James Thorpe

Hi Neil, good to meet you too. I managed several crappy views and an even worse photo of the bunting but at least it wasn’t a wasted trip. 👍

It’s a great feeling when you see your first Wheatear of the year. This one on South Staffs farmland this evening.

Nice one Andy

My first Dark-edged bee-fly of the year this evening in the garden

A lovely bird to see locally - caught up with the Firecrest that's been seen recently at Bunker's Hill Wood near Stourbridge.

Not quite the Ross's Gull we went to see yesterday but enjoyed watching this 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull at South Shields as well as a few more nice year ticks.

An added bonus to the yearlist was this female Merlin at Greylake today.

An early morning trip to Steart WWT, Somerset to see the Least Sandpiper and get the year list rolling. Always a little bit distant, here with a Little Stint to the left.

After a four hour wait, thankfully had a brief view of the American Yellow Warbler in Kent today. Managed some terrible shots 😜followed by a painful journey home.

Thank you 😊

Another great day out in October was to see this gorgeous Asian Desert Warbler at Winterton Dunes.

Back from October at Bosherston Lily Ponds, seeing this stunning juvenile Little Crake at close range is right up there with my favourite birding experiences of the year.

The Christmas decorations are going up in the Thorpe household this weekend. I've tried to delay it a little but I'm fighting a losing battle with Mrs T and the kids. So to kick the weekend off, here's a Robin from the Wombrook earlier this week.

I've seen some nice moths this year but without a doubt, my favourite was finding a colony of Scarce Forest Tubic (Dasycera oliviella) early one morning in the Wyre Forest.

Thanks Marc 😊👍

Thanks mate 😀

Pallid Harrier

Hi to all the good people of the Bluesky community. Decided my first post here should be of one of my fondest memories of 2024. With so many to choose from it was difficult but I think seeing this 2nd W male Pallid Harrier in October at Dowrog Common in South Wales takes some beating.