Wild Westerlies

Strong westerly winds dominated the weekend's weather, not conducive to good autumn birding. A slow start on Saturday morning following a night at the Cluny, we met up, over a cup of tea and a bacon buttie, with Steve Taylor and Dave Elliott at the Drift Cafe, to swap gen on Poland and Spain.

Onwards to Druridge, Janet and I had a good wander around the patch seeing not very much. From the Oddie hide, lapwings, golden plovers and curlews were put up by a passing helicopter from RAF Boulmer. The lapwings gave some nice views from the hide, the goldies were much higher (later settling in winter wheat at Hemscotthill). A late swallow flew south and a buzzard was floating around to the north - it was well-grilled, given the recent records of rough-leg nearby.

Two views of passing lapwings

We decided to walk to the Preceptory, to check it for roosting owls. It was empty, not even a skemmie or jackdaw. We walked back via High Chibburn, I had my heart set on year-ticking bullfinch - the long shelterbelt by the farm is often good for them, but not today...

Cows at High Chibburn

On the way back to the car, a great-spot called from the bushes. A quick look on the sea yielded nothing - the strong westerly had whipped it up and nothing was passing.

With even stronger westerlies today, I didn't even venture out.

Friday and Saturday

Friday 17th

A brief visit before work, Janet had already started to put some nets up when I arrived. The first bird I heard, then saw, when getting out of the car was a yellow-browed warbler. It was flitting about the whitebeam berries in lovely light.

I left Janet to it, to go to Amble and take a whole class of seven year-year-olds on a birdwatching walk around Amble. We didn't see very much, but they enjoyed learning about common species like jackdaws and collared doves.

I took the afternoon off and relieved Janet at the ringing site. A shift system. She had caught about forty birds - wrens, robins, blackbirds, goldcrests as well as a redwing (our first of the autumn) and a blackcap.

After I arrived we caught a flock of long-tailed tits and this great-spotted woodpecker.

First-winter male great-spotted woodpecker

The yellow-browed warbler was moving about with goldcrests all afternoon.

Saturday 18th

Curry night at the local and a few pints of ale made for a later start this morning. I checked the plantation which contained the usual suspects and a bunting, which I only saw twice, for about 30 seconds each time. It flitted about, a bit like a leaf warbler, amongst the pines. It had a really strong supercillium, but I didn't get much else on it. Despite looking quite sparse, there is a lot of cover in the plantation  and it easy to loose birds (as I know only too well..... http://ipinswildlifeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/a-tale-of-one-that-got-away.html)

I gave the bunting 40 minutes with no further sign and headed north. There are still butterflies and dragonflies on the wing. The butterflies are looking at a bit tatty now.

tatty-looking speckled wood

There was about six migrant hawkers amongst the bushes and on the sheltered edge and some common darters too.

male migrant hawker

Bird-wise I found little else of note.

On Wednesday morning I saw a brambling in the plantation - my first since 2011.

167 Brambling
 PWC Score = 259

Long weekend

I took Friday off work so I had a nice long weekend to do some ringing and birding on the patch.

Thursday

An early morning, pre-work visit. There seemed to have been an arrival of birds overnight with more robins, goldcrests and wrens than the previous day. There were also three great-spotted woodpeckers, blackbirds, lesser redpolls and a single blackcap - all new arrivals.

grey heron over

Work beckoned though....

Friday

I spent Friday morning checking the bushes, from the plantation in the south, up to the north end. Robins, wrens (over 32 counted), goldcrests and chiffchaffs were really evident. Thursdays redpolls had been joined by a flock of siskins and blackcap and great-spotted woodpecker were still present.

I finally got my yellow-browed warbler, just off the 'Mike Carr' path. picked up on call and found with goldcrests and a chiff in the willows. It didn't hang about. The birds were moving in waves like you get in the tropics.

One of many  robins

 There was at least nine stonechats in the dunes - showing how good a year this species has had.

Male stonechat

Vizmig was obvious with a constant movement of skylarks (35+) and meadow pipits (24+) moving south in small groups. A juvenile marsh harrier flew south, low over the bushes.

Pink-footed geese were also on the move. I estimated this skein at 150 when they flew over, I counted them on the photo and there were 151 - how's that for accurate guesswork?

151 pink-footed geese headed south

Saturday

We put some nets up on Saturday. It was 3 degrees C when we arrived and there was light frost, first frost of the year on the patch.

We caught 43 new birds, including an incredible 16 wrens. We also caught five song thrushes, which must have been freshly in. We didn't catch any chiffchaffs, but we did ring a single willow warbler, which is quite late. A great tit was a control (meaning that it had been ringed elsewhere, it had a larger 'B' ring on, so it was probably ringed as a pullus from a nestbox.

Goldfinches eating last years alder cone crop - this years very good crop is not quite ripe yet.

Yesterdays yellow-browed warbler called from the bushes. Skylark and mipit migration was still evident.

Today

Today was WeBS count day. My attempt at an early start was thwarted  with car problems. After a jump start and a trip to Kwik Fit for a new battery, I got down to patch at 15.40, £110 lighter.

An interesting wader on the far bank of the big pool had a few of us guessing for a bit. It looked a bit like a dunlin, but the jizz was wrong and some features didn't tally. It looked 'rounded and compact' and small, but difficult to judge size at such range with no comparison. It had no pectoral band, with colouring only reaching the throat. We decided that it was just a odd-looking dunlin. Interesting though.

Notable on the WeBS count was 18 little grebe, 26 gadwall and a great-crested grebe.

164 lesser redpoll
165 siskin
166 yellow-browed warbler

PWC Score - 258

A lark on the shore

I was at work today, which is a thing that less and less birders appear to be doing, when I saw some tweets, from those without jobs, about a shore lark at Druridge.

Luckily, I wasn't far away from Druridge and had eaten my lunch on the hoof, so could afford a quick dash to the patch.

When I arrived, some more birders without jobs were walking along the road "You'd better be quick, it's on the beach but the tide is coming into the base of the dunes"....

I had the forethought to put my wellies on, and legged it to the beach, when I got to the top of the dune, the tide was well and truly in - I feared the worst. 

Further north, at the Dunbar burn, I spotted some photographers, lenses pointed down the dune front, they kept moving and I presumed the bird was too. At this rate they'd chase it to Chevington. 

I staggered along the beach, wading the burn (thank god for the wellies), the incoming waves lapping at my feet as I set up my scope. And there it was, the shore lark on the front of the dune, about level with the Druridge bushes.

Shore lark on the dune front - iPhone scoped shot

I watched it for a while, it was going down onto the beach to feed between waves, flying back up to the dune when a breaker rolled in. I managed to get some video of it, just hand-held the iPhone up to my scope.

Shorelark druridge from Iain Robson on Vimeo.

This is my first shore lark since the spring bird on 5th April 2011

The tide was huge (5.2m at Amble), with a big swell. Quite impressive - could be good for grey phalarope somewhere tomorrow.

Big seas  - looking south

And looking north

On my way back to the car, I popped into the bushes (as you do) and flushed a woodcock, my first of the Autumn.

163 Shore lark

PWC Score = 250

More Meds

I only managed two very brief visits to the patch this weekend. Unfavourable winds and yesterday mornings rain meant I had the chance to catch up with some chores and drink too much wine.

Saturday

Not much to report. Goldcrests, robins, wrens and chiffchaffs in the bushes, the other highlight was an arrival of six mistle thrushes. They arrived from the northeast and settled in the lone pine at the back of the plantation, calling, before flying off north. I am presuming they were freshly in.

teal from the Oddie Hide

Sunday

Another afternoon visit. The bushes were still quiet, coal tits have been omnipresent in the plantation since the start of September, making the most of the pine cone crop.

coal tit with a pine seed

As a result of the recent warm weather, there are loads of insects about. Butterflies included comma, red admiral and speckled wood and a (migrant?) hawker was still on the wing. There were also lots of mozzies and midges. I had a go at photographing them.

mozzies

midges

On the beach, the gull roost was building up. Amongst about 350 gulls (mainly black-headed and common), I counted SIX Mediterranean gulls - easily a patch record count for me. They seem to be much more common this year.

Spot the meds - there are two in this shot

One of Meds was carrying a green darvik ring, with a white three figure code, I couldn't get the actual code but it would appear that it was ringed in France.

So, mistle thrush puts me on 162 for the year. Already an above-average year and there is still time for a fall....I need nine more species to equal last years 171.

162 mistle thrush

PWC Score = 248