Weekend Catch up.

Late November and December are the absolute worst time of the year for me. After the rush of autumn, it feels that all hope is lost. At least when we get to January we are looking forward to longer days and the new things in store for us in the coming year. So, for the next 5 or 6 weeks I will be mostly bumbling around making the best of a bad job.

And so it was on Saturday. I managed a couple of hours out on the patch, so decided to have a sit and wait along at the Rumbling Kern. On the sea were 6 Red throated Divers and a Great Northern flew North out on the edge of science. A female Common Scoter loafed with a few Eiders and a couple of late Gannets also moved north. On the rocks, 2 Grey Plovers were my first on the deck here this year while 6 Meadow Pipits, 1 Rock Pipit and a Stonechat were in the scrub behind the cliff.

On returning to the car ( when time is limited I take the car all of half a mile to the layby) 3 Grey Partridges watched me and a pair of Mediterranean Gulls were with Black headed's in the fields behind.

A Blue Lick Bucket.

Two Mediterranean Gulls

Sunday dawned clear and frosty and stayed that way all morning. For a change I met John up in the Alnwick Moors for a wander.

As you would imagine at this time, uplands are generally devoid of life but its still nice and bracing plus there were no other people around.

1 or 2 Peregrines, a few Buzzzards, 2 Ravens, Crossbills and unusually, 2 fly over Snow Buntings were about all we saw. 

For those wondering how far I have travelled between flat coastal farmlands and conifer clad moors, its about 10 miles.

Crossbill

Ravens. Look at the conk on that.

Monday was my final day off. It was cold and dull, almost dark, all day so I didnt take any photos.

A walk from Boulmer up to Longhoughton Steel had a very close in adult Great Northern Diver, showing some summer chequer board pattern on its back, 1 then 2 Snow Buntings flew West and South respectively, an adult male Peregrine stooped and knocked a wader into the sea, distantly up at Sugar Sands, 1 Purple Sandpiper, 3 Knot, 10 Bar tailed Godwits, 4 Grey Plover, 400 Golden Plover, 20 Sanderling and 80 Dunlin were roughly counted but Redshanks and Turstones were scattered throughout. About 6+ Red throated Divers were offshore, and 30+ Common Scoter flew S.

Back home, a dog walk to our small pond showed an increase in Teal with 31 birds present.