Morning Out Afternoon Count

I went out with SH and DMcK yesterday to do the WEBS count at Castle Island, it was a short trip as Steve had to be back earlier.
After a quiet Webs count we walked up to the seaton cemetery area where the Waxwings have been seen through the week.
Intstead of driving up to the cemetery we walked through the gut which takes you straight to the site. In the gut a Grey Wagtail was bobbing on a rock in the stream.

There was no sign of the Waxwings at first then we were told that they had flown off into the housing estate where they were showing well in a tree.
We found them and watched the 12 birds sitting trilling away in the tree tops before being chased away by a pair of Mistle Thrushes.
A Sparrowhawk was in the area so this didn't help the Waxwings settle properly.

Next we went to the fields around Bells pond which to our suprises held no geese!
From the hide at Cresswell a Barn Owl was hunting over the roadside reeds before flying in front of the hide and off towards Warkworth Lane.
A microlight and a Helicopter went over the pond and the missing Geese erupted from the fields near Warkworth Lane and flew over the pond in five seperate flocks.
There must have been 4000+ Geese in the air before they landed back in the fields.
A single Brent flew from the fields over Bells pond followed by another six which were much closer just over the hide.

I was dropped off at West Hartford where I added two Oystercatchers to the patch list. They where standing on the ice amongst a group of Gulls.

Late afternoon I went back out with Steve who was doing the Cormorant count at Blyth Harbour. 99 Cormorants came into roost.
Also the Iceland Gull flew over and landed near by.

57 - Oystercatcher

Gull chat and a possible White Wagtail

I had to take various photos for school today, all of which were conveniently near birds, I wonder how that happened?
First we went to Linton Lane this morning and after taking some shots went to the hide at the bigger pond.
On my way to the pond I had my first Chiffchaff of the year singing in the woods.
When I got to the hide another birder was scanning the pond. He thinks there might have been a kumlien's Gull amongst the group of gulls, which had just taken off.
We soon got chatting about gulls and how the list of their stages and subspecies is endless and confusing.
We came to the conclusion that I should just stick to enjoying the birds without worrying about that winter or race they are. I am still interested in these factors of the birds and it just adds interest to a sighting.
As we were talking we stepped back from the windows as the rain was coming through, once the shower had stopped a group of gulls landed on the water and amongst them was a first winter Iceland Gull. I left shortly after and the gull, which looked, like the Blyth harbour bird was still there.
After a few more photo stops we ended up at St.Mary’s lighthouse and with the tide out I had a quick walk around the North Bay.
On the shoreline there were 43 Sanderlings with a Curlew and Oystercatcher.
No sign of the early House Martin but I did have two Pied Wagtails on the rocks in front of me. After looking closer at the Wagtails I thought the right bird looked lighter and took one distant shot just before it flew off.
I looked back in my bird book and I’m not sure if it is a White Wagtail or just another Pied. Any ideas?

Who says February is boring?

Quite sad looking, lonely this valentines day?

A bit of a show-off!

Distant Glauc

I spent two hour at Blyth Harbour this morning to try and find the Glaucous Gull.
As soon as I arrived the Iceland Gull was standing on the edge of the pier only a meter away from me and was happy to have its picture taken.
It flew around the harbour a few times and settled on the pier opposite.
All the other Gulls in the harbour joined the Cormorants in raiding the boats coming into the harbour.
A quick scan and I found a 1st winter Glaucous Gull next to a group of Eiders on the water. I managed to get a distant shot of it to confirm it wasn’t another Iceland.
The Glauc swan under the pier the Iceland was sitting on, as if for comparison.
I noticed the difference straight away; the Glauc was much stockier with smaller wings and a more angry expression.
Eiders, Shag, female Merganser etc were also in the harbour.

I was in Manor Walks this afternoon and I got a text from Steve Holliday saying 13+ Tree Sparrow on the Beacon scrubland, I finished in Subway and was straight off to Beacon Lane.
After nearly breaking my neck on the ice, I took the over the bridge route to Beacon Lane and just as I crossed the bridge 10+ Tree Sparrows- Patch Tick, flew from the stubble field and into the trees.
The hedge row where they had first been seen was being cut by the council tree chopping van so I stood back and watched it flush out 10+ Tree Sparrow, 15+ Yellowhammer, 40+ Reed Bunting, 20+ Chaffinch, 16 Fieldfare and a Mistle Thrush.
Also 60+ Carrion Crow were flushed from the stubble and 50+ Skylark were flying over the field.That has to be the best twitch I have ever had in Crammy, what a day.

This week I have also seen 18 Fieldfare feeding on berries near Nelson Hill, have had a pair of Bullfinches visiting my garden everyday and had 50 Pink Footed Geese fly over Sainsburys car park today.

Iceland Gulls

I took Blyth birders advice today and went to Blyth Harbour for white winged gulls between 11:30 and 12:15.
The usual suspects were around Eider, 2 female Mergansers, 3 Juv Shag, Cormorants etc but no seal.
I then checked the harbour in front of the Harbour master office and found a Juv Iceland feeding on the seaweed with GBB’s.
I have never seen Iceland’s this close up and the bright whiteness and long wings really stood out.
It soon got spooked and flew around the harbour out of sight.
The weather wasn’t as bad as yesterday so I tried to get some decent shots of Eiders and other gulls until I had found the Iceland again.
After a few shots of the Eiders the Iceland Gull swam out from under the pier and I got the photos above.
I watched it for another 15 minutes as it flew around the harbour before it flew further up and joined another Juv Iceland. I was going to get a photo but they were slightly further out and a mini hail shower was starting so I went home to watch the dooms day derby instead
I’m guessing that the Gull I photographed is a 1st winter but I’m not sure.

Where do I start...
Last week I had my first trip to Low Barns Nature Reserve in County Durham. I spent a good few hours there but saw very little of interest but I did enjoy it. No sign of the Bittern that was reported there last month.
On the way home I did see a Tawny Owl asleep in a tree by the side of the road at the turn off to riding mill.
In between short visits to West Hartford around the weekend I saw that the Iceland Gull that has been seen across the counrty in the past few months had once again been seen only this time at Warkworth. I used to spend alot of time at Warkworth so I knew that the bird would be in the estuary between amble harbour and the river Couuet in Warkworth, so off I went to spend my bank holiday Monday.
After seeing there were at least 50+ gulls I searched through all of them until I found a striking bright White gull with no markings on its wing tips or tail standing next to two LBB gulls. I had found it just in time as it then flew off over the dunes to the other side of the estuary.
In amongst the Herring Gull, GBB Gull, LBB gull and BH Gulls were three Shellduck and a Goldeneye diving in the river.
So thats NO.168 Iceland Gull, I'm well on my way to 200!
P.S. Thanks to Holywell Birder for adding me your links page, Cheers.