Spent most of the day ticking off some birds I still needed for Patchwork Challenge, with Chevington being particularly productive...
A look on the north pool gave the
Black-necked Grebe right alongside the
Slavonian Grebe providing a great comparison, a pair of
Scaup, a female
Common Scoter (second of the winter on the pool) and at least 77
Goldeneye.
A flock of
Greylag Geese dropped onto the south pool which also held a
Pink-footed Goose and 2
European White-fronted Geese, and a
Black-tailed Godwit flew over heading north-east.
We walked down to the burn mouth where my dad picked up a female
Velvet Scoter with a small and relatively close flock of
Common Scoter. 2
Barn Owl were also sat on the fence and 2
Red-breasted Mergansers were offshore.
Next to Druridge Pools where 3
Pintail were on the Budge Fields along with a
Black-tailed Godwit and a
Ruff. Around 10
Barnacle Geese flew over with the thousands of Pink-feet and a single
Red-breasted Merganser was on the north pool.
Just as we were leaving we heard of 2
Waxwings on wires between Druridge Pools and Widdrington village. Sure enough when we got there they were sat on the wires, so we rushed back to Druridge to try and get them on the patch list, but by the time we got there they had disappeared. Perhaps they were just passing through as we don't know of any berry bushes in the area...
PWC 2016
Species: 104
Points: 127
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| European White-fronted Geese |
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| Black-necked Grebe - record shot! |
