300!

My 300 bird species in Britain finally arrived on Monay afternoon in the from of the Collard Pratincole at Castle Island. A great bird to mark this birding landmark and fittingly at a location where I have spent many hours helping do webs counts.

Wet but worth it

I was out in the rain this morning with SH and DM for WEBS. Castle Island was alive with wildfowl families of various ages but little else was on offer.
Despite the persisting rain we headed north to Druridge Pools. From the Budge Hide only a single Little Egret flew past. Cresswell Pond held one feeding Spoonbill but we did go into the hide.
Before headign back to Cramlington we called in at Newbiggin to count the returning Med Gulls. As we watched a smart adult med on the beach Dee noticed a Dolphin in the bay. Over the next ten minutes we spotted a total of 9 White-Beaked Dolphins and a single Harbour Porpoise very close in just off the Couple statue in the south bay. The Dolphins swam around and breached a few times giving me my best ever cetacean views in Northumberland. They were still there as we left and looked as settled as cetaceans can, well worth a look if in the area.

Return of a ghost

Despite West Hartford looking better than ever it still cannot pull in any waders just gulls. After checking the main pool I went to the smaller one last night where a Moorhen flew from the long grass dividing the two. As I looked up at the Moorhen something else caught my eye. A Barn Owl lifted from the grass NW of the pools and began quartering the field for the next 20 minutes up until 21:50. This is the first sighting at West Hartford for almost three year and only the second confirmed in Cramlington since then!

It was amazing to watch this silent hunter in the fading light along with a family party of Kestrels. Together they were hammering the WH mammal population.