Scarborough Med Gulls

 Most years at around this time, Jayne and I pop across to Scarborough for a day to spot a few birds, including one of my favourite birds, the Mediterranean Gull. This year, we saw four individual birds, an adult, a 3rd calendar year (dark primaries, born in 2021) and two first winters (2nd calendar years, born in 2022).

Adult Med Gull (all white wings)

2nd winter (3rd calendar year, born 2021)

1st winter, born in 2022

1st winter, born in 2022

As well as these beauties, we also saw 4 Purple Sandpipers, a single Redshank, Black-headed Gulls, a Peregrine Falcon, Fulmars (back on the cliffs), Rock Pipit, Shag, Cormorant, Red-throated Diver (off Marine Drive, along with several Harbour Porpoise) and Herring Gulls. One Herring Gull was ringed with darvic ring Y:H42. I saw this bird in exactly the same place (Marine Drive) back in 2019! It had been ringed in Scarborough in 2007. Unfortunately, no Turnstones were seen, so no chance to catch up with the ringed birds seen in previous years.

Y:H42

Year List update: (89) Red-legged Partridge - 4 seen on the drive over, (90) Red-throated Diver, (91) Peregrine Falcon and (92) Mediterranean Gull.

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

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.

Scarborough Birding - 22nd February 2019

I spent yesterday in Scarborough with Jayne and Lydia. Whilst there, I had my annual visit to Holbeck Car Park to see the over-wintering Mediterranean Gulls. As always, they put on a great show, with at least  4 different birds being seen, including this adult bird whose black hood was developing very nicely.

Mediterranean Gull

Black-headed Gulls also came down, as did a darvic ringed Herring Gull (more about that in another post).

Our next stop was Marine Drive and the harbour, where we saw our first Fulmars of the year (approx.20 birds back on the cliffs),  1 Rock Pipit, 1 Shag, 15+ Turnstones, including 5 colour-ringed individuals (another post coming), another darviced Herring Gull, and 4 Purple Sandpipers.

Year List update:
112 – Fieldfare (seen on 3rd Feb)
113 – Willow Tit (seen ringing 17th Feb)
114 – Mediterranean Gull
115 – Shag
116 – Fulmar
117 – Rock Pipit

118 – Purple Sandpiper

Year List update- 200 species reached!

It's been two months since I last blogged about my "year list". The obvious reason is that it hasn't increased too much, with just 2 new species added; Grey Phalarope and Purple Sandpiper.

The Grey Phalarope was a bird seen at Loscoe Dam on 23rd September. It showed well, but distantly, so no photos unfortunately. It was present for a couple of days, before being eaten by a Pike!!

The Purple Sandpiper was seen this week (thanks Jayne!) on the harbour wall in Brixham.

The other species, which wasn't a year tick, but was good to see, was Great White Egret. Two birds, my highest count in Derbyshire, were present today at Pebley Pond yesterday and again today. Again, they kept a distance away, but I managed to get a record shot!

Great White Egret

Year list update:
199: Grey Phalarope
200: Purple Sandpiper

Scarborough Birds

I was in Scarborough yesterday, with Jayne and Lydia. It was sunny, for an hour or so at least, but cold. Whilst there I managed some nice birds, including a good number of "year ticks".

First up, as always, was a stop at the Holbeck Car Park, just above The Spa, for my first Mediterranean Gulls of the year. There were 2 adult birds feeding on the grass as soon as I arrived, but the number of this species and the Black-headed Gulls increased quickly to about 30 birds, as soon as I got the bread out! In total I saw at least 4 adults, 1 2 year old bird and 2 2nd calendar year Mediterranean Gulls. The birds here come within a metre or so, allowing excellent views and photographic opportunities.

Mediterranean Gull (adult)

2 year old bird (born 2015)

2nd calendar year (born 2016)

Next stop was the North Bay, where two female/immature Black Redstarts had been reported on rocks by the Albert Café. I managed to see one, and it posed briefly for a photo.

Black Redstart

A quick drive back down to the harbour followed, where a Black-necked Grebe, a Great Northern Diver, 1 Shag, Guillemot (1 winter plumaged bird on the sea), Great Black-backed and Herring Gull, Redshank, Turnstone (c.20, including 1 colour ringed bird) and Purple Sandpiper were all on show!!

Great Northern Diver

The last birds of the day were seen on the cliff sides along Marine Drive, where Fulmar and Peregrine Falcon were noted.

Year List update:
59 - Sparrowhawk (1 seen on 21st)
60 – Rook
61 – Mediterranean Gull
62 – Black Redstart
63 – Redshank
64 – Turnstone
65 – Purple Sandpiper
66 – Great Black-backed Gull
67 – Black-necked Grebe
68 – Great Northern Diver
69 – Guillemot
70 – Shag
71 – Peregrine Falcon
72 - Fulmar

RSPB Bempton, Scarborough and Flamborough

I spent this weekend in Scarborough celebrating my up-coming birthday (thanks Jayne!!). We started off at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, then moved on to Scarborough, and then visited The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's Flamborough Cliffs Reserve.  Over the 2 days we added 7 new species to the "year list", enjoyed some lovely weather, great food and company (thanks again Jayne) and stunning views of some of our amazing seabirds.

The weekend trip started at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, where the first birds we saw were the Gannets, followed closely by Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Razorbills and a couple of Puffins. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were singing everywhere, and Tree Sparrows were feeding around the centre.

Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemots and a Razorbill

Razorbill and Kittiwake

After Bempton, we drove down into Scarborough. We had a walk around the town, went on the beach, had a spot of lunch at the excellent  C.A.L.F. vegetarian café, and added a couple more birds to the list, namely Purple Sandpiper (30 roosting on the breakwaters in the harbour at high tide), and a male Scaup, that was present on the lake in Peasholme Park (no photo, it was just too far away).

Purple Sandpiper

Also present in the harbour were about 6 pairs of Kittiwake that were on nests, several Herring Gulls, a pair of Rock Pipits, two Turnstones and a stunning breeding plumaged Redshank.

Pair of Kittiwakes nesting in Scarborough harbour.

Turnstone

Redshank

This morning we left Scarborough and headed down to North Landing at Flamborough Cliffs. We didn't see anything new, but we did spot a pair of Puffins, and I managed to get a reasonable photo.

Puffins

Year List update:

105 – Gannet

106 – Kittiwake
107 – Guillemot
108 – Razorbill
109 – Puffin
110 – Purple Sandpiper
111 - Scaup

Northumberland News

After our holiday in Suffolk at the start of the summer (see here and here), Jayne and I went up to Northumberland for a break last week. Although not a birding trip, we did visit a few regular spots, and also managed to add 3 birds to the "Year List".

The first new bird was an adult Caspian Gull (see here), which had been present in the harbour at Amble for a couple of weeks.

Caspian Gull

As you can see, this bird was colour-ringed, which showed that it had been ringed at a Caspian Gull colony in Poland. Nice and easy to identify!! Other birds seen around the harbour included Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed , Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls, Eider Ducks, Cormorants, Common Terns, Shags, Goosander, Mute Swan, Mallard, Redshank, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Knot , Shelduck and Starling.

On the Tuesday, we went to Bamburgh and Seahouses. Whilst there, we took a "sunset cruise" around the Farne Islands with Serenity Tours. Unfortunately, all the auks had left, but we did see lots of Kittiwakes and Shags, along with several Fulmars one Purple Sandpiper and a couple of Gannets. The Atlantic Grey Seals have also returned to the islands to breed, so we got some pretty good views of them too.

Grey Seals

The final new bird of the week was a Pectoral Sandpiper, that was found on a flash at North Charlton. It was feeding along with 10 Ruff, 2 Snipe, 1 Little Ringed Plover and several Moorhens. Here's a link to a much better photo than I got.

Year List update:
170 - Caspian Gull
171 - Gannet
172 - Pectoral Sandpiper

Med Gulls in Scarborough

Hot on the heels of Monday's birding trip I spent yesterday in Scarborough with my wife and daughter, where I managed to get a few new birds for the Year List. 

The first new bird was a Red Kite, that we saw on the journey up. It was spotted by Junction 46 of the M1, which is close to Harewood House and is presumably one of the birds from the Yorkshire Red Kite Project.

When we arrived in Scarborough I drove up to the Holbeck Car Park above the South Bay to catch up with the wintering Mediterranean Gulls. After a little encouragement with some bread cobs, the birds came down with the Black-headed Gulls to feed, and I managed to get a few photos.

Second winter and adult birds

 

Adult head

Second winter head

 

Follow this link for a few more pictures of second winter birds.

Whilst waiting for the birds I 'scoped the sea and picked up the first of about 4 Red-throated Divers, as well as some Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.  Several Fulmar pairs were already back on the cliffs above Marine Drive, and a couple of Guillemots were feeding on the sea. A couple of Harbour Porpoises were also feeding close off shore and 3 Rock Pipits were seen and heard on the breakwaters.

We also had a walk around the harbour area where we saw 4 Purple Sandpipers and about 20 Turnstones, many of which were colour ringed. I'll update the details of these birds when I hear back from the BTO.

 

Year List update:

104 – Red Kite

105 – Mediterranean Gull
106- Red-throated Diver
107 – Fulmar
108 – Guillemot
109 – Rock Pipit

Coastal Birding

At the weekend I popped up to Newcastle with my wife and daughter, to visit our son and his girlfriend. As always when we go up I pop across to the coast for a spot of "coastal birding" at St Mary's Island in Whitley Bay.

St Mary's Island and causeway

As you can see from the above photo, the tide was out on my visit, which meant that the are all around the island was exposed, providing lots of rocks and feeding areas for a wide variety of waders, most of which were additions to the "Year List".

I always enjoy seeing waders, but there are two species that really stand out for me; Purple Sandpiper and Sanderling. Both species are rarely seen in Derbyshire, and take a little effort to see, so I was very happy to get great views yesterday. The Sanderling, in particular, were great, because I didn't see them at all last year, and also because of the way they feed. Yesterday's birds, which numbered about 80 in total split into 2 small groups, were running backwards and forwards on the water's edge, and looked amazing. Watch this video for an idea of how great they are!

Year List update:

85 – Common Gull

86- Eider Duck
87- Kittiwake
88 – Shag
89 – Oystercatcher
90 – Ringed Plover
91 – Sanderling
92 – Purple Sandpiper
93 – Turnstone

North Berwick and Bamburgh

Last day in Scotland today, so I got up early (again) and had a couple of hours on the beaches at North Berwick. The sun was just rising as I arrived and I got this shot of the beach and Bass Rock in the background.

North Berwick beach

Birdwise it was quite quiet, but I did record my first Turnstones of the trip (20+), feeding with at least 3 Purple Sandpipers (year tick) on the rocks below the Scottish Seabird Centre. Other waders present on the beach were Oystercatcher, Redshank, Curlew and a couple of Ringed Plovers. Both Grey and Pied Wagtails were feeding on the seaweed, whilst Starlings and House Sparrows were present on the nearby houses. Out on the sea were a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers, dozens of Eider Ducks, including several males trying to attract the attention of the females with their amazing "oooh,oooh" calls (listen here), a stunning 43 Shags feeding in the bay, along with Black-headed, Common, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls.

On the drive back home, we stopped off at Bamburgh and had half an hour on the beach by Stag Rocks. I was hoping to catch up with some grebes or divers, and a Bonaparte's Gull that was reported yesterday, but no such luck. I did, however, see 5 juvenile Gannets "plunge diving" into the sea, 20+ Eider Ducks, 40+ Turnstones, 5 Purple Sandpipers and Common and Black-headed Gulls.

Year List update:
186 - Purple Sandpiper

Update: the Bonaparte's Gull was spotted about an hour after I'd left!!!!!

North Berwick birding

I'm away in North Berwick in East Lothian, Scotland, for a few days and had my first bird watching walk this morning. I was out for a couple of hours from 7.30am and managed a fair few birds including my first "year tick" for quite a while, in the form of 3 winter plumaged Red-throated Divers.

North Berwick beach (with Bass Rock in the background)

My walk this morning started off in the harbour area where the first birds recorded were Starlings, Herring and Black-headed Gulls. A couple of Pied Wagtails were flying around and the first of at least a dozen Shags were fishing in the sea. Two Grey Herons flew up from the rocks below and a party of about 8 Eider Ducks were spotted out on the water. There were a couple of winter plumaged Guillemot out on the sea, along with the Red-throated Divers.

Back on the beach there were several waders: Turnstone (c30), Purple Sandpiper (at least 6), Oystercatcher (c10) and 1 Redshank. Several Rock Pipits were also around on the beach, along with more Starlings and House Sparrows. A great start.

154 - Red-throated Diver

Brilliant Bempton

The RSPB reserve of Bempton Cliffs is a wonderful place to visit with some amazing birds and wonderful scenery. I visited today with Jayne, my brother, my nephew and my niece and managed to see 6 new "year ticks" as well as getting a few lovely photos with my brother's camera.

Bempton Cliffs

First bird of the day was Tree Sparrow with several pairs on the feeding station and nest building around the Visitors' Centre.

Tree Sparrow

Walking down from the centre we were surrounded by the sound of singing Skylarks and Meadow Pipits, while several Linnets were flitting about and landing on the gorse bushes. As we arrived at the cliffs we heard the distinctive call of the Kittiwakes and saw our first Gannets of the day floating past.

Kittiwake

Gannets on Staple Newk

These species were quickly followed by Fulmar, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, a pair of fly-by Cormorants, a couple of fishing Shags and a Peregrine Falcon, which spooked everything!

Fulmar

Out on the sea and clinging to the cliff faces were hundreds of Guillemots and Razorbills and just 1 Puffin, which I spotted in the 'scope, but couldn't find again for my nephew and niece!

Razorbill

Guillemot

After three hours at Bempton we drove down to Bridlington for a bag of chips, a spot of sunbathing and two more bird species: Turnstone and Purple Sandpiper- very nice!

The Year List has moved on by 6 more species:

109 – Gannet

110 – Kittiwake

111 – Fulmar

112 – Guillemot

113 – Razorbill

114 – Puffin

Waders, waders and yet more waders!

After yesterday's excitement at North Shields I had a drive up to one of my favourite birding spots, St Mary's Island in Whitley Bay.I love this place because it is one of the best places I know to get super views of a wide range of different waders at very close quarters. As we arrived, the tide was coming in which meant that the birds were even closer than usual and we managed to see a total of 10 species (Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Turnstone, Knot, Purple Sandpiper, Oystercatcher and Bar-tailed Godwit) along with a Rock Pipt and a Peregrine Falcon that flew through the area on the search for a spot of lunch.

Redshank, Dunlin and Purple Sandpiper

One of the best birds I saw today was a colour ringed Dunlin. It was wearing a white ring with the letters E16 on it. I'll send off the details to the BTO and let you know where it was ringed when I find out.

Today's trip also added 11 new species to the Year List:

89 – Redshank

90 - Bar-tailed Godwit

91 – Sanderling

92 – Knot      

93 – Purple Sandpiper

94 – Ringed Plover

95 – Oystercatcher

96 - Turnstone

97 – Rock pipit

98 – Peregrine Falcon

99 - Song Thrush

One last photo of a feeding frenzy of Black-headed Gulls by the lighthouse.

Black-headed Gulls

Bamburgh and Seahouses - 24th October 2011

Our last day in Northumberland was unfortunately very windy, which meant that the birding was quite difficult to put it nicely! Despite the winds, however, we mananged a quick trip to Stag Rocks at Bamburgh and a look around the harbour at Seahouses.

Stag Rocks is one of my favourite places because, during the winter months, views of Purple Sandpiper are almost guaranteed. Today we managed to find a group of approximately 15 feeding with Turnstones and Oystercatchers. There were also a few Common, Black-headed Gulls, an adult Gannet and a late tern species. I managed to get a few photos of the tern, which had a short, black beak. When I checked Collins, it showed adult winter plumaged Common, Arctic and Roseate Tern all with black beaks, so I can't identify it with 100% accuracy. Any ideas?

Tern species

After about half an hour, we drove down to Seahouses, had some chips(!) and then scanned the harbour for anything blown in by the strong winds. Unfortunately nothing extraordinary was present, but we did see a raft of 10 Eider Duck, a Rock Pipit, Starling, several more Turnstones a Shag, 4 fly past Barnacle Geese (real ones most likely from Svalbard!),and Herring, Great Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls.

Great Black-backed Gulls and a juvenile Herring Gull.



St Mary's Island, Northumberland 9th January 2011

The family and I zipped up the Newcastle today to visit our son, so whilst up there I also took the opportunity to have an hour at a favourite place of mine, St Mary's Island. This "island" is a small piece of land located just off the coast near Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, with a lighthouse on it that is surrounded by the sea at high tide. At low tide, as it was today when I got there, it's possible to walk across to the lighthouse, but for a birder, the best thing about this site is the large expanse of sand and rocks which are exposed, providing excellent feeding and roosting opportunities for a wide range of waders.

                                                                      St Mary's Island

The first birds that you see as you arrive at this site are the dozens of Black-headed Gulls hanging around the car park. The odd Common Gull was in amongst them, but they were much shyer and kept down to the rocks. Waders were everywhere, the most obvious and noisy being Turnstones, but there were also good numbers of Ringed Plover (at least 10), Sanderling ( a flock of approximately 50/60 feeding on the waters edge), Knot (80+), Golden Plover (60+), Curlew (10+) in the fields by the entrance, Dunlin (10), Redshank (20+), Purple Sandpiper (2) and Oystercatcher (30+). In addition to the waders I also noted a Rock Pipit and a Pied Wagtail feeding on the rocks.

                                                       Common and Black-headed Gull

                                                         Roosting Knot and Oystercatcher

In addition to being an excellent site for a winter's day visit, it is also worth noting that the rocks are a great site in late summer (end of August especially), for roosting Terns from the nearby Farne Islands. It is particularly good for adult and juvenile Roseate Terns! Hopefully  more about that later in the year.