Perspectives

Cycled the burn this morning, little of general interest, but a relative patch mega to finish the trip...

Highlights - noticeably high numbers of redwing, 1 fieldfare, grey heron, 2 moorhen, siskin. No egrets today but... A dipper - only the second winter we've had one.

i-binned...

Home Birds

Back in 1987 I rushed up to Cresswell Pond with my Dad to twitch our first Little Egret. Quite an uncommon bird then. 

Now? They winter in our housing estate...

3 this morning...

Prior to this I was watching unco-operative Bohemian Waxwing at Blyth - Nine birds this morning feeding at the back of a fenced off paddock of sorts.

Yesterday evening was spent at West Hartford, watching the day disappear into night. Two Cormorant and 50 Lapwing were about to be the highlight until a Barn Owl appeared, hunting the fields. Delightful.

In the suburbs

One of two, iPhone, "no handies" on the bike...

Round the doors.

Potter on the bike this morning was productive:

Great Grey Shrike still distant at West Hartford. Plus Stonechat and 60 Lapwing over.

On the Horton Burn an incredible 4 Little Egret together on the middle (park) section, plus one of the group (or another) near the old fire station.

Also on the burn, six Mallard, 1 Teal, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Moorhen and an obliging Kingfisher.

Black Curlews and traffic Egrets

It was a bit frustrating to have taken the wrong road back to Cramlington from Cresswell on Saturday, so news this morning that the Glossy Ibis was still present at Lynemouth was to close to home to resist, despite having seen the two in Durham yesterday.

Bleak weather stalled the journey, but by 11:00 I was there, and so was the Ibis, or, given the inclement weather, a rather black looking curlew, stood looking confused as to why the Spanish climate was so unfavourable. Still, a decent bird (for now) in Northumberland - a blocker until a few years back!

Black Curlew

"I'm sure the brochure said the weather would be better than this"

I didn't hang round for long, opting to try for Mediterranean Gull at Newbiggin. For the first time that I can recall I could not see any there!

The sea was mighty rough too... click the image to see full size.

Low tide at Newbiggin

Closer to home, the drive across the rain-swollen  Horton Burn delivered the Little Egret - a nice ending to a purposeful mission.

Mobile birding

A day out with Mark on a dull, cold and wet January Saturday.

Nothing in the way of decent light for photography, so the scope was brought out instead of the SLR camera. First stop was Tynemouth so Mark could catch up with the increasingly promising Lesser Whitethroat - trapped during the week, so hopefully conclusive DNA results will determine it's origin. Complemented visit with some delicious cake courtesy of Celia and a nice catch up with Colin. Some great views of the Lesser Whitethroat on the close feeding station too...

Onwards to the Tyne Tunnel and eventually, albeit in slow traffic, to Boldon. The two Glossy Ibis were still present and despite some attempts with the iPhone to photograph them, the video function prove to be better in the blustering conditions - 17 seconds of ibis action below!

Northwards after this to beloved Amble for "refreshments", via an unsuccessful stop at Woodhorn for the Greenland White-fronts. Not to worry, the chip shop was open at Amble, where from we headed back down the coast in a race against fading light.

East Chevington came up trumps with the Slavonian Grebe on the north pool, three Long-tailed Duck, hods of Goldeneye and an otter.

Druridge Pools continued to hold Green-winged Teal, my first for a few years so appreciated. In addition, Pintail, Shoveler, lots of Wigeon, and among the Redshank, a single Black-tailed Godwit.

Green-winged Teal, Druridge.

We casually checked the flooded fields to the south of Blakemoor Farm (Cresswell) just after 15:00 - no sign of the Friday single Glossy Ibis, just a Grey Heron. The fields in the general area look good for any Ibis that chooses to linger, and it wasn't with much surprise to find that it was reported again at 15:30 - Cresswell Hall Farm this time.

A cheeky check of the River Blyth didn't produce Great Northern Diver, but the final stop at Horton Burn (east end) did hold a Kingfisher (and Moorhen!).

And that was that - dusk twists into night and another day birding ceases...

The great little tawny finch

The last few days have been spent local.

Sunday saw an afternoon visit to the River Blyth to see the Great Northern Diver at the confluence of the Sleekburn.

Weekday birding has been round the doors, with a cracking Tawny Owl perched on the roadside at the delightful industrial estate near home, worth the 05:20 departure for earlyshift...

After work, mild excitement in the form of a male chaffinch in the garden - possibly the fourth "in garden" record... not sure why this species is so unusual here - less than 100m from the door I see them regularly on the Horton Burn... the next destination in this rambling post - with todays potter along revealing the Little Egret as close to the house as it could get, a kingfisher too.

West Hartford still has teal - I feel a green-winged will appear soon... and 4 wigeon, an infrequent visitor to the flash pool.

Horton Burn - The Little Egret is on this picture (the white dot on the far bank to the left of the photo... honest)

Little to report

Woken by the phone this morning - and always nice to find a message regarding a patch bird - Gordon had picked up the Horton Burn little egret - and while not a Cramlington tick as such, its the first on the burn that runs through our housing estate. Add kingfisher, grey wagtail, a couple of moorhen and fly over great black backed gull and redshank (a species that eluded me in Cramlington in 2013!) and the birding atmosphere was electric.

Mega!!

Later I headed north to Stag Rocks - the grey phalarope was a doddle, feeding in the surf below the car park - mixing with the black-headed gulls.

Iphoned...

No slav grebe on view (1 great crested), but 1 black throated diver in amongst the red throats, plenty of long tailed duck, common scoter etc... and some distant gannet.

Waxdipping

With a week of nightshift beckoning, a grey day reflected my mood - until the familiar trill of waxwing got my attention...

Initially 50 birds were present around the house this morning, while a venture out on the bike later on in the afternoon resulted in 21 lingering towards the park. The light was dreadful today, more of a "murk" in fact. The flock were not particularly doing much, and despite close views, were not in classic waxwing photography position - from the underside on  dull day like today they can look merely like grey starlings.

Still, always good to see. So what next? A potter further down the Horton Burn provided a much better highlight (for me at least), with the dipper back. I managed to grab a couple of pictures before a loose dog wandered to close, pushing the dipper downstream from the road bridge. I dare say a dipper anywhere else would not be so appealing, but when its on the patch, in-between the houses no less, then its "mint-tastic". Rather enjoyed watching the dipper feeding - amazing ability to swim in the fast flowing rapids that have been swollen with snow melt.

The old fire station end of the burn failed to produce anything, so I opted for a slow meander to West Hartford, which was in turn, rather quiet. A single buzzard was mobbed by carrion crow over the back and 1 siskin flew over. It seems January will remain short-eared owl-less, unless my luck changes this week...

The cycle continues

A mid to late afternoon cycle around northern Cramlington was reasonably productive, though the quieter minor roads were tricky as snow still covered.

Headed to Bassington via the industrial estate - a small flock of Siskin entertained on the journey there. The target bird at Bassington was green woodpecker - alas no sign, but highly compensatory was willow tit.

West Hartford was snowy and quiet, three roe deer being the highlight.

Horton Burn was reached as the light began to fade, and everything was quiet, except for one grey wagtail.

Was a cold trip out, but the snow is thawing fast. Maybe tomorrow will bring something new...

Mors: Woodcock

Apparently Woodcock is rarely active in daytime. I suspect this unfortunate bird is also rarley active at dusk either...

Found this beauty on the roadside in Cramlington this afternoon - that's two on the patch in two days... although this will not count for my "bike" list.

The short trip out took me along the eastern stretch of the Horton Burn - no kingfisher/grey wagtail nor dipper, but six mallard remain.

West Hartford provided two stonechat, 2 stock dove and six reed bunting. The pools are 95%+ frozen still, so a lone black headed gull was all that was present on the ice. No shorties still...

Three quarters tundra...

With an early shift complete and news of a late morning goose nearby, a quick trip out was called for inbetween wake-me-up coffees.

Headed out just after two, turned onto Horton Drive and boom, woodcock flies over the car. Good start, it again shows in flight as I cross the Horton Burn.

Arriving At the Blyth links car park soon after, it was pleasing to find some of the lads watching the afternoons main quarry - albeit distant. The Tundra bean goose had eluded me on a couple of occasions already in 2013, but not today, as it fed in fields just off the coast road with almost 200 pink-footed geese. Too distant and gloomy for the camera, I resorted to attempted iPhone digi-scope shots. Can't quite manage anything other than record pictures...

Meanwhile a merlin arrives, promptly landing on the fence giving great scope views. And that was that, a decent 45 minutes out.

Burned up

A tricky walk along the Horton Burn was worth the effort. Snow always adds a bit if excitement to the proceedings and today's tramp was as expected - providing a few surprises.

First stop provided a treecreeper - only my second on the burn, with kingfisher, grey wagtail and the first of eight snipe "lifts".

Towards the old fire station six mallard fed on the burn, while the other direction provided a couple more grey wagtails, fieldfare and redwing.

At West Hartford 34 grey lag geese flew south, 18 lapwing stood out on the ice and a single brambling (my first on the site) provided an avian fix.

Whoopie-do

A cold morning checking out some local spots with Mark. Jack Snipe easy at the first port of call, while Holywell was not so productive - no sign of the pink foot flock, and subsequently no tundra bean to be seen. Tree sparrow was new for the year.

Killingworth produce the tame whooper swan but the was no sign if any goosander or great crested grebe.

Gosforth Park was our final stop, with the woodland providing nuthatch and jay, while on the pools/reedbed, a single brief water rail was the highlight along with plenty of snipe.

Still lots of omissions to the January list, so lots of reasons to keep going out...

The BIG dipper

A very overcast morning saw Mark and I head to North Shields Fish Quay - both glaucous and iceland gull had been reported a day previous.

We parked up opposite the boat sheds and ended up walking round to the Black Middens - with no sign of either gull and very wet conditions we opted for a pit stop back at the quay for coffee and a panini (we're so sophisticated).

Meanwhile STH had arrived - so a quick text from the warmth of the cafe to Steve to inform of our presence was rewarded with a call back informing that the glaucous had re-appeared. Result.

The monster gull spent most of its time up on the shed roofs, but luckily it took a fish scrap and flew past, giving one ok photo from a flyby sequence...

High-fives all round, we then headed back to Cramlington - a journey that was intercepted by Gordon with news that he had re-located the dipper on the Horton Burn. Tensions rose as we promptly headed to the burn!

Thankfully the dipper was still present - and hopefully will remain available over then next few days for a 2013 tick. This dipper is the first to be really available within urban Cramlington - birds on the River Blyth are really at the periphery of Cramlington acceptability!

A single kingfisher patrolled the burn while we grilled the dipper, and to complete the set, a grey wagtail flew over the house while I de-booted on the driveway.

Not a bad morning - perhaps more exciting for me than anyone who cares to waste there time reading this drivel!

Burning

I like nothing better than a tootle along the Horton Burn during the winter - and mid week news of a first "within the houses" dipper during the week was suffice to get me out this morning. No East Chevington Beardies were going to spoil this chase!

It was rather lush this morning - sunny, mild and still - perfect for a cycle aided trip. While dipper dipping was on the menu, two kingfisher now patrol the burn, a single grey wagtail, a pair of mallard, a great spotted woodpecker were also noted.

A brief diversion to a neglected of late West Hartford produced a single short-eared owl, stonechat and stock dove. 5 Siskin worked the plantation next to the electrical sub-station.

Looming holiday should bring with it more regular burn outings, so fingers still crossed for the dipper...

Round the doors

12 waxwing over the house justified the energy spent washing the car this morning.

Afternoon was spent on the bike - West Hartford providing 1 stonechat, 1 short-eared owl and a brute of a female sparrowhawk - first bringing 8 waxwing to my attention, then later lifting a snipe and mobbing the SEO! Raptor numbers were increased with 2+ kestrel and a distant buzzard.

At the Horton Burn 1grey wagtail and a single kingfisher ended the avian and cycling activities.

The wigs on

3 wigeon at West Hartford this afternoon were the first for a while. Otherwise not much avian excitement, with a couple of hundred bhg, 3 lbbg, cg, hg. 2 grey heron dropped in and a buzzard patrolled the river Blyth banks. Hundreds of wood pigeon in the area too.

Horton Burn produced the standard winter-fare ~ grey wagtail near the old fire station and the male kingfisher mid section.

Local

Late afternoon on the bike was uneventful at West Hartford, with only a few gulls on the pool and a meadow pipit on the track. The action so to speak was as dusk descended, with a more productive stake out adjacent the old fire station - a mix of seasons, with three barn swallow south & the arrival of winter with approx 300 pink footed geese south (22 north) a single kingfisher and a grey wagtail on the burn.

Rain stops play

Headed out on the bike early afternoon - first stop at the old fire station along the Horton Burn. Lots of activity with blue, great, coal and long-tailed tit, many blackbird, chaffinch and a sole bullfinch. More of a surprise was a pair of stock dove - not seen them down this end before. Cycling back along the burn 1 kingfisher and 1 grey wagtail flushed, while at the west end a nice flock of bullfinch, 10, we're in the vicinity of the Crowhall Lane roundabout. My arrival at West Hartford was in conjunction with rain, so birding was cut short as my binoculars became waterlogged to the point of not being able to see anymore! Nevertheless a single short-eared owl, c40 teal, bhg, cg, hg and c50 lapwing were noted (though none of the 10 golden plover which had been seen from home a while earlier in the mobile lapwing flock). Time not on my side for any more birding this weekend, hopefully I'll be able to get out during the week after work - the bewick's swans are appealing up the coast and I wouldn't mind a crack at the tundra bean geese flock...