Been there, seen that....almost.

A quiet weekend for wildlife here. With the recent St Jude storm along the south coast, in particularly the west, we are possibly in the worst place in the UK to stand a chance of any of those wind driven yanks appearing. Still, I know those small trees at Porthgwarra where the Hermit Thrush is living, quite well...

Back up north, I didn't manage to catch up with the 'Robson Green' in the field, and had to make to with him singing the praises of our finest Northumberland on the telly. Like the Hermit Thrush, I am very familiar with the spots he frequented up the coast.

At Craster, a nice relaxed check of the Arnold and the bus car park didnt reveal much of note, but there had definitely been an arrival of migrants with many Blackbirds, a few Goldcrests and a couple of Song Thrushes new in ( by the way there was a Song Thrush in full song in our garden yesterday morning, not something I expect up here til the end of January at the earliest) and a Chiffchaff that was quite pale and 'eastern' looking.

Along at Boulmer a second winter Med Gull was dozing on the rocks as the waders gathered at high tide. There were 90 Dunlin, 3 Sanderling, 4 Bar tailed Godwit and many Redshank and Oystercatchers. Nearby at Longhoughton Steel, 1000+ Golden Plovers and 400+ Lapwings filled the skies in a stunning glittering display before vanishing as they landed blending perfectly with the rocks and seaweed.

The only other things into the book this week have been single Redpolls in our garden briefly before flying high south when flushed on two mornings....