Two Barred.

Not Crossbill or Greenish Warbler, no, a tale of two Barred Warblers that's all. Calm down.

On Friday I finally made it along to have a look for the Barred Warbler found by Alan Priest on the Newbiggin Ash Lagoon banks. Earlier, Hector Galley had it right out in the open sunning itself, but by the time I arrived it had gone to ground. I stood for an hour seeing Dunnocks, Robins and Wrens by no lumbering sylvia. I decided to call it a rap, and go back to work when an overly excited Blackbird flushed another bird up into a small whitebeam bush - it was the Barred.

It showed well, albeit quite distantly for a passerine but I did get decent scope views for a few minutes before it dropped back to cover. I'll come back on Sunday with John, I mused....

Today we began with a dawn seawatch from the Church Point at Newbiggin. It was generally quiet but there was a good movement of Barnacle Geese in smallish skeins that ended up with 700 birds into the notebook. A Bonxie, 3 Arctic Skuas and 10 Red throated Divers padded it out a bit, but it was slow so we headed across to check out the Barred again.

It was an ideal flat calm, overcast, quiet morning. Bramblings were arriving overhead and we had some decent viz-migging with 33 Tree Sparrows, 10+ Skylarks, a good number of alba wagtails and several Meadow Pipits but try as we might there was no Barred Warbler. I managed a hopeless glimpse of a birds arse end dropping off a low whitebeam that was likely it, but it didn't resurface.

So it was time for a cuppa and where else was there to go other than to look for another Barred Warbler, this time found by Iain Robson at Druridge.

A sizeable crowd had gathered around a large elder bush and waited. Staying cool, we had tea and biscuits.

Soon the call went up, the bird had been seen. Flasks were stowed and dregs tipped. As we made our way along, the crowd was looking at one side of the bush so we waited at the other end. As soon as we stopped, a lovely ,dove grey, Barred Warbler popped out to snatch some elderberries. Then promptly vanished to be replaced by a Garden Warbler!

Anyway, with a little patience, everyone finally managed good views of the Barred, as it fed on sloes and elderberries with 2+ Garden Warblers. It made those, look like little chiffchaffs such was its bulk.

We waited to get some pictures but the results speak for themselves, and it was all too soon time for home...

Barred 1 Booted 0

Well what a day. I spent 5 hours this morning staring at a patch of ragwort and peering into impenetrable bushes, on Hadston Links, seeing several dunnocks, blue tits and willow warblers, but yesterdays Booted Warbler had clearly been booted too far and was not on show today.  Disappointed at missing an excellent county bird I came home with little hope of salvaging anything from the day, other than some good crack with the lads.

After a late breakfast, we took Bunty for a wander, noting how quiet things were and thinking to myself that the village willows looked nice for a wryneck. On our return we walked past our neighbours garden where half a dozen House Sparrows were on her finely manicured lawn, below her bird bath, when I had to do a double take. Sitting with the spuggies was an altogether bigger bird, paler and 'different looking'. Through the bins, my milisecond view registered 'Barred Warbler' before it flipped up and into our garden hedge next to the bedroom window!

Now after last years brief sighting of Barred, I thought that people are going to give me such a stringing tag for this, so I went for a slow look around the garden.

No sign.

Then Jane came out waving for me to come inside. The bird had been sitting about two feet from our bedroom window! I crept through, but, it had gone. I waited half an hour with no further sightings when we had to leave to visit my sister.

Fast forward to 6pm. We came home and I didnt hold out much hope, but ever the optimist Jane went and looked from the bedroom and came back to say, it was still there! Now, my neighbours garden was busy with chatting people so I thought surely not, it must just be the local spuggies, the Barred must be long gone.

I waited for a few minutes when - bang - there it was in the open, four feet away through the window, a tremendous juvvy Barred Warbler!! It flew back and forth along the hedge giving glances before sitting up in the back hedge near the sparrow flock. What a cracker, the best view of my third garden record of Barred Warbler in four years...

As you know my photo skills are not the best and through a small cottage window this is bound to be a disaster but here goes...

A snatched shot as it blundered into the hedge.

  

Sunning in the hedge

Barred Warbler.

This makes Barred Warbler commoner than Garden Warbler in my garden!

Oh I'm sorry, it cant be seen from public areas so there is no opportunity for a twitch.

Surprise....

A nice sunny day today with a light northerly shifting to the east in the afternoon.

After a day at Alnwick Food Festival, we decided to have a glass of wine outside and catch the last of the afternoon sunshine. Sitting quietly and a few birds began to appear along our overgrown drive wall. A Wren attracted attention by clucking through a buddleia hunting the undersides of leaves for residue moths above the trap.

Soon, another, larger movement attracted attention. A bird appeared no more than 15 feet away mostly obscured but clearly different. With the naked eye, a plain looking bird lunged at some blackberries and dropped back into cover. Even on this brief view I suspected who this was.

I sneaked off to get my bins and camera leaving Jane 'on guard.' On my return the bird was still there but on the back of the bush in the sunshine. After about 5 minutes that seemed like an hour, it rattled the bushes and moved closer then -  out it came, a Barred Warbler. I knew it but had to eliminate Whitethroat and Garden Warbler first. It grabbed another bramble and moved back into the sunshine.

I took the camera around the other side to view from the field hoping it would come into the open, but it always stayed just behind cover, upsetting the local wrens.

I must have been obvious to it, as it soon started alarm calling 'chukk chuuk, chuukk' not a 'tack' or a 'churr' but half way between both. It then flew, unseen by me, but Jane watched it disappear into our garden where I left it to find food in peace. Hopefully it will be around in the morning for another look...

This is my second garden Barred after one in October 2010, that one only 10 feet from where this one was, Birds must follow the edge of the copse along to our garden from the coast only a couple of hundred yards away....

Bird of the year by far.

Not again...

I hear you cry....

Today I'm on a flexi off work.

This morning I popped out to feed the birds just as it was getting light, and as I approached the seed bin I heard an unusual nasal 'chuck' call, a bit like a Brambling flight note. It was coming from the brambles behind my shed? The bird, sounded quite alarmed, and I assume I had disturbed it from its roost maybe, but the call was very unusual so I dashed for the bins and camera and went to investigate...

Mind racing with deja vu, I was not going to be caught out this time...

After a few seconds of waiting a movement in a small elder overhanging the brambles caught my attention. 'You wont get me this time, Blackcap' I'm mumbling to myself, when out pops a Barred Warbler! In the effing garden!!

It clambered up and snatched an elderberry then dropped from sight, and was now typically silent again.

Thinking, surely not, I waited for what seemed like an age before a head peeped over the stone wall and hopped up again. Camera poised I managed the worst images of a wild creature you will ever see, but please just squint and use your imagination or hold a proper Barred photo up beside it and you'll get my drift...

I put the message out to the pager at 8.50am, but as of 9.25 it hasn't come on. I told you, you cant make any mistakes in this game...

Anyway dont laugh....click on the image for an even worse screen filler....

Thats it, THERE, IN THE MIDDLE FACING RIGHT!

Tell me I'm not going mad, its a Barred Warbler look at the uppertail coverts...

If it eventually does get daylight today, I will try again..

Barred Warbler. On the garden list. Yes.

 

Afternoon. No further sign of Barred Warbler. It's supposed to be brighter tomorrow so I'll give it another go then...

This afternoon me and Bunty had a walk down past the pond, and on to the Long Walk. There are a few rowans with berries on here so I fancied a Waxwing for the OFFH list. Apart from 2 Great spotted Woodpeckers, there were few birds to be seen, but the local Red Squirrels made up for it...

Two or three were gathering acorns high up in the oaks, mostly looking like this -

But eventually one came much lower, to check out Bunty...

I'm pleased to say, no further sign of a Grey...

It only takes one bird ...

The weather was quite poor. NNE 3, foggy, poor visibility etc. I was hoping for a fall of migrants that might include one or two year ticks or even better. As I was in charge of Bunty this morning 'proper' birding was out of the question so I decided to walk north from Boulmer around the headland to Low Steads and back. This area reminds me a bit of Newbiggin Golf Course and we all know what Jimmy and Stef have turned up on there in recent years so off I set with my mind set firmly on a wryneck.

The area was devoid of birdlife until I reached some nettles on the cliff top at the far end. Here I flushed a bird that I thought could be a wryneck. The size looked good. It flew a good way along the cliff behind me so I set off for a better look. I saw the bird another twice but could not get a handle on it at all due to the fog and brief flight views. Then, a Rock Pipit flew out of the grass onto the beach. Surely not. There's no way I would mistake a Rock Pipit for a wryneck. Then 'my' bird flew again, west, right over the grassed area and I lost it at the stone wall. A short search produced nothing so we restarted our walk as far as the Low Steads Gully and back along the beach. It was suprising how little there was to see.

As I got back to the track just south of the old pumping station I noticed a bird sitting on top of the stone wall. On raising my bins they were steamed solid and I couldn't see a thing. Frantically cleaning my optics with the care and precision they deserve ( using my t-shirt) I could finally nail my target. A great big chunky BARRED WARBLER!Tremendous.

It continued to hop along the wall in a nervous manner for a while before flying 10 yards to the north and landing again. It then flew into the grass field near the burn and dropped out of sight into a large clump of thistles.

An excellent patch tick, the first for Boulmer, number 137 for the year. This weather looks set to continue for a day or two so there may be more good birds yet to be found. Here's hoping.