Welcome to my birding blog - first launched 12th March 2012...
28-30th October 2016
Spin the bottle!
Sometimes the bottle points to the Scillies or to Devon and Cornwall; at others it's Norfolk's turn for the rarity bonanza. Just recently the bottle came to rest pointing to the North-east. So, 3 days in October - here we go!
28th October: I set off early as is my wont and by 7.15a.m. I was sitting on a lump of concrete overlooking the north side of Skinningrove jetty. The light was still poor: the sun had not yet risen above its North Sea horizon. The eastern black redstart showed immediately as did ferocious robins and a few rock pipits. In the semi-darkness..
The light slowly improved. The bird continued to show well although it did occasionally disappear down among the rock armour.
Sometimes it went down onto the beach...
...or lapsed into concentration mode.
Lovely bird!
Before heading home I called at Saltholme for bird seed. In Phil Stead hide I saw some of the usual suspects... blackwits...and teal...
...a few goldfinch came down to drink.
On the off-chance of something of interest I called at Greatham Creek thinking a few seal close-ups might be nice. I was surprised by more action than expected.
North Gare road was quiet. A few curlew kept an eye on me...
...and at Newburn Bridge I soon spotted the med. gull in his normal spot!
October 29th and a daurian shrike was reported at South Shields along The Leas. At first things looked a little quiet although I could see one or two birders near the big mound. As I approached and crested a rise in the ground I realised this was quite a twitch! The must have been 40 or so scopes and big lenses sitting on their tripods. Of the bird there was at first no sign but eventually we all had brilliant views.
This first, distant view sets the scene nicely.
30th October: back to Redcar for a pied wheatear - only my second, having seen my first at Reighton Sands amongst some caravans in November 2008. The Redcar bird was a much more handsomely marked bird - a real cinema star! [It was hanging around the cinema on the beach in Redcar]
It's been a great October and the North of England just keeps on delivering the goodies!
269 UK 2016
21st-24th October
Four days in October...
It's been a good month. Friday 21st October Sheila and I headed north for South Gare and Skinningrove. Things were very quiet. Stonechat pair showed nicely at Skinningrove.
South Gare little to report but photographed this flower as it was everywhere and I didn't know what it was.
I'm still not sure what it is - it may be a mustard such as hoary or black mustard. I'll keep looking.
Saturday 22nd October, bright and early [7am] saw me walking from Easington to the boatyard area to look for siberian stonechat and isabelline wheatear. Eventually seen in ''not really daylight'' conditions I walked back to Tiggy and got the camera. Someone shouted ''That'll be no good. It's too close for that lens!'' So here it is - the isabelline first.
The siberian stonechat appeared. People seemed to be over keen to get close so I contented myself with approaching using the 'crop' method at home!
Kilnsea Wetlands: the highlight here was a merlin over Beacon Ponds and along the far bank of the wetlands in front of the hide. Mesmerising to watch. I snapped a greenshank and an egret that came quite close.
I headed for Easington as a waxwing was reported on Vicar's Lane.
A couple of chiffchaffs were on the lane too. Here's one of them.
Coffee break at Canal Scrape. Quiet. Kestrel in far bushes didn't stir at all during the half hour I spent there.
Down to Sammy's. Song thrush hiding in a hawthorn...
...and ring ouzels in the first horse paddock. Not as close as last time but still very nice!
Finally on the coast at Sandy Beaches caravan park I watched a very tame snow bunting.
Sunday 23rd October took me to Filey hoping for a lapland bunting. No luck but did see a snow bunting on Carr Naze. Pager sent me to Flamborough, Thornwick Pool to see a warbler with a variety of names! Variously described as Hume's warbler or Hume's leaf warbler or Hume's yellow-browed warbler, it showed among young willows but was very tricky to photograph. My camera settings were all wrong and the results, alas, were rubbish! Still, a good year tick.
On Monday 24th Barry and I had a trip to Hartlepool and other favourite haunts in the area. Highlights were a black-necked grebe at Saltholme, good numbers of purple sandpipers, a med gull [of course] and lots of screaming parakeets. A day's general birding with no obvious rarities in our chosen direction, we had an excellent day with over 60 species seen. Here's a couple of parakeets to finish.
266UK 2016 - so far...
17.10.2016
Postscript: just another of those funny little dunnocks!
A very brief blog...
17th October: went to Hartlepool to look for lapland buntings but just linnets in unmanageable wind. Decided to make the 30 minute trip [according to the satnav] to Hendon, Sunderland and see if I could spot my second ever siberian accentor...
...found it behind a wall on derelict land near the docks...elusive, fleeting views, rain...here it is:
See previous post for recent photos including the Easington accentor.
12th-14th October
On the crest of a wave!
As a tribute to those mesmerising little goldcrests that keep cropping up in this blog but also as a reflection of some amazing recent birding. It didn't all go right but as well as the crests [both feature] there are some exceptional goodies. The new camera and lens have started to amaze me - especially the capabilities of the camera at 1000 ISO whilst not becoming too grainy: the 1D couldn't produce images like some of these that were taken in challenging lighting conditions.
Let us begin... October 12th at Bempton then Old Fall and then Thornwick Pool. Bempton first.
Pity the branch got in front of the bird.
These were taken whilst I waited for the red-breasted flycatcher to reappear. If birds could get Oscars I'd give this one an award!
At Old Fall I looked for a great grey shrike but it had scarpered. A few yellowhammers were in the hedge.
At Thornwick all was fairly quiet. One cormorant, one snipe and one dunlin [plus a few ducks and moorhens].
Snipe and drinking straw!
Outside the hide a kestrel came literally overhead.
October 13th reminds me of a day Barry and I went to Covenham Reservoir in Lincolnshire and saw a phalarope but the day was memorable for us getting unbelievably soaked - although we then moved to Spurn and had a wonderful day. Well, this October morning I stood in a strong wind with my back to aggressive rain watching very brief views of a paddyfield warbler [lifer 427]. I gave up trying for a photo and headed back to Bempton for a chiffchaff and brambling extravaganza [plus a couple of goldcrests of course!]. I'll start with the chiffchaffs - several different birds feature.
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A redwing posed briefly - not a bird I find easy to get good photos of. They seem pretty wary having just arrived.
Bramblings showed well at the feeder station and nearby. Here's a selection of views - again taken in poor light...
...and some goldcrests again!
I went back to have another look for the paddyfield warbler. Saw it perched ever so briefly and could only manage this 'almost' shot. It's in focus!!
I met Mark Killeen in the morning as I was departing for Bempton. For proper, decent photos of the paddyfield look at his images on Rare Bird Alert.
October 14th was very special. I joined a couple of thousand birders at 7.30am to see the siberian accentor [lifer 428] at Easington. The whole experience was mad! Parking, crowds of excited birders. People I knew from many other twitches...including people who never, ever twitch!
I went to Sammy's Point and saw a few ring ouzels...
...but a report of a confiding shore lark drew me back to the Blue Bell car park.
A firecrest was to be released at Church Field. Watch the world's shortest video!
A short while later a dusky warbler was also shown to the crowds.
I moved to Canal Scrape to recover from the adrenalin rushes of the morning. Jack was there.
I'll finish this blog with a photo of a bird whose amazing plumage is sometimes overlooked. Gadwall in his finery.
UK 2016 262
9th-10th October 2016
East Coast pleasures...
Sunday 9th October: Spurn
A typically early start got me to Easington by 7.15am. A search round the cemetery produced nothing of interest so I retired to Canal Scrape for a break. Snipe, meadow pipits and redwings.
A little grebe with a fish at Canal Scrape.
This redwing had just been ringed at Church Field.
A little later behind the White Horse a pallas's warbler was located. I had brief views as it flew off but I hung around after the crowd had largely dispersed. Ian Smith and co relocated it behind the warehouse building in the corner in a sycamore. Great views but as I heard lots of shutters firing I couldn't get a clear shot among the foliage. Still, a good bird for the day. I made my way to Kilnsea Wetlands. Pretty quiet there - a pair of greenshanks came reasonably close.
For me the best session was down at Sammy's Point. After walking past all the paddocks and seeing little other than goldcrests...
...I turned back towards the car park. First encounter was a wheatear...
...even a dunnock can be photogenic. I like this image very much!
Then a redstart popped into view on the grass of the second horse paddock.
It came onto the wire next to me...
...and then onto the path in front of me.
A lesser whitethroat was hiding among a pile of rubble overgrown with 'Russian vine'. It eventually surrendered!
I thought this one was a bit different!
Last photoshoot of the day was of an extremely obliging [and interested] ring ouzel. It allowed us to watch him as he watched us!
Monday 10th October
Sheila and I headed north to Hartlepool Headland having seen reports of a red-breasted flycatcher at St. Mary's Church. En route it changed into a red-flanked bluetail at the Putting Green. We watched for a long time... and saw little other than robins and sparrows. Eventually we heard it was going to be released on the beach. Instead of instantly disappearing it posed for us!
As a postcript we did eventually also see the red-breasted flycatcher at St. Mary's church - there were two rather good birds on the headland that afternoon!!
258 UK 2016