We fancied some sea birding and the calm, grey conditions encouraged us to head up to the north of the county. For a change we tried Holy Island to start with, and were surprised to see 3 Red-necked Grebes scattered around just off the harbour. I can't remember ever seeing three in a day before let alone in the same place...
Looking from the Heugh, the tide was a bit high so the birds were scattered across the bay, but we did manage to pick up 6 Slavonian Grebes, 20 Long-tailed Ducks and 24 Red-breasted Merganser among others. A group of Dark-bellied Brent Geese was feeding in the harbour, with a few Pale-bellied mixed in too, and a Merlin and Peregrine were also seen.
Just as we were leaving the island, my dad noticed a pair of Long-tailed Ducks in the channel by the causeway, so I stopped the car, and was able to walk down to the water's edge while the ducks were below the surface. I was treated to some stunning views down to just a few metres before they flew off as the tide rose. We had lunch at Budle Bay, where the ever-present Spotted Redshank was feeding on the mud.
On arrival at Stag Rocks, one of the very first birds we looked at was another close in Red-necked Grebe, while our fifth of the day was further north off Budle Point. I definitely haven't seen five Red-necked Grebes in a single day in Northumbs before! A Great Northern Diver showed quite nicely if briefly, 5 Slavonian Grebes included one close bird, and 16 more Long-tailed Ducks were offshore.
Long-tailed Ducks
Pale-bellied Brent Goose with Dark-bellied Brents
Unfortunately my digiscoping eyepiece is away being fixed at the moment, so there may be some dodgy phonescoped photos on my blog in the next few weeks...
Yesterday we headed to Holy Island for our first day of migrant-hunting this year. After easterly wind and drizzle overnight, we hoped there would be a few early migrants such as Ring Ouzels, but it turned out to be a bit quiet, only picking up in the afternoon when 2 Black Redstarts were below the Vicar's Garden and a smart Great Grey Shrike was on the Snook - my first in spring. 3 Slavonian Grebes were also showing well offshore, with two starting their moult into summer plumage. Sadly, despite much searching, we were unable to locate the Black Scoter...
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.
We fancied a change of scene today so decided to head up north to Stag Rocks and Bamburgh for a day of birding in that area. Budle Bay was quiet with only a Merlin in the dunes at the back and a Little Egret fishing in the main channel, so we headed up to Ross Sands for a bit of a walk. A number of Long-tailed Ducks and a couple of Slavonian Grebes were visible towards Holy Island.
Fenham Flats produced around 15 Pintail and the usual good numbers of Pale-bellied Brent Geese. There were really good numbers of seabirds off Stag Rocks especially the 75+ Long-tailed Ducks which were mostly made up of stunning adult drakes. Other birds off here included 9 Slavonian Grebes, 3 Great Northern Divers, 7 Red-breasted Mergansers while 76 Purple Sandpipers were on the rocks.
With an hour of daylight left we decided to call in at Chevington on the way home. Despite no sign of the Bittern was still really nice selection. The Hen Harrier gave a couple of really close fly pasts, while a Kingfisher sat in the reeds, 4 Water Rails were running about in the reeds and 2 Woodcock flew over in the last of the light, providing me with probably my last patch year tick of 2016...
Headed to The Leas in South Shields this morning for what would turn out to be our easiest twitch with the Isabelline Shrikeof the race isabellinus or Daurian Shrike showing superbly in great light. We were able to watch the bird at close quarters as it caught flies and bees around the low vegetation.
Heading back north of the Tyne, we failed to find anything of interest around the beach just south of the power station so gave Cresswell a look. 2 Greenshank were on the pool today, along with 4 Little Egrets, a Red-breasted Merganser and a young male Merlin which flew across the pond before landing on a post at the north end.
The north pool at Chevington held good numbers of ducks this afternoon and we were able to find 5 Scaup (one adult female, two first-winter females and two first-winter drakes) as well as 23 Pintail.
Isabelline Shrike - videos best viewed in HD at 720p/1080p
Saturday proved to be one of those classic days on Holy Island with loads of common birds and a few more interesting species. We arrived before the sun had risen so waited in the car for a while before looking around the village. As soon as it got light the large numbers of Goldcrests and Robins on the island were impressive, and we soon heard our first Yellow-browed Warbler and Brambling of the day. On reaching the Vicar's Garden another Yellow-browed Warbler was showing and a late Sand Martin flew over.
After this we walked down the Straight Lonnen, seeing an extremely smart Great Grey Shrike and 2 Black-tailed Godwits just to the east. My dad also found a mobile Red-breasted Flycatcher in one of the elders beside the path. We kept on walking and another Red-breasted Flycatcher was in the willows at the north end of the Straight Lonnen, with this bird being much more obliging, showing down to just a couple of metres and calling a lot. A Short-eared Owl also flew over.
We had a thorough search of the dunes around the Quarry and Excavations but were unable to find yesterday's Little Bunting. However another Yellow-browed Warbler was feeding in some tiny hawthorns, 2 Redstarts were around Chare Ends and a Goldcrest landed on my tripod leg! We then heard news of a Pallas's Warbler in the Vicar's Garden so headed there next.
On arrival the garden was a hive of activity with numerous Goldcrests, several Blackcaps and a Garden Warbler. It took a while, but eventually the Pallas's Warbler was relocated and we got some brief but good views of this stunning bird. We waited another hour to see if the bird reappeared with little success but two Yellow-browed Warblers appeared alongside each other. We headed back to the car but decided to stop at the Snook on our way out.
This proved to be a great decision as on reaching the Snook House Plantation my dad got a brief view of a wing-barred phyllosc which he assumed was a Yellow-browed. However, I soon got onto the bird and noticed a very distinct central crown stripe. I told my dad that I thought it was another Pallas's Warbler, who quickly realised I wasn't joking when it flitted upwards revealing a striking bright yellow rump! A great bird to add to our self found lists!! Another Yellow-browed Warbler joined the Pallas's, with a further 2 YBWs on other parts of the Snook, along with a Redstart, Short-eared Owl and Merlin. Here's our final migrant totals...
2 Pallas's Warbler - hadn't had a decent view of one before today so nice to see two well in a day, and even find one!
2 Red-breasted Flycatcher
1 Great Grey Shrike
7 Yellow-browed Warbler
165+ Goldcrest
125+ Redwing
45+ Blackbird
50+ Song Thrush
2 Fieldfare
70+ Robin
1 Barn Owl
2 Short-eared Owl
15+ Chiffchaff
6 Blackcap
4 Brambling
1 Sand Martin
2 Lesser Whitethroat
2 Black-tailed Godwit
3 Redstart
1 Garden Warbler
1 Merlin
c.1000 Brent Goose
50+ Barnacle Goose
2 Little Egret
Self found Pallas's Warbler at Snook House
Pallas's Warbler in the Vicar's Garden
Red-breasted Flycatcher in willows at north end of Straight Lonnen
A similar selection of birds in the bay again today...
First at Woodhorn the goose flock to the southeast of the main roundabout held 5 Greenland White-fronted Geese and 2 European White-fronted Geese. A brief seawatch from Hadston Carrs provided a Great Northern Diver and a Velvet Scoter heading north, with Gannet and Skylark both new for the patch year list.
Moving south to Druridge Bay Country Park the drake Goosander was very confiding with 9 Red-breasted Mergansers also on the lake. On reaching Chevington a Merlin whizzed through chasing a Snipe. The north pool still held the Black-necked Grebe and female Common Scoter. 15 Whooper Swans were visible in the distance.
By the road just north of Widdrington the Waxwing was feeding on the solitary berry-covered hawthorn. 4 more Whooper Swans were opposite the entrance to Druridge Pools with 3 drake Pintail on the Budge Fields. Finally the first-winter Long-billed Dowitcher was again at Cresswell Pond.
No sign of the Water Pipit for us at Chevington this morning, but a Merlin flew north chasing a passerine and 12 Twite and a Water Rail were at the burn mouth. 3 Otters gave some great views on the north pool.
Further south at Druridge Pools several thousand geese were in the fields opposite the cottages and the 2 adult Greenland White-fronted Geese which we saw last weekend were showing well. Also here was a neck-collared Pink-footed Goose, and at QEII a colour-ringed Black-headed Gull was in the car park. Hopefully more on these later...
The first was quite quiet over the three hours we were there. The highlight wasn't even a seabird!
9 Manx Shearwater
104 Wigeon
118 Teal
14 Common Scoter
5 Pintail
2 Great Skua
1 Shoveler
18 Brent Goose
3 Roseate Tern
1 Osprey - flew south. Not quite what we were expecting this morning, and (embarrassingly!) only my second in the county.
1 Merlin - 'in off'
Back again this evening from 14:50 to 19:15...
1 Great Shearwater - flew north at 18:50. Not nearly as close as last year's bird, but more prolonged views allowed us to appreciate the bird a bit more before it was all over. Great scope views in good light made it an awesome experience!
26 Sooty Shearwater
43 Manx Shearwater
6 Arctic Skua
2 Great Skua
9 Wigeon
5 Teal
2 Tufted Duck
3 Common Scoter
2 Grey Plover
1 Whimbrel
2 Brent Goose
Despite spending five hours on Holy Island we never left the Snook. When we arrived we settled into our usual routine of one of us walking around the back of the bushes while the other waits on the opposite side to wait if anything pops out. Straight away my dad got a brief view of an Icterine Warbler in the plantation just east of Snook House.
An hour later there was no further sign of the Warbler, so I decided to walk around the back of the plantation again. It was then I noticed a shape on a dead branch. A quick look through the bins confirmed my suspicion; a Wryneck! I managed to raise the camera and fire off a few shots before it flew off the branch, and we couldn't find it again.
The highlight of a search around the Half Moon Slack and nearby pines was a brief male Redstart. Back at the plantation a small group of birders had appeared hoping to see the Wryneck. The Icterine Warbler showed briefly once on a branch and twice in flight before disappearing again. At least I managed to see it this time!
A couple of hours of easterlies last night was enough persuasion for me and my Dad to go to Holy Island today.
Before we even stopped the car we saw bushes full of thrushes. Sure enough there were hundreds of thrushes flying over and feeding on berries. It was an impressive spectacle with flocks of over a hundred Redwings and Fieldfares frequently heading west. Among these we managed to find 4 Ring Ouzels.
In the village my Dad spotted a Black Redstart in the back of the Captain's Garden, which disappeared not long after it appeared. In the afternoon we had another look in the village and there were 2 Yellow-browed Warblers and a Siberian Chiffchaff. Here's the counts...
3000+ Redwing
1500+ Fieldfare
250+ Blackbird
50+ Song Thrush
4 Ring Ouzel
5 Woodcock
11 Brambling
4 Blackcap
3 Chiffchaff
1 Siberian Chiffchaff
1 Black Redstart
1 Merlin
40 Twite
2 Yellow-browed Warbler
5 Little Egret
3 Black-tailed Godwit
