsford Reservoir #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Whooper Swan this afternoon at Hollowell Reservoir; flew in with 4 Mute Swans #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Jack Snipe this afternoon at Hollowell Reservoir #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Red-breasted Merganser this morning at Ravensthorpe Reservoir. Briefly indulged in a bit of head-throwing display amid a raft of Tufted Ducks, then seemed to depart south. A site tick for me. #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Another grey day here… but we had a brief & intense fiery sunset over Guilsborough #nnskies
- Black-necked Grebe yesterday at Pitsford Reservoir #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Dusky Warbler this morning at Aylestone Meadows. Calling constantly for c20 minutes, feeding in the willow canopy; tricky to see well, but occasionally popped out into the open. UK tick #300 for me. #leicsbirds #lros #ukbirding
- Grey Plover this morning at Hollowell Reservoir. Appeared overhead from the north, flew a few circuits, calling constantly, then seemed to depart south. #northantsbirds #ukbirding #waders
- Herring Gull with Garfish this evening at Porthgwarra #CornwallBirds #CBWPS
- Arctic Skua this morning from Pendeen Watch. 5+ past in the c90 minutes I was there; also a steady passage of Sooty Shearwaters and several small groups of Common Scoters. #CornwallBirds #CBWPS #ukbirding
- Sabine’s Gull and Sooty Shearwater this afternoon at Pendeen, Cornwall. Three of each while I was there, plus 2 Arctic Skuas (missed a couple more while I was getting my eye in); plus a constant stream of auks, Gannets, Kittiwakes etc.
- Cape Cornwall / Saint Just. Down here for a week. Weather forecast looks lively!
- Rock Pipit, early doors / first light this morning at Hollowell Reservoir #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Crossbills this morning at Hollowell Reservoir #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Common Scoter this morning at Hollowell Reservoir; present since Tuesday. #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- White Edge, Curbar, Derbyshire: c150 Pink-footed Geese just now, heading east. Heard them coming long before I could see them; a lovely sight and sound #ukbirding
- Pectoral Sandpiper this evening at Hollowell Reservoir; day 7 of its stay here #northantsbirds #ukbirding #waders
- Pectoral Sandpiper this morning at Hollowell Reservoir. Chuffed to find this after a quiet autumn so far here for #waders. #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Northern Wheatear and Dunlin this morning at a rainy Hollowell Reservoir; also there, 8 Stonechats, 2 Ringed Plovers and a late-ish Sand Martin. #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Common Scoter this morning at Hollowell Reservoir. Distant / record shot; picked it up off the opposite bank after I’d almost completed a lap & had to head home. #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Slavonian Grebe this evening at Hollowell Reservoir. Great find earlier by Mark Piper. With a raft of Coots and Great Crested Grebes; occasionally flushed into flight by rowing boat. #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Whinchat this evening at Hollowell Reservoir. Also there, a decent early count of 8 Stonechats (6 together). #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Ringed Plover & Little Ringed Plover together this evening at Hollowell Reservoir #northantsbirds #ukbirding #waders
- Juvenile Hobby this evening at Ravensthorpe Reservoir #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Common Redstart this morning at Glassthorpehill, Harpole. One of two present. A new location for me for this species; came walking by here a couple of months ago and thought it looked a likely spot. #northantsbirds #ukbirding #redstart
- Ringed Plover this morning at Hollowell Reservoir, with 2 Little Ringed Plovers. Also Osprey flew through S, Peregrine, 4 Common Sandpipers and first Meadow Pipit of autumn #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Black Tern this morning at Hollowell Reservoir, one of two present #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Northern Wheatear this morning on the dam at Hollowell Reservoir. A good start to the day: typically only see a handful of these per year here. #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Juvenile Stonechat this evening at Hollowell Reservoir; present since yesterday; first one locally for me this autumn. I’d say I see more Whinchats here in August. #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Black Stork this morning near Boyton, Suffolk. Zitting Cisticola yesterday at Walberswick - two bonus features in a thoroughly enjoyable weekend camping trip.
- Hollowell Reservoir this morning: 3 Greenshanks (2 shown here), 3 Whinchats (my first of this autumn), Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper and a Crossbill; plus a scattering of commoner migrants including Willow Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Lesser Whitethroat. Not bad! #northantsbirds #ukbirding
- Two Curlews over Hollowell this evening, flew up the valley, calling as they went; ✅ #85 for the in / over / from home & garden list.
- Greenshank this evening at Hollowell Reservoir; present since yesterday afternoon #northantsbirds #ukbirding #waders
- Dunlin this afternoon at Hollowell Reservoir; one of two which dropped in during a band of squally rain #northantsbirds #waders #ukbirding
