Well this retirement malarkey takes some getting used to – being able to go off for the day any time you want (within reason) is helping the year-list no end. Last year we had a brief sojourn in Cyprus (seeing Wallcreeper and Finsch’s Wheatear) and I v…
Wednesday 2nd OctoberToday we were heading back north to the Tel Aviv area via the Dead Sea and Jerusalem so we had a shot at a few birds we’d missed. We set off at 5am so that we could get to Hazeva around dawn. Our previous instructions for the Phara…
Saturday 28th SeptemberMost places would be closed today so it was the day we decided to travel down to Eilat and call in at desert sites en-route (as the military wouldn’t be active).We passed through Mitzpe Ramon and the ‘crater’ – a rather spectacul…
Israel 2019A summary of a birding trip from 24 Sept – 3 Oct 2019Dave Bickerton, Mark Breaks, Margaret Breaks.A year of hospital appointments, surgery and the like have meant I’ve been rather tardy at keeping my blog up-to-date. However, retirement has …
It was a late decision but we needed a holiday having not been on a break all year so we plumped for Goa in November when the weather should be fine and birds plentiful. Once we’d booked our quiet hotels, I started getting the field guides to the area,…
The news today confirmed what we all knew already in that the summer has been the hottest overall in England on record. It’s certainly ben a very sunny one with my PV installation hitting record figures through May and June though late July and August …
After a good breakfast and a local meander down the lane where I had Whinchat, Woodchat and Stonechat as well as eh regular goodies, we packed some butties for lunch and headed for the Burgas wetlands. First port of call was just off the main road over…
I can’t believe it’s six months since my last blog entry. I suppose the travelling we’ve been doing has been with family and football so not all that many birds to write about; well apart from the Snowy Owls at Montrose in Chicago at Christmas, the div…
We’re spending a few days with Bernie’s sister Jo in Toronto to celebrate a special birthday but the opportunity to get a little birding in at a time of year that I’ve not yet experienced over here was far to tempting. Bernie and I visited High Park on…
Last autumn was certainly one for the history books in terms of volume of eastern waifs turning up on our shores following a sustained run of easterlies from the depths of Russia. This year has been totally different with a really wet summer and autumn…