A tale of two estuaries...

 Yesterday morning turned out grey and cool, but by mid morning the sun was out and it was a lovely day.

JWR and myself checked out the estuaries of the rivers Aln and Coquet, our two nearest rivers.

Alnmouth was quiet other than a few Teal and Wigeon, a pair of Gadwall and half a dozen Snipe. A Chiffchaff was singing in the willows on the edge of the golfcourse pond, where 2 Coots, 2 Teal, 2 Mallard and 6 Moorhen were the only waterfowl. Green Alkanet was in flower along the banksides.

Down to Warkworth where we walked to the north side of the Coquet. This used to be our patch in the mid 90's but I havent been here for years. Its changed a bit, mainly with picnic sites left uncut and overgrown, creating more cover for migrants! See cut backs (or lack of them) aren't all bad....

Two pairs of Stonechat were pleasing to see, having survived the winter. One of the females seemed to vanish down onto her nest while the male sang overhead. On the estuary itself, 30+ Redshank, 28+ Knot, 50+ Curlew, a few Dunlin, 1 female Red breasted Merganser, 20 Wigeon and a smatter of Teal, 8 Goldeneye flew off overhead and out to see, while my first hirundine, a Sand Martin, skimmed over head, north.

A tall Sallow here was humming with Bumble Bees and my first butterfly, a Small Tortoiseshell was sunning on the track

Back home Howick Pond was leaping with ( or should I say 'humping with') Toads all in a spawning frenzy...

Dispicable goings on...

...in the flower beds.

I have heard people complain when House Sparrows dust bath in their finely raked seed beds. The tilth, is flattened, spread and generally knackered by the shenannigans of the excitable spuggies.

Well, if that has happened to you, imagine this...

This hen Pheasant, wandered between the perennials, began scratching it all level before bathing away, flattening my Lupins and Hyacinths...As if this isnt bad enough...

In walks chummy, fit after scoffing a kilo of wheat free finest wild bird mix. Striding over the Phlox, narrowly missing a Hollyhock, to meet his laydee...and then, would you believe it...

Oh, for goodness sake, give it a rest. This would have Monty Don reaching for his prozac...Even the tete a tete daffs are amazed! 

And then off they went into the sunset. Look at the state of the garden...

This autumn I'm going out beating.....

New Additions..

Last week I forgot to mention, I was feeding the birds in the garden when a Crossbill flew north, calling. Yesterday, out with the terriator down the coast path I heard a  faint call of a Lapland Bunting. Scanning the skies I didnt see anything, then after about 10 minutes, it lifted off the field with 2 Linnets and circled around. It seemed to land behind Howick Haven, but I've checked this morning and there's no sign.


Still no Wheatears either.... I suppose it is early for them up here but I thought this mild spell would have had an effect....

Incy wincy spider....

Another Monday on holiday ( I'm starting to catch up with teachers now) and I headed all the way south down there to East Chevington for a chat with Andy and Nigel. It was a lovely sunny but breezy day, the temperature up to 15 degrees, but things were quiet on the bird front. Highlights at a well over flooded Chevington North Pool were 45 Goldeneye, 3 drake Red breasted Merganser displaying and 10+ Gadwall. A light passage of Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits tracked north overhead but there were no early hirundines.

Whilst chewing the fat we had company on the sun warmed hide sides -

Tibellus oblongus

Salticus scenicus

The little chap with the glasses is the Zebra Jumping Spider we see on the walls of houses etc, but the strange looking critter at the top is a lifer for me.

This afternoon Roger and Sylvia dropped by. Roger quietly letting on that he had photographed this Lizard by my seawatch seat...Never seen a Lizard on the patch...

What to Look for in Spring...

...goes the title of the ladybird book first published in 1961. I had all of the 'seasons' series, beautifully illustrated by Charles Tunnicliffe. They were very evocative of halcyon days out in the field, before all people cared about was their XBox, OK magazine, Big Brother, Bankers Bonuses, Cuts, Libya and Stejnegers Scoters. I loved them.

Toady up at Branton Pits doing the count with Mr Rutter, was just like the Spring one.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes were keeping close, while Coots were territorial and the Reed Buntings looked lost as they had just returned to look for a place to call home.

Sallows bloomed around the margins, just waiting some warm sunshine to get the bees and moths to pollinate...

A Chiffchaff was in full song between flycatching sorties, and a Redwing looked ready to have a sing before heading north.

The Black headed Gull colony was starting to crowd up while down at the river, the Dippers were in full breeding fettle..

Sigh...

[Oh and I forgot to add a proper patch tick this morning. A single Red legged Partridge was along the lane end.]

Cheers!

Haha.....Andy Scorfield was my 100th follower. Ta Andy, I hope you keep following, I'll try to keep the interest up. Thanks too to Shy Songbird who narrowly missed out, but is welcomed just as much. Thanks for the kind comments.

All  the best to all who drop by whether you follow or not.

Stewart.

A plea....

Well, I am about to achieve a milestone. Not my 400th bird. Not even a great birthday. A very small (sad) milestone in fact.

There are 99 followers to the blog. I am hoping YOU will be the hundredth!

Mind you some of these may be classed as cheating due to the length of time this blog has been on the go. I'd imagine that many 'followers' have long since ceased following and have moved on to something much more worthy or have maybe emigrated...

I might go all out to follow any blog going just to get some reciprocal hits, but that would just be Facebook wouldnt it. So, no, I'll just stick to reading the drivvelings of my peers who kindly and freely offer information, advice, knowledge and sometimes humour at the press of a button.

Isnt blogging great!

Oh, Before you ask, there isnt a prize for being the ton up...

Bully...

A comment on yesterday's post from James had me hunting for more new info on 'Northern' Bullfinches.

The more I read, the more features I think yesterday's bird displayed, to some degree. Even a feature or two I didnt know about...

Main Points are -

Size. A large long bodied bird.
Colour. Pale silvery mantle and clean rose pink breast.
Wings. The bar on the greater coverts is huge. Like nothing I've seen before, not even on Northern Bullfinch in the hand. A tiny white 'thorn' is visible at the top of the spike, and the black, sawtooths into the white, but ever so slightly in this image due to distance from the bird. There are some whitish in the primaries, but a look at our own birds can show some of this too. Click on image for a larger view.

As soon as I saw this bird eating hawthorn buds it looked very impressive and even had the 'presence' alluded to by some observers.

So, no call, not trapped and measured but I still put this bird in the 'from over the watter' category...

Cheers James....Some blogs are great at pointing you in the direction of up to date info aren't they....

  

A Spring Migrant...or two.

Using up the last of my annual leave by having extended weekends is great when the weather is like today. Clear and sunny with only a hint of a breeze, although it was cool generally, sheltered spots in the sun did hold some warmth. A bit of a relief after last nights -2.5 degrees...

After doing some jobs in the morning, I managed a couple of hours wander about this afternoon.

Chiffchaff

This Chiffchaff was calling and flitting between catkins as they do, but didn't sing. A female maybe? Whatever it is, its a nice early one for here...

Further on, in the drab woodland this appeared around a corner. What a stunner, a vermillion coloured Rhododendron, very nice. While taking this pic, a Tawny Owl was hooting nearby.

The days highlight though belongs to the Raven making sport of  a Buzzard overhead, the calls, 'clip clop' above sounded like horses hooves.

Both birds above were in the same frame but at the far ends of the shot so I've pulled them closer together in this image. The Raven was exactly the same size as the Buzzard.

As I came out of the woods, the Raven was in a cow field with Jackdaws where it looked the size of a Christmas Turkey until it flew off! 

This huge Bully only lingered for a few seconds before flying away into the back evergreens with its three companions, 2 females and another male. I think it is a Northern Bullfinch, and may even be the one seen last November, but I just didnt get a good prolonged view to compare it to its mates. Still, this record shot has nothing that would dispell my theory, and it certainly stood out...What a bird...

Also of note were 2 or 3 Grey Wagtails and 3 Little Grebes on the pond.

Quite a pleasant day today, well this afternoon anyway. This morning was calm and 'soft'. Dull, damp fine drizzle. By 4pm the skies had cleared but it was already down to 3 degrees.

Out with Bunty first thing had some light visible migration underway, with one or two Linnets and Skylarks, and, at last, a flock of 6 Meadow Pipits all going north. Down at Rumbling Kern, 3 Linnets were singing on territory but were still in winter plumage, while another 4 Meadow Pipits were in nesting habitat with the males song flighting. These birds must have only just arrived, it doesn't take them long to settle in! 2 fighting male Reed Buntings were new ones for the list too, at least they were in dapper summer plumage.

Down at the pond, the Mutes are nest building, but there was little else of note.

In the afternoon, 4 Buzzards and a Peregrine were in the air together not far away.

Along the coast path later, my first Lesser black backed Gull of the year flew north, close in, to a backdrop of kitt-wake kitti-wake as each ledge had a territorial bird proclaiming its rights...

A Kittiwake Cacophony...

A lovely crystal clear and sunny day today, with a cool W breeze.

In contrast yesterdays upland jaunt, today was with Bunty just down onto the shore. We usually stay up on the coast path, but the weather was so nice we clambered down the cliff to get a view from sea level for a change.

200+ Kittiwakes were to and fro-ing from the nest ledges making a right racket. Its great to hear them back after the winter months at sea. the whole bay seems alive again...

This was the first bird I saw actually sitting on a  nest. It checked out one or two old nests before settling at this one. I wonder if they are exactly nest faithful, or do they get better positions with experience. I suspect the latter...

I had  a peer into some rock pools, but didnt get too involved as I had the dog with one hand and the camera in the other. I think I'll give the shore a bit of investigation this year. There aren't many blogs posting info about the aquatic wildlife that can be found in this habitat ...I might wait until the weather warms a bit first though, the water was absolutely baltic today. 

Sunday...

A morning spent up on the moors. As we arrived at the spot, top, we could hear a distinctive loud kew-kew-kew call from a short way into the trees. Goshawk. There appeared to be a pair calling and interacting with each other and surely it was only a matter of time before a multitude of calling and displaying Buzzards attracted the male up into the air. After an hour or so we needed to get off, so it looked like our birds had taken stage fright.

We had retraced our steps for only 10 minutes or so when they appeared from behind some tall pines ( in the right of the photo) and began soaring. There was a brief spell of  'butterfly' flapping, then both moved back over the trees and out of sight. Superb birds with a palpable air of menace as they called and flew around. Everything else went quiet and vanished!

Maybe there will be better views in weeks to come. Not much else was seen during our wait other than 4 Crossbills, a Great spotted Woodpecker and the 7+ Buzzards..

On the way back I found this cast Red Deer antler in the heather. Red Deer are very scarce in Northumberland so this was lucky indeed. Its now back home and is going up on the shed... 

Spring has sprung...

Kitti's are back! Not that I've seen them mind you, but this morning Jane had 50 ish on the sea in our bay calling and flying to the cliffs. By this evening when I got down there they had flown back out to sea, probably to roost.

This week Tawny Owls have been much in evidence in the village with 4 or more calling each night. Tonight a male was hooting in flight as he flew up our drive into the copse next to the house. Another male was hooting from the far end of the same wood, while a female kee-wicked from the pines near the village hall. I must get a nest box up in the copse sometime....

Tonight is garden moth survey night for the first time in 2011. Last years opener drew a blank but that wont be the case this evening...

Day off yesterday. It was generally fine and dry, if a little cold. Still not much doing but 124 Curlew, with some singing, in the coast field was a good number here.

Just along the road from the 'dry arch' I found this chap. In immaculate condition he was still warm when I picked him up to bury in the garden...

YOU WERE GOING TOO FAST. SLOW DOWN!

Later on, along the coast path, some Fulmars were right next to the cliff top making a right old racket. Not the most inspiring of species, they are quite comical in appearance and can be very inquisitive. They especially like to have a close look at the dog by doing regular close fly-bys. I once had one come in off the sea at Hauxley beach to check out our previous dog. He was running around while this Fulmar passed time and again only a metre or so above his back, cocking its head, to have a look....next time you are near some cliff edges just stand and watch them come to check you out...

Its not that funny....

   

Although there are 40 (not) breeding pairs of Fulmars, no Kitti's yet. Any day now....