A Tale of Three Pipits - Rock, Meadow and Water.

 I have to be honest, and say that, even as a "birder", I don't often look that closely at pipits. They are, after all, the very definition of an LBJ (Little Brown Job). For the last couple of years, however, I've been trying to find a lifer, in the form of a Water Pipit, so, whilst in Northumberland this week, I had to take notice of the various pipits at St Mary's Island, in order to see this particular species.

We started off on 30th December and spent an hour and a half looking at each and every bird!! Despite taking a lot of pictures, we only managed to find Rock and Meadow Pipit (photos below).

Rock Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Not to be beaten, I returned on New Year's Day, and after spotting several Rock Pipits, I managed to find, and photograph my first "lifer" of 2026, in the form of a Water Pipit.

Water Pipit

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).

Pied Wheatear!!

 A first winter male Pied Wheatear turned up in a skate park in Whitley Bay last week, so, after a week of umming and ahhing (!) Jayne and I drove up there today to have a look at this new species.

Pied Wheatear!!

When we arrived, the bird wasn't in the Skate Park, but was, instead, hopping about along the seawall opposite The Spanish City. At times, it hopped to within 2m!!! Luckily, the weather was decent, still and sunny, so we managed to get some decent shots.

Whilst there, we also had a walk up to St Mary's Island. The tide was out, so we spotted a few waders on the way up (Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Lapwing and Ringed Plover) as well as several Pied Wagtails and Rock Pipits. On the Island there were a dozen or so Grey Seals enjoying the sun, and two flocks of Pink-footed Geese flew overhead. A couple of Red-throated Divers also flew past, and Black-headed and Herring Gulls were seen.

Year List update: 

160 - Lesser Whitethroat (1 seen whilst ringing back in September) 

161 - Pied Wheatear

Wales 2020

 Jayne and I have just a couple of weeks in Wales, staying in Tenby. It was a family holiday, but we also saw a few nice bits of wildlife, including 5 "year ticks": Rock Pipit, Shag, Sandwich Tern, Manx Shearwater and Chough.

The Rock Pipits and Sandwich Terns (14), were seen in and around Tenby, whilst the Chough (4 birds) were seen about 2 miles out of the town on a headland opposite Caldy Island and the Shag and Manx Shearwaters (100s!!) were seen on a boat trip out of St David's. 

I also had my first Beautiful Demoiselle of the year on the river by St David's cathedral.

As expected, there were lots of Herring Gulls in and around the town, including a metal ringed bird, GC60771, that had been ringed on Caldy Island, 6km away, as a nestling, on 1st June 2010.

Herring Gull, GC6077

Year List update:

153 – Rock Pipit

154 – Sandwich Tern

155 – Chough

156 - Shag

157 – Manx Shearwater

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

Rutland Water - 5th April 2018

Luke and I went to Rutland Water Nature Reserve on Thursday to catch up with the Ospreys that had returned to breed on the reserve. We spent the day there, and got great views of the Manton Bay pair, along with another 4 "year ticks", including a Wheatear, that was quite unexpected. We also a breeding plumaged Mediterranean Gull that had originally been ringed in Poland.

The weather was great, 12 degrees, bright blue skies and sunshine, so we also managed to get our first butterflies of the year; 1 Comma, 1 Small Tortoiseshell and 3 male Brimstones.

The other "year ticks" (numbers 103 - 107) on the list below, were seen at Scarborough on Tuesday (3rd), where I also had a stunning breeding plumaged Mediterranean Gull. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a photo as I'd left my camera at home!!!!!

The Chiffchaff, 4 in total, were seen at Linacre on Wednesday 4th.

Year List update:
103 – Red Kite
104 – Kittiwake
105 – Turnstone
106 - Fulmar
107 – Rock Pipit
108 – Chiffchaff
109 – Willow Warbler
110 – Black-necked Grebe
111 – Sand Martin
112 – Wheatear
113 - Osprey

Whitby and Scarborough

Last weekend I was up in Whitby and Scarborough with the family. Whitby was quite quiet Birdwise, but I did spot a well known Herring Gull, with a darvic ring 1R1B.

Herring Gull 1R1B

I say, well known, because I saw this bird in exactly the same spot ( the top of a dustbin on the pier) back in July 2015 (see here). There were lots of other Herring Gulls around, along with the odd Fulmar and a pair of Shags. Red Admiral butterflies were present in good numbers (10+), and 4 Small Tortoiseshells were also seen.

Scarborough was a little busier. There were hundreds of pairs of Kittiwakes in and around the town centre and cliffs, including several with growing chicks.

Kittiwakes

Also present were Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls (3 of the latter, including 1 adult in full breeding plumage, on the sea by The Spa).

Mediterranean Gull

Turnstones were seen in the harbour, along with a small flock of 10 Redshank, a few more Kittiwakes and a pair of Rock Pipits that were carrying food to an unseen nest.

Rock Pipits

Black-necked Grebe and Colour-ringed Turnstones

I'm off for the Easter holidays at the moment, so I decided to head off to Scarborough for the day with Jayne and Lydia. The sun was shining for most of the day, and I managed to add 3 new birds to the "year list", with 2 Black-necked Grebes in the harbour, along with several pairs of Kittiwakes that were starting to nest build on the harbour walls, and a couple of Rock Pipits on the sea defences..

Black-necked Grebe

Kittiwake

Other birds seen around the harbour were Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Peregrine Falcon on the cliffs and Turnstones. In amongst the 20 or so Turnstone were 8 colour-ringed birds.

Turnstones

I've recorded colour-ringed Turnstones in the harbour at Scarborough before, back in 2014, and found out that they were ringed in the harbour itself. It'll be interesting to see if they've been reported elsewhere since then. I'll update with details as soon as I get them from the scheme.

Year List Update:
125 - Black-necked Grebe
126 - Kittiwake
127 - Rock Pipit

North East trip adds to the Year List

Although the weather wasn't great yesterday, we decided to have a trip to the coast. We decided on Tynemouth near Newcastle, as this meant we could also combine the beach and some shopping with a little birding too.

 

The day started in Tynemouth itself, where we had a walk along the beach. During the walk we spotted the first "year tick" of the day with a Rock Pipit, feeding along the sea wall. Walking up to castle and Priory we spotted a large, female Peregrine Falcon carrying a Feral Pigeon. She perched up on the cliff side after being harassed by the local Herring Gulls, and then flew off south with her lunch. Also flying around the headland here were a couple of Fulmars. Here's a heavily cropped photo of the Peregrine.

Peregrine Falcon

After a spot of lunch at the café on the beach, we drove up to St Mary's Island, where we spent a hour looking at the waders and managed to add a few more birds (numbers 74 - 82) to the list. As well as these birds there were also about 50 Lapwings, 100+ Starlings and a superb flock of at least 500 Golden Plover flying around the area. Unfortunately, the tide was low, so I wasn't able to find any Purple Sandpipers today.

 

Here's a photo of one of the Ringed Plovers that was feeding around the causeway.

 

Ringed Plover

 

Year List update:

71 – Rock Pipit

72 – Peregrine Falcon
73 - Fulmar
74 – Redshank
75 – Turnstone
76 – Oystercatcher
77 – Curlew
78 – Sanderling
79 – Dunlin
80– Ringed Plover
81 – Eider Duck
82 - Shag

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

East Lothian Tour and 3 Year Ticks

Got up and out again this morning. First stop was Musselburgh Lagoons on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I visited this site for the first time last October, where I managed some video footage of Velvet Scoter (see here).  Scoters were present again this morning with at least a dozen male bird swimming close to the seawall. Also present were 1 Slavonian Grebe, a female Red-breasted Merganser, Oystercatchers, Dunlin, Eider Duck and Black-headed and Common Gull.

Driving back to North Berwick I stopped off at Gosford Bay in search of Red-necked Grebe, without luck!! I did however add Golden Plover to the trip list, along with more Dunlin, a Great-crested Grebe and a dozen Bar-tailed Godwit.

A quick visit to Aberlady Bay brought me 3 Barnacle Geese, which was very nice as these are presumably wild ones, as opposed to the feral ones seen in Derbyshire. Two Little Egrets were present again and feeding around the bridge and, of course, a couple of hundred Pink-footed Geese flew out to feed in the farmland.

Last stop was Gullane Bents. No Long-tailed Ducks today, but I did pick up a single winter plumaged Red-throated Diver, several Eider Ducks and a group of 10+ Common Scoter.

Gullane Bay (and my thumb!!)

Year List update:

182- Slavonian Grebe

183 – Red-breasted Merganser
184 – Red-throated Diver
185 - Rock pipit (1 in North Berwick)

Barns Ness

This morning's walk saw me heading down the coast to a beach south of Dunbar called Barns Ness. I was hoping to catch up with a Water Pipit that had been reported yesterday, but the tide was out and I couldn't find it anywhere!

Barns Ness lighthouse and beach

First bird of the morning was a Common Buzzard that flew up from a tree as I drove down to the beach. Next up were Meadow Pipits, followed by several Rock Pipits and at least a dozen Pied Wagtails that were feeding on the seaweed on the beach. Redshanks, Turnstones, Oystercatchers and Curlews were all feeding along the edge of the sea. A couple of Stonechats (1 male and 1 female) were seen in the sand dunes and Linnet and Goldfinch flew overhead.

Out on the sea there were several Eider Ducks, 1 Red-throated Diver, Great Black-backed, Herring, Black-headed and Common Gulls along with 2 new species for the trip: Gannets and Red-breasted Merganser (also a Year Tick).

Just behind Barns Ness there is a large, active quarry with a large lake. I had a quick look at it on the way back and added Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Lapwing and Shoveler to the morning's list.

Back in North Berwick a short walk along the beach produced the same birds as yesterday, plus a late Swallow that flew south overhead.

Year List:

155 - Red-breasted Merganser

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

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.