Mull 2013, Part 2: gets you through

Tuesday 3^rd Loch Begg was revisited. This time a ringtail Hen Harrier was hunting near the car. Amazing. On our way back from the pub at Tobermorey we spotted three Whooper Swans on Mishnish Lochs. With Dervaig reed beds only a few minutes away from the cottage we decided to spend the rest of the daylight seeing what came in to roost. Unfortunately nothing turned up but it is a great sight. With a cloudless sky we headed up to the radio masts near Tobermorey. Whilst the opthers timelapsed I spent the evening looking to the darkest sky I have ever seen. The greenish glow of the northern lights flickered in the distance, shooting starts passed over and two moons of Jupiter were visible. The Milky Way was also an incredible sight. On our journey to the masts four separate Barn owls flew form fence posts and one bird was hovering like a ghost near the masts.

Wednesday 4^th and our furthest journey of the week to Iona ferry terminal. A stunning Hen Harrier flew over the road near the terminal and later on a Ringtail flew even closer. Best ever views of these amazing creatures just a shame I have to go to Mull to see them. The farmland near the Iona terminal had attracted a flock of 120+ Barnacle Geese and we had more good views of WT Eagles over the roads near Loch Na Keal.

Gets you through

Man make fire

Near Dervaig

The season finale will soon follow…

Mull 2013, Part one: To freedom!

From Saturday 30^th until Saturday 7^th I spent the week on the Isle of Mull with Cain, Ewan, Andrew and Ciara.  The trip got off to a good start as we spotted at least three Waxwing south of services on M74 near Uddington outside Hamilton. One of the Waxwings flew over the road bridge and did some aerial acrobatics before joining the others in the trees.

A brief and welcome stop at the Green Welly Stop and for more potato based products at Fort William, we were on the island by dusk. After checking in at our cottage for the week near Dervaig, we had a drive around the local roads. Not surprisingly Tawny Owl were on fence posts and Red Deer roamed the roadsides but a sign of how mild the weather was took the form of a Hedgehog that was wandering around the middle of the road.

Sunday the 1^st we spent most of the day around the shores of Loch Na Keal. On our way we called into Salen Bay where a winter plumage Great Northern Diver was just off shore where it wrestled with a crab for about ten minutes.  It was great to see this species close up for a change rather than a distant blob on the sea off Stag Rocks.  Plenty of gulls though no white wingers were around the fish factory. Occasionally they would all take to the air before re-landing, we soon noticed why. A juvenile White Tailed Eagle was sitting on a fence post near the factory. Its amazing how such a massive bird can stay so well hidden. The eagle eventually took off, flew past us and landed on a rocky outcrop just offshore.

Also on the Loch were a group of five Slavonian Grebe, Black Guillemot, more close in Great Northern Divers and very entertaining displaying groups of Red Breasted Merganser. We watched as three or four males made a variety of noises and head movements towards unimpressed females.

Next we headed over to Loch Buie where another White Tailed Eagle flew over the Loch. The Bay just past the Loch was impressive complete with an honesty shop that sold Guinness crisps, honest! Feral Goats climbed over the rocks near the bay and Woodcock swooped in front of the car as we headed back.  In the darkness on a road near Salen I had my best ever views of a Tawny Owl as it stared down at us from a roadside wire.

Monday 2^nd we started again at Loch Na Keal. A pair of Shoveler were amongst a flock of Teal in the middle of the Loch, it turns out that these were unbelievably only the second record for the Isle! Surely there must have been more.

At the nearby Killiechronnan as we left, a Golden Eagle was being mobbed overhead by Hooded Crows and Buzzard. A pair of White Tailed Eagles were also circling a plantation as we headed to Loch Scridian. An Otter preformed well on the shores of Loch Scridian and whilst we watched a Long Tailed Duck landed on the water after flying from further inland.

Loch Begg was our final stop of the day as light disappeared. A lone Greenshank and 124 Golden plover were the best waders at this attractive spot.

More to come soon... and pictures!

Another Viking

I spotted my third Nordic type Jackdaw of the year this morning on the grass outside Bedlington Cricket pitch. The bird I saw at Lynemouth Flash in August and one for a couple of days in September near Gosforth both showed characteristics of the species but the bird I saw this morning is the best example I have seen.
Amongst 20 or so other Jackdaw it stood out as its body was a lighter shade of grey with darker wings and a full bright white collar. I know there is more to it than that but it looked good for a Nordic to me.

Very Vis Mig

On Saturday whilst viewing the north pool at East Chevington from in front of the hide we noticed small flocks of Starlings coming in off the sea. A smaller bird was present near one of the flocks and it then separated and headed towards us. As it got closer we could see that it was a tired looking Goldcrest , it flew through the channel in the cut reeds, up the bank and then hovered like a Hummingbird in front of me and tried to land on my shoulder! It must of thought better of this and then took off over the hide.

After seeing the Woodcock in my garden last week I have seen a few more on my travels both typically in the evening at coastal locations. Last Tuesday at 20:45 one was sitting on the roadside grass opposite the Sea life Centre at Tynemouth. Before I had a chance to get closer a dog walker flushed it and it flew off over the cliffs towards Sharpness Point.
On Monday at 17:15 between the car park at Blyth Community Hospital and Morrisons a Woodcock was curled up on the grass next to the curb. This bird seemed very tired and made no attempt to move as car passed it so I left it in peace.

Lesser = More

I managed to head up north with GB and LR on saturday morning. Whilst waiting on news of the Long Nanny Shrike we called in to East Chevington. Very similar to last week with two drake Pintail and Shoveler being the wildfowl highlights. No sign of the Bearded Tit but a Water Rail ran through accross the gap in the reeds again and we briefly saw a Bittern in flight low over the reeds in the SW corner before it landed out of sight.

When news arrived we headed up and were greeted with great views of the Lesser Grey Shrike- Lifer, on the fence at the Newton Steads car park. In 2008 I dipped the LGS at Long Nanny and its not often you get a second chance of the same species at the same location, well nearly.
The Shrike was very obliging as it hopped around the ground and sat on thistles and fence posts around the car park before occasionally flying around and exploring the coastal bushes and fly catching before returning to its favored spot. A few Tree Sparrows were also in the coastal bushes.

Next we tried for the Bonaparte's Gull at Bamburgh but had missed it by 20 minutes. Despite grilling the ever expanding flock of BH Gulls on the sea off the castle it never reappeared. With the tide coming in the Common Scoter raft got closer and we picked out at least three Velvet Scoter amongst them.
Long Tailed Duck, Slavonian Grebe and a Great Northern Diver were also on the sea but we didn't see a single Auk sp.

Back to basics

I filled up the feeders ready for the winter yesterday. Today the garden was alive with activity. The feeders had attracted multiple, Blue, Coal and Great Tits, Magpie, 8 Blackbird, Green, Chaff and Gold finch, Jackdaw, Starling and two Fieldfare.
A rare occurrence in the garden the Fieldfare sat eating berries on the fence before being chased off by the Blackbirds.

With all this activity the inevitable happened and one of the eight Blackbirds hit the window. It stood open mouthed on the patio comically rocking back and forth on it legs. I went outside and checked its wings and waited until it flew form my hands to the safety of the trees. I then checked the amount of seeds in the trays and as I did a Woodcock exploded form the ground and flew west over the neighbors roof.  It must have been a migrant roosting on the leafy cover under the row of fern trees bordering the fence. This is surprisingly not the first garden record as I flushed one form nearly the same spot in the heavy snow of 2001.

Back to normal

After recent twitches and neglecting the patch it was a welcome return to real birding today. Out for WEBS early morning with SH and DM first stop was the count at Castle Island. Nothing out of the ordinary and no sign of any Quail we headed off to East Chevington.
We had just missed the bearded Tit, Bittern and a Glacous Gull on the north pool but did manage fleeting glimpses of a Water Rail in the cut channel in the reeds. Our next and final stop was a more productive Cresswell Pond where the Black-necked Grebe showed well but distantly as did three Scaup. Two Whooper Swans rested on the edge of the west shore.

This afternoon 20+ Pink-footed Geese flew south over my house but something was strange. They were calling very loudly and instead of flying in a traditional V shape they flew tight together as a a group and flew around in circled over the street for a while almost like they had been chased by something.

I had a quick trip to West Hartford yesterday. A Redshank landed on the smaller pool and a few Siskin few in the plantation.