Lesser Redpolls

A day off to catch up with some bits and pieces so no proper birding done at all today. Still, while walking Bunty at lunchtime we came across a nice little flock of 12 Lesser Redpolls feeding on seed heads of Rosebay Willowherb along the ditch next to the lane. Although it was a very dull day, I still thought it would be worth recording them on camera. The images are very 'noisy' as you would expect, but it shows the birds doing what they do....

  

Lesser Redpolls every last one...

A nice winters day....

The day started with heavy rain and a strong wind, but this soon eased to a calm day with patchy sunshine.

As the sun rose, almost our first bird of the day was a first winter Glaucous Gull flying into a group of Great black backed Gulls on the Coquet Estuary. It was a real lunker too, in flight equal to the Great black backs. It only stayed for about 15 minutes just giving us time to go back for the camera before it flew off north. It probably roosted on Coquet Island with the other gulls and came in to the fresh water to bath and drink. 

Also here were 3 Black tailed Godwits and the usual selection of waders. We checked up at the harbour to see if anything else had arrived but it was very quiet. The Eiders looked nice in the calm water, when not fighting for bread, so I took a few snaps. 

I like this one. It is a full frame, uncropped pic. 300mm with 1.4x converter f7.1 , 1/320, ISO800, as the bird steamed towards me.

While wandering the harbour, a Snow Bunting flew along the north pier and off north along the beach. 25 ish Whooper Swans were along the river in fields opposite the wier.

From here we checked the north side, old water area, where a nice Kingfisher gave us the runaround on the tiny trackside pool by flying off and returning later when we tried to get a photo. I think John did ok.

And that was that really apart from a few Long tailed Tits and me knocking my glasses off never to be seen again, a typical local winters day. We do alright here if we can get a nice day...

Cartoon Birds...

Being up north in the UK, Northumberland often misses out on some of the more southern specialities. Birds such as Firecrests, Black Terns and Honey Buzzards are genuinely hard to come by up here and things like Serin are the stuff of dreams, I still haven't had one in this country making it probably the commonest bird missing from my British List.

Still, living up here in a county with a very long coastline that faces Scandinavia does have its plusses. Little Auks, Glaucous and Iceland Gulls are annual, Long tailed Duck and Purple Sandpiper are common enough winter visitors and we do get more than our fair share of Waxwings.

In a big invasion year we can get many hundreds of them, and they turn up almost anywhere. This year though seems to be a slow one for the Waxwing. Luckily I managed one on patch back in May as they were returning, but the presence of a few in Ashington where I work was worth a detour all of one mile to attend a meet and greet.

A lone bird was typically lethargic hanging around ASDA petrol station in the town, feeding on the remnants of some rowan berries. Watching this one, I believe a first winter female, I realised that they are quite comedic birds? Curtseying, gargling and raising an eyebrow at passing blackbirds gave it a strange impression, a bit Chaplin-esque!

After taking some poor pics in dreadful light conditions I left her to go to her roost in peace...lovely.

Another poor day...

Top - a real winter squall over Amble Harbour and a few minutes later the sun came out...

Not much doing this morning or during the weekend on the bird front.

Highlight for me was a nice finch flock along our lane end that contained about 150+ birds, mainly Linnets and Chaffinches but also had 6 Brambling, 2 Lesser Redpoll and a Bullfinch. 30 Siskins fed in alders nearby.

This morning was spent helping Jane get to the Xmas Fair at Howick Hall before popping down to Warkworth for a chat with John. It was mixed weather there with some quite serious stormy spells curtailing any attempts a bird finding ( Above)

Jane's stall at the Fair...

And my only attempt a bird photograph this weekend...

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





  

Gnashers...

An impromptu day off work today to take our ageing Chinchilla to the vet to get his teeth looked at. At 10 yrs old, he is getting on a bit, maybe even 'long in the tooth!' So, £39 lighter, I brought him back home none the worse for his ordeal...

Wandering around the village today was generally quiet. A couple of small flocks of Pinkfeet flew S, a Fieldfare was sub-singing on top of the village cherry trees and there is a nice patch of Wood Blewitts are coming out below the village hall pines now... and thats about it really...

Tits 'n' Tongues....

Can't beat a bit of old fashioned sitcom innuendo!

That's enough of that.

This morning I met John at Warkworth Top Car Park at 07.30. A stroll around in the half light was quiet with no thrushes or anything in the scrub. Viz migging was almost non existent too, so the morning didn't seem to be going too well. That is until we were chatting about the latest poor customer care from EE Broadband that John has been suffering from( all providers must be the same because BT is absolutely dreadful too when it comes to customer service).

In mid chat, I heard a very distinctive call across the salt marsh in the reed bed - Bearded Tit! Now Bearded Tit is a rare bird in Northumberland mainly because the habitat is very scarce too. My last were at East Chevington a good few years back so this one set the pulse racing.

We scanned the edge of the phrag without luck but the call continued, then all of a sudden John got onto it, a beautiful male sitting out in the open. What a cracking bird to brighten up the gloom. We watched it for a bout 10 minutes as it flew around even venturing across the open and doubling back at one point. A real highlight on this patch this year.

 

Male Bearded Tit, Old Water reedbed. 

After some tea, we headed down the north side towards the pier. Here a male Snow Bunting flew N low overhead, calling, while well over 600 Golden Plover were on the estuary.

On the way back through the dunes I was pleased to find lots of fungi, including three new species for me - 

Dune Waxcap, Black Earth Tongue and Rosy Bonnet. The latter is a woodland species mainly I believe, but some species occur in various old habitats.

Dune Waxcap

Black Earth Tongue Geoglossum cookeanum

Rosy Bonnet Mycena rosea Note the white tapering stem differs from Lilac Bonnet.

As the rain increased by 11.15 we decided to call it a day. I hope we get some nice fine winter days, I really hate this dark stuff...

Fog'n'Mist

For the last two days our village has looked a bit like this. These pics were taken on Tuesday when it didnt lift at all. Still, a few interesting things were to be seen.

In those bushes below the tall pines, were 2 Chiffchaffs. One called a bit like a Sibe Chiff, with the hoarse piping tone, but the other was just standard Chiffchaff call. The thing is both looked very similar and I couldnt tell which was making what noise. The fog made the colours very tricky to confirm but one was definitely paler than the other.

This morning an ad Mediterranean Gull was with 300 Black-headeds in the top field, a new one for the year, a Brambling flew S and 2 Redwings were in-off.

Yesterday 35 Siskins were new arrivals along the lane, and I found a new fungi again below the tall pines. Its called the Grey Knight Tricholoma terreum  -

146. Mediterranean Gull

More fungi...

On holiday today, with thick fog on the coast I headed a short way inland to Shepherds Law to check out some waxcap grassland.

There were quite a few out but I still struggle with the identification...

Waxcap grassland

 I've never been to this spot before, but read that it was good for grass land fungi so gave it a try. It was excellent. To allow most waxcap species to grow the grass must not have artificial fertilisers for more than 50 years! Is it any wonder they are so rare...

The list is as follows -

Meadow Waxcap Hygrocype pratensis many
Scarlet Waxcap H. coccinea
Crimson Waxcap H.punicea
Golden Waxcap H. chlorophana
Heath or Honey Waxcap H. laeta or H. reidii
Snowy Waxcap H. virginea many
poss Blackening Waxcap H. conica

This isnt a waxcap....

Possible Blackening Waxcap? It was yellowish green and seemed 'burnt'.

Crimson Waxcaps. New for me.

Are these Heath Waxcap or Honey Waxcap?

Scarlet Waxcap

I thought this might be Fibrous Waxcap, but now think its more likely to be a mature Crimson...

What a day....

November 1st. What a glorious day it has been. Sunny and warmish all day with only a light breeze. If only our summers were this good!

Out alone today, I took a trip to Craster and walked the heugh up to Dunstanburgh castle on the quest for fungi. Waxcaps to be precise. These lovely small mushrooms glow like jewels in short un treated grasslands, but are not something I am not too familiar with, only having found them rarely. I could have headed inland towards the Cheviots or Simonsides but thought I would stay local to see if I could find some near home.

As the weather was so good, I took a lot of pics, so I make no apologies for making this post very photo heavy. Craster is less than 2 miles from home, and on a day like this there cant be many better places to be in the UK.

Grasslands down to Dunstanburgh Castle

Add caption

Snowy Waxcap ( thanks to all who helped me with this one)...

Candle snuff Fungus in the dew.

Golden Waxcap

Above - Scarlet Waxcap, I only found two, one freshly emerged and one well open.

Golden leaves in Craster

Feathered Thorn, a new moth for the year.

Above - Red Admirals on Ivy in Howick Village

Speckled Wood with the Red Admirals.

In the warm sunshine the ivy along our lane in Howick was humming with insects including hoverflies, wasps, bees, 5 Red Admirals and a Speckled Wood.

It takes a bit of luck....

The lane in autumn.

Earlier this week the wind took a turn from the south east. It was mild, and damp with odd thick foggy spells and some drizzle. If only I had booked a holiday from work it was very promising for finding some good birds on the patch. As it was I had to make do with half an hour out with Bunty at first light each day.

On Tuesday it was clear that this weather was grounding a few migrants. As we left the house at 7.05am, 100+ Redwings and a few Fieldfares were flying around the village. A good start. As I rounded the first corner, 2 Little Egrets emerged from the fog at a little over roof top height and flew North, only the third record here in 7 years.

Now, at the coast road most of the time I turn left, north to the coast path, but today I fancied that my short amount of time might be better spent checking the scrub at Rumbling Kern just to the south, so I took a right turn.

This is where the gods of fate kick in. Bunty lead the way along the road for about 100 yards when she flushed a small bird at her feet right on the road verge. In a split second I thought 'pipit?' but soon focussed onto a small wader - a Jack Snipe no less! It flew just along the road and dropped back in to the opposite fence line. As we approached it got up again, giving a better view this time as it circled over then flew off west. Unusually it made a very brief call as it took off, a faint 'cough' sound a bit like part of a Common Snipe call. I cant say I've ever heard a Jack call before?

This is a bird I have looked for in damp areas on the patch but have never found, so this  a real patch list bonus!

Also here a Grey Wagtail fed along the manure heap.

Jack Snipe notes...

On Wednesday birds continued to arrive with many Fieldfares, Blackbirds and Redwings with a few Goldcrests and Brambling to look through. On my return from work, in the dark, a Woodcock was sat on the road in the village then flew off into the night. Many Redwings were calling, easily 5 calls per minute at various distances. Its great to see and hear migration in action.

This is what gets my blood flowing, but I've still heard birders saying that it was 'quiet' simply because there were no rarities locally.  I was happy with my 'jack' and the sight of so many birds arriving from across the North Sea. Most birders are just too used to getting rare birds regularly. They need a spell wandering around my patch!

By Thursday, bird numbers began to dwindle as the weather changed. It remains mild and the moth trap has been out, catching my first December Moth of 2015 this morning. This moth usually marks the end of the mothing season for me, but I'll keep trying as long as it stays mild...

December Moth

144. Little Egret
145. Jack Snipe


 

Late autumn...

Sea Buckthorn

A very Scandinavian looking Blackbird newly arrived.

The day started off quite cool with a light grass frost in shady areas, but soon warmed up into a very pleasant late autumn day.

I met John at Amble Marina car park at 7.30am to give the patch a once over.

As the weather was from a light westerly direction, passerines were not going to be too inspiring so we wandered around looking for bigger game.

First off a stroll along the road path to Warkworth and back checking the river Coquet for wildfowl, grebes etc. The tide was low, encouraging 7 Little Egrets and a handful of Grey Herons to feed in the shallows. 200+ Wigeon were widespread along the route with a good few Mallard and a scattering of Teal. A couple of Rock Pipits added to the show with an very odd high flying Great Tit dropping in.

A good few Blackbirds were on various berries in the car park and John saw a Kingfisher fly upstream, while I had to make do with hearing the whistle call only.

Two Peregrines were exciting near Beal Bank, one big female moving off SW while a bright male left a kill on Helsay Farm and circled the fields for a while.

Geese were obvious around here with 100+ Pink feet and 50 each Greylags and Canadas.

You can just about see the male Peregrine here...

  Next move was along to Birling Carrs to check the sea and game crop along the coast. Small birds were all but absent in the seed field which was surprising, but 3 Goosander flew over S.

The sea was more interesting being well up by now. It was calm allowing good viewing conditions.

A scan of the bay had 20 Red throated Diver and a cracking Black throated Diver that flew from the south and dropped in with small group of Red throats quite close in allowing good views in the scope. The first water based bird I've seen for ages and certainly brightened the morning.

Black throated Diver, Birling Carrs.

Also here were 1 Great crested Grebe, 13 Common Scoter and a male Goldeneye with a few Guillemots. Out on the carr were 18+ Grey Plover, 10+ Knot and 2 Sanderling.

Bck home, a Chiffchaff was investigating the bird bath and a Tawny Owl showed sat out on a telegraph pole in the darkness at tea time.

Roll on Spring....