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).

Rufford and Attenborough - 28th December 2024

 This morning, Luke and I went across to Rufford to try and catch up with Hawfinch (202). Whilst there, we also had a quick check on the Black-headed Gulls, before driving down to Attenborough to catch up with a 1st winter male Scaup (203).

The Hawfinch "showed well" within a few minutes of our arrival at 8am, and we counted a maximum of 8, in the trees, around the main car park.

Afterwards, we popped down to the lake, where we spotted 273A, 208B, 280B, 207C, 264C, 255F and a new bird, 276F. 

276F

Our final stop was Attenborough GP, where we were searching for a Caspian Gull. Unfortunately, we didn't have any luck on this occasion, but we did pick up a Scaup and a Great White Egret.

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.

Year List 2022

 Over the last few days I've added the (most likely) last two species to my Year List for 2022, Smew and Scaup.

The Smew, a redhead, was seen at Attenborough Gravel Pits on Wednesday. The Scaup, a male, was seen today at Thrybergh Country Park. These last two species take me to 163 for the year. Whilst in California, Jayne and I also recorded 101 species of bird, 70 of which were lifers!! In total the, my Year List for 2022 stands at 264 species.

Scaup

Whilst at Thrybergh, I had a look at the Mute Swans, and recorded 6 darvic rings (Y835, Y636, Y674, 061Y, 251Y and 252Y). There were 13 Mute Swans present, but the others had their legs covered up!

061Y and Y636

After Thrybergh, I drove across to Rother Valley to see if the Norwegian-ringed Black-headed Gull, JMT9, was still about - it was!!

JMT9

Also present were two darviced Mute Swans, Y178 and 439Y. Interestingly, 439Y had been seen at Rufford CP, in January 2020!

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

WWT Slimbridge- 15th February 2016

It's half term this week, so I traveled down to the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust's Slimbridge reserve with my nephew and his friend on Monday. We saw lots of great birds (as always), including ten "year ticks", one of which was also a "lifer".

The first stop on the journey was a small pond on the outskirts of Gloucester (Horsebere Pool). Two male Penduline Tits had been present here for a couple of weeks. We arrived on site and were lucky enough to see 1 of the birds within about 10 minutes. The bird was feeding on the Reedmace in the corner of the pond. I managed to get it in the binoculars for about 30 seconds (!), before it disappeared, never to be seen again. A very smart little bird and my second "lifer" of the year. No photos of my own unfortunately, but here's a link to the BirdGuides website, where there are some super shots. Also present here were 2 Chiffchaffs, a male and a female Stonechat, Robin, Long-tailed Tit and Reed Bunting.

Moving on to Slimbridge, we spent about four hours looking around the reserve, adding another 9 "year ticks" to the Year List, along with hundreds of commoner birds, including Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Mallard, Canada and Greylag Goose, Lapwing, Dunlin and Golden Plover.

Pintail

Crane, Pintail, Lapwing and Wigeon

Year List update:

102 - PENDULINE TIT (lifer)

103 - Stonechat

104 - Black-tailed - Godwit

105 - Shelduck

106 - Pintail

107 - Common Crane (4 colour ringed birds)

108 - Scaup (2 females)

109 - Avocet

110- European White-fronted Goose (7)

111- Barnacle Goose (100+)

112 - Bewick Swan

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

100 up

On Monday I decided to have a day where I go to several sites to see a few birds that I otherwise wouldn't catch up with. As you can see from the Year List update below it was quite a busy and successful day, with me breaking the 100 barrier.

First stop was Rufford Country Park in Nottinghamshire. This is a reliable site for my first target of the day: Hawfinch. Birds are usually to be found around the main car park, but unfortunately on Monday there was some work going on in the site, and so the birds weren't in the area. After an hour, however, I managed to pick one up as it flew in and landed at the top of a tall tree.

Next up was the Idle Valley Nature Reserve, which is part of the Lound Gravel Pits complex. where a Slavonian Grebe had been sighted.

Slavonian Grebe

Last stop of the day was the wonderful RSPB Blacktoft Sands reserve. My main target was Hen Harrier, which is a winter visitor to the reserve. The birds come in to roost on site, so I had to wait 'til the end of the day to see this species, but it was well worth it. Whilst waiting I also managed to catch up with a few other species, including a flock of Twite that have been feeding in and around the car park for most of the winter.

Twite

Also present were 4 Marsh Harriers, an immature Scaup, 2 female Goldeneye, loads of Tree Sparrows, flocks of Pink-footed Geese and 20+ Snipe.

Year List update:

95 - Hawfinch

96 – Slavonian Grebe
97 - Tree Sparrow
98 - Twite
99 - Pink-footed Goose
100 -Goldeneye
101 - Scaup
102 - Marsh Harrier
103 - Hen Harrier

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

Scaup at Thrybergh.

I'm sorry but I just can't help myself. This morning instead of going for a walk around Linacre I drove back to Thrybergh CP to see the male Scaup, that I missed yesterday. Luckily it was very easy to see and I managed to get a few decent picture as it fed about 10m away. Note the gorgeous grey vermiculations on his back, the greenish tinge to the head and the small black nail on the end of the beak.

Scaup

As well as this bird there were dozens of Tufted Duck, Black-headed Gulls, Coot, Moorhen, a few Pochards, Mute Swans  and Canada and Greylag Geese. One of the Mute Swans was colour ringed (Y326- orange writing on a yellow ring) and is apparantly "one of ours" i.e. ringed by Sorby Breck Ringing Group, according to a local bird watcher. He also said that the bird was an adult male who is resident on the reservoir. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo - d'oh!!

Last sighting of the morning was a winter plumaged Dunlin seen feeding just in front of the Visitors' Centre - nice.

Year list moves on again:

101 - Scaup

Thrybergh Country Park - 25th February 2012

My first ringing trip in two weeks was a return visit to Thrybergh Country Park in Rotherham. We had three nets up and, after a quiet start, managed a total of 23 birds of 10 species (Blackbird, Great and Long-tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Yellowhammer, Wren, Dunnock, Reed Bunting and House Sparrow) . As well as ringing we also held a demonstration which is always good fun. The Yellowhammer was a cracking male and the House Sparrow was aged as a 5 ( born last year) by the greyness of the lores (feathers between the beak and eye).

Yellowhammer

House Sparrow

The juvenile male Scaup that has spent the winter on the reservoir was still present, but I didn't have time to go across and look at it today. A singing Skylark was a year tick (my 100th of the year!) and the other usual suspects (Mallard, Tufties, Moorhen, Coot, Mute Swan, Black-headed Gull) were all present on the water. A small flock of Lesser Redpoll was feeding in the surrounding Alders.

Year List update:

100 - Skylark