Sticking to the patch...

We were once again at the patch this morning, with a juvenile Glaucous Gull at Chevington being new for the year. Other additions were Kingfisher, Bar-tailed Godwit and Skylark.

Druridge Pools was busy with ducks again, and the recent hybrid wigeon was showing well. A smart bird. There were also quite a few waders today including 12 Black-tailed Godwits and 30+ Dunlin. 

On the way back we stopped at Woodhorn where 7 Eurasian White-fronted Geese with the Greylags included the bird with the black neck ring '1V9'. I've attached its history below from geese.org...

Eurasian White-fronted Geese - including its ringing history

Glaucous Gull

Eurasian x American Wigeon hybrid

2017 - An exciting year at Druridge Bay North...

So, here's my post looking back on what was a great year of Patchwork Challenge at my Druridge Bay North patch...

The good birds started straight away on our first visit on the 2nd of January. Sightings that day included the flock of 7 Shore Larks at Chevington burn mouth, Bittern, Hen Harrier and Glaucous Gull. Not a bad start! On the 21st we were at Chevington for first light to see by far the rarest bird of the year - the juvenile Pacific Diver...

Eurasian White-fronted Geese were very easy to see on the patch during January and our peak count was 33 flying over Druridge Pools on the morning of the 29th.

On the 18th of March the first Sand Martins returned, while Scaup were around in good numbers. A Snow Bunting and Slavonian Grebe were at Chevington. A week later an extremely smart drake Ring-necked Duck turned up on the north pool there.

The following day (26th) Druridge Pools played host to the first Great White Egret of the year as well as a great count of 5 Water Pipits.

Thankfully we didn't miss anything on our holiday to Mallorca, but on our return a Hooded Crow was at Druridge Pools. On the 21st a summer plumage Black Tern arrived at Chevington. A Green-winged Teal was at Druridge Pools for the last week of April.

In early May a Channel Wagtail and Jack Snipe showed well at Druridge...

A first-summer Little Gull also performed well there on the the 20th, a species which was surprisingly scarce throughout the year.

The 20th also produced a female Blue-headed Wagtail...

Spoonbills featured quite a lot during the summer following on from our first sighting on 27th...

Wader passage through the summer was also good with a Pectoral Sandpiper, at least 7 Wood Sandpipers (on the same day) and a Spotted Redshank being highlights. On the 1st of July a Red Kite came in off the sea and a stunning adult White-winged Black Tern was at Druridge.

On the 11th of August an adult White-rumped Sandpiper relocated to Druridge Pools after being at Cresswell for a few days...

Overnight ringing on the 12th produced a couple of Storm Petrels. The 21st produced the next good bird with an attractive Spotted Crake, also at Druridge Pools...

On the 30th of August I found a pair of juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers there...

A Red-necked Grebe was just offshore a couple of days later. One of the highlights of the year came on the 24th when we very unexpectedly flushed a Quail twice from the dunes at Hadston. This was a lifer for both of us after so many fruitless attempts for them in the past.

Other autumn birds included a Black-necked Grebe at Chevington and 2 Whinchats at Druridge. On the 7th of October one elder bush there held three species of sylvia: a Blackcap, Garden Warbler and a Barred Warbler.

Three days later a smart juvenile Red-necked Phalarope turned up at Druridge Pools...

The best moment of the year came when we found a couple of Bee-eaters flying low over Chevington. What was almost certainly one of the same birds lingered at Druridge Pools the following week.

A Shore Lark returned to Chevington on the 27th and was joined by two Snow Buntings. This was our last notable sighting of the year.

The scores:

 Total species: 186
 Total points: 280

Finally, here's a condensed list of the best birds...

8 Shore Larks
Hen Harrier
Pacific Diver
Ring-necked Duck
3 Great White Egrets
5 Water Pipits
Green-winged Teal
Blue-headed Wagtail
4 Spoonbills
Red Kite
White-winged Black Tern
3 Pectoral Sandpipers
White-rumped Sandpiper
Spotted Crake
Quail
Barred Warbler
Red-necked Phalarope
2 Bee-eaters

What a year!

The good run continues...

We were expecting a slightly quieter look at the patch on Saturday morning. However, once again the birding was better than expected...

With a bit of a north-easterly we decided to do a bit of seawatching from Hadston Carrs. We stayed about an hour but it proved very quiet. Moving south, Chevington was similar, although the Long-tailed Duck remained on the north pool. It had been joined by 7 Red-breasted Mergansers and another 5 Mergansers were on Ladyburn Lake. A short while later we had just been checking the geese when word came through of a White-billed Diver passing Whitburn.

With another sighting coming from Tynemouth shortly after, we rushed back to Hadston. When we arrived word had just come through of it passing Newbiggin and it had taken just 25 minutes to get between the two sites. So, when forty minutes went by and we still hadn't seen the bird, we thought we had missed out. However, we were really pleased when at 11:58 the White-billed Diver flew past nice and close inshore. A nice patch tick and our first Patchwork rarity of the year.

Other birds past Hadston on our second visit included 3 Velvet Scoters and 2 Ruff which were a bit unexpected. At Druridge, the number of Black-tailed Godwits had increased to 15, and a Water Pipit was giving good views even if it was a bit distant.

We finished the day at North Blyth, where 2 first-winter Iceland Gulls and a first-winter Glaucous Gull were showing across the river.

Iceland Gull

2018 underway...

We're four days into 2018 and me and my dad have already spent a couple of days out on the coast. On the first we spent the day on the patch, managing to see 77 species. The main highlight was a Waxwing which flew south past us in the dunes before spending a bit of time around the burn mouth. Other sightings included a Long-tailed Duck, Merlin and 31 Whooper Swans.

This morning we fancied a bit of a change so headed north towards Bamburgh. When we arrived at Stag Rocks the sea conditions looked perfect - flat light and flat water. The birds were very visible including:

1 Red-necked Grebe
7 Slavonian Grebe
79 Long-tailed Duck
3 Great Northern Diver 
3 Red-throated Diver 
c. 30 Common Scoter

108 Purple Sandpipers were also on the rocks. The usual Spotted Redshank was also in Budle Bay. At Fenham Flats the usual great numbers were out on the mudflats, and 215 Pintail was our highest ever count. A pale redpoll outside the hide with 3 Lessers eventually turned out to be a Mealy Redpoll.

Waxwing

Mealy Redpoll

Out with a bang!

With just a few hours of daylight left this evening, we decided to head to Druridge Pools in case we could add a final new bird. A look off the dunes was very quiet and it was largely the same from the screen, although 7 Black-tailed Godwits were new. We just arrived back at the car to head to Chevington when I checked my phone and was pretty surprised to see that a Ross's Gull found at Boulmer!

The sun had already set but we still thought we could make it, especially with the head start we got from already being at Druridge. We arrived about half an hour later and then ran as fast as we could from the village to Longhougton Steel about 800 metres to the north.

At first it wasn't looking good, the light was going fast and the bird had disappeared into the flock of hundreds of gulls, many of which were sat down or behind the rocks. Luckily though I was scanning through the flock when something about one of the gulls caught my attention. Just I got onto to it, it took off revealing the stunning plumage and structure of the adult Ross's Gull. Thankfully it dropped back into the flock where it stayed until the light finally went. What a way to end 2017!

Spot the Ross's Gull!

Parrot Crossbills in Derbyshire...

On Thursday we had a trip down to Howden Reservoir in Derbyshire with the hope of catching up with some Parrot Crossbills. When the sun was out and it wasn't snowing, the 12 birds would show well, along with a good number of Common Crossbills in the area...

Parrot Crossbill

I also managed some record videograbs...

Parrot Crossbills - Videos should be viewed in HD at 1080p

And for comparison...

A Common Crossbill at Druridge Bay Country Park in April 2016

12 photos from 2017...

Pacific Diver at Druridge Bay Country Park - my first lifer of the year and the first of just three 'BB' rarities we saw in Northumberland this year.

Pine Bunting at Dunnington (N. Yorks) © S. Clifton - a very successful twitch for this smart bird in late February.

Yellow-browed Warbler on Holy Island - this singing male was perhaps our most unusual find of the year.

Citrine Wagtail at Lynemouth Flash - bird of the spring and a serious contender for bird of the year.

Audouin's Gulls on Mallorca - perhaps my favourite bird of the trip. Other highlights included Balearic and Moustached Warblers, Black, Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Tawny Pipits, a Scops Owl and an extremely confiding Little Bittern.

White-winged Black Tern at Druridge Pools - one of a great selection of birds on the patch this year. I'm hoping to do an account of 2017 on the patch in the next week or two...

Long-billed Dowitcher at Boulmer

White-rumped Sandpiper on North Uist - it was great to find this then have views down to just two or three metres at the scenic RSPB Balnarald.

Scops Owl at Ryhope - my rarity of the year.

Bee-eater at Druridge Pools - almost certainly one of two Bee-eaters we had flying over East Chevington the weekend before which were definitely our most exciting find of the year!

Hawfinch in Morpeth - just my second sighting in the county.

Little Auk at Snab Point - great to get good views of this bird which briefly landed on the end of Snab Point. Other seawatching highlights throughout the year included 2 White-billed Divers, Cory's Shearwater, Sabine's Gull, 2 Grey Phalaropes and a Storm Petrel. 

A few stats up to 23/12

Total:
235 (including 5 BB rarities: Pacific Diver, Pine Bunting, Long-billed Dowitcher, Scops Owl, Richardson's Cackling Goose, Ross's Gull)

Finds
We've another really lucky year in terms of finding birds. The singing Yellow-browed Warbler was the best of the spring, while the autumn was more productive with White-rumped Sandpiper on North Uist, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers, Sabine's Gull, Quail, Bee-eaters at Chevington and Grey Phalarope. It was also nice to finally fill the hole of Garganey on my finds list!

I've just passed 200,000 blog views so thanks to everyone who reads it! 

Merry Christmas!