Best Wishes to All
I hope it is a year full of good wildlife news.
A trip to Northumberland early this year and three highlights were Water Pipit, Snow Buntings and Hen Harrier. Better still I was able to catch up with AP and GW
Today I came across this Purple Sandpiper. Colour-ringed and probably one from Svalbard. I have sent off details and hope to get a reply. Received a very quick response from , Kjell Mork Soot. Bird ringed as a young female on 30/08/2021. Location Longyearbyen, Svalbard. This was the first sighting since then (16 months).
Love the delicate streaking on this Redshank at Whitburn this morning.
Sanderling
One of the South Shields, Snow Buntings.
My first failed twitch of the year. Yesterday I visited Northumberland but when I got home I received a call about the Walrus at Blyth. I wasn't ready to head straight back up through the tunnel so, just like last year at Seahouses, I planned an early morning trip today. Just as with the Seahouses Walrus it was a big mistake. I arrived well before sunrise but Thor had slipped away about 45 minutes earlier. I spoke to one of the team keeping watch overnight. She showed me some amazing pictures. One was taken with a thermal imaging camera and it showed the Walrus as a huge mass of heat alongside all the cold landing platforms. Secondly an image, taken after it had left, of the frost covered landing area and it showed a huge area ice free where it had been overnight.
Top Dog Turnstone
New Years Day, Flower Hunt.
This has become a bit of a tradition. I usually go to Alnmouth with my mum. We record the plants in flower. Normally we expect to easily get into double figures. This year the venue changed to the Leas and Trow Quarry. Only 3 recorded; Gorse, White Deadnettle and Groundsel. Today on a walk from the carpark to Whitburn Steel I managed a better selection: White Deadnettle, Common Chickweed, Shepherd's Purse, Groundsel and Winter Heliotrope.
Resolutions
Last year I managed to keep one of them 'Not to find a rarity in 2022'.
This year I am back to my normally grumpy mood and CBA,
Oh and before I forget. I saw one of the Whitburn Weasels this afternoon even though I was hoping for a rather bigger mammal at the start of the day.
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