Peter Driver

Yesterday, I joined my two local bird clubs for a joint day-trip to Pennington Marsh, Hants. We noted 63 species including Little Stint, Spotted Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwit and a nice Grey Plover moulting out of summer plumage.
The last of the swallows were still flitting about.
#ukbirding

Water Rails are now beginning to show once more after the breeding season. This one kept close to the edge of the reed bed foraging for food.

A fine day in Berkshire. This morning I spent time with fellow Marshians stomping the marsh at Fobney Meadow to maintain the habitat.
After lunch the County Recorder found a juv. Ring-necked Duck on my local gravel pit - my first of the year.
#berksbirds

Any takers? Free shipping ends Sunday.

Thank you Jonathan!

🥁

Can't ever resist a showy Yellow-browed Warbler (It's the same with Waxwing too). Always gotta get just one more photo! 😉👍 #YellBirding #Shetland

My new five-colour reduction woodcut print in aid of Refugee Support Group and Sue Ryder Duchess of Kent Hospice. Limited edition of 25 prints. There are 12 remaining this afternoon so get in quick to avoid missing out. Details on my online shop: peterdriver.bigcartel.com

#printmaking #woodcut

Dated August 2023... They've been doing this sort of thing for a long time, just checking they're being noticed.

Collared Dove - a pair on the power line outside my kitchen window while the kettle was boiling.

Beautiful encounter. I share that fear of the terror we might unleash if we are not very careful.

Rural Reading

A Marshian encounter

ruralreading.com

Reform UK's ex-Wales leader Nathan Gill admits pro-Russia bribery Nathan Gill admits eight charges of bribery while being a Member of the European Parliament.

How is this not front page news?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A flock of six Crossbill in the village yesterday was my 186th species of the year and my 95th within the parish boundary of my home village, Stratfield Mortimer.
#berksbirds

Remembering John Bonham, who left us #OTD 1980. #Zeppelin

Corporal Beefheart and his Magic Band.

Juvenile male Stonechat in the hand

Some good vismig on patch with the change in wind over the past two days so decided to go out ringing yesterday with @plewin.bsky.social and caught over 200 birds. 81 Chiff, 33 Blackcap, 33 Mipit, a late Whitethroat and the first Stonechat ringed on site being the highlights #ukbirding

Blurry photo of an adult Yellow-legged Gull, its yellow legs half submerged in water, its red eye-ring just about discernible, mid-grey mantle, fairly clean white head, orange gonys spot only on lower mandible.

A view across Crookham Common, facing East from the point where it joins Greenham Common. Blue sky and white clouds above a heathland of gorse, heather and hawthorn bushes. A gravel path follows the line of what used to be the main runway when this was RAF Greenham Common.

A blurry photo of a male Kingfisher perched on a leafless bush, its irridenscent blue back and cap contrasting with red-orange cheek and belly. Both mandibles of the long bill are black, indicating an adult male. Its black eye is looking down, presumably waiting for a fish to move in the pool which is out of shot.

A blurry record shot of a Woodlark on the ground in thick green grass. It is facing right giving a side-view. It has a clear white supercilium, streaked brown back, neck and chest, a white belly and a white flash in the dark primaries of the folded wing.

It had a good morning in West Berkshire on Monday. Two Black-tailed Godwit and this adult Yellow-legged Gull at Lower Farm GP, then on Crookham Common, Woodlark, Dartford Warbler, Kingfisher and a ten-second encounter with a Yellow-browed Warbler (my first of the year).

#berksbirds

We noted 42 species on our recent field trip to Hosehill Lake, including Common Sandpiper, Sparrowhawk and Cetti's Warbler.
Thanks to Elaine Charlson for these pics of the Red-crested Pochards we saw. If you'd like to join us on a free walk, details are on the website (link in bio).

#berksbirds

A five mile walk this afternoon from my home, around the northern side of Stratfield Mortimer parish produced the first Whinchat I've ever found in the village, as well as Garden Warbler, juv. Stonechat and a flock of Meadow Pipits.
#lowcarbonbirding
#berksbirds

Curlew Sandpiper influx is biggest in years A major influx of Curlew Sandpiper has taken place across Britain and Ireland during September 2025, with the arrival considered the most significant for many years. The influx is thought to have involved thousands of birds, with three-figure counts made at some sites and several more totals in excess of 50 individuals. While historically Curlew Sandpiper was much more common on migration in Britain and Ireland, this year's influx is of great significance by modern standards.

A major influx of Curlew Sandpiper has taken place across Britain and Ireland during September 2025, with the arrival considered the most significant for many years:

Good luck Jonathan!

A reminder that bird flu/avian influenza hasn't gone away, is now endemic, and raptors are a very vulnerable group. These Peregrine deaths in Dorset come after new paper in #BirdStudy showed bird flu effects on Scottish Peregrines: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... #ornithology #ukbirding

One for the music-loving bird enthusiasts. What five tracks would you add to my bird-related playlist?
Here's the first five:
1. Eels - I like Birds
2. Buffalo Springfield - Bluebird
3. The Beatles - Blackbird
4. Guillemots - Redwings
5. Fleetwood Mac - Albatross

What else?

#playlist #ukbirding

Bar-tailed Godwit hiding behind a bank at Pagham Harbour (Church Norton) yesterday. My 184th bird of the year.
But I also dropped my notebook somewhere out there 😞
#ukbirding

First BOC field trip of the season - joint with NDOC friends - Pagham Harbour & Medmerry. Highlights included Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Cattle Egret and summer-plumage Grey Plover.
See our website for future events and come, join us.
#ukbirding

House Sparrow for me.

Today was a day for juvenile waders at Berkshire's Queen Mother Reservoir. Two Ruff (only one in the photo) and Knot, passing through. These were my first Knot within the County - my 199th Berkshire bird.
#berksbirds

Nice to see.

1. Close views of Marsh Tit at Warburg Reserve
2. Half a dozen Spotted Flycatchers at Warburg
3. A post-breeding flock of 19 Mistle Thrushes on a local farm
4. Eight Woodlark on Greenham Common
5. Whinchat on Greenham Common, being my 180th species for the year.