Easter Shrike.

Great Grey Shrike hunting from wires.

 In my last post I was praising the virtues of the local birding around the market town of Alnwick. This is our local town for shopping etc so its a place that we visit weekly if not more. As for wildlife, we like to get on to the uplands around the town mainly to get away from the visitors along the coast, but it does host some interest for the naturalist too, so its a win win.

For years around the March and April time the conversation often drifts around the the potential for a passage Great Grey Shrike hunting the heath up here. There are bees, lizards and large caterpillars to feed on and the place looks ideal. A good few years ago, John was lucky enough to see one such bird on the moor beyond Corbys Crag, near Widehope. I'm not sure who found it, but it was long gone before I made it up there, so when the local WhatsApp group sprang into life on Good Friday with news that there was a Great Grey Shrike on the wires near the communication mast up on the moor I wasn't surprised, just a little excited.

The bird was found at dusk, so I wasn't going to get up there on the day but come Saturday it was time for a visit. To begin with, there were no other birders around but it was cloudy and cool so I felt it would still be here. Shrikes are mostly day migrants, so after a cool night it might hang around to feed and warm up.

Sure enough after some systematic scanning of over head wires, there it was, doing what Shrikes do. Perched aloft, tail wavering in the breeze for balance while its large head tipped and twisted forward scanning the ground for prey. Although it made some dips to the deck and onto roadside marker posts, I didnt see any prey, though others did see it catch lizards.  

Decent scope views were had and I didnt want to get too close, knowing how flighty these birds usually are, so no photos worth posting. I did take some phone scope shots just to get a drawing reference. 

As I write this, the bird has been present all day, receiving a steady procession of visitors to our area that sees very few binocular scans over the year. Thanks to the finder too for getting the news out...     

Grike!

 A day annual leave due to the weather forecast from last week, just in case there were more migrants to be had. I didn't go up to Holy Island after all. The Bluetail was a little bit more reticent than yesterday and I wasn't desperate for Lesser Grey Shrike either, so, on a lovely fine mild autumn day, I stayed local.

Mid morning as the sun warmed the large sycamore on our gable end I pulled up a chair and watched for  half an hour. A single Yellow browed Warbler showed beautifully in dappled sunshine between the branches,  male and female Blackcaps gleaned the leaves while a few Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs flitted around. Another two Yellow-browed Warblers were seen and heard nearby with one on the coast path and another in our village wood.

I walked Peggy up the back field where the Lesser Whitethroat was still present but elusive. It called an unusual 'chuk chuk churrrrrrrrrrr' the last dry rattle was like a wren or red breasted flycatcher. a call I've not heard before. A Brambling made a right old racket calling near our feeders with another along the village lane.

A few Skylarks, 2 Grey Wagtails and 6 Redpolls flew south over head.

At 3 oclock I checked my phone and had missed a call from John. He had found a 'grey shrike' at Boulmer but it was distant and he had gone for his scope. In full frantic mode I jumped i the car and was there in 10 minutes but the shrike was nowhere to be seen.

We grilled every hedgerow across the farmland where there are no public paths at all despite some decent tracks that could be walked. Nothing. We decided to walk the main road and view east so the light would be better for spotting shrikes on hedges. Only 5 Blackcaps, 3 Chiffchaffs and few Goldcrests and a Willow Tit were seen, so we were doing the trudge back thinking the shrike had continued its migration.

As we passed Seaton Park caravan site, a bird flushed from the roadside hedge and flew high. Our shrike! It soon landed atop a tall sycamore to view the field for prey. Here it could be seen to be a lovely Great Grey Shrike, probably the finest and most stately of the tribe. After a while it dashed into a linnet flock , hovering like a kestrel but failing to secure a meal. It then flew across the field back to its original hedge.

What a spell Boulmer is having this autumn! Long may it continue...  

Great Grey Shrike, Boulmer, a first for the site. 

 

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...

Prestwick Carr.

Often we see the names of places or birding sites reported time and again, but they don't really register with us.

Prestwick Carr is one such place for me, sited between Newcastle Airport and Ponteland, this unusual historical boggy upland-in-the-lowlands spot is a real piece of wilderness right on the edge of urban Tyneside. Indeed, this morning after my visit, I drove for 20 minutes along to the Metro Centre, one of the larges malls in Europe, but when standing on the track north through the Carr, you could be a million miles away. This was the site of breeding Wood Sandpiper way back in 1853, so, it really does have history!

The Shrike was on those tiny bushes in the field.

Here they are from a different angle, over to the right hand side.

The site consists of lowland bog with huge rushy fields and flat flooded areas that look great for waders. There are scattered birches and hawthorns and a wood full of Scots Pine. An ideal spot for a wintering Great Grey Shrike you might say.

And so my visit today was to catch up with Exubitor that has been here since late autumn, favouring the northern end of the track. I found the bird quite easily today, sitting out in the bright sunshine on small stunted hawthorns. Quite distant, as is the way of Great Grey Shrikes, but good scope views were had in nice light.

The bird perched up on top, waving its tail from side to side scanning the ground for a vole or wren to pounce on. It seemed to have a larder low in a small thorn bush where it kept vanishing too from time to time.

Above, Great Grey Shrike, doing what shrikes do...

Living in the north of the county, Prestwick Carr is not somewhere I visit, I think I've only been once, maybe 20 years ago to see, another Great Grey! Its quite nice here though so I might come back. Before the next 20 years anyway....

Also today here were 3 Willow Tits, 40 Golden Plover, 3 Snipe, 2 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel and a Fieldfare.

Great Grey Shrike.

Today's lunchtime drive out was to visit the long staying Great Grey Shrike at West Hartford, Cramlington. Although I have been here a couple of times, its not somewhere I know well, so had to get on site directions from Joe Dobinson, who was right on the money. Cheers Joe.

Bearing in mind we are 'shiny shoe' office workers, the boggy terrain underfoot was a bit of a hindrance, but not impassable. After a false start or two a kind chap waved 'Its over there' to us and we headed to a better vantage point. Despite scanning a distant hedgerow in less than good light, there was no sign. Persistence paid off however, when, a few scans later, a white blob appeared in the scrub about half a mile away.

The shrike looked much better in the scope, as it gazed down at the ground and preened its breast, no doubt removing the remains of some hapless vole from its pristine feathers.

After about 10 minutes, it vanished as easily as it appeared, and we headed off back to work.

Oh, this morning, a nice male Brambling was at our bird table at first light, my first this year...

78. Brambling