Eurasian Scops Owl at Ryhope in Durham plus trip to Dorset.

28th September 2017  Ryhope in Durham

Eurasian Scops Owl.

Whilst sitting in a hide on the 27th in Dorset news broke of a Eurasian Scops Owl being found in Ryhope village in Durham !!!!

There was no way i could get there on the 27th, and the news & photos just kept on coming on twitter & Rba that it was still present and showing well.

So today the 28th i travelled up to Durham in the hope of seeing the Scops Owl .

Cracking bird.

A very early start ensued and unfortunately the first early reports were negative , me & my birding mate decided to stop on route for a coffee and make a decision whether to carry on heading  north or go for other targets that were on offer , decisions, decisions !?!?

Keeping an eye on us all.

We decided to try for other targets as we were still quite a  distance from Durham , however as we were heading off for new targets the news came through the Eurasian Scops Owl had been relocated , so we reverted back to original plans and 3 hours later we were on site and having great views of the Scops Owl which was a new addition to my British list !!!

Congrats to the original birder who found this cracking bird , and for the guys who relocated it today, some great field craft and persistence.

Eurasian Scops Owl.

27th September  Middlebere Farm  Dorset

Record shot of the Stilt Sandpiper.

I had a really great time birding at Middlebere Farm near Arne Rspb reserve on the 27th September , i was invited by my mate to go down there in the hope of seeing the Stilt Sandpiper and thankfully we eventually managed to see it as the tide came in.

It never came really close but great scope views were obtained of this delightful wader , this was a lifer for my mate and a very welcome year tick for me.

Spoonbill.

There were large numbers of Spoonbills here and i recorded my personal largest ever total in the UK with 47 birds seen together , although there have been more seen here.

Spoonbills.

Other birds seen of note were Osprey , Marsh Harrier, Raven & Kingfisher which showed well at times.

Kingfisher.

We saw the Stilt Sandpiper 3 times in total , one quite close view plus again roosting with the Black Tailed Godwits, other waders seen were Knot, Avocet, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Redshank, Spotted Redshank (2) & Grey Plover (2).

Numerous Little Egrets & 1 Great White Egret were also seen, we also encountered several Sika Deer.

Sika Deer.