Lockdown update...

Just realised it's nearly two months since my last post on here so here's a little update on my limited birding since the lockdown started a few weeks ago...

We are lucky to live within walking distance of Bothal Pond, so a two or three times a week we are heading there on our daily walk to see what's going on. Two female Scaup have been present throughout and other highlights have included a flyover Marsh Harrier, Egyptian Goose, Black-tailed Godwit and Wheatears.

Otherwise, we have also been having a few walks around the woodland and farmland close to home. Probably my favourite find so far has been Willow Tits in what I think is a new site for the declining species. We've also seen variety of other common species, and in a way it's been nice to take the chance to appreciate these.

Spending more time at home has led to three firsts for the garden so far: nocmig Common Scoter, flyover Goosanders and, most excitingly, a Red Kite yesterday afternoon - just my third in Northumberland.

Here's a few of my photos taken during lockdown so far, and I'll try to post any more I take over the coming weeks...

Willow Tits

Scaup

Male and female Grey Wagtails

Willow Warbler

Chiffchaff

Common Buzzard

Red Kite - a panicked record shot through my bedroom window!

Comma

Patch Greenish!

We were just getting ready to head out this morning when news came on of a Greenish Warbler at Chevington. We quickened the pace, although when we arrived the dreaded no sign message came on.

We continued around to the bushes behind the L-shaped hide and it was obvious how difficult it would be to see the bird given the thick vegetation. An hour later we had seen nothing more than a couple of Willow Warblers, but thankfully a slight movement at the back of the bushes proved to be the Greenish Warbler. While not a long view, I was lucky to get a look at the bird as it sat side on in the open. A very welcome patch tick!

A short while later a flock of Long-tailed Tits moved through the same bushes, and a vocal Willow Tit was with them. At the north pool a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper had arrived, along with 3 Pintail, and the 2 Garganey were still around. Another Garganey was at a Bothal Pond on the way home.

For a photo of the Greenish, check out finder Dave Elliot's blog here.

Rosy

Earlier reports of the Rose-coloured Starling in Prudhoe suggested that it was very hard to catch up with, so we weren't very optimistic when we set off this morning. We decided to leave the car to make sure we didn't get stuck on the ice on any of the slopes and walk instead. An hour later we were still walking around in the drizzle when I looked at four silhouetted starlings and saw that one of them was the adult Rose-coloured Starling. I managed to take a few record shots in the horrific light before it flew off. Certainly not an easy bird to find and surprisingly easy to overlook...

On the way home we stopped in at Big Waters and the highlight was 2 Willow Tits in the woods.

Rose-coloured Starling

Waders, Wryneck and a Duck

More easterly winds and a bit of rain over Friday night made us think that it might be worth a look at Low Newton for migrants. It soon became apparent that there weren't many there, so we went to have a look at the scrapes. The number of waders there was impressive, best of all were the Ruff. Here's the highlights...

104 Ruff !
9 Curlew Sandpipers
2 Little Stints
16 Black-tailed Godwits

Also in the area were...

1 Peregrine
1 Willow Tit
4 Wheatear
2 Blackcap
4 Yellow Wagtail
1 Whimbrel

On the way home we stopped in at Castle Island to have a look at the reported Blue-winged Teal. It was still present and showed nicely on the ground and in flight. A hybrid hasn't been completely eliminated yet. There were a few more wader at Castle Island...

1 Spotted Redshank
3 Greenshank
1 Little Egret
5 Ruff
5 Black-tailed Godwit

1 Kingfisher

Note there is no white trailing edge, it's only a highlight in the last photo.

On Sunday I had a cricket match in Alnmouth, so we stopped for an hour at Hadston to try and see the Wryneck. At first it was quite skulking in the long grass, but it then flew up into a nearby bush and gave some great views. Wrynecks are surely one of my favourite birds!

Wryneck

Druridge Again

A trip around the usual sites in Druridge Bay was quite productive. Starting off at Linton Lane where a Arctic Tern was on the west pool there was also a Willow Tit and plenty of Willow Warblers. At Cresswell there was 6 Yellow Wagtails, 5 Avocets, a White Wagtail and 2 Long-tailed Ducks still. I also managed to catch up with a Garganey at Druridge Pools as well as a Marsh Harrier and at least 5 White Wagtails on a small flash north of the pools. Chevington was a little quieter, though theres was 3 Marsh Harriers, including a stunning male and an Otter. At Bothal there was another 6 Yellow Wgatils, including a female which showed a few features of Blue-headed Wagtail, though was probably just a British bird (comments welcome).

Interesting wagtail at Bothal (help would be appreciated)

White Wagtail

Arctic Tern at Linton Lane

Sand Martins

Garganey

The weekend

On Saturday I went to WWT Washington hoping to practice photography, which I did despite the bad weather. At the woodland hide there was a Willow Tit, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a unusual Pheasant and lots of other common woodland birds. Yesterday I visited the SOC headquarters in Aberlady Bay, East Lothian. I would recommend a visit if you are nearby. Birdwise it was quite quiet though 7+ Velvet Scoters, a Long-tailed Duck and a wader roost containing at least 50 Grey Plover were seen. I didn't take any photos at Aberlady Bay because the weather was extermely poor.

Mandarin

Crane

Ferruginous Ducks

Chilean Flamingo

Asian Short-clawed Otter

Wood Duck & Mandarin