Druridge Seawatching

On the way to the patch this morning we stopped on the River Wansbeck to have another look at the long-staying first-summer Bonaparte's Gull which was once again showing well.

Once we reached Druridge Pools the Budge Fields were once again quiet with 10 Black-tailed Godwits the only birds of note. We then headed to the dunes to do some seawatching. Roseate Tern was soon added to the year list and we picked up a pod of at least 8 Bottlenose Dolphins moving north quite a long way offshore. 5 Manx Shearwater flew north including two of the closest birds we've ever seen. 6 Golden Plover also flew south and 2 more Black-tailed Godwits came 'in off', perhaps a sign that the wader passage is starting to pick up..?

Chevington was also quiet apart from the burn mouth where I picked up 2 unexpected Great Northern Divers on the sea. They were in a winter type plumage so we guess they were non-breeding first-summers. A lone Bar-tailed Godwit flew north over the beach and my dad picked up a pod of 3 Harbour Porpoise off the beach.

We suspect there may be large numbers of fish in the bay with large numbers of terns and gannets seen today especially a long way out and there were more cetaceans than normal!

PWC 2016
Species: 144
Points: 190

Bonaparte's Gull