A Wet Rossicus.

The forecast didnt look promising yesterday morning when I met with John at Alnmouth Cricket Club. It was calm and cold but heavily overcast. Drizzle was just trying to get through.

We had decided to check out the Coquet Estuary as we hadn't been for ages and there had been a lot of gulls in the mornings this week, as I was passing on my way to work. You would think they knew. This morning at the weir, it was high tide so the actual weir was totally submerged and there was only a lone Black headed Gull on the shore. One. On Friday there were 300 or more assorted gulls but not today. Highlight were two Foxes chasing each other on the far bank , 6 Roe Deer, 1 Little Grebe, 15 Mallard, 2 Goldeneye and 3 Herons. A Song Thrush was in full song, my first of the year and a portent of things to come.

We moved along to the Marina. Here we fared a little better with 94+ Curlew, 36 Knot, 14 Wigeon, 4 Teal, 2 Shelduck and a Snipe.

At Amble Harbour the slow theme continued. Even the local Med Gull wasn't on its usual rock. We did have 1 Purple Sandpiper, 8 Red throated Divers, 1 fem Red breasted Merganser, 18 Eider and 10+ Turnstone though.

After a stop for some snacks in Warkworth we headed up to Birling Carrs ( you might remember the posts on here about the Arctic Redpoll a few years ago? There.) The redpoll field had been ploughed recently so there was nothing here either. Then the rain started.

We decided to check the sea, getting wet in the process... viewing was good but we didn't do better than 15 Red throated Divers and 2 male Red breasted Mergansers,

Back at the car we noticed that the field to the north was stubble with some rape plants and Groundsel growing through. A few Reed Buntings were active along the track so we decided that we couldn't get more wet and to give it a blast.

As we wandered the stubble hoping for a Lap Bunting, we had a good flock of 40 - 50 Reed Buntings, 40 Meadow Pipits, 38+ Skylarks ( with one smaller one with them that we followed around but couldn't make it into anything other than a wet Skylark.)

As I climbed over the hill I flushed a single goose that flew towards me very closely. Head on it had an orange and black bill. I shouted to John that it could be Bean Goose and we watched as it circled giving us enough on it to confirm indeed a Tundra Bean!  The upperside was generally dark brown with a grey wash on the primary coverts but no pale grey forewing shown by Pink footed. The bill was longer and the bird seemed a bit larger. It began to call as it circled. I had no idea what Bean Goose called like, but noted that it was a deep nasal double or single 'ang-ang' and 'ack'. Not Pinkfoot either. As it left, John checked the call on his phone from Xeno-canto and sure enough the voices matched. A bona fide Tundra Bean Goose at close of play. A good record here.

Near by 4 Whooper Swans and 3 Bar-headed Geese just brightened things a bit more before it was time for home...

Back to normal...

After the birding excitement of recent weeks, today saw things slow up a little, back into the usual pace for winter birding in Northumberland.

I met John at Warkworth and as the weather was pleasant we just pottered around the area taking a few snaps and drinking tea. No change there then.

A short drop in at Druridge Bay Country Park was all but pointless, highlights being about 70 Tufted Duck and half a dozen Gadwall.

Back up the the Coquet Estuary area it remained pleasant but very slow on the bird front, until we stopped to check a herd of 24 Whooper Swans ( with 6 juvs) and were very surprised to find a flock of 64 Black tailed Godwits in the stubble alongside them! Whilst not a rare bird in the county, flocks of 10 in early autumn or spring are more usual so this large gathering was the highlight of our morning. Further over the road another 13+ Whoopers were feeding in a rape field.

Elsewhere, 1 Little Egret, 250 Golden Plovers, 11 Yellowhammers, a Brambling and a few Wigeon were all we could muster. A nice morning out though, all the same.

Little Grebe and BHG on the country park...

Coquet Estuary.

Old Water Pools, Warkworth Dunes

Black tailed Godwits at Birling

Whooper Swans in wet stubble at Birling.

A good morning...

The road to Warkworth Beach...

This morning started bathed in lovely sunshine, a great improvement to yesterday's deluge, so we met up at Warkworth top car park at 6.30 hoping for a few migrants. Well we certainly got a few migrants but not of the kind we expected!

The rain and easterly yesterday looked as if there might be a Pied Flycatcher or even a Barred Warbler to be found but the clear night put paid to that idea. But as we searched, a very respectable list built up slowly and surely, with the help of our friends of course.

'Bush bashing' around the car park, a metaphorical term to describe searching thick scrub for birds, turned up 1 Wheatear, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Chiffchaff, 4+ Willow Warbler, 7+ Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 1 Sedge Warbler and 2+ Reed Warblers. On one of the circuits a female Marsh Harrier appeared briefly over head as did 2 Little Egrets and a couple of Swifts as they headed south.

A walk down to the estuary initially seemed a dead loss until we poached some luck from Barbara and her husband, a nice couple of Warkworth residents, who stopped for a chat. At this point we found 4 juv Curlew Sandpipers and a very low flying juvenile Osprey heading up the Old Water. This is my first Osprey at this site despite many hours of coverage over the years, so it is a definite highlight of the year so far.

From the north side, I was checking the distant Dunlin and noticed an different looking bird with them, facing away and remarked to John. 'Its only half an hours walk around, we can check from the south side' was the reply. A good idea. But, the best laid plans and all that, the Osprey, Curlew Sands and a nice group of 9 Black tailed Godwits shook the thought from my mind...

  

From top left clockwise - Reed Warbler, Marsh Harrier, Caspian Gull and Osprey.

A young Roe Buck just starting to bud his little antlers.

A juvenile Sedge Warbler

 Back at the car, info came through about the annually visiting Caspian Gull in Amble Harbour had been joined by an juv Yellow legged Gull ( found by Birdwatch mag editor Dominic Mitchell no less) so we decided to check them out.

The Caspian Gull posed well on arrival but we were too late for the YLG so had to make do with two 99's with monkeys blood instead. Well, when mingling with tourists we could hardly refuse...

Three juv Curlew Sandpipers continue migration.

 A short stop in an estuary lay-bye along the road to see if the gull was roosting upriver proved fruitless, but as I scanned with Johns scope I checked the Dunlin...again at a little distance, was a strange looking bird, this time head on. Ah, its just a juvvy Dunlin, I casually thought and lunch was now calling, so we decided to call it a day.

No sooner had I lifted my gear into our house 20 minutes later than a message came over the phone from the eagle-eyed ( and clued up) young Mr Farrooqi Jnr to say that he had found a White rumped Sandpiper on the Coquet estuary... ( groan....), so it was all about-turn and off I went again...

The one on the right is a White rumped Sandpiper, honest.

 A small crowd had gathered at Amble Marina by the time I arrived and the White rumped Sand was showing very well just across the rising tidal river with a few Dunlin, and now an adult Curlew Sandpiper and 5 Knot inc 3 sum plum adults. It was a nice moulting adult too and overdue for the site. Thanks to Jonathan for getting the news out so quickly, a great record for the Coquet...

At last, a bird!

Last night a brief stop on my way home from work to scan the Coquet Estuary from Amble marina didnt look promising. The tide was high and a kid was messing around in a rubber dinghy on the water. I'll give it a few minutes, I thought. Then I noticed that the tide was just beginning to drop and the bespectacled teen in the boat was grounded on the prime wader feeding area.  His outboard had packed in, so he used his oars to punt himself into deeper water before rowing off into the SE breeze.

Over on the far bank waders began to gather including 50+ Dunlin a summer plumaged Knot, 2 Sanderling and a nice juvenile Curlew Sandpiper when all of a sudden, Harry Potter had magically restarted his outboard and was heading back around flushing the lot. Oh well, time for tea...

Rusty red and the mud hoppers.

My route to and from work drives right past a nice, medium sized, Northumberland estuary. Complete with mini mudflats and saltmarsh, the river Coquet at Amble is an excellent spot for migrating waders. Best of all, not having any hides, it hardly gets a look at by birders compared to the Druridge Bay reserves only a few miles south.

For me, this is its main attraction. You don't have to put up with 'birders' saying 'is the blackwit showing' or queues of cars waiting for the Barn owl to be papped a millionth time.

Right enough of that. Yesterday and this evening, on my way back from work I stopped for a quick scan of the mud for new arrivals. I've promised myself a White rumped Sand on here this year, even though its not strictly 'my' patch. I visit here with John regularly on a Sunday as he is doing a low key year list on the site. As he is busy elsewhere this week, I feel obliged to check the area on his behalf.

Last night there was a nice party of Dunlin, 40+ at least, all sporting neat black bellies and 11+ Common Sandpipers. Not earth shattering, for sure, but promising.

Tonight I only had about 20 minutes to spare, but straight away I could see the numbers had increased as the tide shuffled the birds backwards. Dunlin had upped to 80+ and a tidy Black tailed Godwit brightened things up. A very distant little wader scuttled through the Dunlin in a stint-like fashion so I left the car and walked a good 100 yards closer for a better look. No sign of anything resembling a stint, but Bingo! a lovely breeding plumaged Curlew Sandpiper stood heads above the Dunlin on the opposite shore. Occasionally the flock would lift and do a 'murmuration' around the edge before pitching in again. One stop had Common Sand, Curlew Sand, Dunlin, Redshank and Black tailed Godwit all in a line. Nice.

So, no sign of any peeps this evening but the one from arctic Russia was just as pleasing. Lets hope there are more nice waders over the coming weeks.

Spring Buntings...

Sunday morning down at the Coquet Estuary at Warkworth is never a bad thing, but its even better when there are unexpected blue skies and sunshine.

We followed the usual route via the estuary viewpoints. The only migrants noted were Chiffchaffs with one in the top car park and 3+ singing near the river in the village. A female Eider looked quite incongruous against a wooded back ground feeding well up stream near the road bridge. A few Snipe and and 5 Gadwall were seen.

There seemed to be more passerine activity this week with several pairs of Reed Bunting, Stonechat, Meadow Pipits etc all in fine fettle singing and chasing around potential nesting sites. Although we didn't see any Short-eared Owls, a Barn Owl did a brief lap of the car park hill.

A Stoat coming out of Ermine waited near a small reed bed before vanishing out of sight.

Yellowhammer

Reed Buntings

A real highlight was a nice flock of buntings at a pheasant feeder near Birling Carrs. There were 15+ each Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting with Tree Sparrow, Grey Partridge and a male Sparrowhawk for company. Nearby a field held 23 Whooper Swans, a Stock Dove while Buzzards soared over distant woodland.

Stock Dove

The Coquet Estuary....

Amble Harbour

Eider displaying.

The day dawned calmish and quite bright but soon became dull, making these photos very grainy and drab. We covered the Coquet estuary from Amble Harbour up to Birling Carrs, adding a couple of new species to JWR's patch list.

On arrival a huge number of Rooks and Jackdaws were leaving their roost, numbering several thousand birds. The sky was full of them, the air ringing with their calls.

The estuary was full of birds with up to 700 Golden Plover, 300 Lapwing, Dunlins and Redshank. A lone Grey Plover and a few Knot added interest. Up at the harbour, an adult Mediterranean Gull loafed, but it wasn't the usual bird carrying a red darvic. This one only had a metal ring on one leg.

8+ Red breasted Merganser were spread right up the river, one or two pairs were in full display mode and a female Goosander was up near the road bridge.

2 Purple Sandpipers were on the pier, 2 Grey Partridges were along the braid with another 5 at Birling. 5 Roe Deer showed well near the river.

Small stuff around the Braid car park included a female Bullfinch, several Long tailed Tits and a host of Goldfinches.

Mediterranean Gull at the Little Shore.  

Starling singing from lobster pots.

Female Bullfinch.

Long tailed Tit

Back home, a short look along the shore added othing to the Howick list, but 5 Grey Plovers were extra noteworthy, not being annual here, 2 Harbour Porpoises off shore near 2 Red throated Divers.

A cold spell forecast for mid week might shuffle the pack a bit...

Sunday morning - Coquet Estuary.

Nine Whooper Swans, only 1 juvenile.

The weather was quite inclement this morning with a strong westerly wind and a few squally showers coming through. We had a trip to the Coquet Estuary, checking out Amble Harbour to Warkworth Beach car park. As could be expected in this weather, it was generally quiet, but a few things of interest were seen.

A party of 9 Whooper Swans arrived from the east to settle on the river below Warkworth weir for  a spell before heading off further south.  Nearby along at the Marina, a nice drake Scaup, a female Common Scoter and a winter plumaged Great crested Grebe swan around beside the boats.

There were plenty of Wigeon, Teal and common waders in wintering areas too.

Up in the scrub, only a few Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Robins, with a male Stonechat gave cause to lift the bins...

As the days grow ever shorter, its easy to pine for spring or summer or easterlies or northerlies or whatever, but it pays to appreciate just what we have, every time we get out there, its all fantastic!  

Scaup at distance with a Wigeon.

Herring Gull fly by...