Andrew Lipczyński
@andrewlipczynski.bsky.social
Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, Sandwich Monks Wall Nature Reserve, RSPB, BTO, Kent Ornithological Society, Kent Moth Group, Kent Wildlife Trust, Butterfly Conservation UK/Europe, British Dragonfly Society, Western Palearctic pan-lister. UNICEF, MSF.
The northerlies delivered geese to East Kent; 26 Barnies on Worth & nearby a hrota Pale-bellied Brent (scarce in these parts) added credibility to their wild origin? Reminds me of our trip to Svalbard (this is the last cruise I go on with you😡) -perhaps one of the local gulls could also pop down 🙏
November 22, 2025 at 8:29 PM
The northerlies delivered geese to East Kent; 26 Barnies on Worth & nearby a hrota Pale-bellied Brent (scarce in these parts) added credibility to their wild origin? Reminds me of our trip to Svalbard (this is the last cruise I go on with you😡) -perhaps one of the local gulls could also pop down 🙏
Hume's (Leaf) Warbler has a somewhat chequered history at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory. One trapped on 11th of 11th 1980 & one seen & heard well by several observers (inc. moi) on 2nd Nov 2008 were deemed not proven by the powers that be (gawd bless 'em) so today's was all the sweeter #KentBirding
November 21, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Hume's (Leaf) Warbler has a somewhat chequered history at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory. One trapped on 11th of 11th 1980 & one seen & heard well by several observers (inc. moi) on 2nd Nov 2008 were deemed not proven by the powers that be (gawd bless 'em) so today's was all the sweeter #KentBirding
Long-awaited 'first' for the Bay (see later), Jonny Bull's BOC shot is spot on & soon we're watching/listening to this grey washed-out 'Yellow-brow' calling like a Pied Wag, hyperactive feeding up & with a chameleon-like quality of picking up green hues from vegetation. A 'proper' photo by Greg Lee.
November 21, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Long-awaited 'first' for the Bay (see later), Jonny Bull's BOC shot is spot on & soon we're watching/listening to this grey washed-out 'Yellow-brow' calling like a Pied Wag, hyperactive feeding up & with a chameleon-like quality of picking up green hues from vegetation. A 'proper' photo by Greg Lee.
There's been a huge increase in number of Gannets feeding offshore at Sandwich Bay. From usual day peaks of 200-300, 1300 on 10th Nov 2024 was staggering only to be eclipsed by 1750 on 1st Nov this year. In other news the ♀️Velvet Scoter remains, today in the company of a ♀️Common Scoter #KentBirding
November 12, 2025 at 8:01 PM
There's been a huge increase in number of Gannets feeding offshore at Sandwich Bay. From usual day peaks of 200-300, 1300 on 10th Nov 2024 was staggering only to be eclipsed by 1750 on 1st Nov this year. In other news the ♀️Velvet Scoter remains, today in the company of a ♀️Common Scoter #KentBirding
Bright warm (15'C) but breezy - probably our last chance for some 'odonating' before weather turned. No Migrant Hawkers but still plenty of Common Darters including this pair making 'wahey' while the sun shone. Then news of a Willow Emerald Damselfly smashing our previous latest of 14th Oct in 2021.
November 12, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Bright warm (15'C) but breezy - probably our last chance for some 'odonating' before weather turned. No Migrant Hawkers but still plenty of Common Darters including this pair making 'wahey' while the sun shone. Then news of a Willow Emerald Damselfly smashing our previous latest of 14th Oct in 2021.
63 Firecrests ringed at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory so far this year 😮 Most probably breeding in my home garden since 2019 (although yet to find a nest😬) the resident male/s sing & display as I potter about - all reflecting large population increases noted in the county since 2012/3. #KentBirding
November 11, 2025 at 7:35 PM
63 Firecrests ringed at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory so far this year 😮 Most probably breeding in my home garden since 2019 (although yet to find a nest😬) the resident male/s sing & display as I potter about - all reflecting large population increases noted in the county since 2012/3. #KentBirding
Distinctly overdressed on this morning's WeBS count on Worth Marshes 😅 - great to see SBBOT old boy David Anning now RSPB Ynys-hir site manager. Migrant Hawkers still on the wing if somewhat tattered. On Thursday a brown 'hawker' with amber-tinted wings was frustratingly a probable Vagrant Emperor 😬
November 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Distinctly overdressed on this morning's WeBS count on Worth Marshes 😅 - great to see SBBOT old boy David Anning now RSPB Ynys-hir site manager. Migrant Hawkers still on the wing if somewhat tattered. On Thursday a brown 'hawker' with amber-tinted wings was frustratingly a probable Vagrant Emperor 😬
Emblematic & symbolic of Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, today's "seven-striped Siberian sprite" Pallas's Warbler 😁 was the 58th recorded at the Bay (of which 24 ringed) since the first (also for Kent) on Nov 23rd 1958❗. The earliest Oct 11th in 1975, the latest Dec 31st 1998 #KentBirding #KentNature
November 7, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Emblematic & symbolic of Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, today's "seven-striped Siberian sprite" Pallas's Warbler 😁 was the 58th recorded at the Bay (of which 24 ringed) since the first (also for Kent) on Nov 23rd 1958❗. The earliest Oct 11th in 1975, the latest Dec 31st 1998 #KentBirding #KentNature
Today 75 mins on the sea - quiet but for a drake Scaup, two drake Velvet Scoters & three species of Diver 😮, inc this Great Northern close enough inshore to try a record shot. Cormorant numbers starting to build & yesterday the Sea Cadets Flagship/training brig Royalist out of Ramsgate #KentBirding
November 3, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Today 75 mins on the sea - quiet but for a drake Scaup, two drake Velvet Scoters & three species of Diver 😮, inc this Great Northern close enough inshore to try a record shot. Cormorant numbers starting to build & yesterday the Sea Cadets Flagship/training brig Royalist out of Ramsgate #KentBirding
Highlights from Worth last Thurs 30th October: Plenty of Common Darters (20+) & Migrant Hawkers (5 males) still on the wing in the lee of the Great Wood & probably my latest ever Brown Argus. A Glossy Ibis out by Roaring Gutter but no sign of y'day's Long-billed Dowitcher. #KentNature #KentBirding
November 3, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Highlights from Worth last Thurs 30th October: Plenty of Common Darters (20+) & Migrant Hawkers (5 males) still on the wing in the lee of the Great Wood & probably my latest ever Brown Argus. A Glossy Ibis out by Roaring Gutter but no sign of y'day's Long-billed Dowitcher. #KentNature #KentBirding
A spell sea-watching, c2300 Starlings in-off & Black-throated Diver the best. Then to HQ for our first 'confirmed' White-speck. Previous records: "8 in 8-17 July in 1986 clearly incorrect but one on 31/10/89 probably reliable”. A migrant/colonist, seen previously on Scillies were resident/common.
October 29, 2025 at 5:15 PM
A spell sea-watching, c2300 Starlings in-off & Black-throated Diver the best. Then to HQ for our first 'confirmed' White-speck. Previous records: "8 in 8-17 July in 1986 clearly incorrect but one on 31/10/89 probably reliable”. A migrant/colonist, seen previously on Scillies were resident/common.
Photo-montage & Norman McCanch's drawing of 2CY female Black-headed (Yellow) Wagtail, M. f. feldegg, RSPB Worth Marshes 26th May 2023, Chuffed that BBRC✅ "The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine."😁 A most challenging description & 1st for SBBOT recording area & #KentBirding
October 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Photo-montage & Norman McCanch's drawing of 2CY female Black-headed (Yellow) Wagtail, M. f. feldegg, RSPB Worth Marshes 26th May 2023, Chuffed that BBRC✅ "The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine."😁 A most challenging description & 1st for SBBOT recording area & #KentBirding
Wednesday last day. After packing up, checking out & winding down I went to Porthloo. The EBT had been seen earlier twice briefly so I strolled to the original site; Sophie's Walk. A couple strolling along the path unknowingly flushed a bird & there it was 😮😀 . Thank you Sophie whoever you are/were.
October 23, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Wednesday last day. After packing up, checking out & winding down I went to Porthloo. The EBT had been seen earlier twice briefly so I strolled to the original site; Sophie's Walk. A couple strolling along the path unknowingly flushed a bird & there it was 😮😀 . Thank you Sophie whoever you are/were.
After a long weekend lost in fevered delirium I was still in my PJs when the guys called "we've found an Eyebrowed Thrush at Porthloo". Me "yeah - right!" However, regretting those years bunking off school x-country, I was soon on-site and the camera suggests I was not hallucinating😵💫 #ScillyBirding
October 21, 2025 at 3:58 PM
After a long weekend lost in fevered delirium I was still in my PJs when the guys called "we've found an Eyebrowed Thrush at Porthloo". Me "yeah - right!" However, regretting those years bunking off school x-country, I was soon on-site and the camera suggests I was not hallucinating😵💫 #ScillyBirding
Friday pm, a romp around St Mary's, finding Prickly Stick Insect (Acanthoxyla geisovii) in the Churchyard, the airport for Lapland Bunting & Porth Hellick beach for Common Rosefinch associating with Chaffinches, Bramblings & Linnets. Returning in a fever with a savage dose of man flu. #ScillyBirding
October 19, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Friday pm, a romp around St Mary's, finding Prickly Stick Insect (Acanthoxyla geisovii) in the Churchyard, the airport for Lapland Bunting & Porth Hellick beach for Common Rosefinch associating with Chaffinches, Bramblings & Linnets. Returning in a fever with a savage dose of man flu. #ScillyBirding
A few shots from Friday's mini pelagic onboard Joe Pender's MV Sapphire out past Bryher to Pol Bank and the Bishop Rock (Men an Epskop) Lighthouse and then back along the Western Rocks and Tresco. #ScillyBirding
October 19, 2025 at 9:28 AM
A few shots from Friday's mini pelagic onboard Joe Pender's MV Sapphire out past Bryher to Pol Bank and the Bishop Rock (Men an Epskop) Lighthouse and then back along the Western Rocks and Tresco. #ScillyBirding
More highlights from our first 2 days on Scillies. The Spotted Sandpiper in Saint Wama's Cove & American (Buff-bellied) Pipit with M'ippits in the cow fields at end of Barnaby Lane, both on St Agnes & 2 Jack Snipe on Lower Moors, St Mary's, members of a large influx onto the Islands #Scillybirding
October 17, 2025 at 6:56 AM
More highlights from our first 2 days on Scillies. The Spotted Sandpiper in Saint Wama's Cove & American (Buff-bellied) Pipit with M'ippits in the cow fields at end of Barnaby Lane, both on St Agnes & 2 Jack Snipe on Lower Moors, St Mary's, members of a large influx onto the Islands #Scillybirding
Yep, I'm afraid it's Scilly season again. After yesterday's brief flight view only of the MoDo on St Agnes., today it was a wee bit better. #Scillybirding
October 16, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Yep, I'm afraid it's Scilly season again. After yesterday's brief flight view only of the MoDo on St Agnes., today it was a wee bit better. #Scillybirding
The Great Crake Off? 😬 Well worth the soggy bottom resulting from sitting quietly for an hour in wet grass watching the Spotted Crake performing in the Dragonfly Pond. A mass of hirundines overhead, bushes full of Chiffchaffs and a Wryneck, albeit briefly. Sandwich Bay at its best. #KentBirding
October 1, 2025 at 7:27 PM
The Great Crake Off? 😬 Well worth the soggy bottom resulting from sitting quietly for an hour in wet grass watching the Spotted Crake performing in the Dragonfly Pond. A mass of hirundines overhead, bushes full of Chiffchaffs and a Wryneck, albeit briefly. Sandwich Bay at its best. #KentBirding
Just a Scaup at Twilight. A drake at Pegwell present for its 3rd day. Like all sea-duck, increasingly scarce at Sandwich Bay, just about annual passage migrant/winter visitor. Long gone are the days when Harrison described exceptional cold weather numbers of 800-1000 at Sandwich in 1940 #KentBirding
September 30, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Just a Scaup at Twilight. A drake at Pegwell present for its 3rd day. Like all sea-duck, increasingly scarce at Sandwich Bay, just about annual passage migrant/winter visitor. Long gone are the days when Harrison described exceptional cold weather numbers of 800-1000 at Sandwich in 1940 #KentBirding
Today's Red-necked Phalarope was 15th record for SBBOT recording area. There's only been 1 spring record (26-30/5/1975) all others, juv/1w birds, in period 8/8/1964 - 17/11/2017. Early records were at/near Pegwell - most recent 3 on newly created habitat on New Downs/RSPB Worth Marshes #KentBirding
September 28, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Today's Red-necked Phalarope was 15th record for SBBOT recording area. There's only been 1 spring record (26-30/5/1975) all others, juv/1w birds, in period 8/8/1964 - 17/11/2017. Early records were at/near Pegwell - most recent 3 on newly created habitat on New Downs/RSPB Worth Marshes #KentBirding
The Death's-head Hawk-moth reminded me of another giant - the Great Peacock. In particular, this larva in the Jardin des Papillons, Digne-les-Bains in July 2014. It was another 7 years before I saw an adult lumbering around the Casa Sarasa garden on a warm spring evening & later on a trap. #TeamMoth
September 25, 2025 at 1:09 PM
The Death's-head Hawk-moth reminded me of another giant - the Great Peacock. In particular, this larva in the Jardin des Papillons, Digne-les-Bains in July 2014. It was another 7 years before I saw an adult lumbering around the Casa Sarasa garden on a warm spring evening & later on a trap. #TeamMoth
Presenting 'Damian' the Death's-head Hawkmoth, A. atropos, newly emerged this morning, after being lovingly tended and raised by our Assistant Warden, Johnny Bull, after the caterpillar was found on the SBBOT Middle Field reserve on 14th August. Marvelous Moth Metamorphosis 🤩 #TeamMoth #KentNature
September 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Presenting 'Damian' the Death's-head Hawkmoth, A. atropos, newly emerged this morning, after being lovingly tended and raised by our Assistant Warden, Johnny Bull, after the caterpillar was found on the SBBOT Middle Field reserve on 14th August. Marvelous Moth Metamorphosis 🤩 #TeamMoth #KentNature
SBBO Moth Night: always some surprises, today was no different. Oak Lutestring, common inland but only a couple of previous records (30/9/09 & 26/9/10) September Thorn, my 2nd of the year - until recently you had to go back to 2001 & Ni Moth, my last by 'mothin' on a cruise ship in the Med #TeamMoth
September 20, 2025 at 9:42 PM
SBBO Moth Night: always some surprises, today was no different. Oak Lutestring, common inland but only a couple of previous records (30/9/09 & 26/9/10) September Thorn, my 2nd of the year - until recently you had to go back to 2001 & Ni Moth, my last by 'mothin' on a cruise ship in the Med #TeamMoth
I was watching this male (in the video above) holding its ground when I noticed ripples in the water at the edge of the pond below - a female half-submerged ovipositing discreetly. Not sure I've seen this act before - was the male in attendance or just coincidence? @britishdragonflies.bsky.social
September 20, 2025 at 8:55 AM
I was watching this male (in the video above) holding its ground when I noticed ripples in the water at the edge of the pond below - a female half-submerged ovipositing discreetly. Not sure I've seen this act before - was the male in attendance or just coincidence? @britishdragonflies.bsky.social