Alnwick...and around.

 Since last week's twitch, things have been back to normal around NE66.  

A few new birds have been moving through the patch as would be expected by now.  Siskins are daily seen passing over but only one male has been on my feeders. Two Bramblings on the return leg of their winter stay called in. A female with the Chaffinch flock on Wednesday then today I heard a familiar 'wheezing' note, like a Greenfinch but softer. As Greenies have a sad new status in these parts I paused and wonderd if it was a singing Brambling? Sure enough, there he was up a small tree singing away, still in winter plumage. Its a sorry state when a singing Brambling is almost as likely as a singing Greenfinch locally...

A bitterly cold NW wind on Saturday gave zero chance of summer land birds so I had an hour seawatch from Rumbling Kern. Its not as much of a point as Cullernose and is in the shadow of Boulmer but it can be ok for gulls and terns.

1600- 1710 - 

Red breasted Merganser 1 drake N

Sandwich Tern 5 N ( first terns of the season)

Razorbill 14 identified many auks too far out

Common Gull 98 N

Kittiwake 130 N

Gannet 50 N ( I don’t usually count Gannets and Kittis but early on there isn’t much else)

Fulmar 2 N

Shelduck 1 N

Common Scoter 4 N

Goosander 1 redhead S

Whooper Swan 2 N

Lesser black backed Gull 1 N

Shag 1 N ( rarely count these either, but there was only one today so for completeness)

Red throated Diver 1 N

Purple Sandpiper 15+ on the rock with 15+ Turnstones.

Sunday remained cold but very bright and clear so we checked some of our inland sites around Alnwick.

A circular walk along the new local railway and back into the industrial estate by the wooded Cawledge Burn turned up common woodland species with 15+ Chiffchaffs, 5 Great spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Redwing, 2+ Sparrowhawks and best of all, on a small drainage settling pond on the estate, a Green Sandpiper. A nice little find on the edge of suburbia. 

Disclaimer. This post might be a bit pic heavy...

As you can imagine a Green Sandpiper on a tiny pond, it was never going to end well so after about 30 seconds off it went calling on the way.

After a short stop for supplies at Greggs, it was time to get a little bit more rural, well, 5 miles more...

In the bright sun some typical moorland wildlife was seen but none of the hoped for Ring Ouzels or Wheatears yet...

A massive flock of Northern Golden Plovers looked great in this light. 

On last years Ring Ouzel field there was scarcely room for one as it was packed with Northern Golden Plovers. At least 700, possibly up to 900 birds present running everywhere and flying short distances making an accurate count impossible. We couldnt find a Dotterel...

Nearby a small Adder, 5+ displaying Redpolls, 1 Stonechat and more Chiffchaffs went into the book.

After a good stretch of legs with not much more to add, we came across a nice pair of Red Grouse.

Him n her Red Grouse. Not much compensation for acres of burnt moorland.

 Shortly after the grouse we rounded a corner to briefly meet the day's second highlight. On the wires, an adult male Merlin sat with an entourage of mipits and linnets keeping an eye on him, even providing outriders to escort him away from their territories as he flew off.

So, few migrants and no rares but we still enjoyed a very pleasing morning out . 

Male Merlin and his Mipit Mates. 

  

Going for 'The'.

What does that mean? I think i have used this on here before, so if you are seeing a repeat, please forgive me, its my age...

Well, a lot of birders spend their whole birding time touring around seeing the birds that other people have found. I'm not knocking it, each to their own and indeed it can be quite fun sometimes but more often than not we only tend to 'go for the' when 'the' is a good bird for us, a rarity.

The birders I refer to above go for 'the' Slav Grebe or 'the' Little Stint, or whatever, birds that can be found yourself with a little bit of research and the imagination to check suitable locations. I'm not too bothered about doing that ( but have still done it in the past and will no doubt in the future too, if I happen to be in the area).

In the past I have had people say to me 'Have you been for 'the' Red necked Grebe?' when in actual fact, I am wondering which Red necked Grebe they were on about?

Today we thought we would try and make a change for us, and go for 'the'.

In this case it was 'the' American Wigeon, 'the' Great Grey Shrike and 'the' Hawfinches. All birds that have lingered for a while and have attracted a steady number of visitors over the winter. Mornings like these can mean that very little else is added to the notebook as a lot of time is spent sitting in the car.

First stop this morning was down the far south west of Northumberland to look for Black Grouse. Despite checking a lot of suitable areas on a beautiful frosty morning, they remained elusive. Still, a ringtail Hen Harrier mobbed by a crow as it flew past the car was a nice diversion.

Roadside Red Grouse telling us 'go back' ' go back' were nice as were flocks of early returning Lapwing and Golden Plover in the fields.

Next stop was Grindon Lough for 'the' American Wigeon. Despite hunting through hundreds of Wigeon and Teal, we failed miserably to find our target. A drake Pintail and 20 Goldeneye were the best on offer.

Time to track north where the next stop was to see the returning Great Grey Shrike at Prestwick Carr. If you check my blog for last Feb you will see that I made a similar trip last year. These birds scarcely count as 'the's due to their rarity and are really actually worth twitching.

In the sun it looked lovely sitting atop choice hawthorns in a marshy field. A bit too far away really but some nice views in the scope were had.

Above - Great Grey Shrike at Prestwick Carr.

   All too soon our time was up and we had to call it a day. We never did get 'the' Hawfinches....  maybe next time...

Not doing the predictable...

 A long weekend this week to try and finish up the decorating business, but before that, as it was JWR's birthday, we had a full day out birding.

Whilst others did the twitching thing down at Teesside where the Isabelline Wheatear put on a show, despite looking a bit sickly in some photos, we headed up on to the moors to look for raptors.

Red Grouse

It was a lovely early winters day and despite being typically quiet on the raptor front we enjoyed the wilderness experience. Up at the Harthope Valley, the only Buzzards seen were local birds, but there were loads of Redpolls and Siskins, 6+ Crossbills and 10+ Red Grouse. At another moorland site, the hunt and its band of merry men ensured that the whole area for miles around was largely devoid of any wildlife other than a scattering of Fieldfares and a flock of 20 ish Yellowhammers.

JWR 

A late Pale Pinion in the moth trap the other day.

 Today was spent painting windows and skirtings. What a task!

I managed to get out for an hour with Bunty this morning and for a shorter time this afternoon. The female Stonechat sporting an albino throat patch showed well along the roadside. This bird has been around for the thick end of 6 weeks now.

Stonechat female with a hint of albinism...

Down the long walk a few good patch birds were seen - a pair of Gadwall and a female Shoveler on the pond, not annual here, 17 Whooper Swans and masses of Pinkfeet flew S and a Red Squirrel was chewing on some acorns for breakfast.

If that wheatear had been up at Musselburgh for example I might have gone, but down there to the smoke...no thanks, not this time, maybe I'm starting to get away from twitching rarities?

This morning was spent away from the coast for a change. Early spring is a good time to go inland in Northumberland to look for raptors and for some of our returning upland species.

Dispite the cold strong breeze, a lot of Red Grouse were displaying today. Their calls 'go back go back go back grrrrrr' could be heard all over as they chased back and forward over the moors. While watching them a flock of 35 Golden Plovers flew west, heading off back to their breeding grounds. Also around were singing Skylarks in their dozens, Stonechats and Mistle Thrushes while small parties of Meadow Pipits seemed to be stopping off to feed.

At mid morning I had a lucky break, when a huge beast of a bird came over. The juvenile Goshawk flew overhead to soar above a nearby pine wood where it was mobbed by a Kestrel in panic mode. This gave a good size comparison, the Kestrel's wing span being about one wing of the Gos! The size of this bird would make it a female. It was a nice golden buff colour streaked darker below and showed well before the Kestrel's agitation had the desired effect and it moved off over the hill.

Not far away, a group of about 20 Siskins and Golfinches were feeding on larch cones out of the wind in a shelterd lee on the moor edge.

All in all a nice morning out...