We were visiting relatives on Teesside this afternoon so decided to leave a bit early and stop at RSPB Saltholme on the way. Before we arrived a Marsh Harrier flew west over our car on the A689 near Wynyard.
On reaching the reserve we headed to the Saltholme Pools Hide where 3 Little Stints were feeding in front of the hide, however two of these birds flew off. At least 15 Black-tailed Godwits, 7 Ruff and 10 Little Egrets were also visible from here along with 2 Pintail and a juvenile Garganey.
Someone strimming in front of the Phil Stead Hide meant that no birds were on show from here, however 2 Greenshank were on the Fire Station Fields along with 2 Green Sandpipers which flew towards the visitor centre.
Our final stop was the hide at Dorman's Pool. A further 6 juvenile Little Stints were here along with 4 juvenile Little Ringed Plovers, 7 Ruff and 2 Black Swan.
Tuesday, 30 August 2016
Friday, 26 August 2016
Quiet on Holy Island...
Back up to Holy Island this morning with the overnight rain and light south easterlies, however these once again failed to produce a scarcity. Here's the migrant counts...
11 Willow Warbler
2 Whitethroat
1 Spotted Flycatcher
1 Redstart
1 Goldcrest
1 Chiffchaff
Other highlights included a flock of at least 150 Goosander visible off the north shore of the island from the Excavations and an Osprey sat on the Pilgrim's Way marker posts with a fish.
We took a slight detour on the way back and stopped at Budle Bay where the highlight was 2 Spotted Redshanks (a moulting adult and a juvenile). Other birds included 7 Black-tailed Godwit, an adult Mediterranean Gull, a Pintail, Knot, 3 Little Egrets and 2 Goosanders.
Monday, 22 August 2016
Another good morning...
We suspected that the juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was still around Amble so headed there this morning...
On the way we called in at QEII where the juvenile Black Tern was showing really well, however the poor light prevented any really good photos. We arrived at Amble where an adult Curlew Sandpiper was feeding in the seaweed and the returning adult Caspian Gull dropped in.
It was a while before my Dad picked up an interesting gull sat on one of the staithes. We walked to the marina to get a better look and when we got there it was quickly apparent this was the bird. Whether it is a Yellow-legged or not we're not sure about.
While watching the gull the adult White-rumped Sandpiper which I found yesterday was spotted which also gave great views near the lifeboat station before flying upstream. A really good looking bird and my dad even managed to photograph it's white rump in one of three photos he took of it!
On the way back we called in at Druridge Pools for an hour. 5 Curlew Sandpipers and 2 Little Stints remained on the Budge Fields and 2 Spotted Flycatchers were in the pine plantation by the entrance along with a number of Willow Warblers and a few Goldcrests. A Redstart was also feeding along the fence on the east side of the farm building.
Just as we were driving home to get some lunch we spotted an Osprey flying low over the road between Druridge Pools and Widdrington village. It headed off in a south-west direction. A patch tick and an excellent end to a decent day!
PWC 2016
Species: 105
Points: 203
On the way we called in at QEII where the juvenile Black Tern was showing really well, however the poor light prevented any really good photos. We arrived at Amble where an adult Curlew Sandpiper was feeding in the seaweed and the returning adult Caspian Gull dropped in.
It was a while before my Dad picked up an interesting gull sat on one of the staithes. We walked to the marina to get a better look and when we got there it was quickly apparent this was the bird. Whether it is a Yellow-legged or not we're not sure about.
While watching the gull the adult White-rumped Sandpiper which I found yesterday was spotted which also gave great views near the lifeboat station before flying upstream. A really good looking bird and my dad even managed to photograph it's white rump in one of three photos he took of it!
On the way back we called in at Druridge Pools for an hour. 5 Curlew Sandpipers and 2 Little Stints remained on the Budge Fields and 2 Spotted Flycatchers were in the pine plantation by the entrance along with a number of Willow Warblers and a few Goldcrests. A Redstart was also feeding along the fence on the east side of the farm building.
Just as we were driving home to get some lunch we spotted an Osprey flying low over the road between Druridge Pools and Widdrington village. It headed off in a south-west direction. A patch tick and an excellent end to a decent day!
PWC 2016
Species: 105
Points: 203
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| The Amble gull |
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| Caspian Gull |
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White-rumped Sandpiper   
Black Tern
Osprey
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Sunday, 21 August 2016
Sunday sandpiper...
Our intention this morning was to have a family walk on the beach and see the Yellow-legged Gull in Amble harbour on the journey there. It didn't quite go to plan, but not in a bad way...
When we arrived at Amble Harbour it was soon apparent the Yellow-legged Gull had moved off, however the returning adult Caspian Gull was snoozing on the mud and there were also 17 Goosanders on the river. In the distance we could see a number of gulls near the braid so we headed there for a brief look...
I had a quick scan of the gulls and couldn't see the YLG so decided to look at the waders. No sign of any Curlew Sands but looking east I spotted a very interesting looking wader. Despite it being quite distant the grey and long-bodied appearance as well as the obvious supercilium meant I already suspected its identity.
We walked east and stood right in front of the Coquet Yacht Club where the bird was showing really well just across the river and we were able to get final confirmation that it was an adult White-rumped Sandpiper. It continued to show well for the next hour while we were there and showed its rump several times in flight. A great day and nice to get a decent find!
When we arrived at Amble Harbour it was soon apparent the Yellow-legged Gull had moved off, however the returning adult Caspian Gull was snoozing on the mud and there were also 17 Goosanders on the river. In the distance we could see a number of gulls near the braid so we headed there for a brief look...
I had a quick scan of the gulls and couldn't see the YLG so decided to look at the waders. No sign of any Curlew Sands but looking east I spotted a very interesting looking wader. Despite it being quite distant the grey and long-bodied appearance as well as the obvious supercilium meant I already suspected its identity.
We walked east and stood right in front of the Coquet Yacht Club where the bird was showing really well just across the river and we were able to get final confirmation that it was an adult White-rumped Sandpiper. It continued to show well for the next hour while we were there and showed its rump several times in flight. A great day and nice to get a decent find!
White-rumped Sandpiper
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The bird as feeding across the river just behind the boat with the large sail
Goosanders
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Saturday, 20 August 2016
More Curlew Sands...
Holy Island was our first stop this morning though it was very quiet with just a single Pied Flycatcher and 8 Willow Warblers, so we headed to Druridge Pools.
As soon as we arrived in the Budge Screen it started pouring down although the birds more than made up for the miserable weather. There were 9 Curlew Sandpipers which included an adult in mostly winter plumage as well as 2 Little Stints, 20+ Ruff, 8 Black-tailed Godwit, a Common Sandpiper and a Yellow Wagtail. 6 Knot also made a brief appearance. We're really enjoying having so many waders here.
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| Pied Flycatcher |
Friday, 19 August 2016
Waders still on the up..
3 Curlew Sandpipers at Cresswell Pond this morning were our first in Northumberland since September 2014 and we beat our record county Little Egret again with 16 at Cresswell this morning along with 25+ Black-tailed Godwit (several flocks flew over without stopping), 2 Knot, 4 Greenshank, 3 Common Sandpiper, 2 Avocet, a Water Rail and a Mediterranean Gulls also at the pond. A large flock of Black-headed Gulls visible in the distance from the car parking area held at least 30 more Mediterranean Gulls.
One of the first birds I looked at from the Budge Screen was a Wood Sandpiper in the north-east corner of the Budge Fields and it disappeared into the grass after a few seconds. We later walked along the path to the two hides and saw the Wood Sand again from here While we were stood here a Sparrowhawk flew over flushing the waders, most of which landed back on the fields, so we headed back to the screen. There were now 4 juvenile Little Stints walking around together (although quickly split up again), at least 22 Ruff, 25 Dunlin, 4 Black-tailed Godwits and a fly over Greenshank. It's amazing how many waders can stay invisible in the tussocks. We were also quite surprised to see a female Goosander land in front of the Budge Screen. They occasionally visit the big pool but we've never seen one actually on the Budge Fields before! 3 Common Sandpipers on the north pool were our first on the ground on the patch this year.
Our final stop was Castle Island where the water levels were unfortunately back to normal, though there was still good numbers of waders including a Curlew Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, 29+ Black-tailed Godwit and 6 Common Sandpipers along with 6 Little Egret.
PWC 2016
Species: 152
Points: 199
One of the first birds I looked at from the Budge Screen was a Wood Sandpiper in the north-east corner of the Budge Fields and it disappeared into the grass after a few seconds. We later walked along the path to the two hides and saw the Wood Sand again from here While we were stood here a Sparrowhawk flew over flushing the waders, most of which landed back on the fields, so we headed back to the screen. There were now 4 juvenile Little Stints walking around together (although quickly split up again), at least 22 Ruff, 25 Dunlin, 4 Black-tailed Godwits and a fly over Greenshank. It's amazing how many waders can stay invisible in the tussocks. We were also quite surprised to see a female Goosander land in front of the Budge Screen. They occasionally visit the big pool but we've never seen one actually on the Budge Fields before! 3 Common Sandpipers on the north pool were our first on the ground on the patch this year.
Our final stop was Castle Island where the water levels were unfortunately back to normal, though there was still good numbers of waders including a Curlew Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, 29+ Black-tailed Godwit and 6 Common Sandpipers along with 6 Little Egret.
PWC 2016
Species: 152
Points: 199
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| Two of the Curlew Sandpipers at Cresswell |
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| Goosander - unusual habitat! |
Wednesday, 17 August 2016
Waders on the move...
Druridge Pools is looking much better and today there were 6+ Ruff (there had been 10 yesterday evening), 8 Black-tailed Godwit, flyover Greenshank and Yellow Wagtail as well as a Goldeneye on the big pool. We were also a bit surprised to see a flock of 7 Pintail drop onto the big pool. They had a short bathe before flying off north - fresh in?
Cresswell Pond once gain held 7 Little Egrets however today this included a colour-ringed bird (photo below) as well as 2 Greenshank and 9 Avocets. 5 juvenile Black-tailed Godwits dropped in and a flock of 5 Whimbrel appeared to come in off the sea before flying south over the hide.
The day's highlight as Castle Island where the water levels were the lowest we've ever seen them. With the low water levels came the waders with a minimum of 46 Black-tailed Godwits, 6+ Ruff, 4 Common Sandpipers, a Knot (which we were told was the first here for twenty years!), a Green Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover and 2 Avocets among the commoner species. Little Egrets were also out in force with a total of 14 birds being my highest ever count in Northumberland.
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| Pintail |
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| Juvenile Cuckoo |
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| Colour-ringed Little Egret |
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