Following tradition (sort of...)

Tradition dictates that on the 1st January each year (or my first visit to the patch) I see a species that I didn't see in the previous year. It probably doesn't happen that often but it feels as though it does. 

I nearly followed tradition this year - it was the 2nd of January rather than the 1st. 

I saw a respectable 52 species yesterday in two visits on New Years Day, but nothing I hadn't seen in the previous year. Some good January species included Mistle Thrush (13 still in the fields), Bullfinch and Goldcrest on our morning walk and  Mediterranean Gull, Black-throated Diver and Kittiwake on an evening seawatch. The other New Year tradition at Druridge was upheld with near-naked people thinking it a good idea to go into the sea...

No gold at the end of this rainbow but some good species for the year

This morning dawned a colder, greyer day with sleety-snow falling. We didn't have an early start, checking the farm first and adding a flock of nine Redwing and 12 Fieldfare to the list and then setting out on our walk at11.15am, north, into the bitingly-cold wind. We found the finch flock in the dunes, Twite (120), Goldfinch, Linnet, Chaffinch and a few Reed Buntings and Skylarks in the dunes. We headed back along the beach, seeing nothing of note.

Cold and grey with snow clouds on the horizon

As we approached the car, news came through of a Shorelark north of Hemscotthill Farm. Worth a look I thought...

Birdguides reported it in the field immediately south of the patch boundary, which is in a fodder crop and is being stripped-grazed by beast. I got onto a handful of skylark in the fodder-stubble, but the light was against me so I headed south a bit - off-patch, for better light. I soon found the Shorelark feeding in among the Skylarks, but of course, I had to go back onto the patch to see it from there. 

This was my first Shorelark since 2014 when one was on the dunes north of the Dunbar Burn, pursued by photographers. 

Later, an Egyptian Goose was reported from the pool nearer to the farm, but it had gone when I returned in the afternoon.

I had another short seawatch as the wind was in the north. Black-throated Diver was still on the sea and a single Great Northern Diver flew north as did a single Gannet. Auks passage was steady and one with an all-black head stood out from the others, I photographed it  - a Guillemot in breeding plumage already, Stewart Sexton reported that he'd seen a few today.

The highlight of evening seawatches either side of Christmas has been the gull roost. From dusk, no earlier than 3.30pm, gulls arrive in flocks from the fields to the west to roost on the sea - thousands of them! It's a steady passage until dark when there are over 4000 gulls on the sea, about 150m offshore. They're all Black-headed and Common Gulls (about 65-70% BHG, 35-30% CG) with the odd Herring and I've seen up to ten Med Gulls - there could be dozens more as it's impossible to go through them before the light fades - an amazing spectacle. 

I could see the Starling murmuration at Chevington from my dune-top perch, another great spectacle. 

A good start to 2021 with 68 species over two days.  Effort will ease-off when I go back to work next week but it looks as though home-working will be the norm for some time, which gives me more opportunities.

More Meds

I only managed two very brief visits to the patch this weekend. Unfavourable winds and yesterday mornings rain meant I had the chance to catch up with some chores and drink too much wine.

Saturday

Not much to report. Goldcrests, robins, wrens and chiffchaffs in the bushes, the other highlight was an arrival of six mistle thrushes. They arrived from the northeast and settled in the lone pine at the back of the plantation, calling, before flying off north. I am presuming they were freshly in.

teal from the Oddie Hide

Sunday

Another afternoon visit. The bushes were still quiet, coal tits have been omnipresent in the plantation since the start of September, making the most of the pine cone crop.

coal tit with a pine seed

As a result of the recent warm weather, there are loads of insects about. Butterflies included comma, red admiral and speckled wood and a (migrant?) hawker was still on the wing. There were also lots of mozzies and midges. I had a go at photographing them.

mozzies

midges

On the beach, the gull roost was building up. Amongst about 350 gulls (mainly black-headed and common), I counted SIX Mediterranean gulls - easily a patch record count for me. They seem to be much more common this year.

Spot the meds - there are two in this shot

One of Meds was carrying a green darvik ring, with a white three figure code, I couldn't get the actual code but it would appear that it was ringed in France.

So, mistle thrush puts me on 162 for the year. Already an above-average year and there is still time for a fall....I need nine more species to equal last years 171.

162 mistle thrush

PWC Score = 248

Gulls

There was a decent gull roost on the beach at dusk tonight, mostly common gulls and a few black-headed. The light was canny when I got down there, so I had a scan through. I had just got onto to a nice adult Med gull in breeding nick when two fitness freaks ran onto the beach, through the gulls and back into the dunes (they appeared later trying to drag wights on ropes along the beach). Off course the gulls flew up and, most irritatingly settled further down the beach.

I would struggle to pick up a ring-billed at that distance, but I persevered with them until the light faded, finding nothing more of note.

92 Mediterranean gull

PWC Score: 114

Weekend gone

Finally, a chance to update the blog.

Here we go with some highlights of the weekend just gone.

On Thursday, I did a short seawatch. Nothing much moving by the time I started, 15 manx shearwater north and five whimbrel were the highlights. On the reserve, the long-eared owls were still feeding their scattered young and a female marsh harrier was hunting.

Views of marsh harrier hunting over the Budge fields

I managed another short seawatch on Saturday evening, it looked quite promising but delivered little:-

manx shearwater 10 north
arctic skua 4
common scoter 65
red-throated diver 6

and a nice count of 55 sanderling on the beach.

On Sunday I did the WeBS count. It was very quiet as you would expect for July. Highlights were 15 shoveler and a new brood of gadwall. One wigeon and two teal were notable returnees. Flocks of egrets and cranes may well have been on the Budge fields but the grass is so high you wouldn't see them, it's tricky enough to see the ponies....seemingly cows are on the way. Watch this space.


The swallows that are nesting in the Oddie Hide have succeeded against all odds. We ringed the chicks a week ago and by Sunday all three had fledged.

Tonight I had a wander about, the barn owls at the farm are amusing me. You can see their box from the dunes or little hide. Some of the young have fledged and have been photographed, the smallest young are still in the box but hanging by their feet from the edge of the box, stretching their wings...not long now.

Five whimbrel were on the newly cut silage fields to the west and three (the same ones?) were on the beach later. The evening gull roost is building nicely with at least 900 common gulls on the beach at dusk. The tides are rubbish for gull-watching for the next few days though.

male stonechat on ragwort

Hobby again

We had trip to Lynemouth Sewage Works tonight to check out hirundine activity, of which there was very little. So we headed up to Druridge and much the same as the previous two nights 2500+ martins and swallows over the pool between 8.30 and 9pm. They were all into roost by 9.10 tonight and we had a hobby through the flock again at about 8.50 pm.

So if any Northumbrian birders still need hobby for their year lists, get down to Druridge for about 8.15 pm tomorrow night, get up onto the dunes and watch the flock, it's an amazing sight. And if you get bored of small birds, turn around and scan through 4000 gulls on the beach (so long as there aren't too many dog-emptiers).

If anyone is down at Birdfair this weekend, pop by and say hi. I'll be on the Birdwatching Northumberland Stand, Marquee 1 stands 53 and 54 for the whole weekend.

back on the patch

I'm back, and still recovering, from a trip to the Aiguamolls Natural Parc in Empordia near Girona in NE Spain, it was a work trip and was incredibly hard work, but very enjoyable.

Aiguamolls is a bit like a massive Druridge, imagine if East Chev, Druridge Pools and Cresswell Pond and all of the surrounding farmland were managed as one huge wetland - that is a bit like Aiguamolls. The reserve is both fresh and brackish water and is grazed year-round on rotation using camargue horses, they also use pumps to manage the water levels between ponds and fields.....If only Druridge could be like that.....SNAP OUT OF IT IPIN IT'S JUST A DREAM!!!

Not Druridge

I have had two visits to the patch since I got back, both brief. On monday evening there appeared to be a lot of passerines on the move through the bushes, willow warblers, chaffinches, sedge warblers etc.

Also, in the small patch of reed in the SE corner of the big pools, several sedge warblers and a reed warbler moved along the edge, reed warbler is a year tick.

Tonight, a quick look offshore and through the gull roost on the beach. There are about 180 common scoter in the bay with a single drake velvet scoter amongem. There was a huge gull roost on the beach by Chibburn Mouth and a smaller one at Druridge, common gulls making up the majority (about 60%) with BHG's the majority of the remainder with a handful of great and lesser black backs and herring gulls.

There were a few arctic and sandwich terns, 12 dunlin, 5 sanderling, 1 curlew but star bird went to a stunning summer plumaged grey plover.

128 reed warbler

129 grey plover