Start of migration

For normal people, this is summer and will be until at least the August Bank Holiday. For Birdwatchers - it's Autumn.

Migration has begun...

Waders are on the move, at Druridge this was evident by large numbers (up to 76) dunlin on the beach midweek as well as the first returning sanderling. On the Budge fields this weekend there has been up to two green sandpiper, three wood sandpipers and five common sandpipers. Pectoral and curlew sandpipers have also been reported but not seen by yours truly.

Elsewhere, migrants like pied flycatchers and black restarts have been seen at coastal places.

Tonight, as I was watching the sandpipers on the Budge field, as well as a water rail out in the open, a great egret appeared on the fields, scattering the waders on it's arrival. 

Great Egret feeding on the Budge fields

and in flight

Short video of Great Egret - click to enlarge.

Once a mega rarity for the patch, the first being recorded in April 2010 (read about it here), great egret has been recorded in our four out of the last five years on the patch, which mirrors the northern expansion in the species' range.

I left the egret feeding on the Budle fields, but as I walked back to my car, it flew south overhead and continued to circle about before heading back over the Budge hide. 

Circling above the Budge hide

Since my last post, I've been away to Dumfries and Galloway for a long weekend of birds, butterflies, bikers and lighthouses. 

One of many Tysties nesting in the harbour wall at Poertpatrick - our base for two nights.

I've also done a couple of short seawatches, the highlight of which was a single sooty shearwater south on Thursday evening. Janet and I had a quick look around the patch on Friday evening and were amazed by the number of feral greylags - Druridge Pools had become like Hauxley, or a goose farm. The numbers of these and feral canada geese breeding in the area must be having some ecological impact on native species. 

Greylag Goose

Lots of Greylag Geese

It was nice to see great-crested grebes with young on the big pool as well as the increasingly scarce pochard. 

One of the remaining adult Great-crested Grebes 

Easterlies that did not deliver

After the excitement of the last couple of weeks on the back of a run of easterly winds, the forecast of more easterlies for this weekend got me going again, I was even contemplating an emergency flexi-day from work. It was too windy to ring so I made do with a later start and a wander through the bushes.

It soon became apparent that it was all very quiet, nothing at all in the plantation, a few robins, tits and crest in the entrance willows and other than the area by the feeders, nothing behind the Budge screen - same further north - bar a couple of great-spotted woodpeckers. There had obviously been no arrival of birds.

Grey-looking robin

A great white egret was on the Budge fields when I checked from the screen-hide. A bonus of three finders points for the PWC.

Dejected, I headed home.

Golden plovers funneling back to the ground

Some of the golden plover flock

On the way north later in the day, Janet and I stopped to see a flock of about 1800 golden plover in ploughed field opposite High Chibburn. I returned later in the day to have a scan through them as there had recently been an American golden plover at Low Newton. The light was fading fast and the birds were restless, nothing stood out as being unusual in any way. By 1740 the light had gone and so had my eyes.

I hope that I don't regret not taking that that flexi-leave day tomorrow...

Some you win...

Well...where to start?

What a weekend  - on so many levels.

It all started on Friday when I was just to about to get on the train at Widdrington, headed for the Test Match at Chester-le-Street when I get a call from Dave Elliott to say he was watching either an icterine warbler or melodious warbler at Druridge - both new patch birds. It ended today, with me watching a stunning broad-billed sandpiper on the Budge fields - a new bird for the patch.

Dave soon nailed the warbler as an icterine and by the time I was downing my first pint in Newcastle Station he'd found another new bird for the patch - common rosefinch. No turning back now, I was bound for Chester-le-Street and like a tory recession - a double-dip (the cricket was good though).

With much restraint on Friday night and against all odds, I was up at 5.30am on Saturday and setting my nets up at Druridge by 6am - the weather was perfect for ringing but I wasn't catching many birds. I think most of the warblers are on eggs now. I did catch a grasshopper warbler, reed warbler and a low-flying swallow.

Gropper

Fridays double-dip was partly avenged with a pair of glossy ibis dropping briefly onto the Budge fields (thanks for the call Alan G!) just next to one of my nets. These birds had previously been at Newton-by-the-Sea, after calling at Druridge they made their way via Whitburn and Hartlepool to Saltholme.  These are the second and third patch glossy ibis - the first being  a long-stayer in 2011. The great-white egret that has been around for ten days or so was also there.

On Saturday evening there were six ruff on the Budge fields - five males displaying with full ruffs to a reeve. I've not seen displaying ruff like this on the Budge fields since the early nineties, it was amazing to see again. Far more exciting than glossy ibis! There was also a first-summer little gull, 16 summer-plumaged sanderling on the beach, my first two manx shearwaters of the campaign, a med gull on the sea and a pair of goosander on the big pool.

On Sunday there was an avocet on the Budge fields, with a handful of dunlin and ringed plover as well as two little gulls.

Bank Holiday Monday brought  little of note, just the usual campers, mini motorbikes and tribes of dog-walkers with out-of-control hounds.

So back to work today...just before lunchtime I come out of a meeting to find a message about a broad-billed sandpiper on the Budge fields - yowzas! The benefits of flexi-time brought an early lunch-break and I was off to Druridge, arriving in already-full little hide behind Stef and Mrs Stef, I had to blag a look through someone's scope as I had no gear with me (thanks Hector!)...and there it was, wandering around between the rush clumps - a very stripy wader indeed! A wood sandpiper and garganey also put in appearance.

I was a very-happy patch watcher, though still smarting from Friday).

The addition of broad-billed sandpiper takes my patch list to 239 species. That and the common rosefinch take the patch list to 261 (there had been an icterine in 1966).

My year list at the end of May stands at 135 and my PWC score is 186.

First ringing session

Finally there are enough leaves on the trees and bushes at Druridge to attempt a ringing session, with light winds and cloud first thing on Sunday morning the weather was ideal. The forecast said the wind would ease further throughout the day and become more cloudy - of course it did the opposite.

It was a good first session though with only three nets up. I caught a good number of warblers including grasshopper, reed and sedge along with willow, whitethroat and blackcap. I had some interesting retraps including a willow warbler first ringed in 2014, a blackcap ringed as an adult in 2013, a blackcap ringed as a juvenile in 2013 and a whitethroat, also from 2013.

A great white egret was found on the Budge fields on Friday morning by Time Dean, I saw it then and saw it again flying north over the big pond as I was ringing. A drake garganey was also on the Budge fields along with a three ruff, two of which had 'ruffs' and smart male yellow wag.

The warm weather had brought a few butterflies out - speckled wood were the most common and I saw my first orange-tip of the year.

This family of Canada geese goslings kept me amused for a while.

At least one of us can manage to stay awake

Pied wagtail

Still a few wigeon about - Mrs wigeon

Mr Wigeon

First ringing session of the year

We put our nets up at Druridge for our first ringing session of the year today. We didn't expect to catch much as it always takes a while to set things up on the first session, things grow, strings go missing (do wood mice eat through string and then drag it away to their nests?) and nets come out of bags differently to how they went in.

We caught 13 new birds, willow warblers outnumbered other species, the other warblers were whitethroat and sedge. We caught a willow warbler that we had ringed at Druridge as a recent fledgling last June, it's always nice to catch a returning migrant.

back from Africa, this chap was a bairn when we caught it last June

We also caught a long-tailed tit from last year. The other exciting bird was dunnock, not that exciting in itself, but this was a control (meaning it had been ringed by someone else), given that dunnocks don't often move far and most of our controls come from Hauxley or Chevington, there is a strong possibility that it's come from there.

Whilst we were ringing, we got news of a western bonneli's warbler at Newbiggin. I did the honorable thing and let Janet go to see it first, whilst I kept an eye on the nets. She saw it and came back, I went along to Newbiggin and didn't see it. Ho hum. A passing common crane was nice though.

The great white egret was on the Budge fields this morning, moving back to its other favoured spot on the big pool this afternoon.

Back on the patch with a flurry of good birds

I was back on the patch today after a trip to Malta. It's ten years since I was last on Malta, I did four autumns in a row, working at the Birdlife Malta Raptor Camps. Things have improved a hell of a lot since those days.

We spent four days on the small island of Comino ringing with Birdlife volunteers.

bee-eater

golden oriole

nightjar

scops owl

We also visited Gozo and the mainland, doing some birding, more ringing and catching up with old friends who I haven't seen for a while.

Back to Druridge today though, firstly with a very rapid lunchtime twitch of the great white egret that turned up whilst I was away. It was lurking by the outfall of the big pool. This is my second great white egret on the patch, the first being back on 3rd and 4th April in 2010. A reed warbler was perched up singing in the phragmites.

I was back on the patch for a proper visit after work. The GWE had relocated tot he Budge fields, unfortunately, it's friend, the spoonbill, seems to have done one.There was stonking brick-red black-tailed godwit and at least five whimbrel were also on the fields.

As I walked towards the Oddie hide, a short-eared owl lifted off and flew over the bund, a migrant I reckon?

Not a bad start to May, hopefully the weather will be good enough to get some nets up on Saturday.

There'll not be many photo's on the blog for a bit. My SLR has packed up.

115 great white egret
116 reed warbler
117 whimbrel
118 short-eared owl

PWC score 149