American Wigeon, Cresswell

A late morning report of a drake american wigeon was sufficient enough to lure me up the coast for an hour or so today. Distant but easily picked out, the drake spent time feeding in the field adjacent to the NWT hide alongside european counterparts, pink-footed geese and a lone brent goose.

The pace is quickening, hopefully the photographic subjects will become more accommodating.


Canon 1DIII/500mm/2.0 extender ~ resting on beanbag from Cresswell NWT hide.



Double Vision...

After reading Phils' tales of short-eared owl at West Hartford last night I thought I'd try my luck this evening. Sure enough the SEO made an appearance, so after nipping back to the car for the camera gear I returned to my roadside vantage point and found that the bird had gone to ground. Nothing unusual here, as SEO can disappear for periods inbetween feeding - so I waited.

Annoyingly, at about 17:55 my owl attention was diverted as a suspicious white head popped up out of the ponds reedy edge... and after a moment of uncertainty, there it was - my second Cramlington great-white egret. No longer treated to capital letters on the pager, this is still a rare egret 'oop north, so I quickly got the news out via phone call and text. Given the birds position (south-east corner of pool), I advised all to join me at the roadside so not to disturb.

Phil was the first to arrive - he'd dipped the last two records, and as he headed back to his folks car to let them know I'd give him a lift back, out popped egret number 2 - amazing!!!

Gordon arrived soon after, all suited up I might add, along with a few speedy others. Good move, as with all two other Cramlington records, the pair soon headed off north west as dusk set in.

As with the Arcot bird that I found 2 years ago - I had the camera, but the birds were way too distant - so it's record shots only... here goes...

One...

...Two

And they're off...

You might be able to make out that one bird (the first seen) had an almost completely yellow bill, while the second almost completely black - different rates of breeding condition?

Previous Cramlington records were both, weirdly at Arcot Pond on April 25th - 1 for a few minutes in 2009, and the other, a flyover in 2010...

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!

Smew & little else...



A late afternoon trip up the coast resulted in little of note for Druridge Bay: no sign of the smew pair at QEII, but success at Druridge Bay Country Park ~ the pair were picked up quite easily from the water sport car park. Photographically too distant, so it's a record shot of the smart drake...

West Hartford was showing signs of sprint - 11 oystercatcher, 3 curlew and two pairs of shelduck.

There could be sand martin by the month end!

Quick Potter...

Managed an hour birding this afternoon, with the five white-fronted geese collected south-east of Ashington hospital - only one of which was not sat tight to the ground roosting - a greenland race bird.

QEII eventually provided distant views of the smew pair - it's been a while since I last copped eyes on a "white nun" - distant but appreciated.

West Hartford was bleak - a windswept, cold afternoon mean't a short stay and very little bird-wise.

March is round the corner, so things are looking up!

Brambling

I headed up the coast this afternoon, taking advantage of some nice sunshine and a late start to the working week. Stopping off at Woodhorn there was no sign of any white-fronted geese on the pools or surrounding fields, tho a bathing peregrine near the power station was a bonus.

Cresswell was extremely quiet, with only shelduck and lapwing being noted from the roadside!

The action, so to speak, was further north at Druridge Bay Country Park. From the water-sport end of the pool there were many mallard, some coot and moorhen, a few tufted duck, golden-eye and red-breasted merganser. At the visitor centre the feeding station was very busy - primarily with siskin, coal tit, blue tit, great tit and greenfinch. Foraging below, chaffinch and some brambling. While this was all well and good, the birds were a tad distant for the camera - so after a brief wander and eventual re-position in the car, I set up next to the secondary feeding station - some feeders next to the turning circle beyond the main car park.

This prove to be a good location - the afternoon sun was perfectly positioned to light the feeders and there were plenty of brambling feeding in the area (and I was able to sit in the warmth of the car!). While it would have been tempting and easier to photograph them on the feeders, I opted to try and get some images as the birds worked their way to the food.

By late afternoon it was time to head back - via West Hartford. Recent reports have suggested that short-eared owl are back - not today, just a couple of shelduck on the pool and plumiting temperatures!

Sideshow...

http://onnightslikethis.blogspot.com/

My new blog for all the concert and music related stuff that's not really applicable to this blog...

I've lots of concerts planned for 2011, and lots of old "stuff" to post.

I must get out birding sometime(s)...

Frosty start. Snowy end.

Mark and I headed to the "hawfinch hedge" just west of Morpeth this morning... and it was a cold one at that, saved by a beautiful blue, cloudless sky. A two hour vigil was suitably hawfinch-less, though marsh tit was appreciated.

We failed to locate any of the white-fronted geese at Woodhorn, though chips at Newbiggin were consumed while watching a couple of Mediterranean gull scavenge around the car park.

Blyth was the next port of call (pah!), and it was thanks to Brian that we connected with a distant red-necked grebe at the river mouth. Our journey back to the car was interrupted by six snow bunting, that photographically saved the day...

The final stop of the outing was the Burton House pub in Cramlington, where an apple-less apple tree failed to retain any of the waxwing that had been enjoyed a few days ago. No sign of the blackcap either!

A later report on the pager mentioned that there were 16 waxwing at the Shaw garden centre in Cramlington ~ while approx 40 were noted by Birdingsometimes Senior in Alexandra Park yesterday... probably the flock on the move...

The Cult @ Newcastle O2

First musical interlude of 2011 ~ The Cult at Newcastles' O2 Academy... missed them first time round, so was pleased to get a show now. This was the first outing with a new digital compact - Canon SX120IS, with a 14X optical zoom and versatility of manual operation... I'm pleased with the results given the venues "ROCK" lighting (ie very dark!!!)



Classic ROCK gear - shades (worn in the dark, naturally) , gloves (it's winter) and a tambourine



mmm Gretsch, NICE!



One for the road...

Another waxwing image from Monday 24th, the last image taken late afternoon. Thought I might have got back there again today, but after a tiring nightshift I didn't get of bed till after 3!

Off to the pub...

I spent some time photographing an obliging flock of waxwing this afternoon. Feeding on an apple tree in the Burton House pubs' car park, the car was utilised as a hide. The only available parking space was virtually under the tree, so the angle for shooting was restricted to one branch that was a bit too close for the hand-held 500mm - however, there was a nice conifer providing a green background.

As the sun went in and out, the lighting became interesting...

Number-wise the flock was tricky to count, there were certainly 37, maybe 47 ~ my count was never the same as the birds flew in and out! A single male blackcap was also feeding on the apples.

From the archive: January 2004

American Robin, Grimsby, 10th January 2004

I'm not getting out as much as I'd like this week ~ a new central heating installation and some overtime being worked is limiting free time. Mid-week I dipped the Blyth Harbour red-necked grebe and snow buntings, while the Morpeth hawfinches remain out of reach...

The image above was digi-scoped with a 4 mega-pixel nikon coolpix 4500 ~ much photoshop work has been done to reduce noise from the low light conditions that prevailed on my visit, and the un-edited jpeg file was very soft and washed-out ~ here's a thumbnail of the original:

One of those "wishIhadhadmycurrentcameraequipentthen" moments - the slow response of the coolpix focus and shutter response was a real pain, especially when the robin was feeding.

W'wing_King_B'ling

A single waxwing feeding on the hedge adjacent Burnside School on the way back from grocery shopping was enough to get me out of the car and back out onto the bike for a potter around the estate this afternoon. First port of call was back at Burnside, this time armed with the 500mm slung over my back while riding the bake. One waxwing turned into two, but neither would tolerate any hint of me stopping to take a picture... and off they went!

The Horton Burn was reasonably productive, given that the freezing conditions have eased. A single kingfisher patrolled the eastern stretch of the burn, while at the old fire station a mixed finch flock included at least six brambling. The finches (including chaffs, greens, bulls and golds) tend to follow the tree lined road from the old fire station round to the unfortunately named Boghouses, just north of the A192.

No waders were noted on the burn, nor any duck... they may return if the weather closes in again.