Unlocked

Well, the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted a couple of weeks ago (not a wise move in my opinion). You would have thought I would have headed straight for the patch as soon as I could - but this wasn't the case. I was reluctant to go and waited a few days, until Monday 18th, before my first tentative visit.

When I did go, it felt odd - almost like I was doing something wrong. I've quite enjoyed exploring my new (very) local patch, rediscovering places I used to knock around as kid and probably first developed a love of the outdoors and wildlife, abandoning my re-found patch for Druridge felt like cheating. So after my first visit I returned to the local haunts for a few days.

Obviously there was a lot of new birds for the year - chiffchaff was the only warbler I saw before lockdown, now they are all back and the hirrundines, swifts and seabirds. 

I didn't take my camera on my first few visits - again it felt as if I should be exercising, not taking photos. I missed a lovely Greenland wheatear posing nicely on a post and a yellow wag on the budge fields. 

The Budge fields are looking great at the moment, but are drying up quickly in this dry weather (the driest May since the 50's seemingly) and have attracted a good selection of waders, on 19th I had greenshank, avocet, little stint, ruff, knot and black-tailed godwit. On Friday the wader list also included three curlew sandpiper, two little-ringed plover and a bar-tailed godwit. A drake garganey was also on the Budge fields.

I normally avoid Bank Holidays at Druridge. I headed out early on Bank Holiday Monday and left before the masses descended. A red-legged partridge, a scarce visitor to the patch, was on the Budge fields - I hope they remain scarce otherwise we'll lose our greys.

red-legged partridge - an unwelcome year-tick

30-40 swifts were feeding just over the bushes along with black-headed gulls, taking advantage of the St. Mark's Flies. 

Swifts - difficult to photograph

Black-headed gull -  hawking insects amongst the bushes

On Thursday and Friday I took two days off work to set up the ringing the site. I only put three nets up on each day but still caught 48 new birds, a few retraps and single control blue tit. We didn't ring at all last year because of family circumstances, so any retraps were at least two years old.

Warblers dominated, mostly adults showing signs of breeding but I did catch a recently fledged juvenile chiffchaff. A couple of grasshopper warblers and a lesser-whitethroat were nice to catch - the latter, a female with a brood patch, are not a common breeding species here. 

Lesser whitethroat  - a rare breeding species at Druridge

On Friday, a spoonbill was on the Budge fields first-thing and, weirdly, 22 barnacle geese. There had been lots of fly-over feral goose flocks, mostly Canadas. I can only presume these barnacles were feral rather than 'wild' migratory birds?

 A flock of greylags over - lots of flocks of feral geese passing through

When things were quieter in the nets, I had a chance between checks to photograph some critters. I found my first red and black froghopper at Druridge a couple of years ago - there were dozens of them on Thursday and Friday. A coloniser from the south, like speckled wood butterflies. 

Red and black froghopper- Cercopsis vulnerata

I also photographed this beetle:

Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis) 

Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis)  - a new one for me. It looks like another southern species establishing here. I saw three or four over the two days whilst checking nets. According to the NBN atlas the most northerly record St. Mary's Island and iNaturalist has couple of sightings locally but nothing as far north as Druridge. 

There were a few butterflies on the wing including large skipper and small heath. There were also dozens of blue-tailed damselfy.

Small Heath

Blue-tailed damselfly (female)

Blue-tailed damselfly

I left at about 1.30pm on Thursday and the road was jammed with cars - Friday was worse. I was using our southern nets so it was more obvious but as I drive home, it was gridlock - a single track road with cars parked on both sides and wazzocks not giving way. Cars were parked almost continuously from Druridge to Cresswell - I've not seen this before, even on August Bank Holiday Monday. I can only presume these people are usually in the Metro Centre or the pub... 

Chaos

Mayday Mayday

Life has been pretty hectic lately, so much so I haven't been able to update my blog. Since the last post I finally caught up with a patch RING OUZEL on Saturday . The bird had been reported two days earlier by a visiting birder in the dunes to the north , I had two brief chances to look for it on the Thursday but couldn't find it. After another couple of hours on the Friday I finally found it in what remains of the Druridge bushes (the cows have hammered them lately). No photos unfortunately as it was a skulker.

On 10th April a spoonbill arrived and was joined later by a second bird.

Since then I have been visiting the patch whenever I get a second. As I was away to Jersey for a long weekend last week, Saturday brought a flurry of year ticks. First off was this reeling grasshopper warbler - so much for being a skulking species, this one hadn't read the rulebook, it's been singing from this fence for three days!

It was amazing to watch at close hand, it's entire body vibrating when it was reeling.

Next up was a drake green-winged teal on the Budge fields. This bird had been around for a day or two, so it was nice to catch up with it - mind it took some finding! Other highlights on the Budge fields were three to four ruff, an amazing 28 whimbrel - which flew off when the cows arrived, a stunning brick-red bar-tailed godwit and a few blackwits. Also new for the year was sedge warbler, little owl and common tern.

Little Owl

On Sunday I had a quick around through the dunes to the north looking for migrants - it was very windy but a count of 15-20 wheatear in the grazed dunes was impressive.

One of the wheatears

 This poor hedgehog must have investigated the pipe socket that is by the turning circle and drowned itself or decided it couldn't face a bank holiday weekend at Druridge and did itself in.

Suicide?

Today the wind was a bit lighter but still out of the east making it feel cold. I headed for the Budge screen and bumped into Peter Williams of Patchwork Challenge fame. Peter picked out the wood sandpiper that arrived yesterday. Also of note were at least five ruff, two of which were starting to look a bit dapper, a handful of blackwit and a single dunlin. No sign of the green-winger.

I mentioned cows earlier - four have arrived on the Budge fields and the timing couldn't be better for the breeding and passage waders so 'Well done' to NWT. (seemingly, according to the local farmer they had been released last week but had escaped - anyway it is good to see them.

One of the 'Druridge four'

I've got another couple of busy weeks ahead of me but hopefully I'll find time for a visit to the patch.

Dovekies, a patch record and the 'Bush of Plenty'

I managed two visits to the patch this weekend

Saturday

Saturday's highlights were out to sea. An afternoon visit once the worst of the weather had passed, I went straight to the dunes for a look on the sea, little auks had been much reported and I was keen to see some, I wasn't disappointed.

I saw four, probably five 'dovekies' in an hour, one of them was really close, just beyond the breakers. These were my first little auks on the patch in five years! This doesn't mean there hasn't been little auk passage in the last five years, just that I have aversion to standing on the dunes in freezin cold north-easterly to look for them.

Other highlights from my one hour seawatch were seven pochard flying north and a great-northern diver on the sea. Gannets were scarce, shag numbered seven and there were a few kittiwakes.

Away from the sea a patch record was broken, for the maximum pheasant count in a visit. A huge tally of 31 of gormless individuals in a stubble field in front of High Chibburn Farm, they must've been on by shooting somewhere nearby. A small flock of 12 golden plover were by the haul road flash with 2 bar-tailed godwit.

Sunday

I had a good bash around the patch today, it was grey, cold and miserable and the birding reflected the day. This silhouette of curlews sums the day up.

grey skies with two curlews

The outstanding highlight was a merlin, lifting a flock of starling of the fields by the haul road flash before bombing on through the dunes and out of sight. Passerines had been thin on the ground until I got to the 'Bush of Plenty'!

A small, somewhat isolated bush by the fence on the edge of dunes. Hardly worth a second glance normally, but there was stonechat perched on-top, always worth a check for a sibe.

Stonechat 

It was soon joined by a male stonechat, then a chiffchaff popped out, pursued by a great tit, giving it some grief. A wren soon appeared, followed by two dunnocks and a robin. They thought this mediocre bush too small for them all and flitted over the road to make way for a couple of meadow pipits and another stonechat. This small, innocuous hawthorn bush had just about doubled my passerine tally and shall, from this day hence, be known as the 'Bush of Plenty'.

145 little auk
146 pochard

More thrushes

I took today off work on the strength of the weather forecast, hoping for a good fall of birds. There was fall, but it was pretty-much limited to thrushes.

I arrived at Druridge just after eight, still slightly hung-over after having too many Abbott ales watching the derby game in the pub, and redwings were coming in off the sea overhead, in small flocks of about 50. Maybe four or five of these little flocks came in whilst I was around the entrance. Some of them heading straight for cover in the willows or plantation, the majority flying straight over.

In the bushes there were many blackbirds, more redwings and a few song thrushes. A handful of fieldfares were seen too, though this more powerful thrush seems to keep going, dropping in much further inland.

There was no obvious arrival of smaller birds with goldcrest numbers no more than Saturday. There were a few grey-looking robins that looked newly arrived. Bird of the morning was a short-eared owl which I disturbed from the bushes by the big pool, it flew off, into the trees in the western corner of the pool.

Other highlights were a few snipe coming in and five bar-tailed godwits on the flash.

I had a good thrash around the patch on Saturday morning too. Janet was out-of-action so no ringing this weekend. Still a few lesser redpolls lingering, two great-spotted woodpeckers, three coal tits, a chiffchaff and blackcap were new arrivals.

Skeins of pink-footed geese flew over most of the morning and this  common newt dodged death on the road (I rescued it from certain death)

Lizard Smooth or Common Newt

A slavonian grebe was the highlight on the sea where there were also 22 red-throated divers and a great-crested grebe.

Greenfnch isn't a common bird at all at Druridge so I was very surprised to count about 40 of them in a mixed flock with an equal number of goldfinches, roaming about the dunes.