long day, little gull

Well, June 21st, solstice, it's all down hill from here, it'll be autumn before we know it and there rarities will be piling into Druridge........

Back to reality, a quick dodge to the patch tonight after work produced very little, the sea was so far out it was in Norway so no use looking at it.

On the big pool, yesterdays ruff had gone (though had been seen by Alan Gilbertson this afternoon) as had the great-crested grebe. A first summer little gull flew through, another welcome year tick and this grey heron kept us entertained feeding on sticklebacks in front of the hide. Another new brood (3) of gadwall were also on the big pool.

grey heron feeding on sticklebacks

MSK sent me a pic of the ruff - nice eh?

male ruff - image: Martin Kitching

127 little gull

12:15am - A report has just come onto RBA to say there was an unconfirmed BRIDLED TERN at East Chevington this lunchtime....

Lost bonxie

I spent this morning ringing at Gosforth Park, it was steady going and we caught some good birds.

This afternoon, just as we were about to set off to visit the outlaws, MSK sent me a text to say there was a bonxie on the main pools at Druridge, so a diversion had to made. The bonxie was sat on the island at the far end, a pretty sick-looking bird that didn't look as though it had long for this world. What the good Doctor didn't tell me about in his text was the fantasticly stunning male summer plumage ruff that was prancing about in front of the Oddie Hide.......guess who had left his camera at home, well we were only calling in on the way to the outlaws weren't we?

When Martin sends me a pic of the ruff I'll post it - stunning bird!

126 bonxie

PS - Bugger! Just read bird boulmer birders blog, missed WeBS count today...

Seawatching

A very pleasant afternoon was spent  in Bob Biggs' garden with a smattering of local birdwatchers for another one of Bob's excellent fund-raising garden parties.

I got a call from Dave Dack to say he was at Newbiggin and had seen an adult long-tailed skua, so my mind was made up, a seawatch was in order. I did an hour between 7 & 8 and it was pretty quiet, 7 manx sheawaters and a single dark phase arctic skua being the highlights.

An hour in the little hide produced a brood of six gadwall duckilings and three broods of mallards. When I was wasn't owl watching on Thursday night, I had a brood of four gadwall and a brood of six shoveler.

Still no cuckoo.....

Ringing at Gosforth tomorrow....

not a hoot

A late visit to Druridge tonight, just generally scanning about, but with the hope of an owl of any species...not one!

The regular barn owls aren't breeding at Druridge this year, last year, the male was seen with a broken leg, so that may have put an end to the regular pair.

The little owls have been seen just outside the patch on Druridge Lane regularly, but not inside the patch yet. A few people saw short-eared owl when the GW egret was here, I didn't and there has been recent reports of a long-eared owl on the bay. Tawny owls are rarer than rocky-horse shit on the patch.

So there you have it, nearly half way through the year and not an owl on the list!

Long day

I did another territory mapping survey at Druridge this morning before work, nothing much to report, lots of birds feeding young including reed bunting, whitethroats and chaffinches and meadow pipits (below). Lots of fledged starlings, like 350+, flying about too. Then work all day......

Then, this evening, after work, went out ringing barn owls, we ringed four young at a box near Acklington Prison, then checked some more without success, so we went for fish'n'chips at Amble before heading back to Druridge at 8.3pm0 to strim the fronts of the hides.

They quickly get overgrown at this time of year and you could hardly see out of them, so an hour or so's back-breaking labour had them sorted.

A quick look on the sea produced a couple of great-crested grebes. Got home at 22.20......knackered!

Dogs in Northumberland

No Druridge this weekend, I was at the Download festival at Castle Donington, watching the greatest live band in the world ever and some other really cool bands.

I 'popped in' this evening for a little while, not much doing.... I need to get down with the strimmer asap to cut the grass in front of the hides, yer can't see ooot! I did get a couple of moths pics, but they will have to wait until later in the week too.

I and many other Northumberland bloggers often mention dos and dog walkers, often in an negative way, well, the Coonty Cooncil are currently consulting on a range of proposed new dog control orders.

Have your say at http://www2.northumberland.gov.uk/survey/sncne_dog_control_orders___consultation.htm

Marsh Warbler still singing

I stopped at Druridge for literally five minutes tonight, in the rain and cold northerly wind - it felt more like late October than early June.

After I had 'bollocked' a couple in a landrover who had driven over the mounds that are either side of the road at Druridge, that are there obviously to keep vehicles out ....Why is that people who buy 4X4's feel some strange urge to do silly things? 

If there is grassy knoll in an otherwise perfectly flat car park,  you can bet the 4X4 owning wazzack will park on it!

The marsh warbler was still singing from the willows over the mound. 

The area if frequents was once pristine habitat for things like breeding willow warblers and whitethroats, I asked RBA to urge people to stay on the path (they did put this on a couple of messages), but I don't think it would've mattered. There is now a well trodden path into the reserve...

Even over the old bridge, onto the area between the willows and the phragmites that the bird was favouring wasn't off limits  to some.

Still, as long as the photographers got their shot and the MP3 playing wazzacks got decent views, then everything is just OK!

Mr and Mrs Whitethroat might not have been so happy.

I've often thought what might happen at Druridge these days, if a real rarity turned up.. a county mega? 

If it was viewable from the hides or the road, then it would be manageable., but if it was skulking warbler in the bushes....a different story. If  it was during the breeding season - forget it - the habitat would be destroyed.

In the autumn, this type of behaviour is not too much of an issue - but remember the damage caused by the idiots trying to flush out last year's Raddes warbler?

If I am ever lucky enough to find a rare bird skulking in the bushes at Druridge during the breeding season, you'll read about it in the bird club bulletin a month after it has gone.