Busy but quiet on the patch

The forecast suggested easterly winds and dry conditions on both Saturday and Sunday and we planned to get some nets up and ring birds on both days. A light mizzly, sometimes drizzly rain overnight and into Sunday morning prevented us doing anything on Sunday but we managed some ringing on Saturday.

It was a bit quiet though,  the wind was out of the east but it was bright and breezy and we only had four nets up so we only caught 19 new birds. A light passage of Meadow Pipits continued and we managed to catch four of them. A single Chiffchaff was the only warbler.

Meadow pipit - all four were juvenile birds

We went birding on Sunday morning as we couldn't put any nets up. Despite the wind being out of the east and overnight drizzle it didn't drop any birds in and was as quiet as Saturday had been. The WeBS count didn't take much doing - for some reason, despite the mud on the Budge fields, it's not attracting waders. There was decent Meadow Pipit and Skylark passage and when we got to the beach, there were 25 Meadow Pipits feeding on the seaweed around the Dunbar Burn - and a Wheatear.

Stonechat in the mizzle

Meadow Pipit on the beach

In the dunes to the north there is still a decent flock of Linnets and Goldfinches. It's not always the same flock as some days there are Linnets than Goldfinches and other days it's the opposite. As we walked along the cycle path, I got onto a bunting on the track, briefly, before it flew. There were a few reed buntings about but this was different - in the second or two I had it in my bins, the rufous cheeks stood out. 

The bunting bugged me all afternoon, at least it took my mind off the awful football game I was watching. I headed back after the footie for a mooch. Nothing on the fenclines or track so I headed into the dunes, there were a lot of finches still and a few Pipits and Reed Buntings. I put a bird up as I walked which gave off the distinctive call of a Lapland Bunting when it flew. It landed in a bare area and I got reasonable views of it before it flew it again I lost it behind a dune-hump. My first on the patch since 2010!

Wheatears were on the fence and on the beach still, but it was nearly dark when I took this.

Wheatear on the beach in the gloom of late evening

My pre-morning walk today was much busier and at times I didn't know where to concentrate on. I stepped out of the car to see a tit flock moving through the whitebeams, there was a few Chiffchaff amongst them and Yellow-browed Warbler - my first of the year and my earliest ever by one day! It was really active, chasing the Chiffs and Blue Tits. It and the tits moved off south as did I.

There were more Chiffs, at least 18,  in the bushes as well as four Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat and Whitethroat. Overhead small groups of Siskin, Meadow Pipit, Lesser Redpoll and Skylark flew over - eight Skylark appeared to come in-off the sea as did 38 Pink-footed Geese.

One of 18 Chifchaffs

Another Meadow Pipit

Young Stonechat

Chaffinch - not common this year

Save for six Curlew there were no waders or duck on the virtually dry Budge fields, maybe because a juvenile Marsh harrier was sat on the big post? It took off and had a go at one of the many Pheasants and I managed a couple of shots. It appeared to have a metal ring on its right leg.

Juvenile Marsh Harrier over the Budge field

With an eye on a pheasant

No waders here

This evening I had a look on the sea after work, It was high tide and a big spring tide so I hoped for displaced waders passing, none of those but I did have a trio of grebes.

There's been two Great-crested Grebes, an adult and a juvenile for a few weeks, they hang about with the Scoter flock and I've watched the adult moult into winter garb and the juvenile loose a bit of its stripy look in that time.  Just beyond the Scoters, I picked up another, smaller grebe - a Slavonian Grebe in winter plumage - a regular in the Bay but nice to see. As I counted the Red-throated Divers (28 in total), I found another grebe, close to the Slavonian grebe - a Red-necked Grebe, also in winter plumage. 

At times the two grebes were together giving a great opportunity to compare these two similar looking grebes. The red-neck, slightly bigger than the Slav and not as clean, crisp looking, much darker around the face and neck with a more sloping forehead.  

So it's been a busy few days even though the birding has been quiet at times, but some nice birds made up for it. 

All my lists are on eBird

Absentee

I've bit a bit of an absentee from the patch recently. With birding limited to weekends and weekends taken up with football and chores it doesn't leave any time for birding. That alongside a knackered computer has meant little activitiy on the blog I'm afraid.

In late November I spent a bit of time in the dunes north of the 'Druridge bushes' which themselves are looking more like twigs after the cattle destroyed them last March. These dunes are part of the farm and are used for over-wintering cattle and as such, are full of all sorts of seed-baring plants which I must try to identify when they are in flower next year ( I recognise mugwort and burdock). The patch boundary is the northern end of the first fenced and farmed dune. Technically these are 'Chibburn Links' rather than 'Druridge Links'.

One of these plants has a small, hard, round seed and the finches, reed buntings and tree sparrows love them - I had flocks of 50+ twite, 100 goldfinch, 40+ reed bunting, 50+ chaffinch and 50+ tree sparrows and a handful of linnet.

Twite

Some of the reed buntings with the small round seeds

Tree Sparrows and chaffinch

As well as the finches, buntings and tree sparrows, these dunes have attracted a lot of grey partridges - My top count was 54 in three coveys with a single covey numbering 28! There is something like in there. I still haven't seen a red-leg this year though...

Grey partridges

The only time I've been back on the patch since was last weekend when a White-billed Diver had been reported just off from the Dunbar Burn - being a full patch tick for me, I was there as soon as it was reported but had no luck. It was reproted again after we left but not by anyone that I know.

We did see a single drake velvet scoter, a dozen red-throated divers and a fly-by adult med gull.

New year, new list

Another new year, another year list begins on the patch. I sometimes wonder what is the point of a 'year list' - a date in the calendar by which the list is reset, it could be any date I suppose, but most people stick to the calendar year.

What having a year list does do is give the patch birder some motivation to get our onto the patch in those dark January days. It gives a bit of focus to patch-birding, something to aim for when you know you that you are likely to see one or two new species in a year - if you are lucky!

My 2017 year list got off to a slow start. A trip to Islay for Hogmanay meant it was Saturday 7th before I hit the patch. Islay was great trip, it is a great place with lots of interest for the visiting birder and of course it is famous for its whisky...

So Saturday morning it was and I didn't have much time so I concentrated on the bushes, pools and up onto the haul road - I usually like a walk to out the farm in early January but there wasn't time.

In the plantation I was surprised to see a small flock of goldcrests - I am seeing them more in the winter now, once-upon-a-time they were strictly an autumn species at Druridge. There were also blackbirds, song thrush and mistle thrush in the plantation.

Robin

The Budge fields still held plenty of wildfowl including two drake pintail, waders were limited to redshank, curlew and lapwing. A sparrowhawk was perched out on the edge of shelterbelt - my only raptor of the morning and five whooper swan flew south.

Plenty of wigeon on the Budge fields

A siskin was with goldfinches on the path to the Oddie hide and then,ahead of me on the path, I could hardly believe my eyes, three bullfinches! This species is now a patch mega, these were the first partch bullies I Have seen since November 2014.

Bullies!

Out on the haul road, a huge flock of goldfinches, maybe 250, were coming down to bathe in puddles on the road and in the ditch - with them were a few twite, linnet, reed buntings, dunnocks and chaffinches.

Goldfinches bathing in the puddles

One of the chaffinches

In the dunes, a covey of 12 grey partridges were put up by the only other birder I saw (it was birdrace day).

Offshore, the sea was flat calm. There were a couple of shag, ten red-breasted mergansers, a few common scoters and red-throated divers and most excitingly a slavonian grebe - a good January species.

My 2017 year-list now stands at 60 species - not a bad start. Exactly half of the winning tally in the county winter birdrace.

I am doing the Patchwork Challenge again this year and will update my totals as and when.