I can see my house from here...

Sunday was a much better day than we have had since March. Mild with a spring like SW breeze and hazy sunshine.

The view north from Longhoughton Steel

Its all back to normal in the aftermath of the excitement of Friday so we spent the morning covering the Boulmer patch where, for the first time for me this spring, at least Swallows were in reasonable numbers skimming flies off the washed up seaweed.

On the shore waders looked smart with a cracking male Grey Plover in all his finery showing up a typical first winter bird alongside. A sift through other others didn't reveal anything untoward but 46 Sanderling, 73 Dunlin, 23 Ringed Plover, 14 Turnstone and 1 Bar tailed Godwit were nice to see. 4 Whimbrel flew N over the rocks.

More terns were fishing in a falling tide in the haven. 2 Arctic and 2 Little Terns were year ticks while 20+ Common and the same Sandwich Terns flickered around like they'd never been away.

Passerines were in short supply with only 6 Greenland Wheatears fitting the migrant category. A Meadow Pipit had a near escape when I almost trod on its nest along the track side right at the base of the wall to Longhoughton Steel.

A very smart male Greenland Wheatear at Seaton Point.

We were lamenting the lack of things like Yellow Wagtails and Grasshopper Warblers but when you look around here it is no wonder there are few birds and the pipit nearly nests on the path. The place has no decent hedges, trees or scrub, all damp spots have been drained more proficiently than the Aral Sea , cereal margins  yellow with weed killer and the grass land so over grazed that they now hammer the links destroying that native flora too. The concession to conservation seems to be a blue pheasant bin every 50 yards and an odd inaccessible game crop. Barbed Wire is the order of the day.

Its a good job there is a 30 mtr wide stripe of high tide zone or we'd have nothing. 

Mipits with 3 beside the path and wall.

April Gone.

 Since the excitement of the Red throated Pipit things have taken the predicted down turn. This is mainly due to the relentless cold and poor weather that has hung around since March. In April the winds often take on a northerly view, making finding spring migrants a losing battle in Northumberland, but this April its not just us that has suffered. This April has been the frostiest on record nationally.

We have plants around us with brown and yellow new growth due to the constant cold overnight. Even hardy natives like Dogs Mercury and Stinging Nettle are looking a tad yellow around the gills but here we are in May so hopefully things will improve.

Last Sunday we had a change of scenery visiting some spots very close to where I live, but are scarcely visited, to do the Breeding Waders of Wet Meadows survey near Dunstanburgh Castle. Needless to say we didnt find many. Only two Snipe lifted from a small flooded patch near the castle and that was it.

Of interest last week were 5 daylight hunting Barn Owls again. I have seen 14 day hunting different individuals in that last 7 days. 5 on the moors the week before, this 5, 2 at Low Newton and 2 at home. Barn Owls here are a daily occurrence, an ever presence. This however, is not a good thing. The poor birds are only out during the day, every day, because they are struggling to find enough prey to keep them going overnight. Local ringers who study them have weighed some adults from nest boxes and found them very underweight. At D'burgh, one of the local Raven pair fancied one of the owls for a snack and gave a short flight pursuit, twice knocking the bird into the grass until we intervened. The owl recovered composure for a few minutes then flew off, leaving the Raven to find more suitable food along the shore.

Raven pursuing Barn Owl with intent.

A pair of Gadwall on the small Dunstanburgh wetland were a 5km tick for me, 1 Whimbrel was on the shore and 2 male Greenland Wheatears dashed around the rocks. On the sea off the castle were some close feeding frenzies that included 100+ Razorbills in fine summer plumage.

A feeding frenzy of Kittiwakes, Gulls and Razorbills close in off Dunstanburgh Castle

Greenland Wheatear

Yellowhammer

Gadwall pair

The past week has been just as quiet only adding Whitethroat to the list on the patch.

Today we headed up to the moors west of Alnwick. 

A walk along a burn lined with ancient twisted Alders and Birch was nice in lovely sunshine. A female Redstart was nest building, a Tree Pipit was song flighting and 3 Cuckoos were calling in the background. A Barn Owl was hunting the moor ( yes, another one).

As the clouds gathered and rain began to spit, another site had a Whimbrel circling low, unusual inland here, a Fieldfare, a male Wheatear but best of all two nice Green Hairstreaks and a male Emperor Moth were good to see again after an absence during last springs lockdown.

One of the Green Haistreaks. The bottom shot looks odd because the butterfly is lying tilted over to catch some of the sun.

Female Redstart nest building in old birch tree,

 

 

Spring Snow.

 I have seen snow in April on occasion, but this year the cold spell is getting pretty irksome now. Most of the month has been filled with cold northerly winds and a subsequent lack of birds. 

It is now approaching mid-April so this blocking weather will change. Bird migration will continue regardless, eventually.

Yesterday 3 Swallows arrived back over our house, twittering and mobbing the Barn Owl. Our shed door is now left open until October to allow them to nest.

What the Swallows felt this morning at below freezing temps with a half an inch covering of snow remains to be seen, but its enough to say, there are no Swallows here today. Hirundines can just move back south again until they find a mild enough climate to feed in. they then come back, following a mild therm north.

At Boulmer first thing it was colder than most days over the Christmas holidays, yet a single Swallow flew around the village. Up on the beach a male Greenland Wheatear looked very smart as it sheltered from the northerly. It will probably face worse conditions on its breeding grounds. Back at the car, a tinkling Snow Bunting moved north distantly, unseen .

It was very quiet here again, so we popped a couple of miles down to Alnmouth to look for the 4 Avocets Tom Cadwallender found here yesterday but they had gone too. 2 Whooper Swans dropped in and while we chatted to Tom and Muriel, an Osprey came in off, quite low, and flew over the river Aln and headed off north west.

Back home at lunchtime, a wander in our village wood was a bit more sheltered and the sun had a bit of heat to it. A fully flowered Sallow was quite active with bumblebees and an odd hoverfly.

Criorhina ranunculi was a new hoverfly for me. Two were on the catkins.

Another new species was Eristalis intricaria in the same bush.

I think this one is Bombus hortorum, Garden Bumblebee,

Later in the afternoon walking back along the lane with Peggy, a surprise female Brambling hopped out of the roadside ditch right in front of us. My first this year, this bird is a returning migrant on its way to Scandinavia, as soon as the wind changes.

One for Mr Gale...

My first Patch Wheatears of the year were down the teepee track this evening. A male with two hens looked bound for Greenland to me, being a bold brassy well marked individual. Still no hirundines though, maybe this weekend will turn up some more summer visitors, but I feel that another week will be needed to gee things up a bit here...

My Surrey colleague, Steve, is doing better than me on the percentages scale. This one puts me on exactly 75%. Maybe a bit more for the PWC list as I had a slow year in 2014...I am thinking things might slow up on his inland patch while things hot up here in the autumn...

105. Wheatear