Great Northern Diver ~ Southend Pier, Essex - 27.01.24

 With news in the week of White-billed Diver off the pier most of Thursday and late Friday it seemed a good bet for a possible sighting today. I got the first train at 10:15am with Bradders last time I saw him he had brown hair ..!!

Most birders seemed to go to the upper level for a more elevated view over the estuary, great views but to high from the water level, I viewed the opposite bay a few times just on the off chance it was there, unfortunately it wasn't seen today ..

Instead I took a few shots of a close in Great Northern ..

Northern Waterthrush ~ Heybridge, Maldon Essex - 14.01.24

After years of not going to see mega's & rare birds in the U.K  this is my second of  '24, defiantly won't be making a habit of it that's for sure but as both had been here for quite a while going for the Northern Waterthrush seemed like a good idea as there would be less people to piss me off ..

Picked up Jono L at 8am and was parked in the car park that everyone was asked to park in, a short walk and I was surprised to see so many people already there, with many parked directly opposite in the road, I know its unrestricted parking but when asked to park elsewhere and you choose to be one of the many to upset the residents this is why bird news is suppressed ..

Other than parking all went well it took a couple of hours for the bird to return and when it did the shutters went mental, one machine gun camera behind me took 200+ shots before while the bird was still half way down the ditch !!

Still a pleasant morning out seeing a Northern Waterthrush ..