Welcome to my birding blog - first launched 12th March 2012...
12.09.14 ff
Saltholme & Spurn
Saltholme and area, 12th September
Drove up to Whitburn to look for the returning Bonaparte's gull but failed to find it. Super selection of common waders at Whitburn Steel. Eventually went back south to Saltholme. Things pretty quiet. Ruff from Phil Stead hide.
The glossy ibis was on the causeway.
Newburn Bridge: went to say hello to Medusa, my friendly Med gull.
Down on the beach I looked for sanderlings but could only see oystercatchers...
Medusa followed me down.
Among the black-headed gulls I spotted a couple of sandwich terns. I tried to get close but they were very wary. Caught one juvenile on the breakwater.
A flock of waders rushed past. Mainly ringed plover with 3 sanderlings.
Spurn - mainly Kilnsea - 14th September
Little stint on Kilnsea Wetlands.
Yellow wagtail in the ploughed field on the way to the Kilnsea Wetlands hide. The hide's too small by the way: Barry and I keep having to throw people out! Use the old ''Bonnelli's eagle just landed on post at Beacon Ponds'' trick!! Soon clears it out.
At The Crown & Anchor we saw pied flycatcher, lesser whitethroat...
...and eventually a wryneck at Sunny Beaches caravan park.
The ringing station at Church Field proved especially rewarding with red-breasted flycatcher in the hand...
...plus wood warbler...
...and even marsh warbler!
South Gare & Hartlepool Headland - 19th September
I hoped to meet up with a yellow-browed warbler at the Bomb Hole at South Gare. Soon found lots of reed buntings...
...plus a very shy garden warbler but no yellow-browed. Decided to try the sycamores at Paddy's but again no luck although a willow warbler was present...
...and a spotted flycatcher was very obliging - posing for me.
I returned to the Bomb Hole where I saw wheatear and redstart fleetingly. The garden warbler was still avoiding my lens quite successfully. I have photographed yellow-browed before but the results were at best flawed. Such a busy, restless tiny bird. One showed well soon after my return to the Bomb Hole and here goes: yellow-browed warbler suite!
Real leaf warbler isn't it!
I then headed for Hartlepool Headland and Borough Hall where I saw another yellow-browed at the putting green, failed to spot the red-breasted flycatcher but found this fellow!
I like bramblings but not as much as I love a lifer....
September 20th: dash to Spurn
I was tidying the garage... but then a woodchat shrike was posted. Not even a year tick. Carried on working but behind my back it transformed itself into a masked shrike lifer! It was some time before I checked the pager. Soon on my way thanks to Sheila who packed my lunch and the car whilst I straightened most things by the garage. Off I went. The shrike was soon seen albeit distantly but looked good in Simon Spavin's scope. Good to see him and Karen again.
It's a blob on the wire! While we watched the shrike a honey buzzard flew close overhead: really good views. Then whilst walking the Triangle a van pulled up and told me to go to Canal Scrape for the.......
What's this then, Jack?!
There were 2 of them bobbing away merrily...
...plus 2 common snipe as well - a bit more out in the open!
21st September: Nosterfield LNR
A trip in hope really. A common crane was reported and I went hoping it might be close enough for decent images. It was some way off but soon spotted with the naked eye.
It walked around this area for a while getting closer and closer to the other hide. I walked down there only to find it locked and the high wooden pallissades provided no view. Annoyed, I headed back surrounded by up to 30 speckled wood butterflies.
A ruff had dropped in below the viewing screen.
The crane was getting agitated and I thought it might fly.
Spot the terrified moorhen above...
...and a dancing crane!
Now a young kestrel dropped in on the grass in front of us.
However my favourite pictures came when everything went up: hundreds of geese. I managed to follow the crane amongst the chaos...
In the above picture it's flying right near the two central Canada geese.
Above: now flying left still near the Canadas, centre image.
Having gained height above the geese, everything calmed down and began to return to the ground.
I'll finish with a couple of close-up spiders. I've been trying f18 hand-held at 1/60th of a second to get a bit of depth of field. Here's two of the best.
Also from the garden, a 'sport' on one of our dahlias that survived last winter outside in the ground [Just shows what a mild one it was!] Flowers of different colours on one plant...
...and absolutely last of all as the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness arrives: a colourful garden fungus.
249 UK 2014
Life list 406
07.09.14 ff
Oh deer, things are very quiet, so...
'Thank heavens for little gulls!
Sunday 7th September
A trip to Spurn. Eventually the barred warbler showed in the hedge near Kew Villa.
![Barred Warbler [Kilnsea 2014]](https://chrisdownesbirds.com/img/s/v-10/p455892236-5.jpg)
Walking the triangle I saw a roe deer heading towards me. Camera ready, I hid. Pretty sure it hadn't seen me.
Having walked my walk I dropped in on Church Field where a free ringing demonstration was imminent as part of the Vis Mig Festival.
A young sparrowhawk was shown to the assembled crowd.
I drove round to Kilnsea Wetlands car park. Curlew sandpipers, 2 still quite red adults and 3 little stints but a bit out of camera range. One dunlin was nearer the hide.
Some other birders had spotted a cricket. Always impressed what my 400mm lens can do when asked to do close-ups!
I like this shot...
Back at the Crown & Anchor car park the pied flycatcher showed well. Photos taken earlier in the morning were not worth including.
I broke my journney home with a visit to Blacktoft. Little to report but the French teal with the bill ring showed well at Marshland.
Tuesday 9th September
After family commitments Sheila and I went to Hornsea in the afternoon. The walk on the promenade was unproductive but the visit to the Mere did us proud with wheatears...
...and little gulls. If you don't like little gulls, look away now!
A well-marked juvenile dropped in...
27.08.14-3.09.14
Bits 'n Pieces
27th August: Kilnsea/Holmpton
A good day's birding with some nice shots of everyday creatures at Canal Scrape such as a common darter dragonfly...
...or birds like one of the three green sandpipers...
...or returning wheatears at Canal Scrape...
...and at Sammy's Point...
A whitethroat showed there too. The black marks are flies. I cloned them out of the second picture!
I drove back through Holmpton and then took the lane back to Patrington. Some red-legged partridge were lingering by the road.
They didn't rush off because they had a juvenile with them.
28th August: Saltholme/South Gare
We saw a rather shy barred warbler intermittently - I spotted a late wall butterfly. Little else that day.
29th August Scarborough Castle
Went to see a greenish warbler on north side of the castle. No luck. Photograph of Anne Bronte's grave because it was in the car park where I parked. In case you're wondering she's the sister who wrote Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
I noticed that the road next to the car park is called Paradise. Paradise is from the Persian for a green place. Sounds like my kind of paradise...
1st September: Scarborough again
Failure again but a herring gull in the car park at St. Mary's church was very cross. I raised my lens and fired. This one seems to amuse people!
2nd September: Hartlepool
No reason just wanted to get out birding. The best spot I visited was Newburn Bridge at low tide. In spite of the dog walkers the waders were determined to stay on the beach.
A juvenile ringed plover...
...sanderlings in synchrony!
Photogenic little birds!
3rd September: North Cave
I had some family deliveries to drop off in Wakefield. A black tern was reported at North Cave so once my jobs were done I 'M62ed' it to North Cave. It had gone! Juvenile common terns still present...
17th August ff
Birding at Blacktoft
Sunday 17th August
I suppose that if I have a home patch it's Blacktoft. Barry and I went simply to spend a couple of hours birding in a hide and out of the wind. A good selection of waders were seen, including a few ruff...
...plenty of spotted redshanks coming nice and close...
...a magpie. Pity his head isn't turned just a bit more my way...
...a Konik pony...
...plus a juvenile great crested grebe in flight...
...and a few marsh harriers too.
Not many places can outshine that!
Tuesday 19th August
A seawatch at Flamborough Head seemed like a good idea. It was. Barely had I set up the scope and I was watching a sooty shearwater followed by a couple of manxies. Some time later [I wasn't clock watching] a large shearwater, plenty of white underneath, banked as it described a long arc as it rounded the headland. Cory's I was thinking but soon a birder came up from the undercliff, the birder who is there every day I presume, pulled his phone from his pocket by the lighthouse compound wall [obviously knew he would get a signal there] and reported his sighting: great shearwater. I am not expert enough to argue. A lifer for me either way: so great shearwater it was.
Things quietened down and I headed for Thornwick Pool after checking out the Old Fall flashes. I couldn't see any Polish ringed caspian gull or any ringed gull for that matter. The pool had more to offer. A sleeping greenshank eventually flew over to the bund in front of the hide...once it had woken up I mean...
A grey wagtail also appeared. For some reason I never seem to get good photos of greywags but I am well pleased with these.
I moved on to Hornsea Mere. I went for a walk round with just my bins. Eventually I spotted a little gull rounding Kirkholme Point. I went back for the camera but couldn't relocate it or any other little gull. But I espied this pretty fellow on a bench by the mini golf.
He jumped down.
He was constantly being chased off by pied wagtails.
Finally I spotted a little gull resting on one of the wooden jetties.
Next stop: Tophill Low - spotted crake reported. I did see the crake but it was not possible to get a picture. However a kingfisher kept distracting us as it kept reappearing on posts outside the hide. Good to meet Dave Tucker in the hide; thanks for the help and for the e-mail Dave if you see this!
Saturday 23rd August
I decided that I would finally try for the caspian gull in Amble harbour.
Clearly the real deal, much photographed and Polish ringed with a metal and a yellow PKCS plastic ring. I hoped it would soon be located. The tide was coming in and the weather looked unreliable. This sequence of photos of Warkworth Castle, a mile or so upstream beside the River Coquet and west of Amble harbour shows how little time I had before the deluge.
Initially I couldn't find the caspian gull but located a possible asleep on the sands across from the harbour.
Pale yellow, pretty straight bill looked encouraging.
Eiders were swimming below the harbour wall.
A great black-backed flew past me.
'Shake a leg, my friend!' I thought to myself!
Two rings including the key one showing nicely. Looking straight at me! The big chest isn't always obvious but the pale bill and dark beady eyes are.
By now the rain was upon us and I was getting soaked. The tide rapidly covered the sandbank where the gulls, cormorants and turnstones had been. I sheltered for a few minutes and then ran for the car. I managed to bring Tiggy onto the harbour itself where other locals were - whether I should have gone through the gates I'm not sure but others clearly had. The rain eased and I found the gull on the roof of the building where I had briefly sheltered from the rain.
He flew round for me most obligingly.
Eventually he flew off again.
Brilliant. I headed south calling briefly at Saltholme. A few godwits and egrets were on Phil Stead.
Sunday 24th August
Barry and I went to Flamborough for a seawatch. Although fairly quiet most of the time, we did eventually see a Cory's shearwater quite well - a lifer for me plus a couple of manxies and quite a few arctic skuas. Photos however don't reflect this! A paraglider was on a training exercise for the future scottish border patrol...
A plane flew low over the cliffs...
A racing pigeon dropped in.
Fulmars graced the sky in front of us.
Bank Holiday Monday 25/8
Sheila and I went to Flamborough to try to see the barred warblers. Eventually I saw one of them in hawthorns by the golf course willows. We called at Thornwick Pool. The young greenshank was still present.
All in all an excellent 8 days' birds and...Autumn and the easterlies are coming...
248 UK 2014
11th-16th August 2014
All Quiet on Every Front!
It wouldn't be true to say there's nothing about but it does seem as if we are waiting for something big to happen. Where will it be? When? Will the skuas and shearwaters be around when I am? We will see. If we knew, there'd be no point.
What have I been doing? Well, two trips to Susworth to try to see the cattle egret resulted in second time lucky [11th August]. In willows on the bank of the Trent.
We walked along the bank to get nearer. Surprisingly small bird when seen with a wood pigeon!
Obviously a cattle egret posed for the original Liverpool Liver bird!
Moving on... August 13th we went to Spurn. The tiny hide at Kilnsea Wetlands was full of birders who made no effort to accommodate us or welcome us and preferred to look at very little rather than move on and let others have a look. We soon left and went to scan Beacon Ponds. Here there were thousands of knot plus sandwich and little terns. In flight the red knot looked splendid.
A little egret gave great views as it came towards us.
Dunlin on the sands by the Crown & Anchor.
Swallow from Canal Scrape hide.
Some mallards flew over.
We spotted roe deer along the canal.
A few butterflies were seen including this common blue male.
This rather worn wall butterfly gave us a chase while we checked its identification. on the way home we called at North Cave but all was very quiet there: a little grebe drifted past South Hide.
15th August: I went to Flamborough Head for a seawatch [nothing special to report] and then on to Thornwick Pool where a young shelduck and a linnet were present.
At Bempton I can never resist photographing a gannet or two...
Squabbles ensue when two birds want to land on the same tiny spot!
There were a few kittiwakes still and fulmars.
I watched this juvenile kittiwake fly in and being greeted affectionately by its parents on the cliff. Or were they berating it for staying out too long?
I like these shots!
A couple of recent dragons!
August 16th Blacktoft: good selection of waders present but the light was poor and the birds were distant. Here's a couple of greenshank.
UK 2014: 234