Autumn almost over.

 October is now over with only a single post on the blog.

This might be because this may be one of the poorest autumns birding I can recall. Since August we have had a constant southerly or south westerly airflow. For us on the NE Coast that is about as bad as it can get.

Looking at some stats, Manx Shearwater for example. Not one in September. There was just no suitable seawatching conditions. Same goes for drift migrants. On my patch there have been no Redstarts, Whinchats or Pied Flys.

It shows, people think we have it made watching a patch on the east coast, but that is only if the weather is in our favour. Back in August I wondered if the steady S winds would ever change, and they didn't apart from a couple of very narrow sub standard windows of opportunity.

On 25th September a seawatch was largely quiet other than a few Dolphins a Wheatear and an in-off Short Eared Owl.

Above- Bottle nosed Dolphins and a Short eared Owl at Cullernose.

A brief twitch to Holy Island on 27th September while we were up that way had a nice Red breasted Flycatcher. The following day a Cetti's Warbler giving short snatches of song at Foxton Golf Course pond was a first for the Boulmer patch. The same morning a good count of 71 Redpolls flew S. It at least has been a good year for Redpolls with bird moving S on most days.

On 5th October a nice group of 7 Curlew Sandpipers dropped on to the Aln Estuary. 

On 20th around our village were 6 Little Gulls N, a Woodcock, 18 Crossbills and 9 Whooper Swans S while the glitch in the machine dropped a few Yellow browed Warblers on site with 3 at Craster with a late Willow Warbler and two Willow Tits.

Willow Tit

Willow Warbler 

Half a Yellow browed Warbler

And thats about it .

So, its no good wondering what could have been.

Winter is coming...

 

 

A bit of a rush...

 All seems to have gone into a bit of an anti-climax after all of the excitement of last week. Last Thursday seems to have vanished on the easterlies that dropped some good birds in locally.

I'll start with Wednesday 19th. This was the beginning of a spell of winds from the east. In Northumberland it was not a  '2016 style' classic, but it was quite good and for the hotspots like Spurn and Fair Isle it was a very big deal.

Although I was working from home, one eye was being kept alternatively on the WhatsApp messages and then on the kitchen window. It soon became apparent that all along our coast it was raining Owls!  At least 21+ Short eared Owls were reported arriving along with half a dozen Long eared, so at lunchtime I took Peggy along the coast path. All seemed quiet until I heard a gull and crows mobbing something.

There, opposite our village entrance was a new-in Short eared owl on the fence, flanked by a Jackdaw paparazzi. Asio owls are scarce on my patch so I was very pleased with this one.

The Owl soon got tired of the Jacks and flew off high to the south.  By now, a few thrushes were arriving, mainly Redwings with a few Song Thrushes. Back home a male Brambling had dropped in with the sparrows on the feeders but was not present a short while later.

A kitchen window shot of the Brambling.

I decided to finish work a bit early and try half an hour on Cullernose Point. The wind here was uncomfortable and buffeting, but 11 Puffins, 9 Red throated Divers, 9 Common Scoter, 2 Little Gull, 1 Brent Goose, 1 Manx Shearwater made in into the notebook. As an oddity, a lone Barnacle Goose was in the sheep field beside the path where it was being chased around by inquisitive sheep, like a Benny Hill sketch!

Barnacle Goose in a moment of respite from sheep torment.

With the forecast looking good, I took Thursday off. At Seaton Point, the rain was steady off a blustery SE wind. Small numbers of migrants were clearly arriving, with 2 Fieldfare, 50+ Redwing, 12+ Blackbirds, a Woodcock, possibly 2,   and a Brambling. At sea with bins only, a nice group consisting of a fem Velvet Scoter, 2 Red breasted Mergansers and 2 Goldeneye flew N along the beach almost over my head. More wildfowl offshore included 7 Pintail, 13 Red throated Divers, 1 Black throated Diver, 3 Little Gulls and an Arctic Tern

The big mistake here was me going back to Howick to seawatch from my home patch. News came through of a drake Surf Scoter coming North with 30 Commons, so I hunkered down to wait. After 25 mins, I picked up the Scoter flock almost straight out from me at half distance. How I missed them further south I don't know. I screwed my eye into the scope and checked every one, They were quite bunched up and doing 30 mph. I thought I saw a white dot in the party but they were going too fast and away from me so, I dipped the Surf Scoter! On checking my phone I saw that Dan had not only seen the Surf close in at Seaton Point, he even managed a photo. Bugger, this is becoming a theme.

Back home for lunch and to dry off. Around 2pm Ben had found a Firecrest at Seaton Point golf course laybye so off I went. Ben, Dan, Mark and myself ( John was working) made up 80% of the Boulmer team getting good views of the bright male Firecrest, Lovely. We checked other areas but apart from thrushes not much was seen. One very late Spotted Flycatcher at the small caravan site was unexpected.

Firecrest, Seaton Point

 On Friday 21st I was working from the office down in Ashington. This location meant I was halfway closer to Whitley Bay where a Red flanked Bluetail and a Pallas's Warbler had taken up temporary residence. At lunch time, the sun was shining and the wind had eased to I went for a look.

A small gathering of 8 or 10 birders made finding the Bluetail quite easy, though viewing was not so comfortable. The other Bluetails Ive seen have been all below head height but this one decided it preferred the tree canopy. Still it was almost constantly on show, so worth the trip. I didn't see the Pallas's but did hear a Yellow browed Warbler briefly in a Long tailed Tit flock but it remained unseen. 

Red flanked Bluetail, Whitley Bay Cemetary.

Red flanked Bluetail from below.

On Sunday 23rd, the fall had largely tapered off.

At Seaton Point a Treecreeper, 2 Brambling, 6 Redwings, 12 Blackbirds, 12 Redpolls and 10 Twite were the only things of interest, so I went twitching again. This time all of 6 miles to Low Newton to try and see a Radde's Warbler found by Gary Woodburn in the wood beside the Tin Church. It was typically skulking but with some patience some brief decent views were had as it flicked around in dead grass and nettles. It called softly a fe times and once it popped up less than a metre from me but quickly dropped again before I could get a shot. This is my 7th county record I think?

Radde's Warbler, Low Newton

As I write this the sun is shining and its mild with a SW breeze. Dan has just found a Pallid Swift at Boulmer but I am working from home. Hopefully this autumn as a few more surprises in store...

Northumberland Birding....

 What a great county Northumberland is for birding. Although spring is a none starter here, once we get to August, right through to December we can usually count on going out and seeing interesting birds. My local area is not as heavily watched as the south east of the county or maybe Holy Island, but that only adds to the appeal. It is a bit awkward to get to from Newcastle, being an 80 miles round trip, there are no reserves at this part so it doesn't often seem worth the travel when there might not be much to see.

Yesterday I took the 10 minute or 3 miles trip to Boulmer to check out the waders and maybe see some migrants too. Boulmer is a big flat headland with no real focus, but it turns up the goods for those with patience.

The tide was high on arrival first thing this morn, a whopping 5.6 mtrs job leaving only a narrow line of beach. On this line were thousands of birds. Waders were prominent with 300+ Dunlin, 50+ Turnstones, 6 Ringed Plover, 8 Knot, 10+ Bar tailed Godwit, 1 Purple Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint and 1 Curlew Sandpiper. There was no sign of the Buff breasted Sandpiper. As we scanned the waders off shore a flock of 17 Red throated Divers flew South and a few Manx Shearwaters loafed around, a few Wigeon and Teal moved North and a female Pintail sat on the sea with the gulls was unusual. A nice female Merlin strafed the beach narrowly missing the Curlew Sandpiper! 

Back at the car for tea and an adult Mediterranean Gull slowly flew past along the shore.

Next stop was north of the village overlooking Longhoughton Steel. There were no migrants in the weeds but 2 male Lapland Buntings came 'in-off' doing that 'tickety peu' call as they went. A glance offshore here had single Arctic Skua south  and a drake Velvet Scoter north.

At the top of the headland I was surprised to see the Buff breasted Sandpiper fly low past me and on to the beach where it fed for a while with wagtails and Starlings before heading back towards the village. a Short eared Owl was getting chased by crows for a while. Down at the south end of the patch, Foxton GC scrub was checked hoping for a Yellow browed but it wasnt to be ( Dan Langston had one in the village later). 50+ Swallows and a few House Martins were still around plus a Chiffchaff and a Grey Wagtail.

Some nice birding in a morning just along from home...

Stormy...

Long time no see. I've been a bit too busy to blog lately but here is a catch up.

Since we last met all manner of things natural have been happening. Starting off a couple of weeks back we were in a late autumn heatwave, on the 10th it was a whopping 18 degrees here, a temp we hardly see in June let alone November!

Thursday 12th I had a day off and managed to get out on the patch for a couple of hours. Actually I'm always on the patch as I live in it, but you know what I mean. Hoping to add to my year list I decided on a sit and wait approach down at the Rumbling Kern where a nice flock of 5 Snow Buntings tinkled south along the cliff edge. Another wait and see was adopted at Craster where a Black throated Diver flew N close in with 3 Red throated Divers for comparison, 2 Bonxie, 9 Common Scoter and 12 Curlew.

On 15th, another mild day I had 3 Red Admirals and 2 Common Wasps on Ivy near the village hall. A Chiffchaff was nearby, set for wintering? While standing with Bunty, 36 Whooper Swans were a magnificent sight as the flew south low over the village.

Another week passes and the 20th was much cooler. A NW breeze seemd to ground some late migrants with 20+ Blackbirds, 10+ Fieldfares, 8+ Redwings and a Goldcrest all along the coast path where yesterday there were none.

Craster seawatching.

   As the wind increased to a storm force NNW seabirds began to be reported so I was up early on Saturday gone for a seawatch at Craster.

07.35 - 09.10 then home for a foil blanket and sustenance -
Little Auk 24
Great Northern Diver 1 summer plumaged
Red throated Diver 8
Pale bellied Brent Goose 6
Long tailed Duck 2
Red breasted Merganser 2
Teal 3
Wigeon 126
Goldeneye 26
Goosander 2 males
Shelduck 1
Razorbill 11
Purple Sandpiper 9
Dunlin 132
plus usual gannets etc.

On the way home a found a dead Short eared Owl on the roadside. Poor thing, newly arrived and quite emaciated.

Short eared Owl

What a difference a few weeks can make, a heatwave a few weeks ago and snow flurries and ice this weekend. Its all a part of our wonderful seasons...

How is the patch list standing after that -

147. Snow Bunting
148. Black throated Diver
149. Great Northern Diver





  

Happy Easter.

Jack Snipe.

What a glorious day Easter Sunday turned out to be. Being a Bank Holiday I met up with John at Warkworth an hour earlier than usual, 6.30am, to try and avoid the local crowds of tourists. This turned out to be a good decision, as all of our 'good birds' were seen in that hour.

Things began when John spotted a Water Rail running around the edge of the reed bed. I'm not sure but I think this might be the first we've seen here? Nearby a Chiffchaff was in full song, whilst a flock of 9 Magpies argued things out like a parliamentary debate. We began the walk from the car park into the rising sun, when a lovely Barn Owl flew in from the golf course. Back lit by the sun, its a shame it was too distant for photos.

From the track south, we scanned the sunny edge of the reed bed to see if the Water Rail was back out when something unusual caught our attention. You could tell that something was up by the silence. We weren't talking. A wader down in the reed detritus looked odd. It was John who spoke first, saying something like, 'Go on, say it'....I commented that this snipe did seem to have a short bill, but being just armed with binoculars, I couldnt be sure, it might be due to a muddy tip.

To resolve the conundrum, I wandered slowly closer for a better view while John watched. The bird, moved into the reed edge then lay down. We both stalked the target. At good range, a Common Snipe flushed from the spot, and called its scraping shout before vanishing. Thats that then, just a Snipe. Still suspicious John moved another few yards closer, when a second bird jumped up - a Jack Snipe! The two bird theory proved without doubt. The bird, flew lowish over the phragmites and dropped over at the other side, out of view.

What a start to the day! Jacks are a scarce bird up in these parts.

We continued down the track met by one of the wintering Short eared Owls being mobbed by a crow before viewing the estuary proper. An immature male Peregrine came in, low from the east, to make a dawn raid on the unsuspecting waders. He seemed unsuccessful.

The rest of the morning was largely uneventful but with 5 decent birds down at 'the gut' we couldnt complain. Maybe next time there'll be some summer migrants...

A very heavily cropped Peregrine attacking out of the sunrise...

Stumpy lugs and Barnie....

An afternoon at Warkworth watching three Short-eared Owls on the dunes. Always flighty, they were still nice to see having become ever more scarce in recent years. 

  

On the way back to the car park at dusk a poor Barn Owl was being kleptoparasitised ( I think?)  by a Carrion Crow, determined to take its vole...