Some you win...

Well...where to start?

What a weekend  - on so many levels.

It all started on Friday when I was just to about to get on the train at Widdrington, headed for the Test Match at Chester-le-Street when I get a call from Dave Elliott to say he was watching either an icterine warbler or melodious warbler at Druridge - both new patch birds. It ended today, with me watching a stunning broad-billed sandpiper on the Budge fields - a new bird for the patch.

Dave soon nailed the warbler as an icterine and by the time I was downing my first pint in Newcastle Station he'd found another new bird for the patch - common rosefinch. No turning back now, I was bound for Chester-le-Street and like a tory recession - a double-dip (the cricket was good though).

With much restraint on Friday night and against all odds, I was up at 5.30am on Saturday and setting my nets up at Druridge by 6am - the weather was perfect for ringing but I wasn't catching many birds. I think most of the warblers are on eggs now. I did catch a grasshopper warbler, reed warbler and a low-flying swallow.

Gropper

Fridays double-dip was partly avenged with a pair of glossy ibis dropping briefly onto the Budge fields (thanks for the call Alan G!) just next to one of my nets. These birds had previously been at Newton-by-the-Sea, after calling at Druridge they made their way via Whitburn and Hartlepool to Saltholme.  These are the second and third patch glossy ibis - the first being  a long-stayer in 2011. The great-white egret that has been around for ten days or so was also there.

On Saturday evening there were six ruff on the Budge fields - five males displaying with full ruffs to a reeve. I've not seen displaying ruff like this on the Budge fields since the early nineties, it was amazing to see again. Far more exciting than glossy ibis! There was also a first-summer little gull, 16 summer-plumaged sanderling on the beach, my first two manx shearwaters of the campaign, a med gull on the sea and a pair of goosander on the big pool.

On Sunday there was an avocet on the Budge fields, with a handful of dunlin and ringed plover as well as two little gulls.

Bank Holiday Monday brought  little of note, just the usual campers, mini motorbikes and tribes of dog-walkers with out-of-control hounds.

So back to work today...just before lunchtime I come out of a meeting to find a message about a broad-billed sandpiper on the Budge fields - yowzas! The benefits of flexi-time brought an early lunch-break and I was off to Druridge, arriving in already-full little hide behind Stef and Mrs Stef, I had to blag a look through someone's scope as I had no gear with me (thanks Hector!)...and there it was, wandering around between the rush clumps - a very stripy wader indeed! A wood sandpiper and garganey also put in appearance.

I was a very-happy patch watcher, though still smarting from Friday).

The addition of broad-billed sandpiper takes my patch list to 239 species. That and the common rosefinch take the patch list to 261 (there had been an icterine in 1966).

My year list at the end of May stands at 135 and my PWC score is 186.

First ringing session

Finally there are enough leaves on the trees and bushes at Druridge to attempt a ringing session, with light winds and cloud first thing on Sunday morning the weather was ideal. The forecast said the wind would ease further throughout the day and become more cloudy - of course it did the opposite.

It was a good first session though with only three nets up. I caught a good number of warblers including grasshopper, reed and sedge along with willow, whitethroat and blackcap. I had some interesting retraps including a willow warbler first ringed in 2014, a blackcap ringed as an adult in 2013, a blackcap ringed as a juvenile in 2013 and a whitethroat, also from 2013.

A great white egret was found on the Budge fields on Friday morning by Time Dean, I saw it then and saw it again flying north over the big pond as I was ringing. A drake garganey was also on the Budge fields along with a three ruff, two of which had 'ruffs' and smart male yellow wag.

The warm weather had brought a few butterflies out - speckled wood were the most common and I saw my first orange-tip of the year.

This family of Canada geese goslings kept me amused for a while.

At least one of us can manage to stay awake

Pied wagtail

Still a few wigeon about - Mrs wigeon

Mr Wigeon

Should've stayed at home

On Saturday I went down to Villa Park to cheer on the Toon to what should have been a straightforward three-points. Nothing is straightforward with Toon and we came home with a draw, which probably means Championship football next season. I should've stayed at home and gone birding on the patch.

Since my last blog post, I have had a couple of quick visits to the patch, adding a handful of summer migrants to the year-list including common tern, arctic tern, house martin, puffin and swift.

I had an evening visit to the patch today to do the WeBS count having spent the morning checking nestboxes. Wintering duck have all but gone with only two teal and four wigeon. The highlight from the WeBS count was 12 whimbrel on the Budge fields and a great-crested grebe still hanging around the big pool.

No lapwing chicks to report yet, but there are plenty of birds sitting on eggs, I guess the winter conditions we had for the best-part of two weeks put them back a bit. There is also an oystercatcher on eggs - a very rare breeder at Druridge.

Sedge warbler was the only new bird for the year - and there were plenty of them, at least five singing males between the Budge screen and the Oddie hide.

Offshore there were plenty of terns and 12 red-throated divers in a range of plumages including some in full-breeding garb.

There were two mallard brood on the big pool, one of two and another of six.

This little chap got left behind

Mum with family

At last... a change in the weather

This weekend brought a change in the weather,  something more resembling the spring-like conditions we should be expecting. That-said there were some vicious hail storms coming through until this evening.

Leading up until Sunday, conditions were decidedly wintery and not conducive to birding or I am sure, for our newly arrived migrants, a bit of a shock!

Snow storm approaching

The conditions, alongside an important football match to attend meant little time for birding the patch, although the Bank Holiday Monday gave me an opportunity today. The two visits that I did manage brought a little flurry of species that were new for the year. Yesterday I saw fulmar, sandwich tern, ringed plover and grasshopper warbler (one reeling by the path to the hides last night) and today brought whimbrel (several flying over and eight coming in to land ahead of a hail storm), goosander and whitethroat.

There was a pair of red-breasted merganser on the big pool. Sadly the goosander was distant and in direct sunshine.

Red-breasted merganser pair

Drake red-breasted merganser having a stretch

This white wagtail was on the Budge fields - apologies for the heavily cropped pic.

White wagtail  - apologies for the heavily cropped pic

Finally, we had interesting news of a ringing recovery this week. A first-winter male siskin that we caught at Druridge on 16th November 2014, our last ringing session of that year, was caught by ringers in Warsop in Nottinghamshire on April 9th. A distance of 228 kilometres.

My year list now stands at 116 species.