Pants!

Today's my birthday......37 since you ask.

I normally like to be somewhere warm for my birthday, but today I was not only in the UK but also had to go to work! It wasn't too bad though as work today was assisting on a press trip for a journo from 'Birdwatch' magazine to the Druridge area.

I met Dave and Martin Kitchen at Druridge at 11.00 am, it was a nice sunny morning, in total contrast to yesterday. There was a light westerly wind and a bit cold, but generally very nice. As we walked to the Oddie hide, we spotted this rather skimpy pair of red pants hanging in the tree by the little hide - welcome to Druridge Pools!

You would have thought has been far to cold for any of that carry-on!

There was lots of wildfowl back on the pool after the big freeze, including seven goldeneye and ten pochar, offshore there were at least 15 red-throated divers, a guillie, a couple of razorbills and 60 or so common scoter further north. These feathers were on the path to the oddie hide, they look like they've come of a game bird, pheasant was my guess, but I'm not good at feather ID - any thoughts?

We took David for lunch at the Country Barn at Widdrington, stopping to see this family of the whooper swans on the way, then to Cresswell Pond where a nice barn owl was showing off and a skein of 800 or so pink-feeted geese came over. At the north end there was a covey of 16 grey partridge, good to see they, and two stonechats, survived the freeze.

Then it was back to Druridge for me to the WeBS count, hightlights were 281 teal, 124 wigeon, 2 shoveler, 81 tufted ducks, 35 curlew and 27 redshank.

A few more year ticks today too.

51 grey partridge

52 whooper swan

53 mute swan

54 stonechat

55 twite

56 coal tit

57 chaffinch

58 woodpigeon

59 guilliemot

60 razorbill

61 starling

62 shoveler

63 little grebe