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