Two more Ticks

Our base in Northumberland was at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, on the outskirts of Amble and Ashington.

The lake is a great place, especially in winter, but, whilst there last week, we had a great time looking at the breeding birds, and the summering Black-headed Gulls. Most birds appeared to be 1st summer birds, with a few adults. Many of the 1st summer birds have a full brown hood, but still retain the juvenile feathers.

Black-headed Gull

Another great bird for me was the Whooper Swan (177). This bird appears to be a resident bird, who I first saw here in January 2024 (see here). He/she was present around the site, and was quite tame, allowing some great views from the car park.

Whooper Swan

Other birds seen here were: Greylag and Canada Geese (with goslings), Mallards, Pied Wagtails (juveniles), Mute Swans (13 in total, with at least 6 metal ringed), Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls and, perhaps the most surprising, for me at least, Tree Sparrows (adults and juveniles).

Tree Sparrow

Our last stop was in Whitley Bay. We started off at St Mary's Island, where we saw the Grey Seals, along with  a few Terns (possibly Sandwich), which were flying past, and finally, a single Fulmar (178). We then had a few hours on the beach at Tynemouth, where we were lucky enough to watch a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins (including at least 1 juvenile), swimming, feeding and jumping out of the water!!!! The final highlight was a singing Whitethroat, that posed beautifully.

Whitethroat

Northumberland Dip!!

 Whilst in Northumberland, I had a coupe of early morning visits to Lindisfarne to see if I could spot an American Golden Plover, that had been present for a few days. Unfortunately, I wasn't successful (!), but I did have a great time looking at the few, breeding- plumaged waders, including a single Year Tick, Knot (176), that were feeding up on migration.

Knot

Knot in varying plumages!

Whilst there, I also saw Ringed Plovers (10s, if not 100s!), Curlew, Oystercatcher, Eider Duck (with ducklings), Sanderling, Little Egret and Dunlin.

Dunlin

A couple of Harbour Seals were also seen.

Harbour Seal

Northumberland - 25th May 2025

 Jayne and I have just spent a few days up in Northumberland. Whilst there, we added another few species to the year's "Year List".

Our first stop was the National Trust's "Long Nanny" tern colony. The main reason for visiting this site was to see the returning American Black Tern (167). Although not yet a full species, it was wonderful to see this elegant bird flying around the Arctic Tern (168) colony, looking for a mate. The bird, a female first seen in 2020, was seen just once during our visit, and it landed briefly behind the grass, allowing a quick, distant photo.

American Black Tern sub. surinamensis

Other birds seen at the colony included the Arctic Terns (settling down to breed), Little Tern (169), Skylar, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin and Swift.

Arctic Terns

Afterwards, we drove up to Amble, where we had spotted out first Eider Ducks (170), bobbing around in the harbour. We then went out on a boat to the RSPB's Coquet Island. Unfortunately, landing isn't allowed, but we sailed around the island, spotting Gannet (171), Puffin (172), Guillemot (173), Kittiwake (174), and, best of all, Roseate Terns (175). The Roseates were tricky to see, but I did manage to grab this one, long distance shot!

Roseate Tern

Eider Duck

White-billed Diver!!!!

 A juvenile White-billed Diver (98),was found, at Cresswell Pond in Northumberland, earlier this week. It only stayed briefly, but then in turned up again, on Ladyburn Lake, at Druridge Bay CP, later that day. Today, Jayne and I had a drive up there, and managed amazing views, as it swam close in to the shore. Lifer number 1 of the year.

White-billed Diver

Whilst there, we also spotted a few other "Year Ticks": Pochard (97), Water Rail (99), Ring-necked Duck (100, a female, too distant for a photo, unfortunately), and Scaup (101 - an immature male, I think).

Black-headed Gull 2JRO

 Whilst at Queen Elizabeth II Country Park today, Jayne and I spotted a darvic-ringed Black-headed Gull, 2JR0.

Black-headed Gull 2JR0

After a quick internet search, it appears that it was ringed by Clyde Ringing Group. Details were sent off, and I found out that this bird had been ringed, as an adult, at Linlithgow Loch, Falkirk, Scotland on 29th December 2022. Since ringing, it has been reported twice in Sweden (during the summer, so presumably a breeding bird there), and several times at Killingworth Lake, Tyne and Wear. My record was the first for the Country Park.

Northumberland - Days 4 and 5

 During our last few days in Northumberland, we managed to add a few more birds to the "Year List", with trips to Alnmouth and Queen Elizabeth II Country Park.

The first new addition, heard by our accommodation in Shilbottle, was Skylark (87). Whilst in Alnmouth, we added Little Egret (88) and Bar-tailed Godwit (89), on the estuary, along with 10 Ringed Plover, Curlew, Lapwing, Dunlin, Grey Heron, Shag and Herring and Black-headed Gulls.

Bar-tailed Godwit

On our final day, today, we drove down to Queen Elizabeth II Country Park, adding Tawny Owl (90-heard), Grey Partridge (6 seen in a field outside Warkworth; 91), Golden Plover (92) and Little Grebe (93). At the country Park, we had our final additions of the trip; Gadwall (94) and a single Whooper Swan (95).

Whooper (and Mute) Swan

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.

Northumberland - Day 1

 Jayne and I are up in Northumberland for a few days, so we've taken the opportunity to get a few new birds for this year's Year List.

Our first new birds were seen on the drive up: Red Kite (49), Kestrel (50) and Curlew (51). The next birds were seen at Newbiggin by-the-Sea: Oystercatcher (52), Redshank (53), Ringed Plover (54), Sanderling (55), Turnstone (56), Dunlin (57), Shorelark (2 on the golf course; 58), Twite (23 with the Shorelarks; 59), Rock Pipit (60) and Short-eared Owl (61).

Shorelark

The next few species were seen on the drive from Newbiggin to Shilbottle: Pink-footed Goose (62), Greylag Goose (63) and Mute Swan (64). We also stopped off at Widdrington Moor Lake, where we spotted 2 pairs of Red-breasted Merganser (65), Wigeon (66), 2 redhead Smew (67) and several male and female Goldeneye (68).

Northumberland - 2nd - 6th January 2023

 Jayne and I have just had a few days in Northumberland (with family). We were based in Alnmouth, and, as always, we spent the days visiting some of our favourite spots, up and down the coast, adding 41 species of bird to the Year List.

The first new species were recorded on the way up (40 to 42) , and on the beach at Alnmouth (43 to 50) : 40) Pheasant 41) Red Kite 42) Grey Partridge 43) Pied Wagtail 44) Curlew 45) Grey Heron 46) Great Black-backed Gull 47) Oystercatcher 48) Redshank 49) Linnet and 50) Stonechat.

On our second day, I had an early morning trip up to Holy Island, and managed a couple of hours, before the tide changed, managing to add 8 new species: 51) Light-bellied Brent Goose 52) Ringed Plover 53) Bar-tailed Godwit 54) Dunlin 55) Teal 56) Lapwing 57) Shoveler and 58) Song Thrush. Later on, on the same day, we drove down to Blyth, hoping to see Thor, the Walrus. Unfortunately, he had moved on, but we added a few more species: 59) Wigeon 60) Eider Duck 61) Red-breasted Merganser 62) Turnstone 63) Sanderling and 64) Pink-footed Goose.

Next day, we spent the morning walking around the National Trust's Cragside, where we saw two new species: 65) Goldcrest and 66) Siskin. 

Our last day started with a drive down to Craster, and a cliff top walk to Dunstanburgh Castle. On the drive we saw 67) Yellowhammer 68) Redwing and 69) Bullfinch. Whilst walking to the castle, we added 70) Shag 71) Fulmar (several pairs around the cliffs by the castle),72) Rock Pipit and 73) Purple Sandpiper. We then drove up to Seahouses, where we were very lucky to spot a female Long-tailed Duck (74) from the harbour wall several Feral Pigeons (75)and 200+ Golden Plover (76) in the fields on the drive up to Bamburgh. Stag Rocks was very quiet, with just 10 Turnstones!!

On the drive home, we stopped off at Big Waters NR (hoping to see an American Wigeon - no luck!!), but we did add 77) Gadwall and 78) Goldeneye. The final two "ticks" of the trip were Pochard (79) and the male Scaup (80) at Thrybergh CP.

Stag Rocks - 2nd January 2022

Jayne and I were still up in Northumberland on the 2nd, so we had a few hours at Stag Rocks aka Harkess Rocks, near Bamburgh. When we got there, it was nearly high tide, so we sat on the rocks and watched the Purple Sandpipers (100+), Sanderling (50+), Turnstone, Redshank  and Dunlin, feeding on the seaweed. 

Purple Sandpiper and Dunlin

One of the Purple Sandpipers was colour ringed. It was ringed on 20th September 2020 at Filey Brigg, and mine was the first sighting since.

Colour-ringed Purple Sandpiper

Year List update:

56 - Great Tit 

57 - Rook

58 - Common Buzzard

59 - Barnacle Goose

60 - Sanderling

61 - Purple Sandpiper

62 - Goldeneye

2022 Year List begins

 I was very lucky to start this year's birding with a few hours on Holy Island, Northumberland. My first species seen was Blackbird, followed closely by Robin, Curlew and Grey Heron. Whilst there, I managed a total of 35 species, including Pale-bellied Brent Goose, Red-throated Diver and Red-breasted Merganser.

After Holy Island, I drove to Budle Bay, where I added several new species to the list (numbers 36 - 42). The last two places visited were Warkworth Beach and Amble Harbour, where species 43 - 55 were seen.

Mediterranean Gull (Amble harbour)

Year List 2022:

1 - Blackbird 

2 - Robin 

3 - Curlew 

4 - Grey Heron 

5 - Oystercatcher 

6 - Herring Gull

7 - Black-headed Gull 

8 - Great Black-backed Gull 

9 - Skylark 

10- Rock Pipit 

11 - Pied Wagtail 

12 - Eider Duck 

13 - Starling 

14 - House Sparrow 

15 - Jackdaw 

16 - Carrion Crow 

17 - Redwing

18 - Ringed Plover 

19 - Dunlin 

20 - Redshank 21 - 

Brent Goose (Pale-bellied) 

22 - Shag

23 -  Red-breasted Merganser 

24- Red-throated Diver 

25- Blue Tit 

26- Dunnock 

27 - Little Grebe 

28 - Little Egret 

29 - Lapwing 

30 - Teal 

31 - Shoveler 

32 - Collared Dove 

33 - Pheasant 

34 - Goldfinch 

35 - Chaffinch 

36 - Magpie 

37 - Mistle Thrush 

38 - Mallard 

39 - Shelduck 

40 - Wigeon

41 - Knot 

42 - Lapwing 

43 - Guillemot 

44 - Great-crested Grebe 

45 - Stonechat 

46 - Common Scoter 

47 - Common Gull 

48 - Bullfinch 

49 - Woodpigeon 

50 - Cormorant

51 - Turnstone 

52 - Mediterranean Gull 

53 - Whooper Swan 

54 - Pink-footed Goose 

55 - Feral Pigeon

Northumberland Birding

 This Bank Holiday weekend I was up in Northumberland with Jayne. We had visits to St Mary's Island (Whitley Bay), Amble and Bamburgh, and recorded some nice birds, including six "year ticks".

We started at St Mary's Island on Saturday in 40 mph winds and driving rain!! Despite the weather conditions we saw many wader species including Dunlin, Sanderling, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Golden Plover, Curlew, Redshank and Oystercatcher. Other birds seen here were: Herring, Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls; Sandwich and Arctic Terns, Eider Ducks and 5 fly-by Pale-bellied Brent Geese.

On Sunday we had a walk around the harbour at Amble, where we added Mediterranean Gull (1 adult) and Shag to the weekend's bird list. The Shag, a first year bird, was ringed with a darvic XUN, and had been ringed on 20th June 2020, as a chick, on the Isle of May.

Mediterranean Gull

Shag XUN

After a quick walk around Warkworth, we headed up to Bamburgh, where we had a walk around "Stag Rocks", adding Purple Sandpiper (1 bird) to the Year List.

Year List update:

158 – Pale-bellied Brent Goose 

159 – Eider Duck

160 – Arctic Tern

161 – Golden Plover

162 – Sanderling

163 – Purple Sandpiper

Garden Moths - An Update

I first blogged about my garden moths a few weeks ago (see here). Since then, I've had the trap out  another 5 times, and have increased the garden list for 2020 to 23 species. Nothing rare yet (as expected), but the following species have been recorded (alphabetical order): Bee Moth, Brindled Pug, Brown House-moth, Common Marbled Carpet, Common Plume, Common Pug, Common Quaker, Double Striped Pug, Early Grey, Flame Shoulder, Garden Carpet, Grey Pine Carpet, Heart and Dart, Light Brown Apple Moth, Pale Tussock, Pine Beauty, Purple Thorn, Scalloped Hazel, Small Quaker, Streamer, Tachystola acroxantha, Waved Umber and White-shouldered House-moth! In addition to these species, I also identified a moth that I photographed in Warkworth, Northumberland, last May, as a Common Swift.

Here are a few photos of the more photogenic species!!

Early Grey

Pale Tussock

Streamer

The weather is set to be warmer over the weekend again, so I'll have the trap out, and hopefully add a few more species to the "garden list". Hawkmoth species perhaps??

Northumberland Birding - December 2019

I've just returned from a few days in Northumberland where I managed to get out and about seeing a few nice birds to end the year.

Whilst there, we visited Embelton Bay, Seahouses, Alnmouth, Stag Rock at Bamburgh, St Mary's Island and the Fish Quay at North Shields. Birds seen included; Purple Sandpiper (20+) at Stag Rocks, Turnstones (everywhere), Eider Ducks, Stonechat, Red-throated Diver and Sanderling (Alnmouth beach).

As always, I kept my eyes peeled for Black-headed Gulls, and managed to see a Polish ringed bird at Stag Rocks and a Lithuanian-ringed bird at North Shields Fish Quay.

Polish bird T86W

Lithuanian gull HA02829

I'll update the blog when I get the ringing details back.

Whilst at St Mary's Island, we saw some Grey Seals (adults and juveniles), which the first time for us at this site.

UPDATE: The Lithuanian gull was ringed 1423km away, as a pullus, on 23/06/06, making it over 13 years old.

The Polish gull as ringed, as an adult (2+ years old), 1320km away on 20/05/17, and has been recorded at Stag Rocks every winter since.

Farne Islands

I last visited the Farne Islands in 2011 (see here), so, when deciding where to go away this year, Jayne and I decided to visit this group of islands off the Northumberland coast at the height of the breeding season. We visited on Friday 31st May, and, despite heavy rain for most of the visit (!), had an amazing time seeing all the birds at such close quarters.

We went across to the islands and spent about one and a half hours travelling around them (seeing Fulmar and Gannets), before landing on Inner Farne for an hour long visit. Whilst on the island we walked up through the Arctic Tern colony, passing the nesting birds (and being pecked by them). We also saw nesting Sandwich Terns, Eider Ducks, Black-headed Gulls, Shag, Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin, all within touching distance of the paths - fantastic!!

Arctic Tern

Eider Duck

Razorbill

Guillemot (including a bridled individual)

Puffins

Black-headed Gull (and chick)

Year List update:

178 – Kittiwake

179 – Puffin

180 – Arctic Tern

Black-headed Gull EY13347

On Saturday I was walking around along the cliff tops in Seahouses, Northumberland when I spotted a Black-headed Gull wearing a metal ring. I got some bread, and, after about 20 minutes, managed to get enough photos to read the number; EY13347.

EY13347

I sent the record off to the BTO, and heard back that the bird had been ringed by The Natural History Society of Northumbria, as a pullus, on Inner Farne (2km away) on 3rd July 2014 (1787 days ago). Not the furthest ever recovery, but still very interesting to see,

Year List Update - 28th May 2019

I last blogged about my Year List a few weeks ago, and since then, I've added 5 new species. The first three: Garden Warbler, Tree Pipit and Little Owl, were seen in Derbyshire, whilst the last two: Little Tern and Little Stint, were seen in Northumberland.

The Garden Warbler (2), were seen and heard in Deep Dale, the Tree Pipit was seen at Padley Gorge and the Little Owl was a nice surprise, seen in Apperknowle, on the way to work last week.

I've seen 2 Little Terns in Northumberland. The first was fishing just off the beach at Seahouses, and the second was seen flying from Lindisfarne Castle.

The Little Stint, a breeding plumaged bird was seen yesterday, and again today at Low Newton Pools.

Year List Update:
173 – Garden Warbler
174 - Tree Pipit
175 - Little Owl
176 – Little Tern

177 – Little Stint

North East Adventure

Every February half term I like to have a day out birding somewhere different. This year I spent a day with Luke travelling around the North East, picking up 2 "lifers", and 21 "year ticks".

The first stop of the day was Skinningrove in Cleveland, where an Eastern Black Redstart had been reported on rocks by the pier. We arrived at 8.30am, and enjoyed a couple of hours here watching the bird as it fed in amongst the rocks. It was a very confiding bird, coming to within a few feet at times. Although, not yet a full species, it's still a great looking bird and very nice to see. See here for details of the different subspecies.

Eastern Black Redstart

Also present here were several Stonechat, 4 Robins, Wrens, Dunnocks, Pied Wagtails, 4 Redshank, 4 Oystercatchers, Rock Pipits and c.20 Fulmars.

Next stop on our day trip was the Northumberland Wildlife Trust's East Chevington Nature Reserve. The main bird we were here to see was a juvenile Pacific Diver. With a little persistence and some help from another birder, we found the bird, swimming distantly with Mute and Whooper Swans. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any photos, so click here for some amazing shots of the bird, taken earlier in its stay. Other birds present on and around the reserve were: Shelduck, Red-breasted Merganser, Scaup (4), Slavonian Grebe (1), Gadwall, Skylark, Goldeneye, Mallard, Coot, Little Grebe, Lapwing, Curlew, Canada and Greylag Geese. Whilst here, we also walked down through the dunes to have a look for some Shorelarks and Twite that had been reported on the beach. Unfortunately, the Shorelarks weren't around, but we did see an amazing flock of c.90 Twite, and a few Linnets. Some seed had been put down by a couple of photographers and the birds kept flying in to feed about 10 feet away from us.

Twite

Ringed Plovers were also running around on the beach along with c.30 Sanderlings, including a colour ringed individual. Hopefully, I'll get the details of this bird, and update the blog later.

The last stop of the day was North Shields Fish Quay, where we hoped to catch up with a couple of "white-winged" gulls. The first species, a 1st winter/2nd calendar year Iceland Gull, was seen flying around as we parked up, but couldn't be found again (!), whilst a 1st winter/2nd calendar year Glaucous Gull was a lot more confiding. The bird flew in to some bread and sat a few feet away begging for more for the whole time we were there. Needless to say, we managed to get some great photos.

Glaucous Gull

Other birds seen around the quay were: Herring, Great Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls, 2 Guillemots, several Shags and Cormorants and 11 Eider Ducks.

Year List update:
80 – Red Kite (5 seen on the journey)
81 – Stonechat
82 – Eastern Black Redstart
83 – Rock Pipit
84 - Shelduck
85 - Pacific Diver
86 - Red-breasted Merganser
87 - Whooper Swan
88 - Scaup
89 - Slavonian Grebe
90 - Gadwall
91 – Skylark
92 - Goldeneye
93 - Ringed Plover
94 - Sanderling
95 - Twite
96 - Linnet
97 - Red-throated Diver
98 - Iceland Gull
99- Glaucous Gull
100 - Eider Duck
101 - Curlew

New Year starts with a Lifer

This year's "year list" started off in Northumberland, and, as you can see, Jayne and I managed a very respectable 59 species. The first birds, from 1 - 23 were seen in Warkworth, and on and around the River Coquet. Numbers 24 - 43 were seen at Cresswell Pond, and the nearby coastline. Numbers 44 - 51 were seen at St Mary's Island, numbers 52 - 57 were seen around the Priory and pier in Tynemouth, and the Coot was seen at Wetherby Service Station on the way home! The Wren was seen in Warkworth, but I forgot to add it in earlier, so I stuck it on the end of the list!

The best bird of the day was my first "lifer" of the year in the shape of a Long-billed Dowitcher that has been on Creswell Pond since late last year. The bird was on show from the hide, before being flushed by a Sparrowhawk. I didn't manage any decent photos, as it was quite distant, so here are a few on the Bird Guides website. 

1 – Blackbird

2 – Jackdaw

3 – House Sparrow

4 – Woodpigeon

5 – Robin

6 – Black-headed Gull

7- Chaffinch

8 – Starling

9 – Mistle Thrush

10 – Cormorant

11- Red-breasted Merganser

12 – Mallard

13 – Grey Heron

14 – Eider Duck

15 – Feral Pigeon

16 – Goldfinch

17 – Redshank

18 – Curlew

19 – Herring Gull

20 – Magpie

21 – Common Buzzard

22 – Rook

23 – Collared Dove

24 – Whooper Swan

25 – Greenfinch

26 - Tree Sparrow

27 – Dunnock

28 – Long-billed Dowitcher (lifer)

29 – Mute Swan

30 – Lapwing

31 – Snipe

32 – Little Grebe

33 – Pheasant

34 – Teal

35 – Wigeon

36 – Water Rail

37 – Pink-footed Goose

38 – Goldeneye

39 – Reed Bunting

40 – Sparrowhawk

41 – Oystercatcher

42 – Purple Sandpiper

43 – Great Black-backed Gull

44 – Sanderling

45 – Pied Wagtail

46 – Turnstone

47 – Dunlin

48 – Knot

49 – Ringed Plover

50 – Golden Plover

51 – Common Gull

52 – Peregrine Falcon

53 – Shag

54 – Fulmar

55 – Red-throated Diver

56 – Guillemot

57 – Kestrel

58 – Coot

59 - Wren

Stranded Guillemot

Whilst walking on the beach at Bamburgh, Northumberland this afternoon, Jayne and I spotted this Guillemot sitting in the dunes about 300m from the sea.

Guillemot

We presumed it had been blown in on the strong winds yesterday. I managed to pick it up and took it back down to the sea, where it swam off strongly. Hopefully it'll be ok.