Birding Then Bird Ringing 23/1/11

Went to St. Mary's on Saturday to check what was around, the north bay was very active. There was turnstone, sanderling, purple sandpiper, knot, rock pipit and an eider on the sea. No long-tailed ducks today so we moved on. A trip to gosforth park paid off brilliantly with a kingfisher coming right next to the hide and the bittern showing very well. The bittern was a magnificent bird to see, it flew from the far side of the pond into the reeds to the right of the hide and didn't show again.

Then to Cherryburn on Sunday for a ringing session. Quite a few good birds caught with greenfinch, bullfinch, 7 lesser redpoll and a treecreeper. Greenfinch and treecreeper both ringing ticks for me!

Treecreeper (Highlight of the day)

Lesser Redpoll

Bullfinch Rock Pipit SanderlingKingfisher

A good start to 2011

I haven't been blogging recent as I have had absolutely no time but I will try to blog more in 2011. I was at St. Mary's today and yesterday and there was a lot of birds there. It started in the car park with a reed bunting and redshanks in the field in front of the second car park. Both providing good views. In the north bay there was waders galore: turnstone, dunlin, curlew, golden plover, lapwing, knot, ringed plover and purple sandpiper. But the highlight came in the north bay on the posts. On the end post sat 2 fantastic snow buntings and they were the tamest snow buntings in have ever seen letting me get within 6 feet of them. They really were lovely. Then as we were leaving we saw a black bird on the sea which at the first glance I thought it was a Slovenian grebe but then after looking at the photos when I got back it looked more like a red-necked grebe but I wasn't sure, if anyone could identify it, that would be great.

Snow Buntings in the North Bay

Red-Necked Grebe?

Knot

Lapwing Redshank Ringed Plover

Reed Bunting

Purple Sandpiper

A lifer weekend

My weekend started on Friday at Tynemouth with the great grey shrike very fleetingly. It was on the priory for a couple of seconds then flew off and I didn't see it again. The goldcrests and other warblers were putting in a performance as well but nothing unusual.

On Saturday, we went to Hartlepool to see the woodchat shrike which was a new bird for me. A very handsome and approachable bird along with a lot of other things: redwings, goldcrests and a lot of other birds. Unfortunately I didn't get any birding in on Sunday because I was ringing all day which was also a success. 2 GS Woodpeckers, Redwings, Stonechat and a pied flycatcher were all ringed. There was a lot of other good birds ringed too. See the photos for details.

And yesterday, I was at St. Mary's getting my second lifer of the weekend, the red-flanked bluetail which was showing very well on the fence posts and stiles. There was plenty of other things too, goldcrest, redstart and a garden warbler which is a patch tick. I think it is a garden warbler but I have aphoto of it on this blog so feel free to tell me if it's not.

Overall, I think that is a pretty impressive weekend, shame about the light though.

Woodchat Shrike Garden WarblerRed-Flanked Bluetail

Redwing Meadow PipitGS Woodpecker Stonechat SiskinWillow Tit

A Dark-Bellied Day

I've just come back from St. Mary's Island, there was quite a bit there. In the north bay there was a Dark-Bellied Brent Goose, 2 bar-tailed godwits and plenty of ther waders like redshank, dunlin, sanderling and ringed plover. The golden plover numbers were higher than I've ever seen. Then as I looked round, there was a merlin that I just caught sight of as it flew over the rocks and out of sight. I've never seen a merlin there before. That's about all really, the merlin was the highlight with the brent goose a close second!

Brent Goose Bar-Tailed Godwit

Yorkshire Trip 30/8/10 - 1/9/10

I have been busy lately so I haven’t had time to do a blog of the holidays! But I do have time now.

Me and my dad went down to Yorkshire during the holidays to visit some of the reserves there. We left early on Monday and went straight down to Fairburn Ings RSPB. My membership had run out with the RSPB so I went and got it renewed while I was there. While we were waiting, the warden showed us some of the best sights on the reserve. The hides on the reserves didn’t produce a lot, so we went to the place where the warden had told us there had been some rare waders seen. We went along and just on the roadside was a pool, we stopped and got out. When we looked at the waders I saw a new bird for me, 3 curlew sandpipers, a ruff and greenshank. After a while, they flew over to our side, producing the best view I have ever had and some great photo opportunities. After spending an hour there, we went onto Far Ings. We went straight to the main hide which had had reports of water rail, bearded tit and marsh harrier. When we got there, we were told that the water rail had been out earlier but not seen since. But after about 20 minutes, we saw a little red beak pop out of the reeds, and soon it was walking around, brilliant photos again! It wasn’t long before the next bird showed up; a bearded tit appeared just under the reeds. Eventually showed a bit better but not great. Still good to add to the list though! The next hide was good too, another new bird, a lesser whitethroat in the trees next to the hide again, great views! So many great views on this trip! We were staying in South Cave, next to North Cave wetlands, so just before going the B&B, we went to see what was around. Not a lot on the reserve, although a first-winter male redstart in the trees was a bonus. Not such great views but not bad! We went to Blacktoft Sands for the last day. Not a lot here, spotted redshank was the highlight, 7 little egrets and a few ruffs. But the marsh harriers were out and there was a few, 6 in the air at a time! One came very close, never seen them that close before! A nice male showing off the grey wings! Fantastic! Spurn Point and Bempton Cliffs on the way home were good as well. Thousands of waders at Spurn, whimbrel was the highlight on the beach reasonably close, and grey plover flocks were around but very timid. There was also a nice roe deer on the hill quite close but was scared by a dog just as I was getting close. Bempton was just the usual really but some fulmar were coming close on their way past which was a very good end to the holiday. In total, 97 different species, well worth the visit! Curlew Sandpiper - The Highlight! Ruff Lesser Whitethroat Fulmar Cormorant from Far Ings Marsh Harrier Bearded Tit Whimbrel Water Rail

Redstart Roe Deer

Ginger Dunlin at Tynemouth

We went looking for the mandarin at Tynemouth today. We didn't see it but we got another surprise. A dunlin flew in from the sea and landed on the grass. It had a lovely plumage and I had been looking forward to the dunlin returning. This marks the start of the wader season! Dunlin

2 surprises in 1 hour! 15/7/10

The Med Gull at Brier Dene car park has returned after only being away for 3 months! I photographed it in March and then again yesterday after the breeding season. After photographing it for a while we went onto Gosforth Park reserve. Amazingly, as soon as we got to the hide, there was a kingfisher sitting just outside it about 5 metres away! The luck was definitely on our side! While we sat there watching the kingfisher and the tern colony, there was a reed warbler feeding chicks very near the hide which were very photogenic. Some nice surprises which some great pictures to show for them.

Kingfisher at Gosforth Park Med Gull at Brier Dene. Top - July 2010, Bottom - March 2010 Reed Warbler