Interesting warbler

I was on the patch early yesterday (Monday) evening. Conditions were not conducive to birding, the wind was very strong and blustery from the east then north east and it was showery. Nevertheless I checked some of the more sheltered areas of the patch, around the budge screen, on the west side of the shelterbelt and the track to the hides.

It was obvious that no significant arrival of birds had taken place. Even with the fact that most birds would be cowering in cover, there wasn't much about, a few goldcrests, chiffchaffs, chaffinches and tits.

Checking the westward side of the shelterbelt I came across a warbler which immediately struck me as being different. It was hopping around the base of a small willow, the jizz of the bird struck me as odd. It had a long, bright supercillium, stretching nearly onto the nape, it looked like a phyllosc, but which one?

I fired off some crap record shots, in my panic, forgetting to zoom in, so these are very cropped.

The strong supercillium was obvious as was the dark eye-stripe, the legs appeared to be pink-orange, the bill was horn coloured above, pink-orange on the lower mandible and appeared shorter and stubbier than chiffchaff bill. It was generally yellow below and a darker olive green above. There was contrast between the olivey-green mantle and darker wings, the flight feathers were darker but appeared to have pale fringes. It never called.

Viewing conditions were awful and to be honest I wasn't sure what I was looking at, but it was interesting.....My initial thoughts, given the strong supercillium were of dusky or Radde's, but I thought it was too early for them, wasn't it? I had ruled out Dusky and was thinking Radde's, but this bird didn't have the ochre-orange undertail that the bird we caught a couple of years ago had.

I met up with Dave Elliott and we went back to look for the bird with no luck. When I got home and looked at the photo's I was more confused and after a chat with Stewart had ruled out Radde's and dusky. So a couple of shots were emailed to some birders who know a lot more than me about such things.

The consensus appears to be that it is a willow warbler, probably of one of the eastern races, acredula or yakutensis. It certainly isn't one of the cold-grey acredula forms or 'Eversmann's willow warbler'....

In doing some research I looked for other potential eastern phyllosc's that could occur here as vagrants. Tickell's leaf warbler Phylloscopus affinis kept leaping out at me as being very similar, in many ways, to my warbler  - although it didn't look quite right either, my mind wandered into the realms of fantasy....P. affinis has a similar range (both breeding and wintering) to Hume's leaf warbler, so if one was ever to turn up in the western palearctic, you would expect it would in November.

Unless we catch the bird at the weekend, we will never know what it is and then it wouldn't be straight forward...

It's all been an interesting exercise and I know a lot more about 'eastern' willow warblers and Tickell's leaf warblers that I did before.

It's still raining outside. Druridge was virtually cut-off at lunchtime today, the road to Cresswell was flooded and the road to Widdrington was just passable. I am going to try to get to the patch tomorrow morning before work if I can, to hopefully see and more importantly hear this bird again. There may well be some other migrants to see too.

Ringing

I've managed two visits to the patch over the weekend. Incredibly we've not ringed at Druridge this year yet, the late-start of summer, with many of the alders not coming into leaf until July was chiefly to blame alongside a lack of time and Lynemouth sewage works being good.

So yesterday, we set up the ringing site in preparation for ringing today. Whilst setting up yesterday we were surprised to see an adult bonxie flying over the pool, east, towards the sea. How far inland it had come from we'll never know. There were a few chiffchaffs, goldcrests and blackcaps in the bushes and a few skylarks and swallows moving south. A speckled wood butterfly was sunning itself on an alder leaf.

Today we ringed from 7am til 1.30pm. We didn't put all of the nets up but managed to catch 35 new birds and two retraps;

goldcrest 5
blackcap 2
wren 8
robin 3
blue tit 4 (1)
blackbird 1
chiffchaff 4
goldfinch 2
dunnock 3 (1)
great tit 2
reed warbler 1

Reed Warbler

Skylarks were heading south throughout the morning in small groups and swallows were also moving through. The sound of pink-footed geese overhead was almost constant. Mistle thrush and great-spotted woodpecker were also of note. Offshore, 85 red-throated divers were in the bay (per Dave Shackleton).

Raptorfest

This morning I watched the sun rise over the Mediterranean Sea as I drove toward Malaga airport, it was beautiful and I was sad to be leaving Spain behind and raptorfest that is Tarifa in September.

I saw 22 species of bird of prey, 24 if you include owls. There wasn't huge numbers for the most of the days, but last Saturday was a mega day, the very strong levante wind had ceased and thousands of bird of prey and storks made the crossing to Africa.

Whilst I was in tarifa I got a call from my friend Richard Dunn, he was at Druridge, I feared the worst... rare birds have a habit of turning up on the patch when I am overseas...but it wasn't a rare bird, it was one of the Exmoor ponies on the Budge fields caught in the fence. You can read the account here http://richarddunn.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/september-9-2012.html

I told Richard where it was, because it was there on the Tuesday evening before I left for Spain, I presumed it was being stupid. Poor thing must've been pretty grumpy when Richard and the farmers knacked the fence to free it, it had been there for five days, it is lucky that Richard investigated, or it might have been much worse for the unfortunate beast.

A strong wind and showers this afternoon. I had no motivation to go to Druridge whatsoever.

Bank Holiday Weekend

Bank Holiday weekend started early for me as I took Friday off work. We ringed at Lynemouth Sewage Works in the morning catching about 30 new birds. The most numerous species was chiffchaff, none of the birds we were catching were carrying much fat so probably all short-hop coasting birds rather then incoming migrants. In the afternoon, I headed to Druridge to do some serious net-ride maintenance - by the time I'd done three rides I was nettled, scratched and sweating like a twitcher on the way to a mugimaki flycatcher, so I headed off to do some birding.

The highlight was a cuckoo, a juvenile, still lingering in the dunes. A group of five red-throated divers were very close to the beach, on the waters edge, but by the time I had gone back for the camera, they had gone so I had to make do with some sanderlings.

Sanderlings on the beach at Druridge

This digital SLR business is going to cost me more than I thought. I've been told by those in the know, that I need to be taking RAW shots rather than jpegs, my poor old computer can't cope with them (in fact it struggles with Itunes) so it looks like I'll have to shell out for a new PC...and then I'll need some software to open RAW files... another £100! I still don't really know what I am doing with it, I might have to harass Alan Gilbertson in Tarifa next week to give me some tips.

I was up early on Saturday (early for me) for a kick around the bushes. There hadn't been a fall of any sorts but there were a few migrants in the bushes including 6 whitethroats, a handful of willow warblers and chiffchaffs and couple of blackcaps. A small influx of blackbirds seemed to have occurred and there was a strong southerly movement of swallows all morning.

I had a look offshore later in the morning but there wasn't much doing. There was no time for birding or ringing after Saturday lunchtime with chores to do, football to watch and a friends BBQ on Sunday.

Bank Holiday Monday was typical - it rained all day. More Chores!

Honey B

A stroke of pure luck today scored me a new bird for the patch  - HONEY BUZZARD!

Here's the tale...

I was at work and had to drive from Alnwick via Amble to Longhirst - virtually passing my patch at lunchtime, too rare an opportunity to miss, so loaded up with a 'Country Barn' pasty and one of their fab Mars Bar Crispy Cakes and headed to the patch.

With limited time and no wellies, a scan from the dune seemed the best approach. After about 10 minutes, a big flock of canada geese flew up and moved south, I scanned them and picked up a raptor which at first seemed to flying with them, then it became apparent it was actually behind them, it looked big and was flying purposefully south.

The geese turned, giving me better views of the raptor which was now being mobbed by a carrion crow. It was a buzzard-sized raptor but it immediately struck me as different. Firstly, the way it was flying, moving strongly south, secondly it had a flap, flap glide flight and didn't show the classic raised wings of a common buzzard. I was excited!

As I studied the bird which was now flying strongly south other features were apparent, long necked appearance with a small head, it also appeared long tailed - the tail wasn't fanned at all, it was closed and look pointed from some angles. But it was the jizz of the bird that had me convinced.

I didn't get much on colour at all as it was in poor light or obscured by geese. The head looked paler than upperparts. I didn't get a good view of the underparts as it was flying about level with me, but there was some barring visible as the bird turned slightly as the crow mobbed it.

It wasn't a juvenile, but I wasn't able to sex it.

Honey Buzzard has alluded me on the patch and in Northumberland for a long time now, I didn't expect to turn one up today!. Everyone and their dog saw one during the influx of September 2008 except me. I'll hopefully be seeing hundreds of them when I am in Tarifa in two weeks time.

So Honey Buzzard is my second new patch bird for the year taking the patch list to 227. It is a shame that HB in Northumberland has such a stigma associated with it, because of the actions of one or two individuals. As a result I expect some flack about this record...all light-hearted I'm sure. Dave Elliott joined me shortly after the bird had gone out of view, he had seen the geese from the hide but hadn't look up at them which is such a shame.

A look offshore at high-tide yesterday afternoon, which was a big tide, saw me add turnstone to the year list as five flew north and a greenshank on the beach was new for the year.

Sadly, three yellow wagtails calling overhead were also a year-tick - no breeding birds this year.

131 Greenshank
132 Turnstone
133 Yellow wagtail
134 HONEY BUZZARD

Now for something stoatally different

I squeezed a quick visit to the patch in this morning before work. Reports of icterine warbler on the Farnes and several pied flycatchers along the coast had my hopes built up.

All I managed was a garden warbler. Always nice to see at Druridge and can be missed some years. There were lots of 'wheeting' willowchaffs and few sedge warblers in the bushes.

As I drove along the road, heading for work, I saw a stoat dragging a big rabbit across the road in front of me. I was quickly out of the car and taking photo's. The stoat didn't seem to mind me, more keen on dragging, the still alive and kicking (and screaming!), rabbit off the road. 

It takes some effort to drag a rabbit that is nearly three times your mass

A woman in a silver car had no time for the stoat, rabbit or me, and zoomed by giving me 'evils' as she passed. The stoat was soon back though, managing to haul the rabbit of the road.

Some cyclists and a dog walker didn't deter the stoat from its mission. (Mr cyclist remarked to Mrs cyclist "did you see the red squirrel" as they sped by). This gave me an opportunity to swap sides for a better view, to photograph the stoat finally coming back to drag it's breakfast, which was now dead,  into the long grass.

Coming back for another go

sneaking up

stealth like

it's mine now!

When the angry woman in the silver car scared the stoat away and the rabbit was still moving but obviously debilitated, I did think about putting it out of it's misery, but I thought better of it, that was the the stoat's job.

There'll be no blog posts this weekend. I'm off to the Birdfair. If you're going, do pop by by and say hi. I'll be on the Birdwatching Northumberland stand in Marquee 1 stands 53/54.

Depressing

No blog activity this week. I've been internet free for a week at the famous (amongst ringers at least) Icklesham site in East Sussex. It's been rather nice having not having to deal with email for a week.

Back on the patch this morning before the rain set in. It was depressing. Highlights were a new brood of little grebe (three) and a year-tick stock dove.

It depresses me even more to hear of the new scrapes at Newton coming up trumps with a Stilt Sandpiper. It's brilliant for the Stringer, he has put a lot of work in there and deserves some good birds. Druridge could and should be pulling in birds like stilt sandpiper. It won't attract any passage waders this autumn and won't again until the Budge fields are properly grazed. The frustrating thing for me is that I can't do anything about the situation....

Here are some photos from today.

Hoverfly Helophilus trivittatus 

Hoverfly Helophilus trivittatus 

Green-veined white 'on the job'

small skipper on knapweed