Back to Reality...

So, after my 4 months off, I'm now back at uni, and it's back to the crushing reality of work once again! Blog posts are becoming very few and far between, so I've decided to just keep doing a few months of summary every so often to keep it ticking over! Here is what I've been up to since I last posted:


1/8/15 - 7/8/15 - Scilly Trip

Me and my dad always go on a birding holiday once every year, and since neither of us had ever been to Scilly, and my dream has always been to do the pelagic, we decided this year, we'd give it a try. We booked for two nights on Scilly, and the rest of the week touring the UK sites we'd never been to either. In summary, we racked up 125 species for the week, however the Scilly Isles themselves were a bit of a flop! The Scillonian Crossing was absolutely horrendous, and everyone was ill, which left us in poor stead for the pelagic later that day, and suffice to say, the pelagic was a tough 5 hours for us! The birding was slow, but the sea was not and within 30 minutes of leaving, I wanted my 'dream trip' to end, and was ill throughout, therefore I didn't take any photos! Despite being green all the way through, we managed to get 200+ Storm-Petrels, Balearic Shearwater, 6 Bonxies and not a lot else! No Wilson's, Cory's, Greats... But, we did get some brilliant views of a Pectoral Sandpiper at Porth Hellick on the last day.

However, the week on the whole was superb! I got 3 lifers in Red-Footed Falcon, Montagu's Harrier and Cirl Bunting, plus a massive supporting cast of waders, especially at Norfolk on the way home with 4 Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, 20+ Whimbrel, Wood Sandpiper at Titchwell plus 25 Spoonbill at Stiffkey, and Spotted Redshank everywhere! We also went to Ham Wall RSPB which was hard work, but still managed a Great White Egret. Here are a few photos from the trip:

 Avocet at Titchwell RSPB

 Black-tailed Godwit at Titchwell RSPB

 Brimstone at Ham Wall RSPB

 Cirl Bunting at Broadsands (Lifer!)

 Gatekeepers at Ham Wall RSPB

 Super Views of a Pectoral Sandpiper at Porth Hellick Pool.

Wood Sandpiper at Titchwell RSPB

 Red Admiral at Ham Wall RSPB

Red-footed Falcon at Chatterley Whitfield, Staffordshire

Another outstanding highlight for me in August was the very showy Long-eared Owl that hung around the patch all month before inevitably being moved on by pushy photographers.

Later in the month, I went on a family holiday to Budapest for the week, but managed a day out with hungarianbirdwatching.com, which was a fantastic day around the city surroundings with no less than 8 lifers: Eastern Imperial Eagle, Saker Falcon, Great Bustard, Black Woodpecker, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Grey Shrike and Golden Oriole! Not many photos taken, but here's a couple:

 Black Woodpecker in the Buda Hills

Lesser Grey Shrike and Turtle Dove

Arguably my bird of the year so far took place on the 5th September this year, and when the news broke, I was at Spurn dipping a Black Stork! A Great Shearwater went north past Old Nab in North Yorkshire, so we admitted defeat and headed back north in hope it would be seen again. It was seen in numerous locations north close-inshore and also seen at St. Mary's as we came back through the Tyne Tunnel! In a last ditch attempt, we headed for Church Point at Newbiggin, and just as we arrived, it was in view and we got stunning views of it as it came north really close giving some crippling detail! Superb lifer!

Later in the month, I went out on Paul Stewart's pelagic out of the Tyne in the hope of getting over my fear of the open water (after my Scilly experience!), and I can honestly say it was much better than the Scilly one! We got 2 Storm-Petrels, Blue Fulmar, Great Northern Diver, 6 Sooty Shearwaters, 2 Arctic Skuas, 2 Great Skuas and a Roseate Tern, and I even got some photos this time!

Fulmar

Sooty Shearwater hanging around the boat


Other notable photos:

 Roseate Tern at St. Mary's

 Comma at Tynemouth

By far my best ever views of Shore Lark at Blyth

Song Thrush on Holy Island

Speckled Wood at Tynemouth

Blacktoft Sands RSPB

On the second day of the holiday we went to Blacktoft Sands RSPB. I wanted to see some rare waders and bearded tits. We were told to visit all hides by the wardens in the reception so we did. The first hide was quite good which produced a marsh harrier and some redshank. However, the second hide was the best. When we got there, we saw some waders in front of the hide which were ruff. I had never been that close to ruff before, so I got some photos. A bit later, we saw some bearded tits which I had never seen before. They were on the mud itself which I didn’t expect. I expected them to be on the reeds! They were very far off so no chance of a photo! They were lots of little grebes dotted around the ponds as well which was nice. One came really close, close enough for a good photo. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much more of interest except a single spotted redshank in amongst the common redshank and a green sandpiper. After that we went to Alkborough Flats. When we got there we saw there were waders there so we went to the hide. We immediately saw my favourite wader, the unmistakable avocet. I thought all the avocets had gone but I was wrong! We also saw a group of black-tailed godwits. We didn’t see much else until the end when a marsh harrier flew over and a hobby a bit later which I had never seen either. Just as we were leaving we saw 3 spoonbills fly on to the lake which was a great sight just as we left. A great end to a great holiday! Ruff Group of Avocets

Little Grebe Pair of Marsh Harrier

Bits and Pieces from the last month 2/5/09

Here are a few photos that I have taken over the past month that didn't posted: Avocet at Washington WWTWillow Tit at Washington WWTBuzzard at Elsdon Moors Otter at Druridge Pools Waxwing at Shiremoor Metro Station (My first ever waxwing. At last!!) Nuthatch, Stock Dove and Yellowhammer at Thornley Woods. (The Yellowhammer just turned away as I was taking it's photo!)

Saltholme RSPB 14/4/09

Yesterday, me and my dad decided to go and try out the new reserve - Saltholme. When we got there we found out that there were 3 hides so we went to the first one which had a feeding station. On the feeders there were loads of goldfinches and 3 reed buntings but not much else so we went to the next hide. Unfortunately there wasn't much except a great-crested grebe so we went to the last hide which was the very best. When we went in we noticed a black-tailed godwit next to 4 wigeon. We weren't sure what type it was until it turned it's tail and we saw it was black. Then someone pointed out a wader on the far side which was a ruff. I tried to digiscope it but it didn't turn out very well. Just as we were about to leave the hide, a white-fronted goose flew over too fast for me to get the camera out. Unlucky!

After Saltholme we went to Greatham Creek to see the avocets. We got to the first little bit of metal which was the hide that the avocets were in and sure enough there were 8 avocets - 1 of which was sitting on eggs. We went to the hide that overlooked the sea and we saw 2 seals. Not much else though so we went back to the avocets. My dad noticed a little wader to the right of the avocet nest and after looking hard at it we decided it was a little ringed plover. A lovely end to the day!

Avocet Pair Avocet Nest Little Ringed Plover

Digiscoped Ruff Goldfinch

A weeks worth of birding

I've had some interesting sightings during my travels this week starting with a pair of buzzards over the Snowy Owl pub in Cramlington. A fairly unsuccessful visit to St. Mary's resulted in a pair of greylags on the pond and a reed bunting. No sign of the garganey this time. Driving through Killingworth on Saturday morning we saw the short-eared owl hunting over it's usual field but when we went later, it wasn't there.

I visited Washington WWT today with my grandparents hoping to see the avocets. And sure enough there they were along with 20+ shelduck and a heron with a chick. A visit to the feeders revealed the usual birds such as bullfinches, chaffinches and blue tits although I was surprised to see a reed bunting on the feeder. Also there was a chiffchaff as we were walking around the reserve but it was too far off for a photo.

Avocet Chaffinch

Shelducks

Reed Bunting

Lapwing