Rained-off

The forecast today was for rain from about 9am. For once it was bang-on. 

Janet and I walked the length of the patch and got back tot he car 09.22  - just as the heavens opened. About 750 Pink-footed Geese took off from the Budge Field just before we got to the hide, presumably they'd roosted there overnight? Otherwise there wasn't much of note on our walk, three Chiffchaffs were calling and there were two male Greenfinches by the turning circle - so different to three greenies I had last week. 

The finch flock was mostly in flight and easily exceeded 250 birds, including at least 12 Lesser Redpolls and a handful of Reed Buntings (Yes I know - they're not finches).

We also had interesting bird overhead. We heard it from some way off giving a pipit/wagtail type call but loud and explosive. The calls were all single calls, well-spaced, apart from once where it gave a double 'duit-tcheck' type call, then continued south giving single 'duit' calls. I've had a listen to Xeno-canto this morning and the nearest match is Richard's Pipit - a species I've no recent (and no UK) experience of. Nothing to submit but interesting... When I hear it again, I'll know what it is .

Yesterday morning I tried a two-hour seawatch over the high tide (0950-1150), after a short spell of northerly winds it could be good (I thought). 

Gannets and Auks dominated, I estimated about 30-40/minute of each. The Auks were probably 90%+ Guillemot with the remainder Razorbills, no little'uns yet.

A typical sight for most of the morning, strings of Gannets headed north, some of them very close to the shore

Other highlights were:

Sooty Shearwater 2N

Velvet Scoter 2 Drakes N (together with a teal in tow)

Sandwich Tern 1N

Shag 2

Red-throated Diver 22 on the sea and 8N

Wigeon 13N

Purple Sandpiper 1N

Turnstone 5N

Slavonian Grebe 1 (with Scoter Flock)

Common Scoter 115 (c90 on the sea with 25 past)

Full list here

Gannets headed north  - I've had a go at ageing them below.

Gannets are long-lived birds with an average life-expectancy of 17 years, the oldest record Gannet was 37 year old. Gannets can be aged by their plumaged up to about their 6th year when they are 'adults'   -but it isn't always clear-cut.

Working from left to right:

Bird 1 - An adult (so more than five years old) - the secondaries are all white

Bird 2 - Probably 4th year - Quite a few black secondaries (like piano keys) and tail feathers

Bird 3 - Good contrast with Bird 2 - hardly any black secondaries so I would say 5th year

Bird 4 - All Dark with a lighter tailed band and some white 'sprinkles'  - Juvenile bird

Bird 5 - Many more black secondaries but with a yellowish head and more white on the neck and back - probably a 3rd year. 

Birds 6 and 7 are both juveniles

Seawatching gold

On the back of recentl northerlies I've managed a couple of post-work evening seawatches in the last two days but did I find a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow?

Yesterday evening (17.40 - 18:15) the visibility was better than had been on Sunday evening but the sea was quite quiet. It wasn't a waste of time however, as there was a huge movement of barnacle geese. I counted 307 in different groups - the most impressive was a group of about 85 that I watched coming in-off. Picked up on the horizon, they zig-zagged north and south until they reached land just to the south of me, disappearing behind the dunes. 

The other highlight was a purple sandpiper. Being a bird of the rocky shore they are a very rare bird at Druridge, but conditions were perfect - the top of a high tide when they are pushed off Snab Point or Newbiggin and they head north, probably to the safety of  Coquet Island to sit-out the tide. This was my first patch-record of a 'purp' since 2014.

Tonight (17:20-18.40) was much more productive for seabirds. I thought it was going to be when the first bird I got onto was a bonxie, followed by two groups of manx shearwater with three sooty shears for company.

The kittiwakes, lots of them, were quite far out and the lack of gannets suggested they were even further out again. Other birds were a bit closer, especially some of the arctic skuas and bonxies. Other than the odd manx or two the shearwaters dried-up after the initial flurry. 

A grey plover flew north - another scarce wader for the patch. 

It went a bit quiet after 6pm and a horrible squally shower came through - I hunkered down in the dunes and watched the rainbow until it passed. I had though about heading home, but I'm pleased I didn't. Another heavy shower offshore seemed to push birds in a bit as a couple of bonxies and arctic skuas passed close-by. 

Then, from out of nowhere, two steely-grey juvenile long-tailed skuas appeared above the freshly-arrived raft of gulls on the sea. They swooped and towered above the skyline, quite close in, for a few minutes before heading off south down the bay. My first long-tailed skuas on the patch since 2013. It's often the case that long-tailed skuas will venture much closer to shore than their relatives, I've seen this at Druridge before and at Newbiggin where I've seen them fly behind seawatchers, cutting Church point. 

The light faded quickly soon after and I headed home, cold and wet, but having struck seawatching gold at the end of the rainbow. 

Full list here

From the north

The wind came right out of the north on Friday and through to today, bringing a blast of  proper winter weather after a spell of unseasonably mild weather of late.

The northerly had come from way up north - classic weather to bring some northern specialities down, so obviously a seawatch was in order.

I timed my seawatch with the rising tide, giving me more chance to get some good waders pushed off the rocks by the advancing tide. It was bitterly cold, but as the wind had swung around out of the NNW I managed to find a little shelter in the dunes.

No sooner had I set up my scope when I had the first of many little auks headed north. There was a steady passage of these fantastic little birds throughout the morning. Mostly in small groups, all headed north. Many were very close in, flying between the breaking waves on the shore. At one point I had a 'mixed flock' of two purple sandpipers, two dunlin and two little auk flying up the shore.

It was great to get purple sandpiper on the list for the year, the light was nice so they really stood out from the dunlin.

Other highlights were two great northern divers (sadly no black-throated passed me), an adult little gull flying south, two groups of three long-tailed duck, two velvet scoter and a drake scaup. A flock of 25 twite flew north along the dunes.

Seawatching totals 1120-1250:

little auk 173
goldeneye 24
cormorant 2
little gull 1 (S)
guillemot 34
red-throated diver 3
dunlin 6
long-tailed duck 6
wigeon 49
red-breasted merganser 3
great northern diver 2
pale-bellied brent 3
velvet scoter 2
purple sandpiper 4
kittiwake 80+
common gull 10+
scaup 1
pintail 1
twite 25

Today I had to work, but popped down to Druridge for the last of the light at 3pm. I intended on doing a seawatch but the light was nice and there was some close-by gulls so I did some gull photography instead.

Between gulls I did note long strings of kittiwakes  headed north and some sizeable stings of guillemot. There were a few little auks, but nothing like yesterday and a couple of RTD.

Adult common gull

First-winter herring gull 

Arty gull photo

Second-winter great-black-backed gull. Check out the obvious white tip to the bill

Snowy sky over Cresswell - I'm pleased it missed me!

Nice wintry sky at dusk

Pink-footed geese coming in at sunset

 My seawatch brought me a little haul of year-ticks - brent goose, scaup and purple sandpiper (my first on the patch for six years!) taking my total to 159 which is well down on the last few years. Still a chance of one or two more species before New Year...