Dull January Days...

 After a week of village birding where the white Blackbird was the highlight, on Sunday we took a short trip inland to Hedgely and Branton Gravel Pits. Its a site we used to do a Webs count but havent been for a while so it was nice to get back. When I say nice, I am being polite. The weather was dismal. The fog and light dampness came in at Branton so thickly we couldnt even see the water let alone birds on it.

Still, before that, the first stop in slightly better weather was at Hedgely where and American visitor, a drake Ring necked Duck has been present for a few weeks. Sure enough, it was an easy find on the most open, westerly, pool with around 35 Tufted Ducks and other assorted wildfowl including 100 Wigeon, 50 Gadwall, 3 Goosander, 37 Teal, 9 Goldeneye and 12 Little Grebes. The Ring neck was showing well and very active, swimming around as fast as its feet could paddle to female Tufties and occasionally doing some head up, bill nodding display to them. It was a very smart bird in full plumage, easily picked out from the male Tufted Ducks. When checking my photos back home I saw that one of the Wigeon has a very green band across its head. Apparently this is a natural variation more prevalent in birds from the far east?

  

Third from the left a green faced Wigeon stood out from more normally coloured birds.

Above Drake Ring Necked Duck

As the fog enveloped the view we walked around Branton looking at passerines close enough to see. A Marsh Tit and 2 Willow Tits were seen and heard, we were surprised to see the former here. A flock of 25+ Siskins fed in alders with 14 Long tailed Tits and a Treecreeper nearby.

That was a bout it, not too bad for dull January morning but I am looking forward to some brighter days. After this one, the bar is set pretty low...

Ermine!

 Yesterday was grim, blowing a Southern hoolie with bitterly cold sleet most of the day. It scarcely got light all day. So we called off our usual birding morning. During the day various minor jobs were faffed at including getting the latest Alnwick Wildlife Group newsletter stuff away to be draughted.

It was around 2.30pm while watching the telly in front of the fire  that the phone rang. It was one of our neighbours along the village to say that they have just seen a white Blackbird ( Whitebird?) in their garden. Keen for some mental enrichment, I was off up the lane with the camera.

Sure enough, a ghostly apparition fluttered across the lawn to land below a thick evergreen shrub before running under it to hide.

After a bit, the Blackbird hopped forward and flew up onto the fence for a second then dropped back into cover.

What a bird, I enjoy these varied colour aberrations and this one was a stunner. It was difficult to tell the sex. The bill was indeed bright yellow like a male, but the few darker feathers it had were more browny grey than black.

I cant see this bird having been hiding in our village of 18 houses for long. Apart from the snow last week, it stood out like a sore thumb. Maybe it has arrived with the recent influx of Redwings and Fieldfares off the continent?

This morning it was a shade off being dark, and there it was, a beacon below Audrey and Robert's bird feeders. Its a shame there was no sign at lunchtime when the sun came out and I had my camera.

Not a tick of any kind, but certainly a years local patch highlight so far...

Leucistic Blackbird or maybe an Blackbird in Ermine!.

Knocking on the door...

Juvenile Chiffchaff in the front garden buddleia

Juvenile Whitethroat on the back drive rose.

Yesterday afternoon when I took Peggy for her walk, a bird call from high in the sky made me stop.

 A sound I've not heard here for a few months, maybe since we did the Lockdown Garden Birdrace? 

It took a short while to see the dots high overhead. A family party of 5 Lapwings 'peewitting' to each other as the adults guide this years young steadily down to the shore.

To them, this means little, but to the naturalist, it speaks volumes. In the language of wild things, it tells me that the breeding season, in the hills, that began for this family in March with the male Lapwing tumbling and stooping to the ground like a paper kite, is now successfully over for another year.

As I sit and work from home I get distracted and look out onto the garden. Young warblers and tits are passing through everyday, some fattening up for a longer journey.

The door is opening on Autumn. The Lapwings have returned to the wintering grounds on the 7th of July.

This morning I got up early to have a seawatch before work. It was mild and dull with a slight easterly breeze blowing so I wandered through the village, across Tommy's field and on to the coast path before settling down for an hour.

Whilst there weren't loads of birds moving, there was enough to make the sharp start worthwhile.

Manx Shearwaters 33 N in parties of up to 7 birds.

Shearwater sp, 2 distant low fliers had a very different jizz and I couldn't see pale on them. I am almost sure they were the first Sooty Shearwaters of the year but I just couldn't nail it so they went unrecorded. there'll be more.

Bonxie 2 big brutes casually flew past.

Arctic Skua 1 dark bird was close in moving N.

The two skuas are also patch year ticks.

A scarcer species twinkled into view as 2 Little Terns moved N. Although they nest only 6 miles away, it is a surprisingly tricky bird to get on my patch.

A few wildfowl made it to the list with 2 Common Scoter N, 2 Red breasted Merganser ( 1N, 1S) and 2 Goosander S.

Mediterranean Gull 1 fs N 

The common birds, Gannets, Auks, Kittiwakes and Fulmars were in steady numbers heading off to feeding grounds for the day. So not a bad morning though the edge was scuffed off slightly when Whitburn reported 2 Pomarine Skuas N and they were tracked up as far as Boulmer. I would have had them but work called.

Around the garden, our single young Swallow seems to have fledged and is flying around with the adults, while I photographed our local male Blackbird with a 'worm'. On the computer I was surprised to see that the worm had legs. It was a Smooth Newt! 

Fledged Swallow...

Amphibian eating Blackie...

BWKN0 ....

My second day working from home from 8am until 4pm sat at the computer with only an odd break away for a cuppa or to let Peggy out. During this time in some nice early spring weather I managged to add a few new species to the garden list.

I was a bit disappointed that there was no obvious overhead passage going on, but some of the locals appeared co-operatively.

First thing a Curlew flew south over the garden. This is not an unusual occurrence but by this time most have moved on inland or further north so I was pleased to get this one out of the way.

A Tractor ploughing a strip of the back field was a good sign and I felt sure it would add something like a Lesser black backed or Med Gull but no, only a few Herring Gulls attended but it did flush Skylark and Rook while a Stock Dove landed with 19 Woodpigeons on the fine tilth afterwards.

Around the feeders and garden itself were Song Thrush, Bullfinch, 2 Sparrowhawks, male and female and a Magpie. A loudly honking Greylag flew very low overhead this afternoon bringing my wildfowl list to one.

Bird list now stand at a respectable 33 species for the last few days.
Late edit - 3 Long tailed Tits over the feeders were forgotten and late last night a calling Redwing emigrating back home was pulled in by the light of the moth trap. Revised Total 35

This post is quite photo heavy to give readers an idea of my garden patch at the present time..

Two angles looking out of the kitchen window facing West. This is a good skyline to watch and the farmland is mainly rough grass and mixed. The hill you can see is the Hips Heugh, it is a cliff on the far side and is part of the Whin Sill geology.

The feeders will have a part to play providing I can get the seed! This is Tree Sparrow Tesco...

Another look facing NW. A Barn Owl sometimes hunts right along the wall edging the drive giving great views from inside the house. It hasn't shown yet...

Along the drive to the old pig sty sheds and copse on the N edge of the garden. It pulls in a few migrants mainly in autumn but you never know.

The main East garden. Viewing more resiricted here but is is sheltered and good for insects. That hedge along the wall top has had Barred Warbler.

Another bird table. This only gets a few bits of food for the shy species that dont want to be in the main flock. The sea is approx 300 mtrs that way.

This tractor was ploughing part of the back field but only these few were attracted. Photo from our drive.

Hen Blackie always arrives as I start feeding the birds.

The Bully returned to the cherry tree in a neighbours garden today.

This Magpie cleared the small birds from the feeders briefly.

Starling was late and had to make do with peanuts.

Late autumn...

Sea Buckthorn

A very Scandinavian looking Blackbird newly arrived.

The day started off quite cool with a light grass frost in shady areas, but soon warmed up into a very pleasant late autumn day.

I met John at Amble Marina car park at 7.30am to give the patch a once over.

As the weather was from a light westerly direction, passerines were not going to be too inspiring so we wandered around looking for bigger game.

First off a stroll along the road path to Warkworth and back checking the river Coquet for wildfowl, grebes etc. The tide was low, encouraging 7 Little Egrets and a handful of Grey Herons to feed in the shallows. 200+ Wigeon were widespread along the route with a good few Mallard and a scattering of Teal. A couple of Rock Pipits added to the show with an very odd high flying Great Tit dropping in.

A good few Blackbirds were on various berries in the car park and John saw a Kingfisher fly upstream, while I had to make do with hearing the whistle call only.

Two Peregrines were exciting near Beal Bank, one big female moving off SW while a bright male left a kill on Helsay Farm and circled the fields for a while.

Geese were obvious around here with 100+ Pink feet and 50 each Greylags and Canadas.

You can just about see the male Peregrine here...

  Next move was along to Birling Carrs to check the sea and game crop along the coast. Small birds were all but absent in the seed field which was surprising, but 3 Goosander flew over S.

The sea was more interesting being well up by now. It was calm allowing good viewing conditions.

A scan of the bay had 20 Red throated Diver and a cracking Black throated Diver that flew from the south and dropped in with small group of Red throats quite close in allowing good views in the scope. The first water based bird I've seen for ages and certainly brightened the morning.

Black throated Diver, Birling Carrs.

Also here were 1 Great crested Grebe, 13 Common Scoter and a male Goldeneye with a few Guillemots. Out on the carr were 18+ Grey Plover, 10+ Knot and 2 Sanderling.

Bck home, a Chiffchaff was investigating the bird bath and a Tawny Owl showed sat out on a telegraph pole in the darkness at tea time.

Roll on Spring....

Staycation...

Its great being on holiday at home...especially on a day like this. After I cut the grass today, the garden looked well so here is a snap off my phone in panorama mode...

The local Blackbird is still around though he is keeping low due to the moult. The sun brought him onto the lawn, contorting into all sorts of shapes...

A couple of large moth catches this week with over 600 moths and up to 90+ species a night have included a new macro species - 

White Satin

With no recent VC68 records, this may be only the third or fourth record up here.

Lets hope the good weather continues, as I'm not back at work til Monday...

A right off!

Its not often the full day is a birding right off, but yesterday was that day. Nothing went into the notebook and we sat in the car chatting for ages to see if the showers would pass. A short jaunt down to Lynemouth saw us dip the Glossy Ibis just to add insult to injury.

Well, at least I am off work today. I've been getting some camera practice on garden residents...

Please click on them for a better resolution. I don't think I have ever been so pleased with a Dunnock! 

And a snatched Fulmar from the coast path this afternoon...

A half century....

Happy New Year all.

Today is a bit special for me in that it is my birthday, the one where I reach a half century. Where has the time gone?

It doesn't seem like 40 odd years since other living beings became my obsession. At this age, above, it was catching butterflies, small mammals in sunken sweet jars and minnows in the river, or looking for birds nests that took up every daylight hour. God knows where I got the Rook from...

So, continuing on a theme, I started my 2014 bird list locally. The first species added was a Tree Sparrow calling outside the bedroom window even before I got up, closely followed by Dunnock and Woodpigeon .
Due to ever deteriorating weather, the days tally ended on a very moderate 29 species, around the garden and village.

 
This Blackbird is one of the first photos taken with my new toy, a Canon 700D ( a very unexpected present from my better half). Given a few weeks practise in better light (and with some help from my friends cos I'm clueless) there should be a few more bird shots illustrating the blog to compliment the notes and sketches...

Cheers!