Married 11th April 2026

 

Sundarbans NP, Bangladesh - January 2026

After our two nights up at Satchari NP in the NE of the country, we then re-positioned, via a very long drive, down to Khulna (Bangladesh's third largest city) and launched in our vessel southwards into the heart of the Sundarbans. 

Over the next five days, we had ample opportunity to seek out the region's most desired species, the key ones being Masked Finfoot and White-eared Night Heron. We thankfully struck gold on both very efficiently on our first diurnal and nocturnal outings, but over the course of the next few days we obtained some grand views of both. Overall, we saw two male Masked Finfoot, but no females. 

The Masked Finfoot is sadly fairly soon going to be pushed into the extinction category. Its habitat, freshwater mangrove channels, are reverting to saline, due to sea-level rise and increased frequency in monsoons, therefore pushing the salt water further inland. The habitat of the finfoot is therefore decreasing as the further north you go, the closer to human interaction there will be. Over fishing and general disturbance are other key attributes to the specie's demise. The local leader suggested there may be as few as 33 individuals remaining in Bangladesh... a tragic total. 

Other decent birds encountered during the outings were Brown-winged Kingfisher, Malayan Night Heron, Ruddy Kingfisher, while on the boardwalk close to the park headquarters, I was finally able to add Mangrove Whistler having missed it several times in SE Asia; Mangrove Pitta eventually showed well and a single corner of this area was like being on Fair Isle, as it held both Brown and Taiga Flycatchers, Dusky and Blyth's Reed Warblers, and a Brown Shrike!

One of the highlights though was a near-miss, as we encountered a very fresh set of Tiger pugmarks, predicted to have passed only half-hour before we arrived. We did however see two Mainland Leopard Cats, both Smooth-coated and Short-clawed Otters and Saltwater Crocodiles. Both Irrawaddy and Ganges River Dolphins were seen well, the former a new cetacean for me.

Masked Finfoot

White-eared Night Heron

Brown-winged Kingfisher

Mangrove Pitta

Our home on the Sundarbans, the Biwali, owned by Pugmark

Satchari NP, Bangladesh 18-19th January 2026

17th/18th January 2026

Having arrived at Dhaka Airport and somehow making it through the airport with no issues (this despite a slight panic over the rumour of the Visa on Arrival process being rescinded only days before our arrival), we then had an awfully long drive out to the north-east towards the Indian border where we settled for the night at a rather plush hotel, maybe a 45-minute drive from Satchari NP. 

Satchari National Park, although protected, is merely a fragment of forest, or an island would seem more appropriate, as its completely isolated from other forest over the Indian border, however, it does harbour some excellent species, which at the right time of year, would prove a worthwhile visit. The team's main target here was the non-descript Cachar Bulbul (split from Olive Bulbul), plus a few other things like White-throated Bulbul, White-cheeked Partridge and Blue-naped Pitta. The latter two we completely failed on, not helped by group size for the pitta and not helped by the partridges being completely silent. 

The park was good though, with a few trails and dry riverbeds allowing plenty of access into the forest. The guide was OK, but he led us straight to the canopy tower soon after dawn, where I'd much rather have been searching for the pitta at the optimum time of day. However, we encountered some nice things from the tower, with highlights being Banded Bay Cuckoo, Golden-fronted Leafbirds, lots of Brown-rumped/Swinhoe's Minivets, Common Hill Mynas, Red-breasted Parakeets. amongst the typical sub-continent treetop stuff. 

We then walked the trails as we heard a distant pitta, and despite getting very close, a large group meant we were soon spotted and the pitta had cleared off, this being the theme for the day. A few flocks of birds passed our way and contained White-throated Bulbuls, and both Whistler's and Green-crowned Warblers, but probably the highlight of the visit here were a small family of Western Hoolock Gibbons, hanging as they do in the sub-canopy. During this encounter, our first small flock of Cachar Bulbuls were found, a minor relief but I wouldn't have been too disheartened if we had failed on finding this species. 

Another brief look from the tower only revealed a few Crested Goshawks and Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters. After lunch, we walked to a pool inside the forest which attracted much attention, especially from more Cachar and White-throated Bulbuls, a continuous presence of Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, but again the highlight for me close by was a troop of Capped Langur. 

The day ended at a different pool, where a Malayan Palm Civet emerged from its daytime roost and a Puff-throated Babbler and Orange-headed Thrush came down to drink.

19th January 2026

Today we had a long journey to Khulna for our 'cruise' into the Sundarban region, but we really wanted to give Satchari one more go, so we arrived soon after dawn and walked a very quiet forest, not really finding much bar a Blue-throated Flycatcher, a Little Pied Flycatcher and two Asian Barred Owlets.

It was then time for a long drive down to Khulna, passing straight through Dhaka which was most enjoyable. Once past the bustling city, the drive was actually quite fast with good roads and much less traffic, something I wasn't expecting! 

Brown Boobook on our hotel roof 

Golden-fronted Leafbird

Banded Bay Cuckoo

Thick-billed Green Pigeon

White-throated Bulbul

Western Hoolock Gibbons

Capped Langurs

Cachar Bulbuls sandwiching a White-throated

Asian Barred Owlet

arrival into a hazy Dhaka

sunrise from the tower

Emily walking the trail

Dornoch Beach 6th January 2026

With heavy snow from the start of the year, the beginning of any attempt to a fresh year list has been somewhat delayed. However, the snow does have its advantages, as today we arrived at a site covered in three feet of it, therefore, no chance of any work. Deeply saddened by this event, we thought best to cheer ourselves up by hitting the current Highland hotspot of Dornoch to scan the throng of ducks still residing offshore. 

Despite not being seen since the 19th December, and having dipped twice, I was stunned to locate the drake Black Scoter relatively close inshore. We watched it for a good 30-minutes, trying desperately to get some decent footage and photos, whilst not to get too distracted by all the other goodies here. 

With a dark cloud looming, we retreated and carried on home. 

Totals:

Black Scoter - 1 drk
Surf Scoter - 2 (1 drk)
Velvet Scoter - 6
Common Scoter - ca. 1,000
Slavonian Grebe - 1
Scaup - ca. 50
King Eider - 1 1w drk
Goldeneye - 4
Tufted Duck - 1 (odd seeing one on the sea)
Long-tailed Duck - ca. 150
Red-breasted Merganser - 1
Eider - 1
Twite - 2

drk Black Scoter - rather undesirable images

drk Surf Scoter just to the right of the lighthouse,
female to the left hiding behind a Common Scoter

Scaup and Long-tailed Ducks

surfing Long-tailed Ducks

Ross's Goose & other bits

Quick off the heals from the recent Snow Goose close to home, yesterday afternoon a Ross's Goose was found only 15 minutes away, probably around the same time Emily and I were watching a Humpback Whale off Ullapool. 

Anyway, this morning I headed out, failed to find any goose flocks, so instead walked down towards the firth from Muir of Ord, and a high-flying flock of seven Pink-footed Geese miraculously contained the Ross's. They then descended sharply to join a large flock that I had missed where the birds were present yesterday. Eventually, I re-positioned and enjoyed scope views of this dinky goose. 

Ross's Goose with Pink-footed Geese

Humpback Whale and Common Dolphins off Ullapool

 

Dornoch Beach 20/12/2025

Dornoch is currently the place to be in Highland with a stunning array of duck species currently feeding off here. Most notable and the only one I failed to see on both Friday and Saturday was the Black Scoter, but despite this disappointment, Emily and I were able to enjoy the other delights here:

King Eider - 1 1w drk
Surf Scoter - 2 
Velvet Scoter - 4
Scaup - 10
Long-tailed Duck - 50
Eider - 12
Slavonian Grebe - 5
Twite - 5
Snow Bunting - 2

It's been relatively quiet elsewhere, although we did have a Waxwing over central Inverness on 15th November.

1w drk King Eider off Dornoch

White-throated Needletail - Helmsdale 14th October 2025

Yesterday (13th Oct), Emily and I were at a site roughly 20 miles from Brora when at about 6pm, news came through of the White-throated Needletail off Brora and tracking north. In absolute shock, and now knowing we had the 14th off work, we planned our attack to try and intercept this highly sought-after vagrant. The fact I had to endure 48-hours worth of gripping photos of the same individual off Yorkshire last week, along with this being a much wanted world tick, meant the task at hand was even more crucial, but we went into Tuesday morning with more excitement than pressure as we knew how little chance we had of clapping eyes onto this bird, but knowing we were in the vicinity of a seriously good bird enhancing such excitement.

Highland is very much devoid of birders, so it was hardly a shock that no one had assembled at our chosen dawn destination of Helmsdale Harbour. Why we chose here... well, the bird was seen at last knockings the previous evening; it was tracking north so it must have roosted between Brora and Helmsdale, a distance of only eight miles as the needletail flies. To me, it seemed the most logical 'Highland' site. 

On the river mouth wall adjacent to the harbour, we settled into our position. Visible migration was well underway with Woodpigeons, Chaffinches and Jackdaws the largest flocks heading south, and a Dipper also flew upriver... things were looking up. But, as I was observing above the town and above me, Emily wisely was scanning the sea, when, looking at roughly 2 o'clock position, she latched on to the holy grail. Although she knew, rather than shouting the species, she exclaimed she had a dark fast-flying bird with rapid wingbeats. Panic ensued although it took little time to find, and when I did, I then shouted, "it's the f*****g WHITE-THROATED NEEDLETAIL!! A dozen or so rapid but powerful wingbeats, followed by a lengthy and equally powerful glide revealed the classic flight of a needletail, a family we had become used to last November when observing both Purple and Brown-backed Needletails in The Philippines. 

Initially at an approximate distance of 200 metres, the bird coasted towards us as we watched in complete disbelief, more so as we had found it in less than ten minutes of searching! It stubbornly remained at a height of ca. 30 metres above sea level, but coming closer all the time, when, just as it was about to head out of view going north, it banked revealing its paler upperparts and flew head on towards us. Try as we might, no camera would manage to focus on the bird due to the light and technological challenges, so we scrapped the camera and just enjoyed it as it angled off south, now only at approx. 100 metres until it eventually went out of sight close to Portgower - a total time between eight and nine minutes. 

We immediately put the news out but frustratingly, no further sighting of the bird was had from the scant number of observers searching for it. We remained in situ for another hour with no joy and therefore carried on our wanderings to see what else we could un-earth. Portgower was the main bit as a short seawatch produced a scrumptious flock of six Pomarine Skuas, plus many Arctic Skuas. We then worked a few sites finding nothing, before arriving at Brora and meeting the finder of the 'Highland' needletail, Fraser Todd. 

On our way home, a brief stop in Tain revealed the Little Egret which has been present since the weekend, add to this the Great White Egret and Pochard seen on Sunday, it's been a brilliant few days!

A huge thanks to Fraser Todd for initially finding the bird, Emily for re-locating it and my inner-self for deciding Helmsdale would be the place to try for this avian enigma!

The looks of success

The Needletail went out of view around the distant headland