A nice selection of waders

There was nice selection of waders on the Budge Fields this evening. At this time of year I can never work out whether these birds are late migrants, failed breeders returning or non breeders just making the journey.

Wood sandpipers and green sandpipers, two of each, were the highlights and nine black-tailed godwit, 15 redshank, 7 avocet (including chicks), two dunlin and two ringed plover made up the supporting cast.

No photos of anything from tonight as it was very foggy...again.

I had a quick look offshore last night for an hour at dusk. The scoter flock on the sea had swelled to something around 700! I was working my way through them, having picked up two drake velvet scoters when I came across two smaller ducks at the edge of the flock. They were about half to two-thirds of the size of the scoters with pale underparts, they were on their sides, both having a good preen. When they finally stopped preening, I got a better look at them, but only briefly as two very loud scrambler motorbikes arrived on the beach and sped towards the tideline, flushing the entire flock. They were small-billed with pale cheek patches and darker crown. From my limited view of them I can only think that they were two non-breeding 2nd year long-tailed ducks.

If you aren't interested in hoverflies, you can stop reading this now.

Here are some hoverfly photos from Sunday as promised:

Scaeva pyrastri (male)

Eupeodes Sp.(male)

Rhingia campestris

Eupeodes Sp 

Marmalade Hover Fly - Episyrphus balteatus

Marmalade Hover Fly - Episyrphus balteatus

Platycheirus albimanus (female)

Platycheirus sp (female)

Eristalis tenax (m) - head-on. Zoom for detail!

Eristalis tenax (m)

An influx of migrants

On the day that our new leader and his Home Secretary announce that they are are going to strengthen our immigration laws a tidal-wave of migrants from Africa arrived, via Europe, onto our shores overnight.

Even Boris can't stop these migrants however - painted lady butterflies - millions of them.

Painted Lady Butterfly

A typical scene this morning

In a short walk at Druridge this morning we counted over 250 of them. Other observers counted similar numbers up and down the coast. This is the third and most impressive arrival of painted lady butterflies this summer. What's also amazing is that we witnessed a mass movement of the same species over Athens in April - thousands passing through the city centre.

Today was a good day for butterflies at Druridge with at least eleven species noted.

small skipper

Comma

a beautiful 'blue' female Common Blue

Migrant moths were also noticeable with diamond back moths, silver Y's and a yet-to-be-identified moth all over the dunes and grasslands.

Diamond back moth

There were hundreds of these in the dunes this evening...

Whilst we were photographing some of the hoverflies a couple of visitors showed us a photo of a hummingbird hawkmoth they had just photographed and we soon relocated it - a patch first for me and only my third in Northumberland.

Hummingbird hawkmoth - new for the patch

Some hoverflies from today

Rhingia campestris - sometimes known as the 'Heineken hoverfly'

Pellucid hoverfly - Volucella pellucens

 Female Syrphus sp. possibly ribesii

tbc

female Platycheirus sp

male Eristalis sp. possibly E. tenax

Most of this stuff still needs identifying...

One of the 'picture-winged flies'

Crabro cribarius  - female

Tenthrado sp

Orthops campestris

Spider - underside

Same spider from above

Grasshopper Sp

Back to Birds...
Wader numbers were much-reduced from what they were on Friday. Today there were two wood sandpipers, one common sand, five black-tailed godwits, two ruff and greenshank of note. On Friday there were 10 common sand, one wood sand, one green sand, one little ringed plover, 27 black-tailed godwit, four knot, ten snipe, two ruff, whimbrel and a the first returning golden plover of the autumn.

We had hoped to try to ring some storm petrels tonight but the sea was still boiling after recent northerlies, loud enough to drown-out or speaker for sure. We did go and check the volume out though and had ten Med gulls in the beach roost including a juvenile.

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 

Waders and warblers

It's been a bit quiet at Druridge so I've not had much to write about. We spent a long weekend in late July in Cambridgeshire exploring the fens, looking for dragonflies and butterflies.

Waders have been a bit of a highlight this week with wood sandpipers, green sandpipers and a nice juvenile spotted redshank on the Budge fields along with plenty of snipe, dunlin and redshank. They can be very frustrating to see because of the rush cover. The birds were still present this morning with at least two of each of green and wood sands.

I didn't have the big lens with me so here is a dodgy-phone-scoped pic of the spotshank

Dodgy phone-scoped shot of the juvvy spotted redshank

We put some nets up this morning for a ringing session. We had a steady morning catching 30 birds in only three nets. Warblers formed the majority of the catch, with 18 of the 30 being willow warblers and all but four of these were juveniles.

We caught two scarcities for the patch - a lesser whitethroat which is barely an annual here and even more rare - a treecreeper! Only our fourth for the site, the last being in 2012 and previously in 2011 and 2008.

Treecreeper

Lesser Whitethroat

As neither of these species breed at Druridge, it is nice evidence that local breeders are on the move already - post juvenile dispersal.

Lastly, some sad news. In my last post I mentioned checking the egret nests. Well, there were three occupied nests and a fourth that was a probable. Sadly none of the chicks fledged, probably victims of the heavy deluges of rain we had whilst hey were still in the nests. The nests aren't substantial and are open to the sky, so the prolonged and heavy rain we had probably did for them.

Under the weather

What is going on with the weather this Summer? Even  the forecasters can't get a thing right.

Last night, I checked all of my usual sources of weather information and it all looked good for putting some nets up this morning. Based on this research I got up at 4.30 and headed to Druridge and got some nets up, no wind, hazy sunshine and the weather forecast still saying no rain. First net round done and it starts to rain... light but persistent. Nets furled.

A quick check of the Rain Alarm app showed rain heading our way for a considerable time...Nets down.

I did manage to catch some juvenile willow warblers and adult sedge warbler, willow warblers and a whitethtoat. The sedge warbler was quite fat, looking like it was on its way south.

Back at home drying me and the nets, I got a message from Jonathon to say he was watching a green sandpiper from the little hide. I do like a green sandpiper and it is a species that can be missed at Druridge so I headed down for a gander. It was wandering around the mud in front of the hide with a common sandpiper, an adult dunlin in summer plumage was lurking in the wings.

On Thursday evening I had a 45 minute seawatch, the highlight of which was a single sooty shearwater heading north about half-way-out. Other totals - 42 manx shearwater, two arctic skuas, one goosander,  two Med gulls and 15 common scoter north.

On Friday evening there was a common sandpiper and a yellow wagtail on the Budge fields and a whimbrel flew south, calling. Offshore, four arctic skuas, including a stunning pale-phase bird with huge white flashes in the wings, were loitering in the bay, parasitising terns. A few red-throated divers have returned and are still looking smart in their summer garb.

Dodging showers

The weather today has been very odd for the time of year. It felt almost winter-like at times, then in a sheltered, sunny spot, more like how August should feel. And then there were the showers... torrential.

I visited the patch quite early this morning and headed for the hides. The four swallow chicks in the little hide have fledged, but are returning to the to be fed by the adults. They are so used to people in the hide, they didn't move, even when the hide was full.

Still at home - hanging around waiting to be fed. I ringed these birds on nine days ago

I wonder if all four of them will squeeze back in here tonight?

 The only wader activity was a few snipe and a single common sandpiper in front of the Oddie hide. There were a few warblers along the track, willow warbler, blackcap, whitethroat and chiffchaff were noted.

willow warbler

spot the imposter

Offshore, a lone arctic skua sat on the sea.

I popped back to the patch this evening and had a look out from the Budge screen. There were at least five, maybe six ruff, a green sandpiper, three greenshank, one redshank, a few snipe and 14 curlew on the adjacent fields. Three or four late swifts moved through in a generally southerly direction.

There were a lot of hirrundines over the pools and later, at dusk, lots of swallows were around the concrete block house - I wonder if they roost in there?

swallows at dusk by the blockhouse

Apocalyptic skies over Widdrington

We went for lunch in Amble today, so called in to see the Caspian gull as Janet needed for her Northumberland list.

iPhone-scoped shot of the Casp

WeBS Waders and a wasted opportunity

I'm a bit gutted. Druridge was 'hotching' with warblers today, I should have had the nets up for a ringing session but I didn't...."Why?" I hear you ask.

Well, all of the weather forecasts for this morning was for heavy rain by 9am, some forecasting it earlier. So, based on that we decided not to ring. When did the rain finally arrive? After lunch - typical! 

I did my WeBS count this morning instead. Just as I got the scope set up in the Budge screen hide, a big female sparrowhawk put everything up, so I headed for the other hides and met this unlikely double-act on the way.

Scarce and rare visitors to patch

One of them admitted to not being to the pools for at least three years, the other couldn't remember how long it was. Rarer than barred warblers at Druridge, the pair of them! Nice to see them though, don't leave it so long next time!

By the time I got to the little hide, the waders had settled back down. Two, maybe three wood sandpipers, one green sandpiper (which alluded me yesterday), one greenshank and three common sandpipers with several dunlin and over 25 snipe.

Other WeBS highlight were a good count of 191 mallard, 14 little grebe, two little egret and the pair of nesting great-crested grebes.

Cormorant from the Oddie hide

Yesterday there were five greenshanks, a calling green sandpiper, two wood sands and a single common sandpiper. There were also dozens of visiting birders, from Tyneside, Cumbria and even yorkshireland! Despite the little hide being full to capacity for much of the morning, it didn't deter the swallows from feeding their rapidly growing chicks.

Swallow feeding young in the little hide

Butterflies on the wing over the weekend included wall, red admiral, meadow brown, painted lady, peacock, comma and small copper.

painted lady

Head on - a rarely photographed view of a red admiral

Dragonflies have been very scarce at Druridge this year, but not elsewhere seemingly...odd?

Female common darter in the plantation

On Thursday night/Friday morning we had another go at catching storm petrels on the beach, with moderate success, catching three. Two of them were already ringed, which isn't a bad thing, catching them again helps to increase our understanding of this species.

Finally, just to show that we get a better class of vandal at Druridge...

Seemingly Maria was there too.

147 Green sandpiper

PWC Score 207