American Wigeon and Iceland Gull

Whilst in Northumberland, enjoying the White-billed Diver, we also took the opportunity to see some other beautiful birds.

Our first stop was the Northumberland Wildlife Trust's Big Waters Reserve on the outskirts of Newcastle. We visited last year too, but didn't manage to catch up with the species we were after. Luckily, this year, we had much more luck, and had fantastic views of both a male American Wigeon (102) and an adult Iceland Gull (106). 

American Wigeon

Iceland Gull (asleep!)

Other species seen were: Tree Sparrow (103), Yellowhammer (104), Great Tit (105), Pintail (1 male), Wigeon (100+), Teal (10s), Common Gull, Black-headed Gull and  Herring Gull.

Our last species of the day was a Long-tailed Duck (107), that was seen on the River Tyne, whilst looking (unsuccessfully!) for a Ross's Gull.

Musselburgh Lagoons- 4th January 2024

 Whilst up in Northumberland, we had a day in Edinburgh. As always, we stopped off at Musselburgh Lagoons for an hour.

The first bird I heard was a Willow Tit (83). I then walked down to the seawall, where I spotted an adult Great Northern Diver (84), a couple of Slavonian Grebes (85), flyby Velvet Scoter (86), Eider Ducks, several Long-tailed Ducks, Shags and fly-by Black-headed and Common Gulls.

Slavonian Grebe

Walking to the lagoons, I spotted Wigeon, Teal, Lapwing, Redshank, Oystercatcher and a single male Long-tailed Duck.

Long-tailed Duck

Northumberland - Day 2

Today we started off at Beadnell, where we had a lovely vegan breakfast, before walking along the beach to the harbour. Along the way we saw several Jackdaws, a couple of Rock Pipits and, best of all, a juvenile (possibly male) Long-tailed Duck. We also had another 3 birds (all males?) in the harbour at Seahouses.

Long-tailed Duck (Beadnell Harbour)

Long-tailed Ducks (Seahouses)

In Seahouses, we also added Lapwing (69), Grey Heron (70), Great Black-backed Gull (71), Eider Duck (72), Long-tailed Duck (73) and Shag (74). 

Driving up to Stag Rocks (Bamburgh), we spotted several Shoveler (75) on Monk's House Pool, Teal (76) and Shelduck (77) at Budle Bay and 7 Purple Sandpipers (78), Yellowhammer (79), Linnet (80) and Reed Bunting (81). 

Our final stop was Budle Bay, where we added  A single Common Gull (82) was seen driving back to Shilbottle.

Scotland - 19th April 2019

Jayne and I are up in Scotland for a few days, and our first stop, on 19th, was Musselburgh Lagoons, near Edinburgh. We stopped off here to see if we could get a view of a pair of Surf Scoters, that had been recorded from the seawall. We got lucky, and managed good scope views of both the male and female birds - LIFER!!

Whilst there we also got excellent views of Common Scoter (10+), Velvet Scoter (50+), Long-tailed Duck (30+), Red-breasted Merganser (1 pair), Bar-tailed Godwit (c.50 on the lagoons), Oystercatcher (30+ on the lagoons), Ringed Plover (2 on the lagoons), Common Sandpiper (3 on the lagoons), Redshank (c.10 on lagoons) and 2 White Wagtails.

On arrival at our cottage in Killikrankie (20th), we spotted Raven (3), Buzzard (2+), and a Golden Eagle!! The eagle was a very nice surprise, as it's only my 2nd ever record, and my first, self-found bird. No photos unfortunately, but here's one of the Common Buzzards seen at the same time.

Common Buzzard

Year List update:
141 – Velvet Scoter
142 – Common Scoter
143 – SURF SCOTER
144 – Red-breasted Merganser
145 – Long-tailed Duck
146 – Common Sandpiper
147 – Golden Eagle

East Midlands Roundup

This time last year, Luke and I had a day travelling around the North East birdwatching (see here for details). This year we decided to stay a little closer to home, visiting several sites in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

First stop for the day was the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Willington Gravel Pits near Derby. We stopped here hoping to see a Great White Egret, and were lucky to spot it several times flying around the site.

Great White Egret

Whilst here we also recorded several species for the "year list" namely numbers 77 to 86. Next stop was a short drive to Newton Solney to see if we could spot 2 Cattle Egrets that were feeding in sheep fields by the road. We spotted one straight away, and managed a decentish photo.

Cattle Egret

Next up was Albert Village Lake in Leicester. We visited this site to see a juvenile Black-throated Diver. The bird was distant for photos, but we managed to see it well through the 'scope.

The final site for the day was Holme Pierrepont Watersports Centre in Nottingham. The main species we were hoping to see were Spotted Sandpiper and Long-tailed Duck. The first species was quite tricky, and it took about 2 and half hours before we spotted it!! Luckily, when we found it, it came down to within 5m, and Luke managed to get this lovely photo.

Spotted Sandpiper

The Long-tailed Duck (a 1st winter male) was easier to see, once we'd worked out which end of the rowing course was which(!). 

Long-tailed Duck

Other birds seen here included several Goldeneye, 2 Grey Wagtails and numbers 89 to 94.

Year List update:
77 – Water Rail
78 – Great White Egret
79 - Shelduck
80 – Skylark
81 - Curlew
82 - Mediterranean Gull
83 - Great Black-backed Gull
84 - Redshank
85 - Oystercatcher
86 - Cetti’s Warbler
87 - Cattle Egret
88 - Black-throated Diver
89 - Meadow Pipit
90 - Egyptian Goose
91 - Stock Dove
92 - Long-tailed Duck
93 - Spotted Sandpiper
94 - Little Egret

Aberlady Bay and Gullane Bents

I'm up in North Berwick for a few days, so this morning I got up early and drove across to Aberlady Bay in search of a Snow Goose that's been found with the thousands of Pink-footed Geese that overwinter here. I hung around for about 3 hours and watched as the "pinkies" flew out of their roost to feed on the surrounding farmland, but unfortunately, no sign of the "snowie" today.

Pinkies leaving the roost

No worries though, because whilst looking for the goose I did manage to watch all the waders and waterfowl. The first wader I saw today was a Grey Plover (year tick), followed closely by a Bar-tailed Godwit, dozens of Oystercatchers, Lapwings, Redshanks and Curlew, along with hundreds of Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck and Greylag Goose. 2 Little Egrets were also present feeding in the channels, a bird that is still relatively uncommon in Scotland. A couple of Tawny Owls were heard in the woodlands behind the estuary and a Kestrel was being annoyed by the local Crows.

On the drive back to North Berwick I dropped in to Gullane Bents and scanned the bay in search of Long-tailed Duck (link here) I managed a couple of stunning drakes, along with several Shags, Eider Ducks and a small group of about 10 Common Scoters (year tick).

Year List update:
180 - Grey Plover
181 - Common Scoter

25 Year Ticks

The best thing about birding at the start of a new year is that just about anything you see is a "year tick". Today I went out birding with my nephew and we decided, after a trawl of the Birdguides website,  to do a tour of the local area to see how many new species we could find.

First stop of the day was Steetley Quarry, near Worksop, where a first winter Velvet Scoter has been  present since December 2012. The bird was found quite quickly on the largest lake and was "showing well". Other sightings in this area included several year ticks (numbers 36 - 42).

Next stop was Angler's Country Park near Wakefield, where again we spotted a long-sytaying Long-tailed Duck. This bird, a female, wasn't quite as good looking as last year's males in Scotland, but nevertheless, a very good inland tick. Also present here were a herd of 14 Whooper Swans (5 adults and 9 juveniles) and many other lovely birds (numbers 43 - 53).

Right next door to Angler's is Wintersett Reservoir. We had a walk across and picked up 2 drake Scaup in amongst many other wildfowl.(Numbers 54 -55).

The last stop for the day was the RSPB's Old Moor reserve, where we spent  a few hours enjoying the hundreds of Lapwing and wintering duck, as well as adding our last "year ticks" of the day (numbers 56 -61).


All in all, a very enjoyable day out!

36 – Grey Partridge

37 – Velvet Scoter
38 - Greylag Goose
39 - Tufted Duck
40 – Great-crested Grebe
41 – Mute Swan
42 – Feral Pigeon
43 – Long-tailed Duck
44 – Whooper Swan
45 – Pochard
46 – Herring Gull
47 – Pied Wagtail
48 – Goldeneye
49 – Wigeon
50 – Teal
51 – Tree Sparrow
52 – Reed Bunting
53 – Kestrel
54 – Cormorant
55 – Lapwing
56 – Scaup
57 – Gadwall
58 – Waxwing
59 – Shelduck
60 – Common Gull
61 – Linnet
62 – Pink-footed Goose
63 - Kingfisher

VELVET SCOTERS!!!!!

I spent two hours at Musselburgh Lagoons on the outskirts of Edinburgh this afternoon, where I had the most amazing views of both male and female Velvet Scoters.

Although I've seen them before flying along the coast, this was the first time I've managed to get them in the 'scope and watch them swimming and fishing. At one point the birds were about 20m away from the seawall - amazing!! Here's a photo and my first You Tibe video.

Velvet Scoter (male)

 

Male and female Velvet Scoter

As well as the scoters I also managed to see another 2 adult male Long-tailed Ducks (that's 4 in one day!!), a pair of Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Slavonian Grebes, Eider Duck  and another Red-throated Diver.

On the lagoons themselves there were 200+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 40+ Grey Plover, 30+ Golden Plover, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Teal, Tufted Duck, Mallards and my first Goldeneye of the winter.

Bar-tailed Godwits and Golden Plover

Year List addition:

159 - Velvet Scoter

Aberlady Bay and Gullane Bay

I've made a couple of visits to Aberlady Bay over the last few days to look at the flock of approximately 20,000 roosting Pink-footed Geese that gather here every winter.

Bridge at Aberlady Bay

This morning I arrived at 06.30am and waited for it to become light. I could hear the geese out on the mudflats and, after scanning the area with the scope, I began to pick up the birds. I not great at estimating large flocks of birds, but there were "many thousands" present. Quite a sight!

Distant Pink-footed Geese

 

As it became light, small skeins started to fly out of the roost and I managed to get a few shots of these birds.

 

Pink-footed Geese

 

Other birds seen yesterday evening and today were: Shelduck (200+), Wigeon, Teal, Eider Duck, Mute Swan (2, including a colour ringed individual), Redshank, Curlew, Great-crested Grebe, Goosander, Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Linnets, Wren and a Redpoll sp, which could have been a Mealy Redpoll, as it looked larger than a Lesser and was very pale on the breast. Unfortunately I didn't get very good views before it flew off!!

 

Next stop was Gullane Bay, a few miles nearer North Berwick. I made my way down through the sand dunes out onto the bay.

 

Gullane Bay/Bents

 

On arrival I scanned the water's edge and found a few Oystercatchers, Black-headed Gulls and one Great Black-backed Gull. Shags were flying out on the water and, after about half an hour's searching I spotted a lone male Common Scoter. A Red-throated Diver was fishing just behind the scoter and then a male Long-tailed Duck flew past. Another male Long-tailed Duck was soon found feeding nearby and a winter plumaged Slavonian Grebe was also spotted in the same area!! A very productive time!!!

 

Year List additions:

 

156- Common Scoter

157 -  Long-tailed Duck

158 - Slavonian Grebe