It's all great at Druridge

Rained-off from my gardening duties this afternoon, I was sat at home preparing a pub quiz when a message appeared on the grapevine from Jonathon to say he'd had a great egret fly past him and it was now on the big pool at Druridge.

The rain had stopped and the quiz abandoned. 

Mixed messages on the grapevine had me confused but I headed to the Oddie hide to find a few folk watching great egret on the southern bank of the pool. A nice adult coming into breeding plumage. It was too obscured by a willow bush that has shot up near to the hide for a photo (note to self: ask NWT about dispatching (I mean coppicing) the willow).

A good year-bird that is becoming much more common. Incredibly it has been recorded on the patch in five out of the last six years. Both great egret and spoonbill used to be megas a few years ago, now they're annuals! 

Jonathon was having a good day - whilst I was admiring the egret, he was watching a velvet scoter offshore.  I hung around and counted the gadwall  - 30! that's an impressive count for Druridge. Six red-breasted merganser and a handful of goldeneye were also noteworthy.

I headed for  the dune-ridge.There was no sign of Jonathon or his velvet scoter- in fact there were no scoters or Farooqi's at all. There were 27 red-throated divers which was a good count and my first puffin of the year, just the one, but a good start for March.

The Whoopers, about sixty, and the lone Bewick's swan were scope-able from the dunes.

We've had news of a ringing recovery from BTO, which is always exciting. One of the eleven lesser redpols, which were mostly 'younguns', that we caught on 14th October last year has been caught again by a ringer in Swaffham, Norfolk - 329km from Druridge, 160 days later and now identifiable as a female bird. 

Not the bird caught in Norfolk as this is an adult, caught on the same day -nice though.

One hundred and counting...

A little flurry of migrants lifted my patch year-list to 100 species today.

I was out on the patch for a short ringing session n Friday morning, the first of the year. With only two nets up I caught a few birds including three willow warblers and chiffchaff. 

willow warbler - first bird ringed on the patch in 2015

Whilst checking the nets, I had a whimbrel fly over and a very early reed warbler was singing in the little reed bed in the corner of the big pool. Offshore there were 47 red-throated divers and 26 red-breasted mergansers on the sea - both good counts. There was also a handful of puffins on the sea, a common tern and fulmar as fly-through's were all new for the year.

Today was WeBS count day. I was sure I was going to  a garganey or an avocet, but I was disappointed, however, the first bird I saw was a little egret, just in front of the hide, which was my first of the year on the patch. 

There were only four wigeon left on the Budge fields, still a few teal main though with about 30 or so, they'll be gone soon and at this rate, shoveler will replace them as the commonest duck on the patch - there were 19 today. There was a pair of great-crested grebes on the big pool.

Whilst I was counting ducks, two or three house martins were feeding over the Budge fields - my first of the year.

That little flurry brings my patch list up to 100 for the year.

93 willow warbler

94 reed warbler

95 whimbrel

96 puffin

97 common tern

98 fulmar

99 little egret

100 house martin

PWC Score 118

Looooong Weekend

Here's a quick catch-up from a longer than usual bank holiday weekend (I had today off work). I managed a few visits to the patch over the weekend amongst long bouts of gardening and the obligatory socialising that comes with a 'B-H Weekend'. Sorry there are no pics, my camera is still in the car.

Saturday

Saturday didn't start on my patch at Druridge, but on Dave Elliott's patch at East Chevington, to twitch the purple heron he found there. Almost eleven years tot he day since the last one he found int he same spot (Stewart Sexton and I scoped that bird from the big dune at Druridge for the patch competition that year and I have to be honest, I tried the same trick again but with no luck.)

Back at Druridge a drake garganey was on the Budge fields with five black-tailed godwits. Three year-ticks followed, whitethroat (now singing everywhere), cuckoo (one over the Budge fields) and tree sparrow at High Chibburn Farm.

Sunday

An earlier start. A quick check of the Haul Road flashes which are still holding some water produced only five ringed plover and a dunlin. At least five 'groppers' were reeling. The rest of the day was spent gardening and BBQing

Monday

I was a bit fragile on BH Monday, but a text message reporting two 'stints' on the Haul Road flashes had me scurrying to the patch. I eventually found them, hunkered down in the grass, Temminck's stints. A nice sighting and my first on the patch since 2008. Arctic and common terns were numerous offshore, Arctic being new for the year.

Tuesday

No waders on the flashes this morning, but two wheatears of the leucorhoa race and a smart yellow wag were there. There are lots of warblers singing from the bushes now, most notably whitethroat,  blackcap and sedge, grasshopper and willow warblers.

An evening visit for a look on the sea produced three year-ticks. Puffin and gannet, predictably and a pair of great-crested grebes, less so.


110 whitethroat
111 cuckoo
112 tree sparrow
113 arctic tern
114 Temminck's stint
115 gannet
116 puffin
117 great-crested grebe

Back on the patch

I was back on the patch today after my trip to Mallorca.

Before I set off, I had envisaged returning to the patch to find wheatears, sand martins, chiffchaffs and sandwich terns....maybe even a swallow or a ring ouzel.

Instead I return to sub-zero temperatures and spring well and truly on hold! Talking to Alan Tilmouth and ADMc, it sounds as if there has been no migrant action at all yet, anywhere up north.

Chatting to Andy and Alan, it was good to catch up with an old friend - Tijan Kanteh. I first met with Tijan when he guided a group of us around the Gambia in 2004 and then later a couple of Birdfairs. Tijan is a really nice, funny guy and great guide, it was good to see him again. He had been out birding with Steve and Dave, I wonder what he thought of the cold as they walked along the beach?

Tijan with ADMc in the Budge Screen

There were a few signs of spring. Meadow pipits in the dunes and by the flash, skylarks singing and pied wagtails (also by the flash). Also of note was a woodcock, which came out of the shelterbelt as I wandered through.

skylark

I've heard all about the 'wreck' of seabirds on the East coast, particularly involving auks, so I had a wander along the beach to see for myself the devastation. Between the north end of the patch and the big dune, I found 22 puffins, seven guilliemots, one razorbill and a kittiwake. All very sad, but I am sure it won't have too much of an impact on the population - we'll have to wait and see.

dead puffin - one of 22

razorbill

There were also lots of cuttlefish 

Two loony-tunes found a way to keep out the cold - dancing and doing star jumps on top of the dunes. Not a bad idea!

Loony-tunes

82 ringed plover
83 oystercatcher
84 buzzard
85 woodcock
86 pied wagtail

More migrants

Work and football conspired against me at the weekend, meaning only one visit to the patch. A few more migrants have arrived, including singing whitethroats. Puffin, house martin and whimbrel were also added to the year-list.

I couldn't find any garganey on the Budge fields (three were reported today when i was trapped in the office), but it was most amusing watching the amorous shovelers. A single duck had the attentions of seven drakes and at one stage they were all in pursuit of her as she flew around and around the reserve. Persistent buggers!

You may have noticed a distinct lack of photo's on this blog of late. My trusty old Lumix has died after five years of loyal service. So I've taken the plunge and gone for an SLR, nowt too flashy mind, finances would only run to a second-hand Canon 550D offuv Ebay. I'm looking forward to it arriving so I can have a go. Results will be displayed here soon!

A bit of ringing, a bit of twitching (the big 300) and WeBS..

I couldn't help it, even though I will be at Bamburgh for work purposes tomorrow lunchtime, I had to go to see the black scoter.

I couldn't go on Thursday or Friday so yesterday morning we went for it. We got very good views of it among the common scoters for comparison, though it didn't much like it's European cousin's. A lifer for me and my 300th for Northumberland, not a bad bird to get the triple century with, though I wish it could have been Druridge obviously.

After celebrating with not one, but two of Carter's finest Sausage Rolls, it was down to Druridge to do the WeBS count, a day early because a full days ringing was planned for Sunday. Two pintail were still on the Budge fields as were 44 teal and 13 shoveler. Once a really rare bird at Druridge it was great to see count at least 17 gadwall, hopefully there will be a few broods of duckings in a month or two.

Offshore there were a further four pintail, at least 500m out with four wigeon nearby and19 red-throated divers was a good count for this time of year. A grasshopper warbler was reeling from the bushes.

Grasshopper Warbler at Druridge Pools Photo (C) Alan Gilbertson

This morning we were ringing at Ellington Pond, a good session ringing 26 new birds of 13 species including willow warbler, chiffchaff and four blackcaps. Then it was off out west for tawny owls, but there were none to be had, so back to Druridge for a quick gander. Nothing much to add from yesterday other than a single puffin offshore which takes the patch list 101.

101 puffin

luvverly morning

I managed a quick visit to Druridge this morning, it was a gloriously sunny morning, a real pleasure to be out. There was one highlight, a long-eared owl on the edge of the patch. LEO's occur most summers somewhere on the bay, favouring the coniferous shelter belts, even nesting at the Country Park some years, amongst the picnickers and tourists.

Druridge - who needs tropical beaches?

Bloody Cranesbill

No opportunity to visit Druridge this evening as I had to work..... It's a tough life having work all day and put an evening shift in!

I had to take our Young Rangers group out to the Farne Islands, told you it was tough!

There was patchy sea mist on the way out, which came and went throughout the evening, which made for interesting light. Now if I had a fancy expensive camera, I am sure I could have done something arty, but I haven't so this is it:

118 long-eared owl

Druridge tonight

Back from Dublin after seeing the mighty AC/DC, I'm in one piece but my wallet's not - jeees it's expensive over there, €6 for a bottle of lager in the venue and €6 a pint elsewhere!

AC/DC were worth every penny though

It was a nice bright night at Duridge tonight, a cold south-easterly reminding me it was still April though. Chatting to IF at the entrance, we saw at least four wheatears on the short grass, with another further along. Last weeks little egret was still on the Budge Fields, it's never easy to see, preferring to skulk in the rushes at the back, my first whimbrel of the year called as it flew south, two more were calling later. IF had seen a mallard accompanied by a gaggle of very small ducklings, but I didn't see them.

Stonechat on the fence enjoying a caterpillar

Offshore, more year-ticks were to be had, several puffins flew back and forth, 13 common scoter flew north (it's incredible that these are the first common scoter I have seen on the patch this year) and a pair of red-breasted mergansers were floating about on the sea. Sandwich tern numbers have really picked up this week and there are still at least 11 red-throated divers offshore.

snipe on the Budge fields

82 whimbrel

83 puffin

84 common scoter

85 red-breasted merganser