The Conspiracy of Ravens...

No large corvids on two consecutive visits to Tynemouth...

Compensatory avian treats with a single woodcock at the priory, two Brent geese flying out of the Tyne on Friday, while Saturday's bonus birds were further north at St Mary's - a relatively showy yellow-browed warbler at the top of the wetland and a brief black redstart on the beach 

Fired

Conditions looked a bit better for grounded migrants this afternoon, and a trip to St Mary's via Rocky Island and the Cemetery was moderately successful, with all the "action" in the latter stages of the trip out:

3 redwing in the gut area, a yellow-browed warbler calling occasionally from the willows at the north end of the wetland, and along the track en-route to the car as light began to fade, a cracking firecrest and a single redstart.

Contender for photo of the month, the St Mary's firecrest... 1/15 second exposure at 1600 :-(

More of the same

Another trip to Hartley / St Mary's this morning - sunny and quieter than yesterday. The bluethroat continues, while 2 yellow-browed warbler were also noted.

Two Yanks and a Little 'grin.

Worth getting up for!

It was an early start on Sunday to get onto St Mary's just as the tide receded - for another attempt at iphone-scoping the American Golden Plover... Still not quite getting the results I had hoped for, and I'll use the blustery conditions as a contributory excuse for now...

Best of a bad bunch...

Further north at Cresswell, another American, this time in the form of a Pectoral Sandpiper occasionally came within the iPhones range for record shots. Better still were flyover little egret and a soaring peregrine - both very belated 2013 ticks!

Pectoral Sandpiper and, to the left, Ruff

American Golden Plover, St Mary's - iPhone scoping attempt 1...

First attempt at iphone scoping a rare... American Golden Plover at St Mary's today. Conditions were ok, but a slight breeze made steady focus tricky. A handy tip on site from MH might assist ... I'll try next time and advise accordingly!

The AGP was initially on a rocky island offshore in Hartley Bay, too far for any serious attempt at a record short (though I did try). As the tide encroached the flock moved onto the rocks adjacent to the lighthouse, so a closer approach was possible,  the images are zoomed in slightly on the scope and can at best be described as a "record"(from approximately 20 meters range?).

Good start / Good End

Headed to st. Mary's this evening for an hours sea watch before dusk. Arrived as most of the others had left, with only Mark L and Alan J on watch - first bird through the scope was a close-in Sooty shearwater!

Gannets predominated viewing, with lesser numbers of kittiwake. 25 Brent geese headed north and a few wigeon. Skuas seen consisted only of Arctic, while the highlight of the watch was almost missed by Alan, as a storm petrel fluttered north in line with the yellow buoy! The investment in the new scope is paying off...

Distant

Moderate weekend so far - Spent Saturday on the bike touring Cramlington's finer spots. Still not managing to find garden warbler, but amassing almost 50 species in the bleak town that this is.

The bike was about to get another outing this morning, but news that the male red-backed shrike was showing well at St Mays had me out in the car - camera (and memory card) at the ready.

The shrike was there, but very distant. So again no pictures! Nonetheless 3 so far this week, can't complain.

There's still an afternoon to look forward too - perhaps the bike will get out after all....