Mad Dash....

Today was fair but overcast and cold. It was also the first free time I've had to get out and clear up some birds for the Quicksilver Festive List...

I headed out at 11.30 and was home for 3.30. In those 4 hours I did a gazetteer of birding sites of south east Northumberland, taking in - in order of appearance - Foxton Bends, Amble Braid, Druridge Bay Country Park, Widdrington Tip, Linton Ponds, QEII Lake, Bothal Pond, Newbiggin Prom, Lynemouth roadside flash, Cresswell Ices, Cresswell Pond and Bells Links and finally, Druridge Budge Fields!

The first four stops added very little. On route to Linton from the Linton Roundabout I stopped to scan two pools in a ploughed field that were covered in gulls. Best here was a group of about 12 geese - 3+ White fronted Geese, 2 Pinks and the rest were Greylags.




A hundred yards further on the straight road, a small Ash sapling was growing from the hedge. Distantly I could make out some dumpling like shapes in the branches...



It had to be, my old mates the Waxwings! Six of them sat still while I took some shots and they were still there for Brian 'Northumbria Birding' over half an hour later on my return ( his pics are better than mine). One even looked down at me with a knowing eye...



At Newbiggin a very brief stop and I soon had an adult Med Gull cruising up and down the prom...


After Newbiggin I took the coast route past Lynemouth to view the roadside flash. As I pulled up a chap was scanning from his car further up. A flock of gulls got up off the water and the chap leapt from his car and began waving his arms to me. As I got out of the car, he was shouting "Iceland Gull, up there!" and sure enough there it was, a second winter bird all ghostly white slowly flying off with the Black headed Gulls. No chance of a shot though, but have a look at ST's blog, its his bird...

Onwards and upwards, to Cresswell Pond. I stopped to tell a lady with an SLR camera and big lens about the Iceland Gull a mile down the road. She wiped me off her shoe with " No light"!!! Now what that's supposed to mean beats me, but the apathy of it all depressed me so I gave the Bittern and Water Rail a miss, they had been showing, and moved to Bells Links. I just couldn't face the hide and crack like that again...

At Bells, 5 Twite were on the roadside wires.



Biggest suprise of the day was this Chiffchaff in the willows behind the Budge Screen at Druridge. Its years since I had a Northumberland wintering Chiff. It didn't call at all and looked like collybita...

The list is progressing.

Sea Serpent....

How exciting is this!

Well to me it is anyway. Alan Thompson kindly sent me these photos of an Oarfish Regalecus glesne he found washed up on the beach at Druridge Bay, Northumberland.


This is an extremely rare fish and was only filmed alive for the first time in 2001. As they live at depths up to 1000 mtrs they are rarely seen alive at all. See here for a few pics of a live one.

Believed to be the longest 'bony' fish on record, Oarfish grow to 36 feet in length and have been found washed up all over the world. They breed off Mexico, and are responsible for many ancient reports of Sea Serpents by ancient mariners. I don't know if one has ever been recorded in Northumberland before.

If I had time I would have twitched it, but I'm not too sure of its exact location. Chances are it has been washed away by now.


Interestingly, a Ray's Bream was caught at Newbiggin only a few weeks ago, another species rarely encountered alive...

PS. I've been 'Googling' this fish to find out a bit more. It seems they are very rare even in world terms with only a few being found washed up each year. Alan sent me another email yesterday saying that he has also found / seen Deal Fish, a species very like Oarfish but shorter and from the north, latin name arctica and Opah, a large, dustbin lid shaped fish like a Sunfish, but better coloured, both on Druridge beach. I might pay more attention to beachcombing in future...

Another dry calm day. No visits to Boulmer today, too much to do.

While I was feeding the birds in our yard this morning a Peregrine, maybe the same bird as Christmas Day, flew high overhead, before dropping into a massive stoop out of sight behing the rooftops. A few seconds later the sky darkened with gulls, pigeons and starlings scattering to all four quarters...

Still no proper birding to boost the list. Unless there is a massive change in fortune Dean at Mostly Macro is going great guns and has had some nice tricky birds on his list...

I'm hoping to get out tomorrow for a few hours in the hope of nailing a biggie, such as Canada Goose, Teal or maybe even the dizzy heights of Coot...

Yes, its that bad....

Over the last few days, Christmas commitments mean that birding time has been in short supply, but, thanks to the needs of a small terrier ( minus her hat) there is always time for a stroll with the binoculars. I have been keeping a tally of species seen as suggested by Andrew at Quicksilver blog, and will do until New years day. The total will be revealed after then...

In the mean time, there have been one or two highlights...

Christmas Day-

Started well with a Song Thrush in full song out in the street just before first light. A nice early record for me as I dont usually hear one until maybe the second week of January. Our morning walk around Boulmer featured mainly the commoner species that could be expected here on any winters day, but an immature Peregrine flew west over Longhoughton Steel flushing everything and 10 Goldeneye flew north.

The Blackcap was still on our feeders.

In the afternoon the sun came out so we took a walk around the Howick Wood for half an hour or so. At least one Kingfisher was at the pond. The loud whistling calls before I saw it makes me think that another bird was present, but only the one showed. Also here, a Red Squirrel followed a route through the branches on the far side before coming down to the pool for a drink. A large tit flock further on boosted the list with Nuthatch, Treecreeper and 2 Great spotted Woodpeckers amongst others.

Boxing Day -

Nothing really of note around Boulmer other than 15 Grey Partridges and a single Red throated Diver offshore.

The 20 mile drive to pick up my mother added a few new species with 30+ Whooper Swans at Widdrington with hoards of Pinkfeet overhead. Pochard and Tufted Duck were seen as I drove past Bothal Pond.

Blackcap still on the feeders...

Today -

Took a drive over to Longframlington with JWR to meet his mate, Derek, who will be doing some building work for us. On the way, the Barn Owl at Lesbury showed really well, a Jay was seen at Derek's, a Dipper was on the river below Pauperhaugh Bridge and on the way home 100+ Fieldfares and Redwings were at Corby Crags.

A Red Squirrel was a road casualty just along the road from us at the quarry.

At Boulmer this evening, well 3.30, but it was nearly dark, 2 Purple Sandpipers and 30 Grey Plovers were at the high tide roost...

Its amazing what you can see when you aren't out birding ;)

Its Christmas time...

...there's no need to be afraid... unless you see a terrier approaching wearing an elves hat and looking excited.

I hope you all have a great time over the festive season.

Try not to be too down at this time. Its easy slipping into 'Eastenders' mode and grumble about telly, relatives, weather, traffic etc, but just enjoy the time off!

Oh, and instead of sitting boggle eyed at a monitor, get some fresh air and see if the wildlife can cheer you up...

All the best to everyone and I'll look forward to reading all about your Christmas exploits...

PS There was a nice female Blackcap at our feeders this afternoon...

Cheers!

A lovely mild sunny day today. At lunchtime I took a trip to Cresswell pond to see if the Bitterns were around. They weren't. I had my boss for company because he had fancied a Bittern - he has a casual interest in wildlife - so I was hoping for some success. The hide was packed out with visitors, so many you'd think there was a twitch on. Not one familiar face though, with accents from as far apart as Australia and Sunderland ( bizarre...).I'm off all this crowded hide mullarky these days. Northumberland has enough birding sites without us all queueing to sit in a glorified bus shelter.

Although the Bittern was a no show, we did see a nice Barn Owl ( in competition with Waxwing for commonest 'scarce' this month) hunting in the afternoon sunshine near the hide, a Water Rail preening near the reeds and a pair of Sparrowhawks giving the wildfowl something to think about.

A first winter Med Gull was glimpsed from the car as I drove past Woodhorn Flash back to work.

Later on I was at Morpeth at about 3 o'clock when 5 Crossbills flew over Carlisle Park near the Leisure Centre.

Not a bad work day...

They're following me...

After last nights splendid Christmas do at Tom and Mu's I went to collect my car from outside theirs at about 9.30 this morning. I took Bunty and decided to give her a walk near the Alnmouth and Lesbury Cricket Club. As we were late to bed last night - this morning - I was a bit groggy and didn't attempt to take bins or camera, and was pleased that the wind was blowing the cobwebs away.

As we got out of the car, a Redwing flew overhead, calling, and I was deciding which direction to take when they shouted at me 'look here' in that elfin high pitched trill they always use. A glance right and there they were, 8 Waxwings in a twisted hawthorn only yards away.

Even though the light was hopeless giving them a dirty brown colour, their squat bodied crested shape was a welcoming sight. Not for long though, as this bush was apparently 'owned' by a large belligerent Mistle Thrush who was keen to protect his larder...

See Quicksilver...

A nice day today after the stormy weather overnight. The wind had dropped and the sun was out.

A couple of walks around Seaton Point with Bunty today had 1 Red throated Diver on the sea, 2 Red breasted Mergansers S, 44 Sanderlings with other waders on the shore, 5 and 8 Grey Partridges and 2 Goldcrests were near the golfcourse.

And thats about it really. Barn Owls have been much in evidence this last week or two on my drives to and from work. 3 individuals at Lesbury, Warkworth and Radcliffe have brightened the journeys...



I almost forgot...Andrew at Quicksilver ( link on the right) has come up with a challenge. A Bird Blog Race. Count all bird species ( or wildlife of any sort) between and including Christmas Day and New Years Day and then post your totals and report on your own blog on 3rd / 4th January. Leave Andrew a comment on his blog if you are willing to have a go. There's nothing heavy here, just count what you see on your travels wherever you may be... Oh and no prizes for the winner!

I'm up for it...

Ted 'n' Dusty...

I must post this out front from the comments below -

From Boulmer Birder I have been banished,
My name, my links all have vanished.
From Druridge too I’m cast adfrift
The owners of these blogs are miffed.
Lost and lonely, no Christmas cheer,
Condemned to roam the blogosphere.
Sturdy and stout these birders be,
Friend they once considered me.
What you ask was my great crime?
Four blogs, three kids, one job, no time.
Perhaps in time there’ll come a day
When once again they’ll look my way.
Welcomed back into the fold,
We’ll laugh and drink like days of old.
For now I leave you with some words
No grudge, may you always find good birds.

Its a poem from our old mucker 'The Grocer' aka 'Dusty Bins' and the man behind 'Bird North East'.

I feel bad now.

I don't have any axe to grind with our good old blogmiester, nor, I'm sure, does Ipin at Druridge. Its the same with several links I once had such as 'The Seaside Observers', its just that when blogs aren't updated that often, or not at all, they are removed in favour of those who do post on a regular basis.

I'm not talking daily posts, but weekly or fortnightly would be good, just something to keep us reading.

I mean, Dusty's last posts ( literally) were two in July and one in May, Bird North East has had nowt, other than Ipin and myself since May. On the face of it, our Rare Visitor, was not just that, he was a Mega Alert Visitor!

I have a basic rule of thumb. If any of the links attached here are not updated for a month or so they are removed, until things start up again.

Thats the thing about our Dusty Bin Grocer, he is an irruptive species, a bit like Arctic Redpoll ( I nearly said Waxwing but we see them more often). And, like those species, we would like to see more of them, so Dusty has been returned to its rightful place.

For the next month or so anyway... Eyes Right:)

New Look...

Instead of the 'narrow strip down the centre' look, I fancied a blog that went right across the screen. Chances are there'll be some issues with it in time...

I have changed the header to the Kingfishers fighting. The birds are on the rock edge at Longhoughton Steel, the north end of the Boulmer patch in winter 2006.

This is one of my favourite photos. Even though the birds are a blur it shows the action that took place right in front of me. Not bad for a digi-scoped shot! Mssrs Malloy, McElwee, Dunn and Fisher would have filled their boots...I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

I thought there would be a serious casualty they were so mad. They were whistling and screeching the whole time. A sight I have not seen so well, before or since.

One or two interesting birds this week. Yesterday a Barn Owl flew in front of the car just south of Amble and today a nice adult Med Gull was in a Black headed frenzy at North Seaton Chip Shop...

No proper birding today. I woke, after a late night at chez Biggs, with a wooly head so had a lie in. The rest of the day was spent catching up. I took the pic above from Corby Crags, west of Alnwick after I had been sent on a mission to collect greenery for Jane's wreath making exploits.

Bunty's morning walk was around the Howick woods. On the well flooded pond, a Little Grebe was the only thing of note, while 50+ Redwings, 5 Mistle Thrushes and 12+ Blackbirds were feeding in yews on the way back.

The afternoon stroll was at Boulmer. The only thing that merited a raised binocular was a group of 3 Red breasted Mergansers flying north.

Must do better next week....

Triple Dipper and the Pits...

This morning I was picked up by JWR and we headed west for a change. Our first stop was to catch this sunrise on a snowy moor near Alnwick. The snow has totally gone from Boulmer but 10 miles west there is still quite a lot...



Next we visited Branton Gravel Pits, a nice scenic, quiet area in sight of the Cheviot hills. As we approached the lake a tit flock was moving through the hedge, with 6+ Long tailed, 4+ Great, 1 Coal and several Blues. A Great spotted Woodpecker flew off.





Lots of duck were on the ice free areas including 25 Goosander, 54 each Mallard and Teal ( coincidence there) and 98 Wigeon. One of the female Wigeon was a pale leucistic creamy bird, like the Blackcap from the other week. As we watched here 8 Crossbills flew over head.

The farmer on a quad flushed all of the wildfowl for a while but they soon returned.

Next, across to Hedgely Pits that were still mostly frozen. On the one ice free patch there were 95+ Tufted Duck and a single Pochard. Good numbers of Canada and Greylag Geese were flying to and fro. The grey geese had a white one in their flock. Through the scope it was clear to see that this wasn't a Snow Goose, just simply a white goose, either Greylag or Pinkfoot, too far off to tell.



We walked along by the river here looking at the banks eroded by the autumn floods. A Green Woodpecker was seen briefly on the far side Alders before it dropped to the ground out of sight to feed.





These Dippers put on a good show. The top two males were fighting over the female below and singing for territory. One male eventually flew downstream leaving the pair to feed in peace. Nice to see three together.

A good winters morning then...

And even more...

On our way to Blyth, shopping, at lunchtime as I turned from the roundabout onto the Ellington bypass I glimpsed a bird in flight several hundred yards ahead and said to Jane that it was a Waxwing. Sure enough, when we got to the spot, 2 Waxwings were perched at the top of a roadside Alder. There's just something 'jizzy' about the flycatching flight of these birds that makes them distinctive at any range.

On the return journey I looked out for them and this time 15+ were sat in the same spot.

You know, we didn't even stop the car. There was a time when I would have twitched Waxwings... still great birds though, they always get the pulse going.

Let there be light....

The Northern Lights Project ( I think thats what its called) lit up the coloured houses at Alnmouth this evening and very nice they looked too...One night only...



And if you click on this picture and look at the terrace at the far left, thats it in daylight...albeit in a better climate.

PS - At 11.45pm tonight a female Tawny Owl flew into our garden next to the main road and 'kewick'-ed a few times as it looked down on me and Bunty. Until Bunty took offence, that is, and frightened it off by barking. It showed quite well as it flew off along the street lights...

More Waxers...

Out in the gloaming this morning, it was scarcely light as I fed the birds at home. Then I heard it. Softly at first, then louder, that trilling that can only spell one thing - Waxwings. I sometimes think that if I were deaf I'd have a lot less to write about here. Many birds I see ( and some I don't) are first located on call. Waxwings, Snow Bunts, Lapland Bunts, Redpolls, Northern Bullies, Sibe Chiffs, Yellow browed Warblers, Tree Pipits, Green Sands, Greenshanks, Kingfisher etc etc are generally heard long before I see them. Its then just a case of looking around for the culprit.

Today the Waxwings must have just come out of roost. At first I couldn't see them and carried on with my task, but then as it grew lighter two birds were sat up in next doors apple tree. Nice. Its been a really good early winter for them here, they are often tricky on the return journey in late February / March.

I see that a few are getting into southern parts now, and no doubt you'll have more to follow...

Once Bittern....

Lunchtime today and I had half an hour in the hide at Cresswell. On arrival I was met with the expected 'you should have been here 5 minutes ago'...typical. The Bittern had flown into the reeds to the right of the hide. Oh well I thought, at least I know where it is and hunkered down to wait.

On the half iced pond, 170 odd Teal looked nice accomapnied by a pair of Red breasted Mergansers and a scattering of Wigeon...

Sure enough after about 15 minutes of surreal chat from a family in the hide ( 'what do they make birds from? Nowadays people do all sorts in test tubes' says the son, while mum responds, 'Mad scientists you mean', 'Yeah' says the lad... I kid you not) the Bittern flew low over the reed tops and pitched in in front of the east reeds, only long enough to scope before walking, ghost-like, into the cover as if it had never been there.

I managed to get the teenage lad onto it in my scope before he came out with another gem or two forcing me to leave in case I turned serial killer....

Crisp and clear...

Another nice sharp winters day. -1 this morning and scarcely above freezing all day except in sheltered sunny spots.

A couple of visits to Boulmer today were very quiet on the bird front. Frustratingly, a male Bullfinch was in a hedge about 200 yards outside the patch. It would have been a new species on the Boulmer list. A Snow Bunting circled around high overhead calling first thing this morning.

As the day seemed to be slow on the patch, I did a couple of atlas tetrads before lunch. One was near Lesbury, the other at Littlemill Quarry...




Above Top - Hedgerow near River Aln, Lesbury. Bottom - Littlemill Quarry, partly frozen up. The ice was creaking and whistling against the stone quarry walls. Very eerie...





The Lesbury tetrad recorded 34 species while the Littlemill one could only manage 25.There were no suprises other than a Peacock butterfly strongly flying over a frosted field, but 2 Treecreepers, several Redwings, 2 Great spotted Woodpeckers, Buzzard, 3 Bullfinches and Goosander were all nice to see. Birds proved difficult to get close to today for some reason. Maybe it was the crunching of frost underfoot?



These tracks were found in hardened mud in different spots today, top, Rat and bottom the broad 'pug' mark of a Badger. Two Roe Deer startled off through the woods and two Brown Hares grazed on some newly sprouting wheat.

Winter look...

As we have had frost, ice and snow, the Christmas shopping is well done, the days are short and the nights long I thought a change of slide show and header would be in order. I must get the blog list sorted too, I have a couple of new ones to add...

Looking at Northumbrian Birder's blog I see that Cresswell hide had more visitors than Debenhams on Friday. Queue's of Bittern worshippers ( there might be three birds now) are having some success at the minute with the birds showing regularly and quite well too. I might call in on a weekday when the crowds have subsided...

As for that Snow Goose. Its now found new mates with the Pinkfeet at Chevington. I wish it had arrived with some Greenland Whitefronts instead of those Greylags.Thats the thing about rare wildfowl, if they dont come with good supporting credentials we might as well tick Bar headed Geese...

Frosty...

A think white rhind covered everything this morning, but the air was clear and the sun shone so it was all very nice. Out with Bunty to Seaton Point.



Above - This Buzzard looked huddled up in the cold just along from our house...



Above - Looking west towards Seaton House. The stubble on the right is where the Lap Bunts were the other week...



Above - Quite a few Reed Buntings were still about with at least a dozen birds in this flock along with Greenfinches, Tree Sparrows and Yellowhammers.






Above -This red roofed house is on the roadside between Boulmer village and Seaton Point. Roughly in the middle of the south end of the patch you can see some of the farmland habitat I watch...



Above - The thick hoar frost soon melted in the rising sun...



Above - These Lapwings were part of about 40 or so that flew west from the rocks on the coast. We dont get too many here really. 40 is not a bad number.



Above - We do get a lot of these. Bait Diggers. pushing the waders off much needed food during the cold spell. One or two wouldnt be bad but I've seen up to 50 here working in commercial squadrons in the dark wearing headlamps!

Lifer or not? The trouble with wildfowl...

I see there is a Snow Goose loitering around the south east of the county. I could do with that, if it was wild.

Snow Goose is the commonest bird on the British list that I have not seen, or should I say, not added to my list. This is because I've seen a good few over the years but none fits MY criteria to be added. I mean, after all, we can only police ourselves in these matters, because no one else really gives a monkeys.

I've seen two at Holywell in years gone by and best of all I had 5 ( or was it 6?) flying south over Amble one year. No good to me I'm afraid. None of them seemed 'right' if you know what I mean. Either the timing was wrong or they were with the wrong carrier species etc etc.

Some might say that they could have been wild and they'd have been right. They could have been. But the evidence just doesn't amount to enough to push me one nearer to the 400 mark. If there's one thing I am obsessive about its keeping my totals clean.

So how would I judge a Snow Goose. What would give it the qualifications to be deemed a genuine vagrant by me?

For a start it must not be wearing a ring. It must be free flying and show no sign of captivity. ( All of those above fit that part). The timing should be right, ie arriving with either good weather patterns or over the autumn / winter / spring period.( The two Holywell and the recent bird fit there.) It should be with good carriers such as the hoards of Pinkfeet that arrive from Iceland each autumn. It should NOT just loaf around with feral species. This last one would not stop it being wild, but it would add a hint of doubt.

As Snow Geese are feral and free flying in parts of Britain and Europe I couldn't add a 'first' that hung around with Greylags especially when there are so many wild Pinkfeet around. Yes I know the Greylags could be from Iceland too, but its all down to the balance of probabilities.

Chances are this Snow Goose is wild, but not wild enough for me.

One day...

Now if it had been at Boulmer....oh don't go there!

This week gets better...

Out at 8am this morning. There had been another light covering of snow and the wind had swung to a W3.

As the weather was a little bit different to the norm I decided against doing an atlas tetrad in favour of a morning at Boulmer...



The walk north towards the Low Steads seemed very quiet, as if all of the birds had cleared off but I persevered. At the tip of the headland I was pleased to flush a Woodcock from under my feet, my only one this year. It circled around showing well against the snow then flew off high to the south. A pair of Stonechats fed from the track side, while 6 Skylarks flew south and another 13 circled the stubble field.




As I checked the cattle feed area for buntings etc a party of 14 Greylags came in off the sea and left to the west. Looking around, another two geese lifted from the field and began circling. I very nearly didn't give them binocular time, Pinkfeet, thinks I. As they did another lap, I put the bins on them as they were going away and saw massive black bars on the belly. Now that makes things alltogether different. There has never been a record of White fronted Goose on the patch and I was getting a rush! Sure enough they banked around showing the white blaze and I scrabbled for the camera to get this shot for posterity.

Eurasian White fronted Geese, a full patch tick.

Back at the car in the village, a Merlin flew south over the haven and 9 Long tailed Tits came through the gardens. There was no sign of yesterday's Glauc though.


At lunchtime we took Bunty for a walk through the Howick grounds down past the small lake. Again, no sound of small birds until that very distinctive trill met my ears...



... looking up, 18 Waxwings were singing and flycatching from the top of a tall ash tree. Nice to see they all haven't moved on. Later they were feeding on the berries of some ornamental rowan trees. On the way back a party of Snow Buntings were calling strongly over head and moving north but, unfortunately, I couldn't get on to them.

Another good day. I think next year I'll save some holidays for November, its better than October.

145. Woodcock.
146. White fronted Goose.

Boulmer Full Patch List - WFG 210.
My Boulmer List- WFG 191.

Winter...

These wintry scenes greeted us on the patch at Boulmer this morning. Drammatic cloudy skys and huge waves crashing into the haven caused by a bitter cold northerly wind.

As I pulled up in the car the first bird I noticed was a big juvenile Glaucous Gull arrive into the haven from the south. It stayed just long enough to feed and I could snatch a few pics before carrying on north.

On the beach 11 Bar tailed Godwits were roosting and in the turmoil of waves Eiders carried on displaying as if spring was around the corner.

Maybe there'll be some more to see tomorrow when time allows...

144. Glaucous Gull.

They're here!

I've just seen the new post on Kingsdowner blog ( left) about the massive decline in our spuggies. Well here's the thing, I've got them. I fill that feeder above once a day and drop a handful of seed on the ground and hey presto, 120 spuggies! Go on count them ( if you do let me know how many you get. Try and include the blurred ones in flight too...)