To the Northumberland Moors....

A reasonable forecast and it being March drew us to head westwards for all of  6 miles from Alnwick. Its always a chancy visit, birding inland during March, but it makes a change.

Today we made a few stops and did some leg knackering walks up muddy slopes onto boggy, tussocky moorland, to be honest, seeing very little. One thing did stand out however, and that was the view...

On the bird front, a few new species of the year made an appearance with 3+ Red Grouse, 20+ Crossbills and a ringtail Hen Harrier. Other than that, 2 pairs of Stonechat, a few Redpolls including a couple of Mealy candidates that were a little too distant or brief to confirm and 8+ Buzzards.

A Roe Deer and a sniper lying prostrate with his rifle ( he was visible to the naked eye at quarter of a mile due to the lack of camouflage on face and hands, take note)  were the only other things of note...

These lichens look like a forest scene from Avatar.

The only bird shot of the day, a Siskin. The forests were full of them. 

Warm sun drying the dew from last night.

Well, you have to, after a long uphill struggle.

Click on this to see the snow capped Cheviots in the distance.

Black Lough

Siskins...

I've been faffing around with some Siskins in the garden today. We don't get too many in the garden here, but today we have at least 5 males and 3 females. As the sun was shining for a change I thought I would give them a look....

Its a pity the females were a bit shy of the camera....

 

The Glorious 10th...

10th April 2016.

In Northumberland, our spring passage starts in earnest today. 'Whats he on about', you ask, there have been spring migrants for the last fortnight or more, with hirundines, wheatears, chiffchaffs and others all along the coast. But all is not as it seems. Those early birds, are just that. Early. The product of southerly airflow well before its time, depositing hungry swallows in an insectless Northumberland, only for them to need to move back south a couple of hundred miles when we get some late frosts.

No, the 10th has some significance, as this is the date when in most years there is a very noticeable arrival of spring migrants. You don't need to scour the local ponds for a one off sand martin or walk five miles of headland for a wheatear, birds like this are much more widespread, and the 10th April 2016 was no exception to the rule.

I was on my way to meet John at Warkworth at 7 o'clock this morning when I noticed a raptor putting up the gulls near Hipsburn. Buzzard I thought, then as I drove the next mile, keeping it in sight, it looked a bit different so I pulled over for a quick look. Marsh Harrier! A male too, slowly moving south. I put my foot down and arrived just before it in the top car park to get it on Johns patch list before it continued on its way. How many birds do we miss like this I wonder....

A quick check of the car park scrub revealed a male Blackcap in song, our first of the year, then down past the Old Water near the estuary we had 4 Black tailed Godwits in summer plumage, 2 Sandwich Terns and half a dozen Sand Martins near the pier. We're on a roll.... Others of note were 60 Knot, a Little Egret and a few Stonechat.

A flat coated retriever rolling on a long dead grey seal provided some value too, much to the concern of the owners...

Unfortunately, none of the summer birds lingered long enough for a photo, but two Twite were more obliging...

Sandwich Tern and mates...

One of the Twite on the washed up flotsam.

A later tea stop, found us up at the Birling Redpoll field. There were no surprises today but still lots of Linnets, a few Redpolls and 25+ Meadow Pipits. Three small groups of Pinkfeet flew N overhead. Back at the car, we heard the unmistakeable 'tew tew tew' of a Greenshank but try as we may we couldnt get on to it. Still, calls count as a tick in the year list.

Back at home, I glanced out of the kitchen window and first bird I see is a year tick. A male Blackcap skulking through the roses. Nearby a Siskin pair were showing well and even singing, but my camera was still in the car. By the time I snipered out and got it, the Blackcap had continued its migration, I did manage a Siskin though.

Later as I cut the grass, 2 Lesser Redpolls joined the Goldfinches and Siskins at the niger seed. I waited in the outhouse and got a nice shot of one of the redpolls, I'm quite happy with this one. Good light and good range make all the difference.

Lesser Redpoll

Male Siskin in song. Looks a bit soft as its taken through the kitchen window...

Back from me hols...(Edit)

[Hello all. If you have already read this edition prior to Sunday 14th June, please accept my apologies. This was a 'lazy' post, and I'm going to change it.]

We have just returned from a week away up to our regular haunt in Scotland, the Ardnamurchan. The house we have stayed on on four occasions now, again came up with the goods. We had a great week, filled with clear blue skies and sunshine, all be it, a bit cool, but as long as the rain stays away, its a bonus!

There are too many highlights to write about this week, so I'll let the photo's do the talking...

We arrived at Acharacle last Saturday afternoon in strong winds and heavy rain. The landscape looked about as uninviting as it possibly could, but the weather forecast for the next five days seemed to be improving slightly so we weren't too despondent.

Our cottage was just as we left it on our last visit in September 2013 and long may it stay so. It has an old fashioned quiet charm inside that instantly makes you feel at home in a peaceful, remote landscape.

Allt Beithe, Arivegaig, Acharacle. The view from the moss...

Allt Beithe.

We bought some bird seed and nuts a local shop ( I must bring my own mix next time as the stuff available locally was mostly corn rubbish) and stocked up the feeders at two bird tables, front and side. They were soon frequented by familiar garden residents, but family parties of Siskins and some wild Rock Doves and Hooded Crows indicated that we were further away from Northumberland than usual. A bit of small bird activity under the shade of some beech trees in the garden soon revealed the presence of a Chiffchaff nest with young.

One morning I got up and looked from the kitchen window to find a Red Deer stag standing on the lawn! I have no idea how he got in or how he left the scene as the land is well fenced and hedged off from the moss.

Siskin. Families regularly at the feeders.

Not a ring or scruffy black one amongst them. Rock Doves.

Chiffchaff breeding in the garden.

Each time we visit, we hope to catch up with the elusive Pine Martens that live nearby. In 2007 we had some nice views of two, in 2010 we had one glimpse and in 2013 no sight at all. We were not disappointed in 2015's showing.

From Saturday to Tuesday the jam and bread was removed from the bird tables and ground during the brief hours of darkness leaving us a tad frustrated. So, on Weds morning I got up at 5.30am to replenish the missing food, after only putting out a small amount on the evening previously to attract attention.

I sat glued to the kitchen window, camera in hand until by 9am a robin was developing a taste for raspberry jam. No sign of the mystery mustelid. It was time to let Bunty out into the garden for her morning ablutions. As she left the side door I heard and saw a scrabble of gravel on the drive and a tirade of yapping from the trusty dug. I jumped around the corned to see the Pine Marten legging it across the lawn, tail spiralling like a helicopter with Bunty in pursuit! A sharp yell from her master put paid to the chase and all I was left with was the rattling of rhododendron bushes as the poor creature escaped. It had been below the kitchen window all along...

Surely that was the end of our chances this week, no sensible marten would venture back in daylight after that happened....

I then thought I would try my luck by constructing a temporary marten table near the side bushes where he might sneak out for a sweetie snack in the knowledge that cover was a leap away. I replaced the bait at 10am and we went out for the day.

On return at 5pm the bread was still untouched, even the robin didn't fancy it. I just left it be thinking our mate would take it over night if at all.

By 8.30pm I wandered back into the kitchen for a top up and to do the dishes when I took a casual glance out the side window. No bread! Little sod had been in  while we were eating and taking the loot. Right, get some more out straight away.

I left it unchecked until about 9.15pm. When I looked I was over the moon to see a small pointed face peering out from the side of the bushes, and called Jane and Lillian ( my sister in law was staying with us for one evening) for a look...

This pattern kind of continued on Thursday and Friday too with the Pine Marten showing best on Friday at 8pm. What a star, even though he was only on show for a few minutes at a time, it was a great pleasure to share a meal with him. Tremendous, Pine Martens are just the dogs danglies....

Pine Marten. Same individual. Top two - 300mm f4 1/400th at ISO 3200, Bottom two - 300mm f7.1 at ISO 800 . 

Around the house is Kentra Moss and Kentra Bay (below). Its a great area for wildlife with Otter, Red Deer, Raven, Greenshank etc all seen.

Just down the lane, Kentra Bay.

Carnivores in the damp ditches. Butterwort...

and Sundew.

This Otter ran towards me and up a culvert under the track.

To be Continued...

A cold but sunny weekend, with a sharp northerly wind.

This morning we had another visit to Low Newton to try for an early Wheatear on the point, but first of all we looked at the Tin Church, Village, Scrape, Pool and shore.

Low Newton

A few migrant Chiffchaffs were around with 4+ singing, mainly near the church. On the scrapes, 2 Ringed Plovers were checked for their summer cousins, but I suppose the most interesting bird was a nice drake Goosander on the main pool, the first I've seen here I think.

Down on the beach, Jimmy, Gary, Chris and Mike were woosh netting pipits on the seaweed, looking for those littoralis, but most of the well marked birds had moved on. There were still good numbers of 'duller' Rock Pipits present with a few Pied Wagtails. 5 birds were ringed, mostly of indeterminate race. A pair of Stonechats were on the fence line.

Out on the headland, it was very nippy, and there were no summer visitors. The air was full of skylark and meadow pipit song though as compensation.

Stonechat

Rock Pipit

Back home, our first Kittiwakes were back on the Howick cliffs on Friday, but I thought I would wait until they were nicely established before I closed in for some pics, however these Fulmars don't mind being investigated.

Yesterday morning our first garden Siskin of the year, a nice male, was on our feeders with a big count [these days] of 3 Greenfinches for company.

This evening, a Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff were in the back hedge, one on its way out, the other just arriving...

Fulmar

Siskin through the kitchen window