SaTURDay

My only visit to the patch this weekend was yesterday morning, there was no updates last nights due the appalling display by the toon in the FA Cup which saw us exit the competition at the hands of lowly Stevenage. I was too emotional to post anything last night!

I was cheerfully optimistic about the football and my visit to Druridge yesterday morning, I shouldn't have been about either.

mallard and teal on thin ice

There was very little to see at Druridge and the westerly wind made it bitterly cold. The pools is largely still frozen, a few hardy teal and mallard hanging about by the unfrozen patch.

The normal wigeon flock has been gone for weeks now, I wonder where they go? Grey herons are thin on the ground too, I hope it is a case of them having moved on rather perishing, we might even get a ringing recovery from the pullus we ringed last spring, the big rings should be readable in the filed if a bird is on ice.

Still no robin, dunnock or wren on the 2011 patch list, again,  I wonder where the wrens go, they tend not to fly far so it'll be interesting to see if we catch any of 'our' birds in the spring.

A look offshore was worthwhile, 14 red-throated and two great northern divers were in the bay, three drake red-breasted mergansers and a handful of common scoter. Frustratingly, I saw a bird I couldn't identify, it was a long way off mind, long-winged like a wader, but with a more gull like jizz. It looked short-tailed and   'dumpy' and had an obvious dark leading edge to an otherwise greyish looking wing, overall it appeared to whitish/greyish. Befuddled me.

peek-a-boo,  a little owl on Druridge Lane

On the drive to Widdrington farm shop for a fat-free diet pasty, an unfortunate moorhen, frozen off the ponds, was a roadkill victim by High Chibburn Farm and the little owl was in its usual tree on the lane.

47 great-northern diver

48 grey heron

49 common scoter