Bunting Bonus

A late morning visit to the patch today after my morning chores were complete. The light was awful for checking the Budge fields so I wandered north to check the dunes where the cows graze for Wheatears - this is always the place I see my first of the year. A Chiffchaff was singing in the bushes. 

Greylag pair from the timber screen

As I reached the coal road,  I nearly walked past a small flock of birds feeding quietly by the water trough, it was the movement that caught my eye as they were otherwise well camouflaged against the dry stems and mud. Twite, mostly, and five or six Skylark. As I scanned left, I came across a chunky, Skylark-sized bird, it was facing away from me but the mantle was obviously much darker and more obviously streaked than the Skylarks it was with. I fancied it was Lapland Bunting because of the size and bulk and the pale tips to the coverts. I watched it feeding for a few moments before it turned its head, to show a brown cheek with the black collar swooshing round to the the eye. Otherwise it wasn't well marked, likely a first-winter female. It was in range for a record-shot but when I lifted my camera it wasn't in the viewfinder. The whole flock had been spooked and took flight, they circled around behind me over the coal road, the Twite and Skylarks came back in but no sign of the Lap. I spent 45 minutes or so trying to relocate with no joy. 

A lap of the dunes looking for the Lap (taken from my eBird log)

No Wheatears but definitely a Brucey Bonus with the Bunting. This was only my second Spring Lapland Bunting on the patch - the only other was back in April 2010! As I searched for the Lap, two Sand Martins flew north overhead - new for the year. 21 Whooper Swans were in the fields beyond the coal road and another 10 were in the front field at Druridge Farm when I drove home.

I crept up on this skylark which was crouched down, camouflaged in the dunes

Another Skylark

Some of the Twite - also well camouflaged!

Stock dove - a bird I've never managed to photograph in flight on the patch before - this could've been better if I'd had time to change the shutter speed. Nice light on the iridescent green neck patch I thought?

Who's this tiny fella lurking in a cracked fencepost?

Zebra Jumping Spider

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 

How many honkers does it need to do the job of one cow?

There were 161 greylag geese grazing away on the Budge fields this afternoon. There haven't been any cows grazing there since November.

Grazers measure livestock in units, one cow is one unit, one sheep is 0.15 units, one goose is ?

It's going to take more than 161 honkers to get the Budge fields looking like suitable lapwing habitat by the spring, especially as they won't touch the big clumps of rush dominating the site, NWT seem as reluctant to tackle the rush clumps....

Druridge Pools is in Higher Level Stewardship, a European agricultural subsidy that pays the landowners to manage the land for maximum environmental benefit....

The fields are looking good for wildfowl at the moment and the pair of pintail seen earlier this week were still hanging present, wigeon numbers are back up to normal since the thaw with an impressive 285 today with about 160 teal and 52 curlew.

Still very few passerines to be seen, a flock of 17 goldfinch was notable. Offshore, a great-northern diver was in the bay with three red-breasted mergansers and a handful of common scoter. An eider flying south was a year tick.

61 eider
62 pintail

The weekend

I've not really been down to Druridge much over the weekend, we had a quick visit on Friday night, again there wasn't much new about, but the sunset was nice.

Saturday was spent ringing, firstly with Ian at East Chevington, which was quite disappointing as we expected a good catch, but actually caught very few. This juvvy reed warbler was nice though (Pic by Ian)

We packed in at 0920 and I went north to meet the Hanmers to ring some barn owls in the Alnmouth to Rennington areas. We ringed young out of three boxes, with the other not quite big enough.

On the Howick Estate as we were leaving one of the boxes, Hugh got his eye on a long-winged raptor ahead, we bundled out of the car to see a red kite. We watched as it picked up height, at the same time I was on the phone to the Boulmer Birder as it was nearly over his house, sadly mobile reception in this area is not good and BB did not get onto the bird.

The bird was untagged, but was probably from the release scheme, a few birds are starting to drift north now, how long until I get one at Druridge?

A brief visit to Druridge this evening, dodging showers. The Silage field next to the Budge field has been cut and as I predicted has attracted birds, tonight there were about 50 rooks and jackdaw, 34 curlew, 28 lapwing, 5 whimbrel, 3 golden plover and an oyc. Not bad!

The three lapwing chicks we ringed last week are still alive an pottering around the fields and the stonechat pair in the dunes have fledged another brood of three younguns (making it six this year).

There were a few damselfys on the track to the oddie hide, a painted lady and several meadow browns, there were also these two strange beasts 'on the job' - no idea what they are - any thoughts?


This latticed heath moth was on the track too.

greylag family

I am off to Ireland for a few days with work, let's hope Druridge stays quiet until I get back!