Viz Mig - it's just a hobby!

Firstly, apologies for the lack of blog updates. There just aren't enough hours in the day and when it is still light in the evenings I would rather be out birding than sorting photos or writing blog posts, especially as most of my time these days is spent in front of the computer in my office.

Since my last post we had a holiday to Wales - a week in the Llyn AONB with an excursion to Anglesey for the Elegant Tern at Cemlyn Bay and two new damselflies. All in all, a great trip!

Back to Druridge, I've managed a few visits before and after work and the patch year-list is now on 146, a couple of decent seawatches and a few early migrants, like Cuckoo and Green Sandpiper, have pushed it up in July.

Common Tern feeding offshore in 'Golden Hour' light in July

Barn Owl - un-ringed second year female

Back to the here and now, on Friday I took a day off work and spent the morning on the patch. I did a bit of viz-migging from the high dune, it was reasonably quiet but I did scope the Little Owl at the preceptory. I had a wander down to the hides with the macro camera to look for bugs and beasts, where, bizarrely,  I bumped into a chap from Oxford whom I'd met at Icklesham back in 2011, where I'd spent a week ringing with him as a trainee. As we were chatting a small falcon flew fast, over the bund, spooked by seeing us, it banked around over the Budge fields and headed off in the direction from which it had come - Hobby! An adult. My first on the patch since 2015.

I scrambled up the bank to look out over the big pool but I had gone. Shortly after I was sat in the little hide with a chap called Harry and we saw the same bird come back over the Budge fields before again heading our over the big pool. I think it must've been hunting hunting dragonflies. Both views were brief but the grey upperparts, lighter plain tail, paler underparts and heavily streaked under-carriage with reddish buff 'trousers' all visible, but it was it's jizz that made us all call hobby before detail as noted. 

Common Field Grasshopper - pink form

New for the patch - Denticulate Leatherbug (Coriomeris denticulatus)

Comma Butterfly - not common on the patch

Roe Buck headed south across the Budge Fields

Yesterday, on arriving at the patch, just before 8am, I saw a few Swifts overhead, Janet sent me a message to say she had seen Swifts moving over the marina in Amble. Another viz-mig session I thought... The wind was stronger from west, which is good for viz-mig at Druridge as birds are 'pinched-in' to the middle of the bay, but also tough-going so I chose a lower spot, rather than the big dune.

Swift passage continued and by 9am I'd counted 109 going south with strong passage of hirrundines, mostly House Martins. This continued until after 10 am when it seemed to ease, in total I counted 245 Swifts south in two and a half hours.

One of over 245 Swifts that went south

A Hobby, presumably yesterday's bird, soared high on two occasions, between Druridge and East Chev and over towards Low Chibburn before drifting south. Scope-views was I all I had, but they were prolonged as it soared on the thermals. Two Merlins and two Sparrowhawks came through as did a juvenile Marsh Harrier  - it was almost like being in Tarifa (maybe not). Green Sandpiper (with a Snipe), Little Egret, four Black-tailed Godwits and 17 Meadow Pipits went south.

One of two Sparrowhawks

And it was gone... one of two Merlins

I went looking for Harebell Bee in the dunes afterwards with no joy but did see some other interesting critters. 

Dune Robberfly (Philonicus albiceps)

Small Copper Butterfly in the Dunes

Hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri

Seawatching - a great hobby?

I've squeezed two short sea-watches in after work over the last two evenings.

Birds were few and far-between on both. I saw none of the 'big' shearwaters that the those without proper jobs have this week, not even a sooty.

I did manage a fully-spooned pom tonight, about 2/3 of the way out but in good light. That light deteriorated rapidly at 1930 and I packed in by 1950, just after a single bonxie went north.

Last night was even quieter. Highlights....

Tuesday 19th 1830-1930

Arctic Skua 3
Fulmar 20+
Ruff - four on beach

Wednesday 20th 1830-1950

Manx shearwater 32
Fulmar 78
Pomarine Skua 1 (1920)
Bonxie 1

On my way down from the dunes, there was mega-panic among the hirrundines as a juvenile hobby went north-west amongst them, just over the bushes then the big pool.

148 pomarine skua
149 hobby

PWC Score = 210

A day off work

I took today off work and spent most of it on the patch.

I started the day birding the sunny edge of the bushes, seeing lots of warblers. Whitethroats have been amazing this year, normally there are two or three breeding pairs on the patch, this year there must be ten pairs, incredible.

Another sedge warbler photo

Whilst birding the bushes, I heard a call that I recognised, but couldn't pin down with only the briefest and distant views of the bird. An hour later, I heard the same call, another bird flying south, but overhead, a pipit, a tree pipit. I've not seen (or heard) a tree pipit at Druridge in years, probably since Stewart was birding Druridge, but I recognised it from trips to the south coast.

From the Oddie hide, I had a frustrating time. A wader was among the rocks on the far shore, it got me excited, I only had the briefest of views as it dodged among the rocks. Superficially, dunlin, but the upper-parts were really well marked, it looked a bit stout and had a really white belly/vent. Pec sand sprang straight to mind, I needed to see it head-on. I didn't, it flew off....Bastard! And then... a small falcon flew south behind the bushes and over the dunes. It was either a merlin or hobby, my money would be on the latter. (see below)

Some you win......

I scanned the banks ten times in case it came back, it didn't. This common sand dropped in though.

Common sandpiper

There were still three little gulls on the big pool and a family of yellow wagtails were in front of the Oddie Hide.

One of three little gulls

Yellow Wag

I returned to the patch at three-ish, after hearing Dave Elliot's tales of wader activity. He got me a greenshank flying over the Budge fields. He also had a hobby and a wood sand which I didn't see. Later, a green sandpiper was just to the left of the Budge screen and Micheal Frankis and Joe Dobbinson were patch year-ticks.

Linnet

So, some quality birding on my day off, well worth not going into work.

140 tree pipit
141 greenshank
142 green sandpiper

My favourite - Hobby

The weekend began with an evening seawatch from the dunes. About 100 manx shearwaters/hour flew north, virtually a constant stream of them, there were also 3 arctic skuas in the bay and at least five drake velvet scoters in the scoter flock. An adult female cuckoo was int eh dunes, attended by several meadow pipits.

As I made my way back to the car, the common terns by the big pools went mental at something behind the trees, then the swallows joined in. The reason for the commotion soon became a apparent as an adult hobby glided over the top trees and over my head off over the dunes, other than a slight northerly change of direction in headed straight for the sea,, before disappearing over the dune ridge.

If only I had had my new lens (it arrives tomorrow or Tuesday) I could have had a great shot of it as it flew over my head. 

I now regard hobby as annual at Druridge. Last year there was a regular bird harassing the hirrundine flock for a few evenings in a row and they have been recorded on the patch every year for the last four years. Hopefully this one will stick around.

I tried a ringing session this morning. At 6.30am there was fine mizzly sea fret, which was quite wetting, so I did some birding for a while seeing Friday's cuckoo again and some warbler activity. The fret decreased a bit so I put a few nets up, but only caught eight birds:

Linnet 2 (both juvs)

Sedge warbler 3 (1ad, 2 juv)

Reed warbler 1 adult

Whitethroat 1 adult

Willow warbler 1 juv

Linnet - this years' young

After ringing we went to check on the barn owls at the farm. Sadly, they have failed this year, though an adult was still in the barn.

This evening, I took a leaf out of ADMc book and got out on my bike and headed down to Druridge. From the Oddie hide there were three adult scaup (two drakes and a duck), just in front of the hide (again no lens thus no camera). There were also three little gulls and a juvenile yellow wagtail.Seemingly I had just missed three otters playing and scaring away the ducks.

Offshore, the scoter flock had probably doubled in size since the morning and now held upwards of 1000 birds. They were just too distance to scan through evening heat -haze. There has to be a surfy out there somewhere.

Hobby 132

Scaup 133

Patch Competition Score 172 (bizarrely Scaup is worth two points whilst hobby brings in a measly one point!)  

Three Falcons or Thirteen Little Gulls

A three-falcon day at Druridge today vied with 13 little gulls on the beach for the highlight of the day.

The first falcon came this morning and was the scarcest, a hobby, a juvenile picked up scattering a group of hirundines, before heading strongly south. This is my fourth hobby of the year at Druridge (although two records were undoubtedly the same individual). Before this year I'd only ever seen four hobbies at Druridge in all of the years I've birded it.

I dropped into Druridge this evening, a lovely evening with great light. The hirundines again alerted me to a raptor, a small falcon among them, then dropped to fly behind the trees, a merlin, which was seen again later perched on a hawthorn in the dunes, Finally, as dusk approached, a kestrel was hovering over the paddock south of the plantation.

This morning, I had a scan through the gulls on the beach. I got onto three little gulls, an adult and 2 juvs. They were dip-feeding into the pools left behind, presumably taking small sand eels? I counted the red-throated divers (33) on the sea and a slavonian grebe, when I went back to the gulls, there were 13 little gulls all feeding in the same way.

This afternoon, I treated Janet to a romantic trip......to Lynemouth Sewage Works. Lynemouth and sewage,it doesn't get better than that!

We've now got permission to ring there, so I was doing battle with brambles - they won! We caught five birds whilst we sorted the nets out. The site looks excellent, all we need now is some easterly winds.

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.

Amazing spectacle

The internet is down at home, so this is coming from my mobile, so will be brief. There was an amazing spectacle at druridge tonight, at least 2000 hirrundines roosted in the little reedbed tonight. Before they roosted, they flew over the pool, they were rattled by a hobby which seemed to be enjoying itself.

There was also a single swift in with the flock. On the pool this afternoon, there was 2 common and 1 green sandpiper, not spotshanks though. We ringed on friday before it rained, we only caught 5 birds, hardly worth the effort.

Cuckoo confusion

Apologies for the lack of blog-action over the last couple of weeks, work and other commitments has meant little time to visit Druridge and even less time for blogging and it isn't going to get any better over the next two weeks.

To make up for long-days, I took a half-day today to get the nets up at Druridge. Ringing was slow, catching ten or so warblers, sedge, willow, whitethroat and blackcap. We bumped into Mike Hodgson, he spotted a cuckoo flying over the road, first at Duridge this year, I remarked "hope it's flown into out net" - well it did.

Ageing and sexing it has proved somewhat tricky however. We are sure it isn't a juvenile or an adult male. Which leaves the female, which in cuckoo comes in two morphs - grey, very much like the male, and brown or rufous.

Our bird showed some of the characteristics of a brown morph female but not all, more like something in between. A trawl of internet images hasn't helped much, other than apparently ruling out a juvenile due to the lack of white fringing on the upperparts. Looking at Collins, the brown morph is barred dark/rufous brown and the upper tail/rump are also rufous brown, our bird had a grey/brown uppertail and rump.

This bird http://www.pbase.com/charlie_fleming/image/113357739/large has a grey/brown uppertail. This one closely resembles our bird and has been labelled 'hepatic morph female' http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigelblake/3118599073/.

Seemingly there is much variation - Any thoughts?

This is the second cuckoo caught and ringed at Druridge, Janet caught an adult may here in July 2007. This one was a ringing-tick for me.

Here are a couple of other photos from today's ringing.

juvenile robin

Fresh juvenile sedge warbler

juvenile blackcap

Other highlights today, Janet saw an adult hobby at close quarters, before it headed towards the dunes then south. I was checking the nets at the north end... There was also an adult merlin hanging about -  I always think that mid July is a good time for merlins on the coast.

Last night, about 8.30pm, the sea was like a millpond, with a light pink sky as the sun started to set. I was watching a 'gang' of arctic skuas harassing the terns on their way north to Coquet Island - I counted at least six by the end of the night. The highlight was mammalian, rather than avian - a pod of white-beaked dolphins about half-way out, visible with the naked eye because the sea was so flat. At first they were in a tight group, with much activity, before spreading out over 300-400 metres. Amazing!

yesterday I had both green and wood sandpipers on the big pool and on Saturday evening I watched a little egret going into roost in the heronry  -amazingly, my first of the year!

133 garden warbler
134 great-spotted woodpecker
135 little egret
136 green sandpiper
137 merlin
138 cuckoo

A great hobby

I had the best weather of the week to do my territory mapping exercise yesterday morning, a lovely sunny morning. 

No 'fawn yawns' yet

Two large flocks, one of linnets and one of starlings, were on the short grass by the entrance, the latter were all juveniles. It'll be worth checking through these starling flocks soon for 'fawn yawns'.A single spoonbill was still loitering on the Budge fields.

surprisingly awake - spoonbill on the Budge fields

Still sedge, willow and grasshopper warblers, whitethroat and blackcap singing and a pair of reed warblers in the little reed bed. This lapwing was showing off in front of the Oddie hide.

"Look at me, aren't I smart" said the lapwing 

Beyond the hides, a barn owl took off from the fence, to quick for photo's, incredibly my first of the year on the patch, bird of the day surely?

A walk around to High Chibburn and back to the hamlet and a pair of breeding yellow wagtail, he was feeding the grass, she was going mental at my presence, scolding me until I moved on.

"Piss off" said Mrs. yellow wagtail

Just beyond the hamlet, I simultaneously heard the hirrundines alarm calling and spotted a  raptor flying low over the field, sparrowhawk I presumed, until I lifted my bins and saw a moustache...peregrine, no too small, the earlier barn owl was relegated to second best bird of the day. I was watching a hobby. It flew powerfully, low over the field, before banking up to get some height by the barn conversion, showing its red trousers in the process before heading due south, towards Hemscotthill Farm. 

With one, probably two, juveniles last autumn and this adult, hobby are becoming more common on the patch than merlin - a sign of the times?

meadow pipit

130 barn owl
131 hobby