Category: News

A record 161 young Choughs have fledged from nests around the Kernow coastline this summer – 32 more than the previous best of 129, set last year.

They were bred by 56 successful pairs, meaning that the average productivity of a Cornish Chough nest is almost three fledglings, suggesting the population is in robust health.

That wasn’t always the case. Choughs died out in Cornwall in the 1970s, their now-familiar ‘chee-ow’ call falling silent until 2001 when three birds, thought to be from Ireland, landed at Lizard Point. Two became the pioneering breeding pair from which today’s success has stemmed.

And the Lizard continues to be a prime breeding ground for Cornish Chough, with 26 chicks, 11 more than last year, emerging from eight nests on the peninsula.

Peter Hall, a National Trust Chough monitoring volunteer on the Lizard, said:

“This is the 11th consecutive season that I have monitored Chough nest sites here on the Lizard. Never did I foresee a time when I would be monitoring five nest sites in my patch, and certainly not having 16 Choughlets fledge from those sites. The past two winters we have been blessed with chatterings in excess of 20 Chough around the Lizard. A far cry from the solitary single pair we had when I started as part of the then nest protection team in 2016. Long may the successful return of this iconic Cornish bird delight myself and others for many years to come”.

Habitat loss was a key driver in the extinction of Choughs in Cornwall. This was turned around by conservationists, farmers and land owners working together to restore grazing on clifftops and coastal fields, to produce the short-cropped turf that allows Choughs easier access to the insects and their larvae that make up their diet.

Lydia Allt, Community, Participation and Volunteering Coordinator, Lizard and Mid-Cornwall National Trust, said:

“This year has been an exceptional one for Choughs on the Lizard and elsewhere in Cornwall. When Choughs returned to the Lizard 25 years ago there were just three birds. Today, thanks to a quarter of a century of conservation work, partnership working and the support of local farmers and land managers, we are seeing record numbers of Chough across the area. The Chough is an iconic species and a powerful symbol of Cornwall’s natural heritage. Their remarkable recovery shows what can be achieved when habitats are restored and protected, giving wildlife the space it needs to thrive. To see so many Choughs successfully breeding and feeding across the Lizard is incredibly encouraging and highlights the importance of continuing to care for this special landscape for future generations.”

It is now four years running that more than 100 Choughlets have been born in Cornwall. Just ten years ago, only 23 fledglings were recorded.

Cornish Chough breeding figures 23-26:
• 2023 – 39 successful pairs, raising 112 young
• 2024 – 42 successful pairs, raising 114 young
• 2025 – 48 successful pairs, raising 129 young
• 2026 – 56 successful pairs, raising 161 young

Not only are the number of fledglings greatly increasing year on year, but their spread from the Lizard is remarkable too. Penwith forms part of a thriving stronghold for Choughs in West Cornwall, where the birds benefit from a rich variety of interconnected habitats stretching across the wider landscape. The return of their distinctive calls is a testament to the dedication of local volunteers, farmers and conservation teams who have worked together over many years to help this iconic species recover.

Choughs are also breeding on the Roseland and in increasing numbers in mid and north Cornwall, which is encouraging as the hope is to see chough eventually recolonise other parts of the country.

Hilary Mitchell and Steve Ashby from Cornwall Birds (CBWPS), said:

“It is hard to believe that the Cornish Chough population is now up to over around 400 birds, and with over 80 pairs on territory in 2026.

Back in 1943 the situation was very different, and papers recently found by Steve Ashby at Trerice (owned by the National Trust) include notes by the famous Cornish birder Lt. Col. B H Ryves stating that ‘Years ago the Tintagel area was its greatest stronghold but this is no longer so. There is, however, some evidence that a pair may have bred lately near Bude. In the main it can be asserted that its range is now limited to the coast between the Gannel and a few miles northward of Port Isaac. I would not venture to say that there are more than three or four breeding pairs in Cornwall, and even these do not all breed every year. Besides them there are probably a dozen or so non-breeding birds.’

We know that the Cornish Choughs clung on near Newquay until the last bird disappeared in 1973. The arrival of three Choughs from Ireland in 2001 on Lizard began the incredibly successful recolonisation that we see today. 2026 has been a fantastic year for Choughs on Lizard in particular, and testament to all the hard work done by volunteers, farmers and landowners across Cornwall that chatterings of Cornish Choughs are now found on much of the Cornish coast.”

Volunteers have been vital to the story of the Choughs’ return to Cornwall, from round-the-clock protection of nests in the early years to the monitoring of more than 70 breeding attempts in 2026.

Andrew Jones, Chough Conservation Officer for the RSPB in Cornwall, said:

“There has been a huge volunteer effort over the past 25 years to protect and monitor Cornwall’s iconic Choughs and we’re grateful to everyone who has played their part in this conservation success story. This year, the RSPB and National Trust have had a team of around 50 dedicated volunteer Chough watchers, covering the coastline from the Roseland all the way round to Bude, monitoring the breeding efforts and reporting back so we could collate these fantastic, record-breaking numbers.”

The next chapter of the Cornish Chough story is in everyone’s hands – if you see Choughs in Cornwall please email your sightings to Cornwall Birds: choughs@cbwps.org.uk. Cornwall Birds are keen to receive all records. Some people have been lucky enough to see Choughs in their gardens so please let them know if you see this happening and what they are eating, so the team can find out how common this behaviour is.

Cornish Chough Conservation Network  – Cornwall Birds (CBWPS), RSPB, National Trust, Natural England

With the countryside looking like autumn is already upon us, a hose-pipe ban, and pools at Walmsley and Maer Lake drying up fast, Jasmina Goodair sits down to review this weeks’ photos.

“It has been really hot weather-wise this week making the photography a challenge. On Monday, the Grey Heron by Caroline Taylor, taken at Warmsley, was a lovely image with it battling its way through an eel. Also, A. Greenaway found a juvenile Puffin at Bossiney with no brightly coloured beak, which is not something we usually see or recognise. T. Culmer found a beautiful Sparrowhawk in St Erth, even though it was a little bit in the shade, but nonetheless it was a lovely image.

Tuesday, David Collins on the Lizard had a Pied Flycatcher. This was a lovely image, in the shadows of the leaves and some would say too busy a photograph, but I thought it perfectly showed it in its environment. Steve Ford was on a Penzance pelagic, and he had a great Wilson’s Storm Petrel, which is a bird that has eluded me until I finally went on a pelagic this week myself and saw one.
Then on Wednesday, there was a charming Reed Warbler at Porth, photographed by Aadil Khan a lovely little image, and the Cattle Egret at Walmsley by John Johnson was another worthy mention.

On Thursday, the Osprey by Nick Watmough, taken at Stithians was a really beautiful image worthy of Photo of the Day. I also loved the great pose of the Greylag by Charlie Davies at Wadebridge. It was just such a “look at me” pose. There was a delightful image of a Whinchat by Steve Wood, taken at Kynance, as was the Kingfisher by Anthony McCloud at Stithians.
Friday brought a great juvenile Robin by Adrian Lea.

Saturday; there were several really good images. The White Stork by Mike Waters at Davidstow, I imagine from the newly released storks from North Cornwall, is a well-worthy mention as is the lovely Cory’s Shearwater by Adrian Lea. Finally, there were great captures on Sunday by Gill Fisher (actually taken at the pelagic from Penzance on Saturday) of the Wilson’s Petrel, a Cory’s Shearwater and a Fulmar. And then Paul Davies gave us a lovely Green Sandpiper from Walmsley.

And so, I had to make a decision: lots of lovely photos. Yes, some very bright light that our photographers had to contend with, but nonetheless we had some really, really good images. Nick Watmough’s Osprey was particularly good, as was Gill Fisher’s Cory’s Shearwater but I think at the end of the week my decision went with the really great capture of a Green Sandpiper in flight by Steve Rogers, taken at Drift. Well done to everyone and keep those images coming in”.

Many thanks Jasmina and congratulations Steve for this weeks winning image.

The Walmsley Sanctuary was acquired by the Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society in 1939. The Sanctuary is highly regarded by many members and is undoubtedly one of the best bird-watching sites in Cornwall.
There are two existing bird hides at the Walmsley Sanctuary, the Tower Hide and the Corner Hide, with a third bird hide on the adjoining Middle Amble Reserve which is jointly owned with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
The existing Corner Hide, which was installed in 1991, has become increasingly weather-worn and the Society has now applied for planning permission to replace this hide.

The new hide would be a similar design to the recently installed Middle Amble hide. It is hoped that the new hide would be installed in autumn 2026, in conjunction with excavation work to increase the area of open water in front of this new hide.

We have now applied to Cornwall Council for planning permission to construct the replacement hide. It would be beneficial if members could support the planning application by visiting the Cornwall Council online planning website, quoting planning application PA26/04515, and stating why they feel the replacement hide would not have an unacceptable impact and why it would be an important feature of the Walmsley Sanctuary. You will need to register or login to the online planning website – but the process is very quick and you will hopefully be helping to ensure that the Society can build a new hide at the Sanctuary in Autumn 2026.

Adrian Lea has been quick off the mark to review this weeks’ selection. Many thanks Adrian for an informative write up.
“This glorious weather seems to be lasting forever and it has certainly provided our photographers with some great opportunities this week. The week started excellently with a beautiful pair of Little Ringed Plovers photographed by Gill Fisher at Drift Reservoir.

On Tuesday Ian Sowerby was getting acquainted with a photogenic Robin family at Heligan Café.
Wednesday saw Steve Cox accept the ‘Night Heron Challenge’ when he was tempted to visit Porth Reservoir and witnessed the arrival of the Black-crowned Night Heron. Steve’s photographs provide a great record of this elusive visitor and reflect the challenging lighting conditions of an advancing dusk while trying to photograph a bird which often feeds at night. Meanwhile, Paul Davies was on the River Camel Estuary at Burniere where he was able to capture two lovely Greenshank in a single image.

On Thursday Gill Fisher had a most welcome garden visitor, the Green Woodpecker can often be a shy and difficult bird to photograph, the charismatic raptor-like ‘yaffle’ often being heard more frequently than the bird is actually seen, and Gill’s image perfectly captures the wary stance normally adopted by this reclusive visitor.
On Friday I enjoyed the late submission Grey Heron photographed by Robin Chiffers at the Walmsley Sanctuary. I’m always amazed to witness the size of eel that can be tackled by a heron, occasionally the struggle can be dramatic as the captured eel entwines itself around the heron’s neck and bill – the inside edges of a heron’s bill, the ‘tomia’, are sharply serrated, like a fine hacksaw blade with its ‘teeth’ facing inwards, perfectly evolved to grip such slippery prey.

Meanwhile Jonathan Warner was photographing a different predator at Perranuthnoe – and what a fantastic Kestrel image he was kind enough to share with us.
On Saturday Steve Wood struck gold with a beautiful Wood Sandpiper at Croft Pascoe Pool and Simon Willson provided a lovely Dunlin photograph taken at Marazion Beach.

Meanwhile Gill Fisher was enjoying a pelagic trip out of Penzance – the long day meant that we understandably had to wait until Sunday to see her stunning Sooty Shearwater, Great Shearwater and Wilson’s Petrel images, taking such sharp photographs from a bobbing boat is not easy.

There were a number of photographs which I particularly liked this week. These included the Wood Sandpiper by Steve Wood and the Green Woodpecker and Little Ringed Plover by Gill Fisher. We needed to wait until the end of the week to see my favourite photographs however, a selection of pelagic birds rarely seen closely from land, and often very difficult to photograph from a boat at sea. Gill Fisher managed to capture some great images and my particular favourite is the Great Shearwater which I’ve selected as my photo of the week.
Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to submit sighting reports, photographs and videos to our sightings team, it really is greatly appreciated by so many people”.

This week belonged to Gill Fisher with a selection of excellent shots; congratulations Gill in picking up your third POTW this year.

Many of you will have submitted records of breeding House Martins to our website. This morning we have counts for a total of 130 sites totalling 542 nests. Most pairs will have fledged their first brood and hopefully are well on the way to completing a second.

However there are some significant gaps. Have a look at the maps. Are there really no House Martins in the Penzance area, or Cambourne, Redruth, Portreath or Porthtowan.

In North Cornwall we apparently have none breeding in St Agnes, Perranporth, Holywell, Crantock and just one record for Newquay. The gap over Bodmin Moor is perhaps to be expected but what about Port Isaac, Camelford and Tintagel?

In the south, take a look at St Blazey, Par, Fowey, Lansallos and Polperro. Are we missing them or is the House Martin population really in that much trouble.

In another month many House Martins will be on the move, heading south towards their winter quarters, but some will maybe  on a third brood and have chicks in the nest with a few still feeding young in early October.

Please take another look round your local area to see if we can complete the picture. We really need to know what’s happening to Cornwall’s House Martins and if they really are missing from these areas, how can we encourage them to return. This link will take you to our survey page where you can submit your sightings. Every breeding record counts.

Many thanks to Nick Watmough for reviewing this week’s photos – not an easy task with so many brilliant images. This week also sees the launch of Cornwall Wildlife Trusts annual Wildlife Photo Competition – anyone can enter and this year there’s a new phone photo category – why not have a go…
https://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/support-us/2026-wildlife-photography-competition.

“An excellent late summer week that seemed to have a bit of everything; evidence of successful breeding, herons, seabirds and passage waders.

Starting with our breeding species – it was lovely to see images of two different juvenile Green Woodpeckers from Annie Guy and Tony Wilson. Dispersing Kingfishers were captured by Adrian Lea at Carnkie and John St Ledger at Stithians. Adrian also photographed a young Greenfinch (a species that has recently had a tough time) coming to drink and bathe at his Carnkie property. Elsewhere Gavin Williams was photographing Spotted Flycatchers on Bodmin Moor and also provided a superb portrait of a young Wheatear from Davidstow.

Some fantastic studies of heron species were submitted in this period included the long-staying Great White Egret at Stithians (Adrian Lea), the posing Walmsley Cattle Egrets (Paul David and Adil Khan) and multiple excellent Grey Herons from Martin Webb remind us not to take this species for granted. The Black-crowned Night Heron at Porth Reservoir tested the low light capabilities of Regina Griffiths camera – an examination it successfully passed based on the submitted images. And whilst not a heron there was sufficient resolution in Raoul Humphries’s record shot to confirm two Black Storks near Land’s End which have subsequently toured the UK.

On 1st August Jon Irvine ventured out into Falmouth Bay with AK Cruises and submitted a nice portfolio of the seabirds he photographed including Wilson’s Petrel, Great and Sooty Shearwaters – but I particularly liked his Great Skua set above the outline of the Lizard. Caroline Taylor took a totally different approach to seabirds and visited West Pentire to photograph Fulmars on their nests including some well grown downy chicks.

However, the week really belonged to the passage waders, and I enjoyed some of images of commoner species including Alex McKechnie’s summer plumage Turnstone and Alastair Swanson’s Curlew. John St Ledger and Nigel Rogers did very well to capture the neat adult White-rumped Sandpiper at Drift which was always some distance from the hide. The same site also yielded a Buff-breasted Sandpiper found and photographed by Louis Parkerson. Two species which are emblematic of early wader passage are Wood and Green Sandpiper and a remarkable image from Paul Davies capturing each species in the company of two Greenshank – one of those rare images where date, species, composition exposure and focus come together to deliver my POTW.

As ever my thanks to all our contributors for making this such an enjoyable exercise and autumn is only just getting started so please keep them coming”

Congratulations Paul in picking up your 4th Photo of the Week this year, one behind Dean Pollard with 5. 

Adrian Langdon takes time out from a busy week at Walmsley to review this weeks photos. Many thanks Adrian and thanks to all the photographers who support our recent sightings page by sending in some superb images.
Here’s Adrian’s take on the week;

“This proved to be a quieter week for photographs submitted by our members, although the overall quality remained exceptionally high.
Monday’s Photo of the Day was a fine Green Sandpiper photographed at Steve’s Pool on Goonhilly Downs, The Lizard, by Adrian Lea. Adrian submitted two excellent images of the bird, both worthy of recognition.

Steve Ford enjoyed success at Stithians Reservoir, where he captured excellent photographs of Glossy Ibis and Common Sandpiper showing well. Rupert Kirkwood was once again out on the water in his kayak at Veryan Bay, producing an outstanding head-on portrait of a Cory’s Shearwater. It was an absolutely superb image and one that immediately caught the eye.

On Wednesday, Martin Webb visited Stithians Reservoir and photographed both Great White Egret and Little Egret, providing a nice comparison between the two species. The following day he was exploring Housel Bay on The Lizard, where he captured attractive images of Common Whitethroat and Stonechat.

Adrian Lea took Photo of the Day on Thursday with a superb image of a Barn Swallow collecting mud at Carnkie. The behaviour, timing and composition combined to produce a memorable photograph.
Friday brought another excellent selection of images. Steven Wood photographed a superb juvenile Cuckoo perched naturally in a tree at Bray’s Cott, Goonhilly Downs, while Deena Sharp contributed a lovely image of a juvenile Northern Wheatear from Colliford Reservoir on Bodmin Moor. Adrian Lea also visited Walmsley Sanctuary, where he obtained two excellent photographs of a male Marsh Harrier. Meanwhile, Gavin Williams was at Crowdy Reservoir and photographed two Barnacle Geese on the water together.

On Saturday, Martin Webb was once again out in the field, this time at Carnsew Pool, Hayle. His best image showed a Curlew tossing something in its bill, while he also photographed Knot, Dunlin and Oystercatcher.

Rounding off the week, Gavin Williams produced an excellent photograph of the Black-crowned Night Heron at Porth Reservoir near Newquay. Having visited a few days later myself, I know just how distant the bird was, making Gavin’s achievement all the more impressive.

Choosing a winner this week proved surprisingly difficult. Although the number of submissions was lower than usual, the standard was consistently high. Rupert Kirkwood’s magnificent head-on portrait of the Cory’s Shearwater looked destined to take top honours for much of the week and was an exceptional piece of photography given the conditions of approaching and photographing a seabird from his kayak.
However, Friday’s image of the juvenile Cuckoo by Steven Wood ultimately edged ahead. The photograph was beautifully sharp, showed the bird in a completely natural setting, and had real impact. It was an extremely close decision between Steven and Rupert. Having selected one of Rupert’s photographs as Photo of the Week recently, I was fully expecting to do so again, but on this occasion the juvenile Cuckoo just had the edge.
Congratulations to Steven Wood for a thoroughly deserved Photo of the Week.

Finally, thank you to everyone who submitted photographs. Although entries were fewer this week, the quality was outstanding. Please continue to send in your best images—whether of common garden birds, scarce visitors or memorable wildlife encounters—as every contribution helps create a wonderful photographic record of birds in Cornwall.”

Adrian Langdon

This week it’s Jasmine’s turn to peruse the photos and choose her favourite images. Here’s her take on the week;

‘Another scorcher of a week weather wise so harshly awkward light for our photographers not that it seemed to overly bother them! Monday began with Dean Pollard’s juvenile Wheatear at Park Head as a deserved Photo of the Day though Tony Wilson’s Red Knot from Devoran deserves a mention as does John St Ledgers Glossy Ibis from Stithians – two great shots.

Tuesday Steven Wood at Goonhilly produced an excellent shot of a Little Ringed Plover and a Wood Sandpiper whilst down at Hayle Tim Culmer came up with a charming shot of Common Sandpiper.

Wednesday Caroline Taylor captured a tidy shot of a Wheatear in heavy moult at Park Head and Steven Wood had a great shot of a Wood Sandpiper. Many birds are in moult now and some odd-looking characters could end up on your feeders or in your garden. I had a bald Blue Tit and a tailless sparrow this morning!

Thursday John Swann gave us from Carnyorth an interesting shot of a leucistic Swallow, Vic Booth gave us some lovely images but did like his Little Egret from Treraven and Aadil Khan at Drift Reservoir gave us a lovely Green Sandpiper.

Friday 2 images stood out for me: Malcolm Jones’s image of a Whimbrel at Hayle and Martin Chivers’ image of the male Marsh Harrier with the damaged leg at Walmsley.

So, Saturday Lynne Colliver produced a very good shot of a Grasshopper Warbler and Aadil Khan of a Swallow in flight at Hayle

Finally, Sunday Aadil Khan continued his enthusiasm this week with some great shots of a Tawny Owl, and M Rouncefield produced a Dunnock from Hayle. At this point the Photo of the Week appeared – without doubt Paul Davies’s Cattle Egret taken at Walmsley. Congratulations Paul – well deserved. Equally thanks to all those who take part and continue to provide wonderful images for us to enjoy.’

Many thanks Jasmina and congratulations Paul in picking up your third POTW this year

We have to thank Nick Watmough for this weeks’ round up of the photos that accompanied your submissions to the daily sightings page.

“Whether it was the heat or lack of birds, there were noticeably fewer submissions to the sightings page during this period. That did not make adjudication any easier as there were some excellent images.
The week started well on Monday with a lovely portrait of a reeling Grasshopper Warbler from Dean Pollard.

The following day Martin Webb kept the page alive with some images of his trip to Stithians that included a graceful pair of Great Crested Grebes. Dean obliged again on Wednesday with a sharp image of a Corn Bunting from their North Cornwall stronghold whilst back at Stithians John St Ledger captured the first returning Green Sandpiper.

Stithians featured again on Thursday with Caroline Taylor’s nice capture of a young Great Spotted Woodpecker from the feeder hide. The same day Adrian Lea provided several images from a private site on the Lizard including a very smart Rock Pipit. More Green Sandpipers at Stithians from John St Ledger on Friday, when Regina Griffiths visited St Gothians and obtained some very pleasing shots of both Sand Martin and Swallow. Not much on Saturday apart from a nicely perched Kestrel at Colliford from Gavin Williams.

Not sure what happened on Sunday unless folk needed some fresh air after the stress of the World Cup quarter final, but there was a flurry of submissions. A Glossy Ibis that graced Stithians was captured by Steve Ford, Tony Wilson and Steve Cox – Tony and Trev Whitemore, who presumably arrived later in the day, also photographed a White Stork from the Devon reintroduction scheme. Trev also submitted a very nice photo of a summer plumage Black-tailed Godwit from Stithians whilst Tony moved on to Devoran where he captured the now moulting Spotted Redshank.

Elsewhere on Sunday Adil Khan was at Walmsley where he obtained a series of very good images of Swift, Sedge Warbler and Marsh Harrier. Adrian Lea was focussed on his local Swallows and Gavin Williams gave us a lovely photograph of a Yellowhammer from Tregonetha Downs.

It was not an easy decision but my POTW is Caroline Taylor’s Great Spotted Woodpecker – sure it is nicely exposed, sharp and taken against a diffuse background to emphasise all the features that age it as a juvenile. But the framing of this youngster to emphasise it slightly quizzical pose is simply excellent.

As ever thanks to everybody who illuminates the sighting page with their images – your patience in the field and time spent in post processing is very much appreciated.”

Many thanks again to Adrian Lea for reviewing this week’s photos that were sent to our daily sightings team; and not an easy task to select just one from some fine images.

“An excellent birding week with some glorious sunny weather. I particularly enjoyed the Sand Martin photographed at St Gothian Sands by Martin Webb on Monday, this is often a great place to sit and watch our smallest hirundine in action.

Another great photograph by Martin on Tuesday, this time a feeding Little Egret at Stithians.
Wednesday saw Rebecca Bowyer venturing to Portscatho and Nare Headland where she was able to see some Great Northern Divers and breeding Guillemot while James Savage was photographing Curlew at Looe Island.
Thursday saw Martin Webb at Marazion, evidenced by some finely detailed Great White Egret photographs while John St Ledger was fortunate to photograph a beautiful singing Yellowhammer at Tregonetha Downs.

Friday appears to have been the ‘birding day of the week’ with a glorious Crossbill photographed by Gavin Williams at Wilsey Downs, a lovely juvenile Stonechat photographed at Goss Moor by Dean Pollard and a beautifully translucent hovering Kestrel at Hells Mouth by Aadil Khan. The Spotted Redshank at Devoran, conspicuous in its predominantly black summer plumage not often seen here in Cornwall, has been the subject of some excellent photographs and Regina Griffiths kindly provided some great comparison images of this bird alongside our regular Redshank.

Saturdays ‘photo of the day’ was a justly deserved juvenile Green Woodpecker photographed by Peter Crumpler at Alverton, Penzance an excellent photograph of what can often be a very elusive bird.

Sunday saw the submission of some stunning photographs, including another lovely juvenile Green Woodpecker, this time at Ruan Lanihorne by D Hall (courtesy of Julie), hovering Kestrel at Carne Beach by C Taylor, an apparently very vocal Swallow at Marazion Marsh by D White and a beautifully detailed juvenile Long-tailed Tit at Camborne by G Rogers.

My choice for photo of the week this week would be split between the Sand Martin (Martin Webb), the juvenile Green Woodpecker (Peter Krumpler) and the Kestrel (Aadil Khan). These are each great photographs and well done to all three photographers. But, I need to select a single photograph and I particularly like the feather detail and sharpness of the Kestrel by Aadil Khan, a classic image of such a stunning bird. 

Many thanks once again to everyone who has taken the time to submit sighting reports, photographs and videos to our sightings team, it really is greatly appreciated by so many people.”