Strokes of luck

Several strokes of luck led to a full-fat patch tick today  -  Pallas's leaf warbler

Firstly  - I decided to take today off work today instead of next Friday

Secondly - When news broke of a Radde's Warbler at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and Wood lark at Newton, I stuck to my plan and birded the patch

Thirdly - I bumped into Darren Woodhead and his son Corin.

I set out, as planned, to bird the patch, I was there for 7.40 and it was just light but foggy. I followed my usual plan of attack, to work the bushes by the entrance and the plantation before heading north.

Not long out of the car, I got onto a classic Siberian (tristis) chiff, grey above, green in the wings and off-white below, not warm at all. And it called a thin 'toot'.

Two birders, that I'd not seen before, arrived shortly after me and started birding the plantation. They also had a sibe, when I went into the plantation, it also called - 'toot'  - two birds (?). They were on a yellow-browed warbler. Darren and Corin Woodhead from Lothian. I recognised Darren - and now I know from where - I've often admired his artwork on my annual trips to Birdfair.

record shot of Yellow-browed warbler

Yellow-browed warbler

I spent the next hour or so in the plantation with repeated views of the yellow-browed, lots of crests, robins, wrens and a steady trickle of skylarks overhead and a group of c25 siskin south. Four brambling dropped in and fed for a while. 

Brambling

Back at the 'entrance bushes' I was watching a yellow-browed when a second bird called from the sycamore at the plantation- two. Redwings came in overhead. News broke of a Radde's warbler at Newbiggin - I ignored it. 

I moved up to the middle plantation, where Darren and Corin were scouring the trees. I joined them, Darren and I were looking through the pines and sycamores, but Corin was watching the scattered scrub to the north and exclaimed suddenly  'Pallas's'!

mega-cropped record shot of Pallas's leaf warbler in flight -  6400 ISO

We got straight onto it - a Siberian gem, flitting around a crab apple tree. A patch tick for me and a great find for Corin. We enjoyed the bird for a good while before it flitted off. ADMc and others joined us, Whilst scouring the goldcrests for the Pallas's, I got briefly onto a firecrest, thankfully it showed on and off for the next 30 minutes, as did the the Pallas's. Another yellow-browed warbler was calling in the bushes to the north. 

Further north I found another firecrest in a small flock of crests and tits behind the Budge hide. 

Up at the path to the hides, by the timber screen, a 'bird wave' passed through with a long-tailed tit flock. There were at least five chiffchaffs around that area. This one has me stumped though - not a classic Sibe, I thought, too 'warm' but also too brown for a bog standard collybita. I know that Sibe's can be variable though and light plays a huge part.  It didn't call. Not sure on this one...

'brown' chiff

same bird

'Bog-standard Chiff'

I heard a lapland bunting calling, it passed overhead behind three skylarks, all going south. A flock of about 18 lesser redpoll fed in the alders and I found a few more siskin further north before I headed home. 

lots of these miserable-looking birds 

and these

a few of these

This afternoon, I acquiesced and went to the Ash Lagoon Banks at Newbiggin to look for the Radde's. No luck there, although others claimed it, but a roosting long-eared owl was worth the trip and new for the5km2 patch. 

I'll be back out again tomorrow. 

March WeBS

We arrived back from a week away in Cornwall (and a brief visit to the Somerset Levels) yesterday evening, twitching the long-staying belted kingfisher in Lancashire on the way home. It was my first time birding in Cornwall and I really enjoyed it. The Avalon Marshes were pretty spectacular too. We saw some good species including Kumlien's gull, yellow-legged gull, firecrest, ring ouzel, chough (13 from our accommodation was the peak count), black restarts, rosy starling and black-necked grebes.

I was back on the patch before work this morning to do the WeBS Count. There was plenty to count on the Budge fields which were full of birds. Wigeon was the numerous duck species with 257 counted. I'd just finished counting what I thought was them all, when this male marsh harrier appeared over the pools and scattered everything. It was soon apparent that there were a lot more wigeon than I had originally counted, so I had to start again.

Male marsh harrier in the morning sunshine

Looking for food

A decent count of 35 shoveler and a single pale-bellied brent goose was on the fields before flying north. 

Pale-bellied brent goose

Avocet had been reported from the patch whilst I was away in Cornwall but there were none this morning. Five ruff, three black-tailed godwit, 31 curlew and 17 snipe were notable. There was no sign of the jack snipe that's been around for a few days. 

From the little hide I picked up the water pipit that's been seen over the weekend. It had either bee bathing or walking through the frosty grass as it looked a bit bedraggled. It's starting to look a bit 'pinky' on the breast I think.

Water pipit

Looking a bit bedraggled

Chifchaff was the only migrant passerine 'new in' and two siskins by the Budge hide were notable for late March. 

New arrivals

On Tuesday evening Janet and I wander up to the Preceptory and back. No new arrivals but at least 200 Sand Martins over the Budge Fields with the usual waders, one Yellow and two White Wagtails and Wheatear were also on the fields from the little hide. 

A schoolboy error on Wednesday morning though. I got up early intending to my third territory mapping visit before work but when I arrived at Druridge the wind was strong, about 20mph from the North East and gusty - too windy for a survey so I abandoned and headed for the little hide where it would be sheltered.

The highlight was a male Ruff, coming into breeding plumage, strutting it's stuff in front of the hide. 

Ruff - getting it's ruff

This Ruff was one of three, otherwise there was nothing new to report from the Budge fields. The light was nice and both Gadwall and Shoveler came close into hides.

Drake Shelduck

Gadwall Pair

Chiffchaff in the morning sunshine

I finally got my survey done before work on Friday. The map looked a bit busier with at least 13 singing Willow Warblers and both Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat were new for the year. Blackcaps were noted at three locations. 

Also of note was Wheatear in the dunes and eight Twite including some in full song from the top of as tree. Meadow Pipits, Linnets and Reed Buntings were plentiful in the dunes and three Grasshopper Warblers were reeling there. 

Meadow Pipit in a dune bush

Shelducks are numerous on the Budge fields and in the dunes, giving some nice 'fly-bys'  - I estimated 24 in total.

Male Shelduck

Tufted Duck between the turbines

Nesting Canada Goose with a stick through it's bill - wonder if this is a fashion statement?

This morning Janet and I had wander around the hides. On the Budge fields, two Whimbrel, two male Yellow Wagtails, one White Wagtail, 14 Avocet, three Ruff and five Pintail were noteworthy. There wasn't much on the big pool but a Snipe was feeding just in front of the Oddie Hide. 

Common Snipe

A single Reed Warbler was singing in the reedbed which was new for the year and Sedge and Whitethroat were back in greater numbers. Janet went off horse-riding and I had a look on the sea, it was quiet though with no new terns, but plenty of Sandwich feeding just offshore. 13 Red-throated Divers were mostly in breeding plumage and a raft of 24 Guillemot were loafing on the sea. Twite are still around, 'commuting' along the dunes

I spent the rest of the morning trying to photograph hoverflies and bees on the path to the hides. They'll get their own post later when I've identified them. Meanwhile here's a 7-Spot Ladybird. 

7-Spot Ladybird

Weekend Surveys

I spent most of time on the patch last weekend doing surveys. 

On Saturday I did my second territory mapping visit, it was a few days late but the run of cold, wintery weather has meant that nothing much has arrived and breeding attempts are on hold. Despite it being a warmer and sunnier morning of later, there was less activity than on my first visit - certainly for the dune species like Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings.

Stunning morning

The only 'new arrival' was a Grasshopper Warbler which was in the small isolated bush by the Blockhouse. As I watched it, it began to reel, half-heartedly at first before putting some ooomf into it. 

Gropper - New in

Chiffchaffs were still vocal as was a Song Thrush that sung all morning. An interesting breeding record is a pair of Long-tailed Tits nest-building along the path to the hides, near to the timber screen. Lotti's are a very scarce breeder on the patch and it might be ten years or more since they last bred. 

One of many Chiffs

One of the breeding Lotti's

Wintering birds are still present however with 45 Twite flying over in three groups. Of note on the Budge fields were 9 Avocet, two Ruff and two Black-tailed Godwits. 

Swallow passage was light but noticeable and there were plenty of feeding Sand Martins over the Big Pool where a pair of Great-crested Grebes were displaying.

Fly-over Shelduck

On Sunday morning I awoke to a light covering of snow (11th April!!). Janet and I set off to do the WeBS count, it was bright but cold, feeling like -5 degrees not 5 degrees. There was plenty to count on the Budge fields with 66 Wigeon and 62 Teal still present. As I scanned, counting Wigeon,  a gull with yellow-legs caught my eye, not a Lesser Black-backed Gull (there were three of them further over playing with a goose egg) - this was a Herring-type gull but with strikingly yellow legs, not just a slight creaminess about them - yellow! The mantle was one or two shades darker than the adjacent Herring Gulls, it moved into deeper water and was head-on so no more detail on shape was to be had. Whilst I assembled my digi-scoping kit, Janet watched it until an incoming Canada Goose flushed it and it flew off, strongly in the direction of Warkworth Lane - we'll never know. Interestingly Dave Dack had a 'possible' adult Yellow-legged Gull later that day at Bell's Pond. 

Waders included a single Little Ringed Plover, four Black-tailed Godwit, four Ruff and two Avocet. Snipe numbers were up to 11. A single White Wagtail was also present. 

On the way home, we stopped to admire the Lapland Bunting and Shorelark at Hemscotthill. 

Digi-scoped Lapland Bunting

Digi-scoped Shorelark

In the evening I had an hours seawatch. It was cold and quiet. Three Sandwich terns feeding offshore were my first for the patch this year. 

A pair of passing Red-breasted Mergansers

Adult Herring Gull 

Common Gull with a knackered leg

Been a while

 With lockdown restrictions still in place, visits to my patch have been much less frequent than  I would like. I'm still getting out on-foot-from home in my 5km patch though.

In the few visits I have made to the patch, I've mostly been working on net-ride maintenance ahead of the ringing season and I did the march WeBS count last weekend, both of which are permitted activities.

On 5th March Janet and I had a wander around the patch, an early Chiffchaff  was by the timber screen, it wasn't singing but was calling almost constantly and hasn't been seen since. We also had 140 Twite in the dunes and a few singing Skylarks.

Early Chiffchaff

On 7th March I did a quick evening seawatch in a brisk NW wind. I had one each of Great Northern and Black-throated Divers on the sea with a good count of 37 red-throated Divers. When I left, over 1100 common and black-headed gulls were on the sea and more were streaming in from the west.

Last Saturday, there was report of two Ruddy Shelduck north of Hemscotthill Farm so we called by on our way to the shops - to find three of them with 45+ Shelducks. A brief stop on the patch boundary got them on my patch year list too. 

Janet and I had a late walk around the patch on Saturday evening, it was a lovely sunny evening, so some of photos came out okay. When we left as dusk approached we estimated over 1100 Common Gulls on the sea. 

Drake Wigeon over

Curlew

Drake Mallard

Common Gull

One of 1100+ Common gull

On Sunday I did the WeBS Count. There was plenty to count so it took me a while, Wigeon numbers are still really high (322), as they have been all winter and, as has been the case through the winter, Teal numbers remained lower (43). 35 Shovelers on the Budge Fields was a good count. 12 Grey Herons were looking dapper in their breeding plumage. Waders included four Ruff, a single Black-tailed Godwit, five dunlin and 35 Curlew. A few Lapwings were displaying and an obvious pair of Oystercatchers were sat tight.

On the big pools there was a flock of 106 Canada Geese with a single Barnacle Goose. A Great-crested Grebe appeared to be on its own.

Digi-scoped Barnie

I was asked recently to do a 'virtual' talk for the Natural History Society Of Northumbria about patch-watching at Druridge. I had to record it on Zoom and submit to them. Despite spending half of my life these days on Zoom/Teams etc I much prefer to talk to a live audience. I recorded it in a hurry to meet a deadline and I'm not happy with it really, but here is a link to it. 

All Grey

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, it's not that I've not been to the patch, I've been most days, there just hasn't been much to write about.

December is usually a bit spartan but this December seems more so. It's hardly been light enough to bother taking the camera out - sunny days have been few and far between, just day after day of grey and rain.

The wind was out of the north for much of yesterday and strengthened into the evening - strong enough to bring some Little Auks down? - only one way to find out. When I got up this morning it was sleeting hard and just looked miserable, but a check of 'Rain Alarm' suggested a brief window of dry weather from 11ish, which happened to coincide with high tide.

The sleet promptly cleared away at 10:50 and I was set up for a seawatch. The sea was big and the wind still out of the north but it felt quiet - quiet enough to count gulls and auks - mostly unidentifiable dots on the edge of the world but a few came close and the sun had come out providing a really nice light. 

Nice light

About 15 minutes in I picked up a small pale-grey bird, almost looking white in the sunshine, heading north just beyond the breakers, it was disappearing into the troughs but as it drew level I got some good views - it was a Grey Phalarope. This is the third Grey Phalarope I've seen on the patch - and I've always thought how pot-bellied they look, side-on, like a little dove or pigeon - they're a compact little thing too. Virtually white below, with darker-grey upperparts and a really obvious white wing bar on the upper wing. The dark 'eye-mask' stood out in the strong light, I didn't really notice the bill - it must've had one!

It kept going north along the bay, hugging the line just beyond the breakers. I notice that Jonathon Farooqi had one much earlier at Church Point so it's unlikely this was the same bird, unless it stopped-off to feed en route?

Seawatching continued to be quiet in terms of numbers but plenty of variety. I had a skua species heading south, again on the edge of the known world - it was just a shape really, towering constantly as it went south. I thought Pom but more likely a Bonxie as the Newbiggin lads had a few south and Bonxies are usually distant birds at Druridge. Other highlights included both Great Northern and Black-throated Divers and a drake Velvet Scoter with a smattering of Red-throated Divers, Gannets, Kittiwakes etc

I continued until 12:20 when a heavy sleet shower arrived. No Little Auks but the Grey Phal more than made-up for that. Full list here. 

Incoming

Last weekend was a bit frustrating. We'd bumped into Janet's parents just as we were leaving Druridge - they headed off north for a walk. Later in the afternoon, Janet's Dad messaged to say he had seen a male Hawfinch on the fence along the Bridleway north of the turning circle. We spent an hour-and-a-half looking but no joy - it could've been anywhere. Alan knows his birds so little chance of mis-ID. Another patch-tick missed this year. I'll have to insist that he takes his mobile with him when he's on my patch!

Otherwise not much to report - the Water Pipits (up to three) are still on the Budge fields but are difficult to spot, up to two Chiffchaffs are sticking it out but this cold snap might move them on and three Scaup have regularly been seen on the big pool. A few Bullfinches are also hanging about - not a common over-winterer at Druridge.

My year list is now at 178 - is 180 still a possibility? Some wintery weather might be needed.

Here's some photos I've taken since my last post. Happy Christmas everyone.

Sanderling probing for food amongst the froth

I usually don't like 'running' wader photos

Little Grebe on the big pool - one of two

Catching a few fish...

Never get bored of Stonechats

Grey Partridge  - there's been up to 17 in the weedy dunes