Travelling tree sparrow and moving geese

We had news of an interesting ringing recovery from the BTO this week.

Back in late October, just before I headed off to Fuerteventura, I caught a tree sparrow by the feeders near to the Budge hide. It had a ring on it which wasn't on of ours - this interesting things about the ring that it was a 'B' ring. 'B' rings are only put onto tree sparrows when they are pullis, adult birds take an 'A' ring - which meant this bird had been ringed in the nestbox - and more likely a nest box.

I presumed that it would not have travelled too far and I was right. It was ringed back in June this year out of a box of five chicks at Whinney Hill, near Longhorsley, by my friend Phil.

An easterly movement of 16km, which isn't bad for a tree sparrow.

I've been off work but have only managed one more visit to the patch - on Friday 20th, household chores have prevented any more birding...

As i arrived on the patch I spotted a small flock of 250 or so Pink-footed geese in the field in front of Druridge Farm, so I had a scan through them and found a single 'tundra' bean goose (soon to be regarded as a species in its own right when the BOU move to the IOC list) in amongst them. No sooner had I found this bird when they all got up - a pheasant shoot was going on in the shelterbelt to the west. I watched the hunters for a while blamming (or trying to - the chap I was watching wasn't a great shot) the pheasants as they were kicked out of the wood by the beaters - hardly sport I thought to myself. There was a pheasant walking around behind him, he could of walked up and shot that, would have been as much sport!

So I never found out if there were any more beans in amongst them.

It was cold, grey and damp again - the type of cold that get's to your bones! There was still plenty of wildfowl and waders on the Budge fields, no sign of the recently report pintail or ruff but two black-tailed godwits were new-in. A nice female sparrowhawk was sat out on the side of the shelterbelt. There were a few pheasant on the Budge fields looking a bit lost - I wonder where they had come from?

In the field to the north of the big pool where the usual flock of canada geese, a quick scan with my bins found a Eurasian white-fronted goose and a handful of pinks in with them.

Interestingly on our way back from twitching the pacific diver at Chevington on Saturday, we spun by Druridge and neither the white-front or the pinks were with a depleted canada flock. There were 2500+ PFGs in the front field at Druridge Farm but we couldn't pick up a bean goose - just goes to show that these geese are moving around a lot.

Off shore on Friday, a single great-crested grebe was an interesting patch record - they are rare in winter here. Dave Elliott's huge flock of 2500+ wigeon were still off Chibburn mouth.

Grey days

Yesterday was supposed to be 'Blue Monday' - the gloomiest day of the year. Well, it was certainly gloomy when I arrived on the patch - overcast and misty with drizzly rain setting in. Today wasn't much better but it was my birthday and the day was brightened up with a little bit of sunshine...

On Sunday I did the WeBS count. Not a great variety species on the Budge fields, but plenty of what was there, particularly wigeon and teal with both species numbering over 400. I couldn't see the ruff that has been recently reported.

The big pool was very quiet, a couple of goldeneye and red-breasted mergansers and then I spotted why... two otters were swimming across the pool from east to west. It's ages since I last saw otter on the patch, probably over two years. These two looked the same size and the way that they were playing when they reached the west shore of the pool suggested they were siblings. This might also explain why coot and moorhen aren't on my year list yet.

Coot killers - record shot of the two otters making their way across the big pool.

On the path to the Oddie hide, one of last weeks bullfinches remained and a weasel legged it from one side to the other. 

female bullfinch feeding on dock seeds

Also of note were over 1000 golden plover on the field by the haul road, 30 sanderling, 18 turnstone and 12 ringed plover on the beach and 150 common scoter offshore.

Yesterday was very grey, Janet joined me for a walk through the patch and up to Chibburn mouth to look for the shorelarks as she hadn't seen them. They weren't to be seen (they were reported today) so we walked back along the beach in the mizzle. 

Today was my birthday. I headed out for walk to Chibburn Preceptory and back via High Chibburn and the cottages. The walk was largely uneventful. House sparrow and stock dove were added to the year list at the farm. The highlight came at the end of my walk, just by the cottages, when I found a little flock of yellowhammers with reed bunting in the isolated hawthorn on the roadside. 

Yellowhammer are a very scarce bird on the patch these days, in fact I only saw one in the whole of last year.

A little bit of sunshine to brighten up a grey day

I am doing the Patchwork Challenge again this year - they have a new fancy-dan website, check it out  - http://patchworkchallenge.com/ I am on 71 species and 78 points. 

I've got the rest of the week off work so might get out again between chores...

New year, new list

Another new year, another year list begins on the patch. I sometimes wonder what is the point of a 'year list' - a date in the calendar by which the list is reset, it could be any date I suppose, but most people stick to the calendar year.

What having a year list does do is give the patch birder some motivation to get our onto the patch in those dark January days. It gives a bit of focus to patch-birding, something to aim for when you know you that you are likely to see one or two new species in a year - if you are lucky!

My 2017 year list got off to a slow start. A trip to Islay for Hogmanay meant it was Saturday 7th before I hit the patch. Islay was great trip, it is a great place with lots of interest for the visiting birder and of course it is famous for its whisky...

So Saturday morning it was and I didn't have much time so I concentrated on the bushes, pools and up onto the haul road - I usually like a walk to out the farm in early January but there wasn't time.

In the plantation I was surprised to see a small flock of goldcrests - I am seeing them more in the winter now, once-upon-a-time they were strictly an autumn species at Druridge. There were also blackbirds, song thrush and mistle thrush in the plantation.

Robin

The Budge fields still held plenty of wildfowl including two drake pintail, waders were limited to redshank, curlew and lapwing. A sparrowhawk was perched out on the edge of shelterbelt - my only raptor of the morning and five whooper swan flew south.

Plenty of wigeon on the Budge fields

A siskin was with goldfinches on the path to the Oddie hide and then,ahead of me on the path, I could hardly believe my eyes, three bullfinches! This species is now a patch mega, these were the first partch bullies I Have seen since November 2014.

Bullies!

Out on the haul road, a huge flock of goldfinches, maybe 250, were coming down to bathe in puddles on the road and in the ditch - with them were a few twite, linnet, reed buntings, dunnocks and chaffinches.

Goldfinches bathing in the puddles

One of the chaffinches

In the dunes, a covey of 12 grey partridges were put up by the only other birder I saw (it was birdrace day).

Offshore, the sea was flat calm. There were a couple of shag, ten red-breasted mergansers, a few common scoters and red-throated divers and most excitingly a slavonian grebe - a good January species.

My 2017 year-list now stands at 60 species - not a bad start. Exactly half of the winning tally in the county winter birdrace.

I am doing the Patchwork Challenge again this year and will update my totals as and when.