Still here!

It's been a quiet few days for me - with nightshift over I was looking forward to a few days off - the majority of the birding news has been on the north-west coast / islands of Scotland as masses of waxwing arrive. Northumberland is getting a fair few now, and I expect to bump into some very soon.

Mid afternoon reports of great spotted cuckoo at Bellasis Bridge seem a little odd - but who knows? Maybe it'll be a visit tomorrow afternoon?

Birdwise for me the highlight has been a garden second record - but don't get too excited... a pair of chaffinch! The seed trays are being emptied daily by visiting wood pigeon, collared dove, coal tit and a healthy 20+ flock of house sparrow ~ hopefully the chaffinch will stick.

Red & White tales...

Had a late start today, after a tiring earlyshift. Took the easy option and headed to the coast to take a look at the two reported black redstart at Whitley Bay Cemetary. I had no issues picking them up, with a female appearing first on top of a grave stone in the south-east corner, quickley replaced by a spanking male! Camera assembled I rattled off one test shot to check exposure etc, looked ok but not the best angle... so waited for the  bird to turn around. Instead he flew west into the graveyard. And that was it!                                                 

Not a sniff of either again!! So the onlt shot taken is the one here in this post - so near but so far!

I took a few wanders around the graveyard to no further avail, and as 17:45 passed my mobile rang. A certain large raptor that had disappeared earlier  had been picked up again on the east of Prestwick Carr... White-tailed eagle... it was time to leave!

Twenty minutes later or so I pulled up to the east of the Carr to find a few happy and a few sad birders - the bird had drifted north. Turn-around time! As I passed the few remaining news broke that it was passing Bellasis Bridge... so that's where I headed and found that the road had been closed for flooding just short of the bridge. More annoyingly, the WTE had been seen to drift north at 18:15, presumably off for good.

There was some good banter with the lads, and the sucessful few headed off not long later. At 18:40 a large group of wood pigeon lifted to the north-west (see google map streetview below) and in the middle ... a huge thick-winged raptor drifting south west. !!!! This bird was massive! Granted it was a very poor view, but for the 30 seconds or so that it was showing it was surreal!

I guess there is a real chance that this bird will be around again tomorrow...