Brief Post

Not Another One ...

8 Spoonbills

(Patch Record)

Northumberland record is nine (previous day) Budle Bay.

Next Year!

Wader Scrapes

Love to see something like this at East Chevington.

Excellent work by AP getting this project near to completion.

Hooded Crow through the September heat haze today.

New Patch bird for me!

34 Pinks yesterday, another 10 today.

Scaup (2)

 

Catching Up

Juvenile Cuckoo

Had to get on tiptoes to get a couple of snaps but delighted with the results.

My usual daily visits to East Chevington are still paying off. Greenfinch, Nuthatch, GS Woodpecker, Garganey, Scaup, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Singing Cetti's Warbler and still the odd lingering Sedge and Reed Warbler.

After the patch visit this morning I was drawn to Druridge. On arrival I noticed a group of birders from a mini-bus scanning the dunes. I assumed wrongly they were looking at the Stonechats. This I thought was my opportunity to get a quick scan of the Budge fields before they went to the screen (I'm still concerned about big groups and covid.).

As I headed away from them several people in the group kindly shouted for me to join them. When I got near they announced that they had found a Red-backed Shrike.

Thank you!

I was very pleased to get some great views even though it was distant. The group of birders were up from Norfolk.

Heavily cropped pictures and while I was there nobody tried to get too close. It was of course flushed by walkers in the dunes but they were blissfully unaware of its presence. I saw it pick up some large caterpillars and twice it caught large bees.

Once again thanks to the Norfolk birders who found the bird and called me over.

 

Still Searching

Scaup

Reed Warbler

Chiffchaff

Whinchats

Migrant Hawker

Spotted Redshank

Lesser Whitethroat

Sparrowhawk

Wheatear

Splendid Morning

Enjoyed a visit to Teesside. Greatham Creek and Saltholme RSPB. I was surprised nobody was interested in the 250 Barnacle Geese. However, thanks to TF, I found that they were a 'feral' flock from the Yorkshire and not early wild arrivals.

An unwelcome sight at Saltholme.

Some nice Plover plumage variety.

 

September Sprinkles

Goosander

Purple Sandpiper

Coquet

A few more Whinchats

Brown Hare

Willow Tit

This was a day when I decided to keep a tally of patch birds. A three hour walk produced a respectable total of 76 species. (Despite not seeing a Chaffinch or Skylark.)

Today I walked from Hadston to Chevington Burn and back. I spent nearly 4 hours checking every bird in the dunes. A Merlin hunting and two Wheatears were nice finds. Then I fell into a hole (knee deep). It might have been one of the post holes from the burnmouth fence.

On the way back I saw the Merlin again distantly and when I was within a few hundred metres of the car being torn to shreds by the Brambles I found a Barred Warbler. A magnificent sight which lightened my mood. Sadly conditions meant it stayed out of sight for most of the 30 minutes I waited. Hopefully with a bit of sunshine it might start feeding on the outside of the bushes in the next few days.

I'll be back!