A good day up north...

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...

Red-necked Grebe off Holy Island

Holy Island...

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...

1 Great Grey Shrike
2 Black Redstarts
3 Slavonian Grebe
5 Great Northern Diver
1 Short-eared Owl
1 Merlin
1 Woodcock
10 Robin
13 Blackbird
6 Song Thrush
14 Redwing
1 Fieldfare
4 Chiffchaff
1 Goldcrest
1 Blackcap
1 Wheatear
2 Brambling
350+ Bar-tailed Godwit
5 Black-tailed Godwit
28 Sandwich Tern

Great Grey Shrike

Slavonian Grebe

Twitching Lothian...

Yesterday morning we set off on our first ever twitch to Scotland from home, hoping to catch up with the scoters at Musselburgh, Lothian...

The heavy rain and sleet on the drive up were a bit worrying, but thankfully it cleared as we crossed the border, and conditions at Musselburgh when we arrived weren't too bad. We walked east along the sea wall, and arrived at the twitch just as our target was found. The smart drake American White-winged Scoter was showing quite well with a group of Velvet Scoters, not far beyond the surf. It showed throughout our visit, although could be difficult to find in the rough seas, despite being quite close in. I opted for videos of it today due to the choppy water, so the below photos are nothing more than record videograbs!

Other birds off the sea wall include a drake Surf Scoter which gave a couple of nice flypasts, before settling on the sea, around 30 Velvet Scoters, 3 Slavonian Grebes and our first Sandwich Tern of the year.

We took quite an indirect route home! Calling in at Low Newton, the Grey Phalarope was showing nicely on the scrapes, while a first-winter Glaucous Gull was in the field next to Monks House Pool. Finally, at Druridge Pools, a Water Pipit was showing well along with 36 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Pintail and 2 Red-breasted Mergansers.

American White-winged Scoter - video should be viewed in HD at 1080p

Grey Phalarope - video should be viewed in HD at 1080p

Glaucous Gull

Water Pipit - video should be viewed in HD at 1080p

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

More decent seawatching!

We've had a good run of seawatching this year with highlights up to today including Cory's Shearwater, Sabine's Gull, Storm Petrel and two White-billed Divers. We weren't as hopeful about today when we set off this morning, but were pleased to be proved wrong in the end!

We decided to start at Hadston Carrs and it wasn't long before we had our first Little Auk of the morning heading north. We stayed for two hours but it was pretty quiet with the highlight perhaps being a single Snow Bunting flying north past below the small cliff. Here's the totals for Hadston (09:30-11:30)...

2 Little Auk
10 Goldeneye
1 Long-tailed Duck
1 Little Egret
1 Snow Bunting
1 Great Northern Diver
3 Red-throated Diver
2 Great Crested Grebe

We then took a break for lunch and checked a quiet Druridge Pools before deciding to have another look at the sea from Snab Point. With rougher seas and the wind coming more from the north, our two and a half hours here were much more productive.

There were a few more Little Auks passing now and I got onto a distant Grey Phalarope which kept on disappearing behind waves. A second-winter Glaucous Gull suddenly appeared over the rocks and was close enough to make out the pale iris through binoculars. The Grey Phalarope reappeared much closer feeding in the surf and a second more distant bird flew north at speed shortly afterwards. After one had been seen earlier I was pleased to now be able add it to my finds list. Another finds tick for me came shortly afterwards when I picked up a lark flying straight towards us at distance. Despite the long range, its pale face was visible and as it got closer we could see that it lacked a white-trailing edge to the wings, confirming it as a Shore Lark.

It quietened down shortly after this but just as we were about to leave a Little Auk appeared flying over the rocks before landing in a rock pool, and I was able to get within a couple of metres of it,  providing easily my best ever views! The totals from Snab Point 12:45-15:20 were as follows...

2 Grey Phalarope
16 Little Auk
1 Glaucous Gull
1 Slavonian Grebe
1 Great Skua
1 Manx Shearwater
3 Goldeneye
1 Goosander
1 Grey Plover
1 Shore Lark

Little Auk - second photo taken on my phone without any zoom!

Goose-fest 300...

We headed out the house this morning with the intention of seeing my 300th species for the county. Our target was the Richardson's Cackling Goose in Budle Bay although we weren't too hopeful on the way as we'd only heard negative news so far...

When we arrived the difficulty of the task was apparent immediately. There were a minimum of 5000 Barnacle Geese and 2000 Pink-footed Geese and they were all very distant from the Harper's Heugh viewpoint. Eventually though a Canada-type was picked up asleep on the estuary. 

Once it finally woke up it was hard to tell whether it was the Cackling or Todd's due to the extreme distance. However, this was made much easier when another birder picked up the Richardson's Cackling Goose in a much closer flock of Barnacles in one if the fields. It was quite distinctive when views were reasonable. Also at this point the Todd's Canada Goose woke up and walked around a bit.

Over the next hour or two the Cackling Goose returned to the bay before once again flying into the fields. My dad also picked up another Todd's Canada Goose in the bay feeding alongside a Greylag.

All photos and videos below were taken by S. Clifton and used here with permission. The videos should be viewed in HD...

Richardson's Cackling Goose - note how it is a similar size to the Barnacles, with a short neck, compact shape, square-looking head and a short bill.

The first Todd's Canada Goose - very distant on the mudflats, this was the smaller of the two Todd's though still noticebly bigger than the Barnacle. It's rear end was quite long, while it's neck appeared shorter than our 'native' Canadas. The breast also appeared quite dark. 

Todd's Canada Goose number two - the larger of the two birds, its shape looked more similar to our normal Canada Geese, although it was visibly smaller than the nearby Greylag. British Canadas are almost always larger than Greylags. 

And a video of each bird...

On the way home the Red-necked Phalarope at Druridge while a Slavonian Grebe and Velvet Scoter were off Chevington burn mouth. 

Surprise Slavonian...

An unexpected addition to our Bothal lists this morning and my first in summer plumage... What a stunner!

Slavonian Grebe

Patch Ring-neck!

After hearing that was no sign of the Ring-necked Duck at Hauxley this morning we decided to head to Chevington instead as there was perhaps a chance the bird would have relocated there instead of back to the USA...

A few minutes later I was scanning the Tufties and there was a really smart drake Ring-necked Duck! Not only a patch tick but a county tick for me as well! Other birds around this morning included 20 Whooper Swans, 12 Scaup (5 on south pool), 7 Red-breasted Mergansers, the Slavonian Grebe and a few more Pochards and Tufted Ducks than usual.

Ring-necked Duck - with the Slav Grebe in photo 3!

Spring underway...

Despite the cold, drizzly and dark weather yesterday morning, there were a few signs that spring is finally getting underway...

On arrival at Chevington the rain had forced 8 Sand Martins low over the pool. The Slavonian Grebe was still present on the pool along with 8 Scaup, but it seemed the Pacific Diver had finally moved off. A female Goosander had joined the 7 Red-breasted Mergansers and was my first of the year on the patch.

Whooper Swans were around in good numbers with 128 in the south pool and another 70 in a field just to the south-west. A walk down to the burn mouth produced 4 Shore Larks and a flyover Twite and Snow Bunting, while 3 Velvet Scoters were showing pretty well quite close offshore.

Other birds seen recently include 5 Avocets at Cresswell, several Chiffchaffs, 3 Scaup at Bothal Pond and a Short-eared Owl and 61 Whooper Swans at Longhirst Flash last weekend. My dad had a male Wheatear here this afternoon.

Shore Lark

Goosander with 3 Red-breasted Mergansers

Goosander

Velvet Scoter record shot!

A venture up north...

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...

PWC 2016
Species: 170
Points: 237

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Pintail

Quiet up north...

Spent most of the day in the Bamburgh area which resulted in a few nice birds being seen although it was a bit quieter than expected...

We stopped at High Newton on the way to look for geese but unfortunaely we couldn't find any. 10 Whooper Swans flew over heading north. At Harper's Heugh a large flock of Pale-bellied Brent Geese also contained a few Dark-bellied Brants and Barncacle Geese. 6 more Whooper Swans were in the distance.

Our first two Little Egrets of the year were in Budle Bay along with 12 Whooper Swans, a Pintail and 2 Goosanders. Just 2 Long-tailed Ducks were the only bird of interest at Stag Rocks.

A stop at Alnmouth on the way back to look for the Shore Lark was unsuccessful although a silent Chiffchaff was flitting around some bushes in the dunes. At Chevington the Slavonian Grebe was still on the north pool with 5 Red-breasted Mergansers, 85 Goldeneye and my first Great Crested Grebe of the year.

No photos taken today but here's a few of the Aurora from last Sunday...

Practising...

The aim of this morning's trip out was to get a bit more practise with the new camera and Newbiggin's Mediterranean Gulls were first up. At least 14 were present in varying ages and plumages.

The Iceland Gull was once again at QEII.

Chevington still held the Slavonian Grebe and 3 Red-breasted Mergansers. The Pink-foot flock by the coal road between Chevington and Druridge Pools containined 4 European White-fronted Geese.

First-winter Med Gulls...

First-winter at the front with a second-winter

 Second winter Med Gulls...

And some adult Med Gulls...

Mediterranean Gulls

Iceland Gull

Euro White-front