Picture this

After a few months of being unable to upload images on Blogger I have finally found a solution and can now post with the addition of photographic excellence (or dodgy bridge camera efforts) to brighten up the dull wordage - just in time for the first monthly round-up of 2025. But before that, below are a few images that I was keen to share last year but found myself unable to do so.

In September (22nd) I was staying at Dungeness Bird Observatory when word went out that Dave Bunney had discovered a Western Bonelli's Warbler in his garden. After a brief dash across the shingle we were soon watching this most subtle beauty, a concoction of silky white and lime-green. It remained in the garden for all-comers to see but was not present the following morning. The locals were right - any warbler in Dave's garden never stays for more than a day - and what a tremendous list of warblers this modest patch of greenery boasts. Beats the four species that I can claim!

The Bonelli's Warbler would often disappear for 10-15 minutes but then put on a show for its admiring audience, often in this stunted pine.

On the same day as the warbler we were blown away by the heaviest visible migration spectacle that any of us had witnessed before. Over 126,000 Swallows, 84,000 House Martins and 500 Sand Martins left the Dungeness point on a broad front in a frenzied four hour period. The image above does not convey just what a visual overload it was - here can be seen just some of the thousands of House Martins that gathered above the power station before carrying on their journey. Please click on the image to get a better idea of just how many birds were involved.

October and November was largely spent vis-mig watching from various Surrey high points. With a distinct lack of thrushes and finches it was on the whole disappointing, but perseverance paid off with a decent passage of Hawfinches plus these two Great White Egrets heading north over Colley Hill on a bright, crisp October morning.