Potential patch tick requires stakeout

Football and rain have prevented visits to the patch lately. Working 10 hours a day doesn't help matters.

I'm going to have to put some effort in though, on a stakeout for a patch tick....

So what's the species?

Dave Elliott texted me today, his friend who lives in the cottages, with a huge array of feeders in his garden has had a GREEN WOODPECKER coming to his feeders!!

Guess were I'm going to before work tomorrow...

Caad but sunny for the WeBS count

A cold and frosty morning at Druridge, it was bright and sunny though. I quite like cold and sunny winter days.

As I predicted, when chatting to Dave Elliott counting twite near Hemscotthill Hill, the Budge fields were completely frozen, this didn't stop 41 curlew looking for tasty pickings ans as a result, the wildfowl were all on the big poool.

Wigeon were the most numerous (204) folowed predictably by teal (106). A smattering of tufted duck, mallard, goldeneye, coot and moorhen rounded things off for the WeBS count.

The, now regular, over-wintering chiffchaff is still hanging about. Today it was near the road by the path to the hides, seemingly, despite my tip-off, it wasn't seen by any of last weeekends bird-race teams!

Interestingly, there were a few song thrush in the dunes. I counted at least six....recent arrivals? Offshore, a great-northern diver was the highlight of the day. It wasn only about a third of the way out so worth having a look for if you're passing. Also offshore was my first shags of the year (fnarr fnarr), a handful of red-throated divers and common scoters.

No photo's again I'm afraid

63 robin
64 shag
65 great-northern diver

Mammals year-list under way

No photo's today, I forgot to take my camera with me. I was a bit out-of-sorts this morning, I'm blaming the Abbot Ale!

So an afternoon visit to Druridge was all I could muster. All very quiet indeed bird-wise, a few common species added to the year-list, otherwise quite dull. The highlights were a huge skein of pink-footed geese lifting off the fields by Hemscothill and flying north over the patch, there was maybe 1500-1800 of them, quite an impressive sight. A count of 38 sanderling was good, considering the number of dog walkers there were.

My mammal year-list finally got under-way and is now already up to three species, harbour porpoise, grey seal and rabbit.

59 dunnock
60 canada goose
61 long-tailed tit
62blackbird

A good start to 2012

January 1st

I very rarely do any birding on New Years Day. Usually because of a severe hang-over or football or both. This New Years Day was different. I was our partying the night (and morning) before but still managed to make it down to Druridge albeit with a bit of a thick-head a good-deal of queasiness. I only had an hour though as we had another party to get to.

Highlight of the morning was a short-eared owl quartering the Budge fields and bunds. The wintering chifchaff seen in late December was still hanging around the willows by the Little hide, making an early appearance on the year-list. There were good numbers of duck on the Budge fields, including at least three drake pintail.

Little of interest on the pool, other than a water rail which was poking around the edge of the phragmites bed. A buzzard flew over, quite low, heading south.

I ended the day on 35 species. Not bad for an hours work with an hangover.

January 2nd

I felt a bit more chipper this morning. I did have a lie-in though so didn't make it to Druridge until 1ish.

I started with a look on the sea, 2 snow buntings flew north calling, a good start! A pair of eiders and a group three red-breasted mergansers were added to the year-list.

Next, to the Budge screen. I picked up a large wader on the far side, feeding amongst the grass by the fence that wasn't a curlew. When it emerged it revealed itself as a black-tailed godwit. A rare species in winter in Northumberland and especially at Druridge Pools. Without looking through my notes and lists, I think this may be my first winter patch record for blackwit.

Despite the strengthening and very cold westerly wind I decided a hike around the extremities of the patch was in order. I set off for High Chibburn Farm via the hamlet. At the feeding station at the cottages, tree and house sparrows are added to the list with goldfinch. At the farm, there were 19 collared doves, once a very rare species at Druridge, this wintering flock is nice to see. Also at High Chibburn were a flock of about 50 curlew with redshanks, in the same field as a covey of 12 grey partridge, which were later flushed by a sparrowhawk.

Low Chibburn Preceptory with a flock of lapwing and starling in front

Another view of the preceptory

I got blown along the haul road, seeing very little. A walk through the bushes didn't produce a woodcock but in the willows by the bridge, yesterdays chiffchaff was still calling. This might be of interest to any winter bird-racers who are out next Saturday. Obviously, if I had been bird-racing next weekend (we've got Blackburn at home in the cup so I'll not be) I would have suppressed this!

So, 58 species by the 2nd of January. Not a bad start. It's going to be a hard-slog from now until the end of March, when the first migrants return though.

I hope to a review of 2011 in the next couple of days.

1 red-throated diver
2 guilliemot
3 common scoter
4 black-headed gull
5 common gull
6 sanderling
7 cormorant
8 pied wagtail
9 short-eared owl
10 carrion crow
11 herring gull
12 grey heron
13 chiffchaff
14 stonechat
15 blue tit
16 teal
17 wigeon
18 mallard
19 lapwing
20 curlew
21 shoveler
22 kestrel
23 tufted duck
24 coot
25 goldeneye
26 mute swan
27 water rail
28 skylark
29 song thrush
30 redshank
31 magpie
32 pintail
33 pheasant
34 buzzard
35 pink-footed goose
36 red-breasted merganser
37 great-black backed gull
38 eider
39 snow bunting
40 black-tailed godwit
41 snipe
42 chaffinch
43 redwing
44 tree sparrow
45 house sparrow
46 collared dove
47 feral pigeon
48 jackdaw
49 sparrowhawk
50 grey partridge
51 meadow pipit
52 woodpigeon
53 mistle thrush
54 wren
55 moorhen
56 rook
57 goldfinch 
58 starling 

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas to you all.

A quick festive stroll around the patch this morning. We got sand-blasted on the ebach by a force 6-7 westerly, a few sanderlings were the only birds of note.

On the Budge fields, we showed my father the wildfowl. By the time we left he identified teal, wigeon, mallard, shoveler and pintail there were three of the latter, all drakes.

Time for wine.......

A Yank! But not the one I wanted.

There was a Yank on Druridge Pools this afternoon, not quite the one I wanted though. It looks as though the greater yellowlegs has moved north (why?) so no chance of it now. So I had to make do with a green-winged teal. 

A good year-tick and WeBS bird though and my first at the Pools since 2008. It must be the same drake that has been hanging around at East Chevington for the last month or so. It was asleep on the far bank for most of the time I was there, so I only managed this very-poor record shot.

Can you spot him? green-winged teal

This Eurasian teal was a bit easier to photograph.

Eurasian teal

If only this had been a yellowlegs.

Redshank

As I wandered up to the pools, I got onto a chiffchaff making its way along the bund. It wasn't a greyish bird as I might of expected and hoped for, it was very yellow-green-olive with quite pale legs. It flew off before I managed a better picture than this.

December Chiffchaff

There wasn't much else of note today. A few long-tailed tits moved through the bushes with lesser redpolls and other finches for company. Offshore, there were a few red-throated divers, shags and mergansers.

160 green-winged teal

What's wrong with Druridge Pools?

What is wrong with Druridge Pools?

Before you switch off, this isn't a rant about the lack of grazing.

Mr (or Mrs) Greater Yellowlegs mustn't like the look of something. It has been commuting between Hauxley, Druridge Bay Country Park, Chev and Cresswell Pond for the last three weeks, so it must be flying over Druridge Pools, why has it never landed?

I've just looked its movements up on the RBA website and it has never been reported from Druridge, so I am presuming it hasn't been seen there - unless somebody knows otherwise (do let me know). Today, it was a stones-throw away, on a small flash pool just north of Hemscotthill Farm. How frustrating! I could see the twitchers watching it from the little hide. Is this as close as I am going to get to it? The chances of seeing it fly over as it commutes along the bay are very, very slim.

The water level on the big pool is as low as it has been all year, so there is loads of 'edge'. Three redshanks thought it good enough this afternoon, so why not a yellowlegs. Maybe it's a snob, come from Boston or New England and doesn't like the look of down-trodden, rough-around-the-edges Druridge pools?

My mood was lightened by a year-tick, snow buntings at long last. Six of them flew off from the beach over the dunes towards the big pool. A patch-record was also broken today with a mahooosive count of 21 collared doves at High Chibburn Farm, easily smashing the previous total.

There was a huge flock of mixed finches on Hemscotthill links, including about 60 twite, certainly worth a scan through them if your passing.