More apologies for the lack of activity on the blog, but I have been down to Tarifa for the Raptor Migration, that's my excuse.
I arrived on the patch this morning with the intention of walking the whole place, not expecting to see much after a run of westerlies. I parked at the entrance and had a quick look in the plantation which was quiet - a few crests. Then I went back to the bushes by the entrance, the elders there are hanging with elderberries and I fancied that they might pull something in.
A few blackbirds, songers and robins and then I got onto a sylvia warbler, well, bits of one as moved low through the elder - I was 'lumbering' about and I fancied it was barred warbler but I needed better views.... Then a message came through about a white-billed diver passed Whitburn and a unidentified diver passed Newbiggin.
I legged it up to the dunes, as I clambered onto the dune ridge a bird flew of the wrack on the beach, calling - snow bunting, a male, flew straight over my head - nice.
Three red-throats came through together, then a minute or two later a larger diver. It was a canny way out and silhouetted against the rising sun - I had no chance. Shape-wise it was either a great-northern or a white-billed - I couldn't do any better with those views so back to the elder bush.
I got quickly on to the warbler, it was plucking elderberries from the front edge of the bush- a juvenile barred warbler. Typically bulky with well-marked 'panels' in the flight feathers, darker undertail and greyish upper and with that typical pose with it's tail held high. My first patch barred warbler since 2010 when I had two in the same autumn.
As I was watching it, a bird heading toward me from the north caught my eye. It was big and had an undulating flight, closing it's wings between flaps...woodpecker...but not a great-spot. It flew between me and the bushes I had been watching, GREEN WOODPECKER! It flew on towards the plantation and swerved into the trees, showing the lovely lemon-yellow rump as it went. I followed it in there but I couldn't find it again. A full-fat patch tick.
Martin Kitching had mentioned that he had seen a green woodpecker at Druridge earlier in the week, so surely the same bird? It makes up for missing the one that was on the feeders at the cottages a few years ago.
The barred was still there when I returned, I went to the car to grab the camera. As always happens with my camera, it disappeared for ages, before showing very briefly a couple of times, deeper in the bushes (a few folk had turned up by this point). I'd seen another sylvia warbler, whilst I was watching the barred which turned out to be a garden warbler, an increasingly scarce species at Druridge and my first on the patch since 2013. Jonathon Farooqi got a couple of shots of the barred warbler.
Since I got back from Spain the other highlight was a yellow-browed warbler on Saturday and Monday behind the Budge screen.
Green Woodpecker is my 245th species for the patch and my fifth new species this year.
Showing posts with label barred warbler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barred warbler. Show all posts
Saturday, 7 October 2017
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Blue Tits not Bluetails
Eleven and a half hours! That's how long I spent at Druridge today - unhealthy obsession? - probably!
No bluetails for us, we had a few blue tits though, still we're not complaining, our ringing session netted us 62 birds - not bad considering we only had four nets up.
The morning started quite damp, with a ESE wind, we were at Druridge before first light (not bad considering we were at chez Biggs til midnight - there were redwings going overhead then!), being so damp we only put the most northerly nets up which are the best for catching stuff after a fall.
We caught nothing amazingly rare, not even scarce, just good numbers of some common migrants. Robins were by far and away the most numerous. goldfinches, long-tailed tits, blackbirds, song thrushes and goldcrests also featured heavily.
We also controlled a blue tit, a first calendar year bird, sporting a newish looking ring, so it's probably just come from Hauxley.
Not many pictures of ringed birds - it was a bit gloomy, but here is a nice chiffy and a rather drab looking siskin, but it was our first of the year.
We packed in ringing around half past two, when the wind picked up. Time for some real birding!
As we had been ringing at the north end, I checked the bushes and plantation by the entrance (whilst Janet got me a tremendous bacon, potato and onion pasty from the Widdrington Farm Shop), then the Budge Screen before walking along the Channel to the path. Picking up blackcap, redstart, pied flycatcher and whinchat along the way, with lots more robins, song thrushes, blackbirds, chaffinches and goldcrests.
In one tiny alder, all out on it's own by the edge of the pool, I had three chiffchaffs and a garden warbler, then this other warbler flew in, chiffchaff sized, but very dark, then it promptly flew out again, back into the thick bushes.....gone!
Back in the bushes I got onto my second barred warbler of the year, this one was lumbering about in the alders.
Other highlights of the day included a water rail flying out from under my feet, two lapland buntings over, south, c10 swallows and 50 redwings (how come we didn't catch any?)
We'll be back ringing again in the morning and will be putting a net up where the 'dark phyllosc' disappeared to.
Ringing totals for today:
robin 18
goldfinch 7
dunnock 2 + 1 retrap
coal tit 1 + 1 retrap
blue tit 2 + 1 control
long-tailed tit 6
chiffchaff 3
blackbird 6
song thrush 5
chaffinch 2
goldcrest 4
siskin 1
reed bunting 2
150 Siskin
No bluetails for us, we had a few blue tits though, still we're not complaining, our ringing session netted us 62 birds - not bad considering we only had four nets up.
The morning started quite damp, with a ESE wind, we were at Druridge before first light (not bad considering we were at chez Biggs til midnight - there were redwings going overhead then!), being so damp we only put the most northerly nets up which are the best for catching stuff after a fall.
We caught nothing amazingly rare, not even scarce, just good numbers of some common migrants. Robins were by far and away the most numerous. goldfinches, long-tailed tits, blackbirds, song thrushes and goldcrests also featured heavily.
We also controlled a blue tit, a first calendar year bird, sporting a newish looking ring, so it's probably just come from Hauxley.
Not many pictures of ringed birds - it was a bit gloomy, but here is a nice chiffy and a rather drab looking siskin, but it was our first of the year.
 |
| drab siskin |
 |
| nice chiffy |
As we had been ringing at the north end, I checked the bushes and plantation by the entrance (whilst Janet got me a tremendous bacon, potato and onion pasty from the Widdrington Farm Shop), then the Budge Screen before walking along the Channel to the path. Picking up blackcap, redstart, pied flycatcher and whinchat along the way, with lots more robins, song thrushes, blackbirds, chaffinches and goldcrests.
In one tiny alder, all out on it's own by the edge of the pool, I had three chiffchaffs and a garden warbler, then this other warbler flew in, chiffchaff sized, but very dark, then it promptly flew out again, back into the thick bushes.....gone!
Back in the bushes I got onto my second barred warbler of the year, this one was lumbering about in the alders.
 |
| barred warbler |
Other highlights of the day included a water rail flying out from under my feet, two lapland buntings over, south, c10 swallows and 50 redwings (how come we didn't catch any?)
We'll be back ringing again in the morning and will be putting a net up where the 'dark phyllosc' disappeared to.
Ringing totals for today:
robin 18
goldfinch 7
dunnock 2 + 1 retrap
coal tit 1 + 1 retrap
blue tit 2 + 1 control
long-tailed tit 6
chiffchaff 3
blackbird 6
song thrush 5
chaffinch 2
goldcrest 4
siskin 1
reed bunting 2
150 Siskin
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