Wick

Nice to finally catch up with the Warkworth Bewick's swan pair this afternoon, attempt 3... and a decent herd of Whooper too.

A good species in Northumberland, hopefully they'll hang on till the new year.

Swan & Gooses

Nice day for it

Headed north west this morning for some raptor viewing - 2 - 3 Goshawk were appreciated - with one closer than the others. 

Popped into Capheaton - one lone Whooper Swan with the Mutes on a distinctly Spring-like morning.

The Magnificent Seven!... Nine?

A surprisingly productive afternoon birding after an early shift at work...

Thoughts of where to start were put to one side when Gordon texted through news of a tricky Cramlington year-tick - a single Whooper Swan on Arcot provided a good start.

Further north, a brief stop provided nice views of a drake Mandarin at Sheepish - a couple of picture taken with the bridge camera and then I was off...

The good fortune continued further north - Widdrington Moor Lake provided a large herd of Pink-feet, but still no Ross's for me, preventing a double plastic wildfowl trip. Compensation came in much the preferred form of a scarce birdie the region this winter - Short-eared Owl.

Not untypical there was more than one bird - I happily texted out the news of two birds, to find the next scan revealing four. Then five, then six and finally, seven!

East Chevington north pool provided black-necked, great created and little grebe but no beardies...

Cresswell is clearly popular in the evenings, with a "crowd" watching the Barn Owl late afternoon.

Heading back it was apparent that I could have a final pit stop near home - and rewarding it was too, with 2 Curlew, 2 Dunlin, a Fox, a Hare and the final owl of the day (and ninth owl at that!), with grand views of a Long-eared perched on a fence line.

That'll do nicely.

Seconds

Where the actions is/at...

More of the same this afternoon, with a couple of hours at Marden Quarry - brief view of the Pallas's Warbler, prolonged views of Yellow-browed Warbler and Siberian Chiffchaff. Quite a trio of Sibes...

Prior to that, Arcot was twitched - Whooper Swans for the patch list courtesy GM.

Good times...

Whoopee do...

Took what seems to be an ever decreasingly frequent trip up the coast this morning... and there was very little to see! No sign of the waxwing at Ashington, or any smew at Druridge Bay Country Park. Two set of 4 whooper swan were noted though - on Cresswell and just up the road from Druridge. Chips at Amble and a couple of brambling saved the day, again!

Whooper +

A few more images of the confiding whooper swan herd at Druridge Bay Country Park. As the whoopers' prepare to head north, sand martins fresh from the south dart overhead... Click the images for a sharper view.

Whooper, Black Redstart & Crane. A Quiet Northumberland P.M!

I headed up the coast this afternoon – taking advantage of another week of nightshifts coming to an end.

First stop was QEII park north of Ashington – here two sand martin were my first of the year, while the lake itself was quiet, holding Canada goose, mute swan, coot, mallard, goldeneye and a mix of c/bh gulls.

Druridge Bay Country Park took the sand martin count to eight for the day, with six hawking the west corner. Nine whooper swan were unexpected and very photogenic – expect a couple of more images when the pace settles.

After a check of Hadston beach, I headed back south to Druridge Pools, where a beautiful male black redstart was available, though not photographable. The black-red was feeding in the dunes just south of the reserve entrance, and had a minimum of three wheatear for support, two of which were bright males.

Again no owl action at Cresswell, so I headed home via Eshott. The common crane had last been reported near Warkworth on Monday 22nd, so it was a great surprise to find that this mighty “grus” was still present. A bonus for me today is that the crane was much more mobile – feeding in roadside fields both south and north of Eshott.

The cranes’ presence was not accepted by the soon-to-be-breeding lapwing ~ dive bombing ensued, causing the crane to become very vocal! A record shot is below…

Whoopers drop in

A change of shift pattern this week has seen me complete one nightshift on Monday then back on to days from Wednesday - so a nice bright sunny morning was as good an incentive to set the alarm clock early and make most of the day. I did not have to travel to far this morning - five whooper swan had dropped into Arcot Pond the previous evening - so the pond seemed as good a start as any.

Thankfully the whoopers' were still present - five in all, four adult one immature, loafing with two mute swan and a single canada goose. Pretty much annual on passage in Cramlington, birds used to be more regular when there was a small wintering flock (herd?) near Brenkley. I've even watched feeding birds in fields directly behind my parents house.

Also on the pond were two grey-lag geese, mallard, tufted duck, little grebe and gulls of the common, black-headed, herring and lesser-blacked backed variety. The scrub surrounding the water held reed bunting, yellowhammer, wren, a single chiffchaff and a heart-stopping pheasant that launched itself in the air just as I walked past - eek!

Another chiffie was heard on Crowhall Lane when heading back home for a spot of lunch.