Blue-Headed Wagtail 27/4/13

Went to patch this morning and on the way along bumped into Gary who pointed out a yellow wagtail in the south bay, which he suspected to be blue-headed, and he got it spot on! Was a patch tick for me and only my second ever. Also got a male yellow wagtail, 3 wheatears and about 15 white wagtails. Hoping for shearwaters and skuas tomorrow!

 Beauty!

 White Wagtail

 Wheatear

Yellow Wagtail

Migrants!

Great day on patch with Daniel Mcgibbon, started with a seawatch with a patch tick in the form of a Slavonian Grebe (96), 2 Sandwich Terns, a Velvet Scoter and a few Canada Geese. We then went along towards Old Hartley and got a yeartick in the form of sand martin (97). Then on what we thought was the way out, we headed for the cemetery were Dan found a cracking female-type Black Redstart (98) and a male wheatear, however just as we were about to leave, we found ourselves racing along back towards Old Hartley after a male ring ouzel (patch tick) that was reported, and just got it as it flew from the fields across the path and down into the bay (99). A really good day with 2 patch life ticks and 4 patch yearticks.

 Black Redstart

Wheatear

Weasel

Wonderful Wheatears 3/10/11

I went down to St. Mary's this evening to see if I could find any yellow-browed warblers but I was stopped halfway on the golf course by 3 wheatears. I lay in the grass for 30 minutes gradually edging closer to one of them but it flew before I got close so I thought I had missed my opportunity. However, I lay a little longer and about 10 minutes later, this beauty popped up in front of me, providing wonderful views. As I watched it I wondered whether it was a greenland race or not? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Wheatear

DAY TWO OF MULL

DAY 2 OF MULL - The Safari On the first proper day of the trip, we went on a wildlife safari in hope to see golden and sea eagles, otters and hen harriers. We left the hostel at 9:30 for Craignure where we were getting picked up. The tour began at 10:30 but we left enough time to go to have a look for the black guillemots on the old pier. We did see them although they were flying in the distance. As we walked back to the car from the pier we saw some house martins drinking from a puddle with a greenfinch. Then we went back to the ferry landing to start the tour. Just as the tour started someone said “what’s that!?” and we all looked up to see a sea eagle flying along with the van. We started to go fast to try and get in front of it to get some photos but just as we got out, it flew behind the trees and out of sight. So we went on. Our next stop was a lake to look for otters. I don’t know the name of the loch but there were houses next to it. Anyway, we did see some otters but they must have been ¼ mile away! On the way back to the van we heard a cuckoo. So we all got back in the car to look for it. Then when we turned a corner, we saw it on a telegraph wire. It took flight when we came but then it came back to the wire. After watching that for 10 minutes, we went on. A bit further down the road we saw a bird of prey flying across the field, it was grey. Say no more, Hen Harrier. We all scrambled out of the car to see it and get photos. As it drifted away into the distance, we all got back in and went further along to try and see it again. While we were looking we spotted a whinchat and a willow warbler. We didn’t see it anymore sadly so we went on to see the sea eagles chicks in the nest. We got there and everyone got there scopes out to have a look. The male was sitting next to 2 chicks in the nest. We wanted to see the female come to the nest but it never did so we got back in and went to see some golden eagles. We got some distant views of some goldies but not close enough for a photo. That concluded the tour and we got dropped back at Craignure. The main highlight of the day for me was the hen harrier although the day still wasn’t over. In Craignure, we saw some house martins building nests under the eaves of houses We drove back and saw a buzzard sitting on a post eating what looks like a frog? As we drive further down the road, we saw over 6 wheatear on rocks or on posts. Just as we were nearly back, we saw a sea eagle fly over the car with some great views with some good photos. A very special day!

Buzzard on a post eating a frog? House Martin Building Nest

Hen Harrier WT Sea Eagle Willow Warbler Wheatear

Male Greenfinch

Hauxley, Druridge, East Chev and Cresswell.

On Sunday we went to Cresswell to see these wagtails that we can never find! As always, they weren't there and there wasn't much on the pond so we went to Druridge. We went to the mini-pond first which produced 3 black-wits, 6 dunlin and not much else. So we moved on to the bigger pond. On our way, we saw a whitethroat on our way to the hides. It just flew as we saw it so no picture unfortunately. From the first hide we saw 10 dunlin, 6 ringed plover and 2 nesting greylags. There was nothing at all on the main pond so we went to East Chev. On our way in, as we walked across the bridge, we saw a sedge warbler fly into the reeds. After 20 mins of looking, it never showed again. Just then it started to rain - heavily!! We ran to the hide and dived in. Not much on the pond and if it hadn't been for the 3 wheatears to the right side of the hide, we would have had nothing to watch! After it stopped raining we left the hide and went to Hauxley. On the board, in the reception hide there had been a marsh harrier seen 1 hour before we got there. As we walked round we saw 2 muscovy ducks on the little pond near the Eric's Hide. There were 2 gadwall in front of the hide but nothing else unusual expect a bar-wit on the far side. Not a bad day although not excellent. Wheatear Muscovy Ducks Gadwall

A little extra!: This year I set myself a challenge - to get a half-decent photo of a swift. This is what I came out with: