There are so many better images than this of the female Desert Wheatear from Whitburn last week, but here is my offering from Tuesday along with some info on the species history in the county. There has only ever been three records; one early Dec 1955, one in 2016 and this bird.

My fantastic autumn continues, this time it was all thanks to @birds-and-me.bsky.social who turned up this stunning Isabelline Shrike at Whitburn. Since the last bird at the Leas was thought to have Brown Shrike influence, this was a new Durham bird for me, and what a fabulous bird too.

The Nutcracker was very satisfying, despite the air of inevitability regards its arrival, it was still exciting given the build up birds turning up in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Watched it cough up this pellet, I can see a lot of wasp wings, what else have I missed?

Views!! After missing the first showing completely due to ploughing a fruitless furrow downstream, I was in the right place to get two really nice 'extended' views over a 4 hour period. Massive thanks to @andrewmkinghorn.bsky.social for the loan of his step-stool, an essential bit of kit at twitches

Lee J@leelj337.bsky.social · 3w ago

It's been a quiet autumn, but it has finally delivered. Rufous-tailed Robin @flamboroughbird.bsky.social this morning

If we assume the Pectoral Sandpiper currently as Bishop Middleham is from America, then today was the first time since 1977 in which you could see three American Waders in Durham; Lesser Legs, Buff-breast and Pec. That’s the same year Star Wars was released, fact fans!

Info back from the Stavanger Ringing Scheme regarding the recent Red-backed Shrike at Low Newton. Ringed 10 days earlier on Norway's south coast, it covered 657km/408 miles to reach Low Newton. It's the first ever recovery of a Norwegian ringed Red-backed Shrike in the UK ! #NEbirding #BirdRinging

I’m guilty of hyperbole in birding, but the Egyptian Nightjar on Shetland is surely one of the best find stories and birds in Britain of the past decade? Totally off the radar, in westerlies. Something going on in that region this year surely? This following on from 2 Long-tailed Shrikes.

Britain's first ever Long-tailed Shrike was in 2000, and we had to wait 26 years for Britain's next in Fife earlier this year, then only a few days later came Britain's 3rd! I played the waiting game in the hope the bird would stay long enough to moult in its tail, success!

There are so many images of the Western Reef Heron online, but here is my offering from last week at Foryd Bay. Image sharpener doing a lot of heavy lifting, I'm afraid.

I'm playing major 'catch up'! Late March with @birdinghaapsalu.bsky.social for @oriolebirding.bsky.social. This was my first visit to northern Europe at this time of year, flavour of birds was different. Photos of some of the highlights; Steller's Eiders, Pygmy Owl, Nutcracker and Ural Owl.

Flashes of beauty from Dan Mcgibbon stag do in Barcelona earlier this month; Wallcreeper and introduced Red-billed Leiothrix. Also enjoyed fantastic views of Lammergeier, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and I will never tire of Griffon Vultures.

Russian White-fronts and Tundra Bean Geese still holding court at Boldon Flats this afternoon. The Beans eventually drifted off to the SE to forage nearby. Interesting (to me at least) how much more skittish they were around cars and passers-by. @durhambirdclub.bsky.social

Late afternoon jaunt to Seaham yesterday, the White-billed Diver was showing better than I had anticipated. Very glad I went, light was fading but you get the idea. That's at least 4 White-billed Divers in Durham within a week. @durhambirdclub.bsky.social

Enjoyable few days with @scillypelagics.bsky.social from 21st to 25th last month. I had never seen an adult Sabine's Gull so well, and this bird was absolutely pristine, so was it any wonder everyone on the boat was fawning over it? Absolute stunner. Plenty of Cory's and Great Shears too.

Mightily delayed post with some highlights from @oriolebirding.bsky.social Finland tour back in June. No two tours are the same, headlining act came from Great Grey Owl but Eurasian Eagle Owl in woodland was a treat! Point blank Garganey was left field and you can't tire of Siberian Jay.

We've just launched AviList! - the new unified global taxonomic checklist for the world's birds, developed through the Working Group on Avian Classification, including BirdLife, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, IOC and others @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social www.avilist.org

When I tell non-birders that I haven't seen a House Martin this year they seem to grasp just how drastically the population must have dwindled. A lot of birders on the other hand, immediately tell me where I can see some, as if me ticking them off in my I-Spy book of birds is the important issue.

Ropey shot of the Song Sparrow from yesterday at Flamborough. That's two decent consecutive springs for transatlantic passerines on the North-East coast, with Dark-eyed Junco at Hartlepool during April last year and Indigo Bunting at Whitburn in May.

The 5 Dotterel currently at North Gare are proof positive that showy birds are always the most memorable. At one point they approached to within 15ft or so, they truly are fantastic waders.

Guiding for @oriolebirding.bsky.social in Mallorca last week. Fantastic scenery, weather, and of course birds. A flypast Caspian Tern at s'Albufera was a nice surprise, and 2 Slender-billed Gulls at Salobrar de Campos were unseasonal. Here are a few photos of just some of the highlights.

My phone scope picture of the drake Spectacled Eider from Thursday gone. Whilst I don't pursue a WP list, I've got no immediate plans to visit Alaska, so Texel (Netherlands) seemed a no-brainer. @alexanderlees.bsky.social has an excellent thread on this species vagrancy to the WP #SuperSeabirdSunday

I wasn't expecting this Jack Snipe to be present with so much standing water around since the weekend. Its hypothesised that this species has high site-fidelity, but its never actually been proven. There has been at least 1 Jack Snipe within roughly this same 5 square meters since start of November.

I can't actually remember the last Shorelark I saw in the county, so called in to see this smashing little individual at Seaton Snook this PM, it showed well and I managed excellent views of at least 100 Twite as they busied around the saltmarsh.

Got back from guiding in South Africa last week with an @oriolebirding.bsky.social group. Some fantastic birds seen over the two weeks, here are two species that emit a very different feel to anything we have here in Europe; Acadia Pied Barbet and Cape Sugarbird.

Looking like this platform is taking off nicely. Please don't be offended if I don't follow back or unfollow, the reason will be that I'm not on this platform in order to read about politics of any form. I'm here to read and talk about birds and wider ornithology. So please do not take offense.

This will be my first post on Bluesky! Getting a bit sick of all the bots on there now, and loads of nonsense I’m not on socials for. Redwings vocal over Sunderland this evening and inland today winter thrush flocks are getting there in terms of number.

I've created a new Feed to capture posts from north east England birders; Northumberland, Durham and Cleveland. This will hopefully help with passing on bird news of local interest. Tag your posts with #NEbirding Attached shows how to add a Feed to your Bluesky. See how this works out..!