More from the weekend.

Top - Coquet Island.
Centre from the foreground back, Boulmar Golfball Radar, Amble marina, Alcan Power Station, Newbiggin and Blyth Offshore Windfarm.
Bottom - Church Point, Newbiggin ( cant see any Little Auks).
The view from Longhoughton Quarry facing south, digiscoped.

A check of the quarry on Saturday had 5 Scaup ( 2 males 3 females), an excellent count, 11 Pochard and 120 Tufted Duck. From here the view was fantastic. Facing south I could see Church Point, Newbiggin 20 miles away!

At Boulmer had 27 Grey Partridge, 1 Twite flew south, a good patch tick for me and long overdue, (157), 1 2nd w Med Gull, 1 female type Snow Bunting dropped in briefly, 2 male Kingfishers fighting again on the rocks at the north end ( pics to follow) 1 male Peregrine, 60 Pinkfeet flew south, 9 Herons, 1 Shelduck, 8 Teal, 2+ Grey Plover, 12+ Sanderling.

Shore birds.

Above - Top three 2nd W Mediterranean Gull in front of lifeboat hut, and Bottom Snow Bunting landed for a few minutes at the north end before flying south.

Above- Tree Sparrow top and bottom and Reed Bunting centre.

This weekend was the November Winter Plover Survey. I have three tetrads to cover, all in the Boulmer / Longhoughton area. On the inland one, just south of Longhoughton I had a nice flock of finches and buntings in a field left as game cover. There were 10+ Tree Sparrows, 10+Yellowhammers and 8+ Reed Buntings plus Linnets, Greenfinches and Chaffinches and a Brambling heard. Also here I flushed a Woodcock from a hedge bottom.

A good day sneaks up...

Above - 3 Scaup with Tufteds, Longhoughton Quarry.






Above - Kingfisher, Boulmer Steel.



Above - Last weeks Merlin again, on a kill in the field, Boulmer north seat.

The weather today was much improved on yesterday. A cold WNW6 with some high cloud though generally fine.

A short sea watch was followed by a walk up to the Howdiemont Bay. Here, Rob and myself met up with John Steele who was out for a stroll from his caravan nearby. On the return we bumped into Brian Galloway and a group of a dozen or so birders from his evening class on a field trip.

Some good birds were noted today despite only being out for the morning. The seawatch produced 2 Little Auks N, 1 male Long-tailed Duck N and 5+ Red breasted Mergansers on the sea. A distant diver refused to be anything other than a Red throated and a second was seen further along the shore.
At the north end we had 2 Razorbills, 10+ Knot, 4 Purple Sandpipers, 20+ Gannets N, 135+ Pink footed Geese S. 1 Snow Bunting flew N high over head, calling. On the rocks were 2ad 1 2nd winter Lesser black backed Gull, 1 adult Mediterranean Gull and 1 fw Little Gull, a very late record for this species here. The usual female Merlin seen 4 or 5 times this morning, finally with a kill being plucked in a winter crop. Later on when driving past the south of Seaton Point at 4pm a nice Peregrine flew over south towards Alnmouth.

We were pleased to see that one of the Kingfishers was back and this time feeding on tiny fish from the rock pools. Some were caught in the usual manner from a perch, but at least one was caught by the bird hovering out over a pool then plunge diving in. We last saw it being persued across the shore by a Herring Gull. I hope it doesnt go the way of many little auks!

A quick check of Longhoughton quarry at noon (including a very short visit yesterday) had 135+ Tufted Duck, 1 imm male and 3 female Scaup, 3 Pochard, 6+ Moorhen, 1+ Willow Tit and a Chiffchaff heard only.

Bonfire Night

Top - Long-tailed Duck
Next three - Merlin
Fourth - Grey Partridges
Bottom - Yellow Wort


Today was overcast and quite dull with a moderate westerly, though it was quite mild.

Wandering around Boulmer for an hour or two, with Rob, we spent the first part of the morning bubbling and whingeing about how quiet it was, how there was no birds etc etc. It was only when we got back to the cars that we realised that we had seen a few good things after all. Many an inland patch watcher would have wished for the birds we had seen this morning!

1 Whooper Swan and 58 Pink footed Geese flew S, the drake Long tailed Duck was still in the Howdiemont Bay with a female Common Scoter and a Red throated Diver. Back near the car park, the resident female Merlin showed well along the usual bit of shore north of the village. It then perched up on a fence post for a while. While watching it, a Buzzard and a Peregrine flew overhead, all three nearly in the same field of view! 8 Grey Partridges were in the allotment, and 6+ Tree Sparrows flew over calling.

A quick dog walk at Longhoughton Quarry at 2pm had 144+ Tufted Ducks and, suprisingly, 1 male and 3 female Scaup. A nice record. The mild autumn has prolonged the flowering period for a few wild flowers here, with a nice show of Yellow Wort still.

Frosty.

The first white frost of the year here this morning.Clear and sunny, a nice fresh
day.
At lunchtime in Blyth today I popped down to the quayside and had 3 Little Auks and a Red throated Diver in the harbour.

I think that the Long tailed Duck I had yesterday was a year tick (156)

Tsunami

Above- Wrecked Little Auk.

On Wednesday 1st November 2006, the wind blew a gale from the N all night and on into the daytime. At Boulmer, the sea was about as mountainous as I've seen anywhere in the county. Pity I didnt take the camera. It was much too rough to pick out any seabirds, and the only thing of note was a female Merlin that caught a dunlin off the beach right in front of me.

On Thursday 2nd November 2006, the wind had decreased to a force 2 Northerly, the sea had dropped right off and it was a nice day.
Its at times like this that having a full time job really gets in the way of real life! I managed a half hour at first light at Boulmer and had -
13+ Little Auks
1 Slavonian Grebe
24 Goldeneye
1 Red throated Diver
14 Red breasted Mergansers
1 nice male Long tailed Duck on the sea
65 Wigeon
25 Mallard
5 Teal
40 Pink footed Geese flew S.

Meanwhile, later on in the day Rob kept me nicely up to date with his efforts -
2 Bewicks Swans flew SW ( a patch tick)
1 'Lesser' Canada Goose flew south with a Barnacle Goose for excellent size comparison, the Barnacle being the largest of the two ( another patch tick )
and
700+ Little Auks skittering along, one or two even flying through the village and going inland!

I haven't even had one of those giant Canada Geese that come to groundbait for the year list never mind a true rarity, and as for Bewicks, well I might wait a while for one of those too. Lets hope that something is lingering till the weekend...

Good numbers of Red Admirals around today, basking and feeding on rotten fruit.

Top two - Fly Agaric
Third - unknown
Bottom - Puffball sp

A Fungi Foray.

Top - Brown Roll-Rim
Centre - Shallow pored Boletus
Bottom - Coconut-scented Milkcap

Loads of Fungi in the woods. I am a total dude when it comes to the I.D of these things so please let me know if my pictures are incorrectly labelled.

If you go down to the woods today...

A walk through Thrunton Woods this afternoon, the weather was excellent.
Above - Jane and Bunty, Me and Bunty and some Autunm woodland scenes.

Isabelline Shrike.

Well, I might as well get the Boulmer info over with, because the birds there have been well and truly eclipsed by the Cresswell Shrike.

Yesterday the day was fine with a light SW breeze. Some early cloud moved off to leave a pleasant afternoon.

A short walk around the North End with Rob and the dogs had a pair of Goosander N, 1 Little Auk on the sea briefly before flying south and a male Velvet Scoter N.

The highlight though came as we rounded the top and an unfamiliar trilling call could be heard. Vaguely reminiscent of a waxwing I assumed that it came from the two turnstones chasing around nearby. I was very suprised to scan with the bins and find two imm male Kingfishers facing up each other on the rock edges.(155) A proper patch tick here for me and completely out of the blue ( no pun intended). They sat with bills pointing away in a stiff pose seemingly mirroring each other before flying off, chasing each other along the shore to the north.







Above - FW Isabelline Shrike, of the race 'isabellinus' or Daurian Shrike.

Originally found last Sunday, this Isabelline Shrike was identified as a Red backed Shrike. I can only assume that the finders were unfamiliar with both, as this bird is very different to Red backed. This is the third record for Northumberland and the second this year. Fortunately this one was accessible and performing very well to the masses in the dunes opposite the Cresswell Pond car park. Even I managed some good shots, so the SLR lads must have some belters.

It spent its time eating Red Admirals, wasps and large caterpillars, though I hear that it caught and ate a linnet that was mobbing it today!

Friday 27th October 2006

Calm today, nice and fair early on turning to rain.

Didn't I just know it would happen. The 'pond' has gone. Drained, dried or drunk by sheep, either way, it is no more. The briefest wetland in history. One day the farmer might take up Countyside Stewardship or something and get paid to leave the field wet. One day.

Of note, 1 adult Mediterranean Gull off the village, 80+ Lapwings, 200+ Golden Plovers, 2 Stonechats and a few Gannets still offshore.

Thursday 26th October 2006

Above - Don't panic, this is last years Bairds Sandpiper.

What strange weather this is. Last night had E5 with heavy rain changing to SSE6 and fair by morning. By eveing this had gone to a W8 gale.

For the first time in over a year, a tiny puddle has formed on the field near the pub. The last time it was here a Bairds Sandpiper was on it. I wish the field drain would collapse or something, to make this a more regular feature. (above)

At sea today, 1 Little Auk flew S very close in (154), 1 Arctic Skua N, 3 Goldeneye N and 2 S, 5 Red breasted Mergansers and a Merlin was on the beach. The 'pond' ( yes I know, its against the trades descriptions act, but it takes very little to excite in these parts)had 59 Redshanks on it.

In our garden at Longhoughton a record count of 100+ House Sparrows was good. The first time the total has gone into three figures.

Wednesday 25th October 2006

Quite mild, with a light S2, 50% cloud, but reasonably bright.

A couple of days Flexi leave to catch up with some things at home, but still just managed to check out Boulmer briefly.

At 8.30 this morning a walk up to the North End,and a visit to Seaton Point in the afternoon had 1 female Wheatear, 2 Stonechat, 1 Blackbird that looked like a tired migrant on the point, 3 Goldcrests, 1 female Merlin, 10+ Robins, 1 Redwing on the beach, 700+ Golden Plover, 400+ Starlings, 17 Knot and 40 Mallard. 5 Yellowhammers and 6 Reed Buntings were at Seaton Point Farm.

We have been looking after Jane's sisters dogs at Christon Bank this week. Today on walking duty I had, 1 Jay ( could do with that at Boulmer) and a flock of 20 Redwings and 4 Fieldfares. A Stoat showed well on the roadside on the way up there.

This weekend has stayed westerly with some heavy showers and warmer sunny spells.

On Saturday two short trips to Boulmer at the north end as far as Low Steads produced some visible migration ( viz migging). 9 Redpolls flew S as did 1 Siskin, 80 Pink footed Geese and 12 Greylags. 4 Stonechats were right up on the patch boundary . Along the shore were 185 Curlew, 200+ Golden Plover, 100+ Lapwing, 100+ Turnstone and up to 100 Redshank. 39+ Eiders loafed just offshore.

Today the weather was more variable after lasts nights torrential rain storm. Arrived at Boulmer at 8.30am and met up with Rob and John. Again the north end was well looked at. Some more visible movement was evident with 91+ Skylarks S, 2 Red breasted Mergansers S, 618 Pink feet S, 7 Whooper Swans S and 1 N, the first of the autumn, and a lone Barnacle Goose flew N. At sea 2 each of Bonxies and Red throated Divers flew N, but there was no sign of the little auks reported from the Durham headlands. On the ground were 8+ Rock Pipits, 20+ Goldfinch, 28 Grey Partridges, 380+ Golden Plover, 6 Knot, 61 Dunlin and a female Sparrowhawk.

Earlier Rob had a male Wheatear in front of the pub, possibly last weeks bird still here.

Now that its almost dark by the time I get home from work, birding midweek is coming to a standstill. Today had E4 with some heavy rain, brightening up by late afternoon, the wind swinging S.

I just managed a dusk walk to Seaton Point with Bunty and had 1 adult Mediterranean Gull ( maybe same bird as the other day but I only had my bins so finer detail couldn't be seen), 1 Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest right in the last hawthorn on the beach edge.

Winter seems just around the corner...

YLG

Since I have recieved some favourable comments on our Yellow-legged Gull i.d from my peers, it'd better be added to the year list. I have just counted up and I seemed to have missed one off so the michahellis stands at 153.

Some Gulls...

Whilst doing one of the Winter Plover Survey tetrads at Boulmer ( a week late ) Rob and myself found an adult winter Mediterranean Gull and an adult Yellow legged Gull, well, it was a gull with yellow legs anyway. I got some shots of primary details etc to aid identification and emailed birders more knoweledgable than myself for advice.
Yellow legged Gulls are rare birds in Northumberland. I've had more Radde's Warblers in the county than YLG's!
Also here at the North End were 1 male Wheatear, 1 Chiffchaff, 20 Goldfinches, 2 Dark bellied Brents, 150+ Wigeon and a juvenile Red throated Diver.




Adult Med Gull above.





Yellow legged Gull ( michahellis) above.

Sunday 15th October 2006 Holy Island

With the weather mild and overcast with a light SE breeze, we got on to Holy Island at 07.45 before the tide covered the causeway. As it happens, I dont think it was ever covered as the tides were very small. Anyway, the tide predictions seemed to keep most visitors away for a while, leaving all the goodies to just a few birders.

Of note were -

Barred Warbler 1 juv showed well in a sycamore behind the school.
Red breasted Flycatcher 1 juv perched on wires behind the Captains Garden.
Yellow browed Warbler 2 flickering around the willows and sycamores along the main road to the village.
Chiffchaff 2+
Brambling 6+
Reed Bunting Huge numbers, maybe 150+, could be more scattered around. The largest concentrations being at the Chare Ends.
Hen Harrier 1 female hunting dunes.
Jack Snipe 1 flushed from pathside near excavations.
Lapland Bunting 1 calling over head at the end of the Straight Lonnen.
Blackcap 1 male on the Straight Lonnen.
Great Grey Shrike 1 fw seen briefly at the Snook, perched on top of a small bush.
Ring Ouzel 1 at the Snook.
Merlin 1
Peregrine 1.
Swallow 1
Redwing several thousand arriving with Song Thrushes and Blackbirds.

On the way off the island we stopped for seconds of the Roller still in the same hawthorns as last week. When standing here chatting to Richard, a message came on the pager to say that an American Golden Plover was on the flats off the Chare Ends with 800 Golden Plover. We did a quick about turn and joined about 20 birders gazing at the Golden Plover flock. The bird was soon relocated but just before the Merlin put everything up. It was a smaller greyer bird but the closer features could not be seen before the whole lot zoomed off towards the horizon.

So, an excellent day all round and Holy Island in classic form. I dont recall seeing as many birders here at one time. What would I give to see some of that lot at Boulmer.