January
2013 started off quite quietly. With an pure white
Stoat at Wallington on the 1st. A trip to Teesmouth on the 3rd produced about 35
Snow Buntings and the long staying
Black-throated Diver at Hartlepool. The highlight of January was a
Cattle Egret which I saw at Holy Island on the 31st.
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| Stoat | |
 |
| Black-throated Diver |
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| Cattle Egret |
February
February got underway with
White-fronted Geese at Druridge Pools and Grindon Lough on the 16th and 17th. A trip to Teesmouth on the 19th produced a number of good birds: a
Yellow-legged Gull, 2
Glaucous Gulls, a
Green-winged Teal, 3
Smew, a
Bean Goose, a
Spotted Redshank and a
Greenshank.
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Glaucous Gull
|
March
March was very quiet with a
Smew at Chevington on the 2nd and a
Glaucous Gull at North Shields a week later. 43
Waxwings were at Ashington on the 17th.
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| Glaucous Gull |
|
|
April
Things began to pick up in April with my first
White Wagtail of the year at Low Newton on the 2nd. The next day I saw a drake
Lesser Scaup at Saltholme as well as 3
Glaucous Gulls at Seaton Common. On the 4th I saw 11
Black Grouse at a farm in North Yorkshire.
I saw my first
Wheatears and
Chiffchaffs on the 7th. I got my first my tick of the year on the 10th when I saw the brilliant male
Little Bunting at Elba Park in County Durham. A
Black Redstart was in Whitely Bay Cemetery on the 14th.
On the 21st I found a female
Blue-headed Wagtail at Bothal. I also saw 13
Yellow Wagtails that day as well as 6
White Wagtails, 4
Marsh Harriers, a
Garganey and 2
Long-tailed Ducks. I also found a drake
Scaup at Bothal on the 23rd which stayed until the 4th of May.
7
Yellow Wagtails were also at Bothal on the 23rd. A stunning male
Blue-headed Wagtail was at St. Mary's on the 29th with at least 7
White Wagtails. Another look at Bothal on the 30th produced a
Black-tailed Godwit, the
Blue-headed Wagtail, at least 10
Yellow Wagtails and 2
White Wagtails.
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| White Wagtail |
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| Lesser Scaup |
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| Glaucous Gull |
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| Little Bunting |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Blue-headed Wagtails |
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| Yellow Wagtail |
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| Garganey |
May
The May of 2013 was undoubtedly the best spring month's birding I've ever had. It started off with a great
Purple Heron at Chevington on the 4th followed the next day with a
Great White Egret at Hauxley.
I saw 2
Temminck's Stints on the small flash north of Druridge Pools on the 6th as well as a
Whimbrel and singles of both
White and
Yellow Wagtails. 6
Yellow Wagtails and 4
White Wagtails at Cresswell the same day ended a great spring for Wagtails.
Bird of the spring came on the 8th when a stunning male
COLLARED FLYCATCHER was found at Low Newton. A Lesser Whitethroat fed alongside the Flycatcher at times.
I had a brilliant day migrant hunting at Holy Island on the 19th, where the highlights were: 3
Red-backed Shrikes (one of which was found by my Dad and the other two by me), an
Icterine Warbler which was found by Dad and a great male
Lesser Grey Shrike. On the way back I also managed to see a
Great Reed Warbler at Chevington.
2
Wood Warblers, 2
Pied Flycatchers and a
Redstart were at Allen Banks on the 27th.
 |
| Great White Egret |
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| Red-backed Shrike |
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| Lesser Grey Shrike |
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| Icterine Warbler |
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| Collared Flycaycher |
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| Wood Warbler |
June
The month got underway with 3
Little Gulls at Druridge Pools. On the 9th we had a trip to Cumbria where we managed to see
Small Blue at Workington,
Marsh Fritillary at Finglandrigg Woods as well as
White-faced Darters at another site.
On the 28th me and my uncle started a trip to the Midlands and Wales by going to see a drake
Ring-necked Duck at Catterick in North Yorkshire. On the 29th at Barkbooth Lot in Cumbria I saw a female
Beautiful Demoiselle and a
Small Pearl-bordered Frtitillary. Later that day I saw my first
Silver-studded Blues at Prees Heath in the Midlands.
The next day we saw a first-summer male
Common Rosefinch at Porth Eilian in Anglesey, as well as a
Hairy Dragonfly at nearby Cors Goch. At a site in Snowdonia we saw our first
Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies and a few
Keeled Skimmers.
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| Little Gull |
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| Small Blue |
|
 |
| White-faced Darter |
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| Marsh Fritillaries |
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| Beautiful Demoiselle |
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| Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary |
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| Silver-studded Blues |
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| Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly |
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| Common Rosefinch |
July
On my first trip out birding in July I managed to see the stunning adult
BRIDLED TERN at Chevington. I also saw it two days later at Cresswell. 33
Black-tailed Godwits were also at Cresswell. On the 21st I saw at least 8
White-beaked Dolphins past Snab Point. Four days later at Chevington there were: a
Wood Sandpiper, a
Green Sandpiper, 2
Curlew Sandpipers, 2
Little Egret and a
Water Rail.
On the 27th I arrived on Mull, where on day one I managed to see 3
White-tailed Eagles, 2
Otters and a
Hen Harrier. The next day I saw 2
Golden Eagles. On the 29th I went on a boat trip to try and photograph
White-tailed Eagles, which was a success with 9 being seen throughout the day. The 31st saw 3 more
Golden Eagles as well as 2 juvenile
Cuckoos and a
Golden-ringed Dragonfly, and on the 31st I saw a
Corncrake on Iona.
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| Bridled Tern |
 |
| White-tailed Eagles |
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| Cuckoo |
August
The first two days of August were spent on Mull where in those two days the hightlight was a
Northern Emerald dragonfly. On arriving back home I rushed to Chevington to see the
Spotted Crake. It continued to show into September and quite well at times. 8
Little Gulls were seen throughout August with the highest count being 4 at Chevington on the 5th.
On the 10th I saw a juvenile
White-winged Black Tern at Chevington and on the 18th we saw a adult
Pectoral Sandpiper at Low Newton as well as a
Garganey at Cresswell. A
Mediterranean Gull was at Bothal on the 23rd. While unsuccessfully looking for the Booted Warbler at Hadston Carrs on the 25th I saw a
Red-necked Grebe fly north. A
Black Tern was also at Chevington that day as well as a
Spotted Redshank.
A seawatch at Stag Rocks on the 28th resulted in my first
Balearic Shearwaters as well as 2
Black Terns, 5+
Sooty Shearwaters, a
Little Gulls and 15
Roseate Terns. On the 31st I saw my highest count of
Ruff with 65 at Chevington and my highest count of
Black-tailed Godwits with 61 also at Chevington.
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| Little Gull |
 |
| White-winged Black Tern |
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| Pectoral Sandpiper |
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| Roseate Terns |
September
The first bird in a great month was an adult
White-rumped Sandpiper at Chevington on the 2nd. One of my highlights of the year was self-finding a
Thrush Nightingale at Holy Island on the 7th. Also on the 7th at Chevington as well as the
White-rumped Sandpiper there were: the juvenile
Spotted Crake from August again, 3
Little Stints, 2
Curlew Sandpipers, 5
Ruff, 5
Black-tailed Godwits, a
Black Tern and 3
Pintail.
After the excitement of the 7th my Dad found a juvenile
Pectoral Sandpiper at Bothal two days later as well as 2
Garganey. On the 20th I saw an adult
American Golden Plover at St. Mary's, which showed really well. Another juvenile
Pectoral Sandpiper was at Cresswell on the 22nd.
Yellow-browed Warblers were at St. Mary's on the 26th, 2 were at St. Mary's on the 28th and 3 were at Whitburn also on the 28th. On the 28th 3
Richard's Pipits were at Whitburn as well as a
Whinchat.
 |
| White-rumped Sandpiper |
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| Thrush Nightingale record shot |
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| Black Tern |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| American Golden Plover |
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| Pectoral Sandpiper |
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| Richard's Pipit |
October
The first good bird of October came on the 5th when I saw a immature male
(Eastern) Subalpine Warbler at Druridge Pools. It was followed a week later by me finally seeing a
Pomarine Skua, which flew past Snab Point. A trip to Holy Island on the 13th resulted in a
Great Grey Shrike and a couple of
Mealy Redpolls.
A teacher strike on the 17th allowed me to go to Teesmouth, where we had a great days birding. First of all I saw my first
Western Bonelli's Warbler, followed by my second
Coue's Arctic Redpoll and then by my first
Pallid Swift. At least 8
Mealy Redpolls and a couple of
Brambling were also seen on the 17th. Another great bird was a first-winter female
Siberian Stonechat, which showed brilliantly at Howick on the 20th.
 |
| Eastern Subalpine Warbler |
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| Western Bonelli's Warbler |
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| Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Pallid Swift |
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| Mealy Redpoll |
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| Siberian Stonechat |
November
On the 3rd we went to the Long Nanny to look for Shorelark, and although we failed to find any Larks we did manage to find 7
Snow Bunting, 30+
Twite and a
Jack Snipe. We had a good day at Chevington on the 10th, where I found a
Glaucous Gull and a
Jack Snipe and
Water Rail were also present. At Cresswell the same day there was a
Black-necked Grebe and 2
Scaup.
On the 16th we saw a first-winter
Lesser Grey Shrike at the Long Nanny; my second of the year. It was followed by a adult
Bonaparte's Gull at Stag Rocks the same day with 2
Velvet Scoter, a
Slavonian Grebe and 8
Long-tailed Ducks also from the rocks.
 |
| Lesser Grey Shrike |
 |
| Bonaparte's Gull |
December
My first trip birding in December on the 8th was highly productive with a juvenile
IVORY GULL being seen. It showed brilliantly at Seahouses Golf Course.
On the 15th I visited Lingham Lake, Nosterfield in North Yorkshire to look through the Gull roost. The highlight was a first-winter
Caspian Gull. A
Yellow-legged Gull and 2
Mediterranean Gulls were also present.
I eventually got out birding again on the 28th, when I found my first
Black-throated Diver in Northumberland at East Chevington, which was shortly followed by an incredible flyby by a
Bittern.
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| Ivory Gull |
 |
| Caspian Gull (photographed by my Uncle) |
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| Bittern |
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| Black-throated Diver |
Total
Overall:
231 (exactly the same as 2012!) (Including 12 BB Rarities:
COLLARED FLYCATCHER,
Lesser Grey Shrike (x2),
Great Reed Warbler,
BRIDLED TERN,
Thrush Nightingale,
'Eastern' Subalpine Warbler, Western Bonelli's Warbler,
Pallid Swift,
Siberian Stonechat, Bonaparte's Gull, IVORY GULL)
Top 5 birds of the year
- Thrush Nightingale (Self-found) - Holy Island, September
- IVORY GULL - Seahouses, December
- COLLARED FLYCATCHER - Low Newton, Many
- BRIDLED TERN - East Chevington & Cresswell, July
- Purple Heron - East Chevington, May
Good self-finds in 2013 (A combined list of me and my Dad)
Yellow-legged Gull,
Blue-headed Wagtail,
Red-backed Shrikes (x3),
Icterine Warbler,
THRUSH NIGHTINGALE,
Garganey (x3),
Pectoral Sandpiper,
Black Tern (x2),
Balearic Shearwater (x2),
Glaucous Gull, Black-throated Diver (good Northumberland record).
Targets for 2014
In mid May to late May I am on holiday in Suffolk, so I might get another shot at ticking off Woodlark. Something even rarer would be nice, like a Savi's Warbler or Red-footed Falcon.
At home my two target birds are Red-rumped Swallow and White-billed Diver.
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