Gill Osborne's 2009 List

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday, 1st January
Alnwick, Northumberland

Out at first light for a nice walk along to Hulne Park to try for those fabled Hawfinches *no show...they don't exist!!!* and then down a field along to the Canongate Bridge. Then walked back up Canongate to home.

1: Jackdaw
2: Feral Pigeon
3: Wood Pigeon
4: Robin
5: Starling
6: Pheasant
7: Rook
8: Blackbird
9: Mistle Thrush
10: Chaffinch
11: Greenfinch
12: Blue Tit
13: Nuthatch
14: Coal Tit
15: Great Tit
16: Dipper
17: Moorhen
18: House Sparrow
19: Collared Dove
20: Goldfinch

I eventually managed to get hubby out at 1pm :smoke: We headed over to Boulmer but it was absolutely HEAVING with once-a-year walkers so we then decided to try somewhere more peaceful so we drove up to Budle Bay (Neil's suggestion! :eek!:) Had a relaxing time scanning the Bay and then popped over to Stag Rocks to try for divers and grebes. No sign of them but hey, no worries - I've still got 364 days of birding left to catch up ;) :king:

21: Carrion Crow
22: Black-headed Gull
23: Magpie
24: Lapwing
25: Kestrel
26: Herring Gull
27: Coot
28: Oystercatcher
29: Redshank
30: Mute Swan
31: Wigeon
32: Teal
33: Curlew
34: Great Black-backed Gull
35: Mallard
36: Shelduck
37: Eider
38: Long-tailed Duck

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday, 4th January
Boulmer, Northumberland

39: Pied Wagtail
40: Turnstone
41: Sanderling
42: Ringed Plover
43: Bar-tailed Godwit
44: Grey plover
45: Cormorant
46: Red-breasted Merganser
47: Stonechat
48: Song Thrush
49: Grey Heron
50: Rock Pipit
51: Dunnock
52: Reed Bunting
53: Wren
54: Yellowhammer
55: Dunlin
56: Fieldfare
57: Redwing

Biggest dip of the day was Tree Sparrow and Grey Partridge :smoke: Both have been regulars in one particular spot for MONTHS yet today.....not so much as a feather to be seen! :eek!: And to add insult to injury, I HEARD a grey partridge a number of times from one particular field but would he show? Would he heckers!!!! :C I'll try again on Tuesday :-O

[Gill Osborne]

Friday, 9th January
Driving along A1, south of Morpeth.

58: Common Buzzard ~ being mobbed by a Rook.

[Gill Osborne]

Tuesday, 13th January
Alnwick, Northumberland

59: Long-tailed Tit ~ four feeding in trees opposite Baillifgate Museum.



Thursday, 22nd January
Alnwick, Northumberland

60: Treecreeper ~ one clinging to wall opposite living room window. Very unexpected but extremely welcome! :t:

[Gill Osborne]

Tuesday, 27th January
Morpeth, Northumberland

61: Common Gull
62: Waxwing

Cresswell, Northumberland

63: Red-throated Diver ~ just offshore at Caravan Park.
64: Pink-footed Goose
65: Barn Owl
66: Goldeneye
67: Little Grebe
68: Shoveler
69: Snipe
70: Peregrine Falcon
71: Scaup
72: Tufted Duck
73: Greylag Goose
74: Golden Plover
75: Whooper Swan

A good day all round :t: Very pleased to tick off a couple of tricky blighters that may have proved awkward towards the end of the year! It's happened before but it's NOT happening this year! ;)

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday, 1st February
Alnwick, Northumberland

76: Tawny Owl - one 'kewicking' in trees behind my flat just before midnight!

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday, 5th February
Jesmond Dene, Tyne & Wear

77: Stock Dove
78: Grey Wagtail

Dene very quiet today and no sign of any kingfishers at all!!! :eek!::-C

A flock of c.12 Waxwings seen from car at approx 3pm along A191 as you approach the Holystone Roundabout. Very unexpected and the second flock I've seen in ten days!!! :t:

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday, 15th February
Cresswell Pond, Northumberland

79: Canada Goose
80: Skylark
81: Gadwall
82: Pochard
83: Bittern :loveme:
84: Grey Partridge

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday, 5th March
Cresswell Pond, Northumberland

85: Pintail

[Gill Osborne]

Friday, 13th March
Holy Island, Northumberland

86: Meadow Pipit
87: Fulmar
88: Common Scoter

Budle Bay

89: Lesser Black-backed Gull

Stag Rocks, Bamburgh

90: Gannet
91: Slavonian Grebe *Lifer No. 196* :loveme:

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday, 19th March
Boulmer, Northumberland

92: Purple Sandpiper
93: Sparrowhawk

[Gill Osborne]

Wednesday, 1st April
The Pastures, Alnwick

94: Chiffchaff ~ at least four back and singing well from Lion Bridge and The Pastures.
95: Great Spotted Woodpecker ~ female watched pecking away at bark on tree.

Also two Roe Deer - male with only one antler and female - seen grazing on opposite bank at 6pm as I sat by river and watched fish jumping. Completely unbothered by my presence :t:

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday, 5th April
St Mary's Wetland, Whitley Bay, Tyne & Wear

96: Linnet
97: Sand Martin ~ 1st of the year :t:


Amble Harbour, Northumberland

98: Mediterranean Gull *Lifer No. 197* :loveme:

Boulmer, Northumberland

99: Wheatear

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday, 9th April
Druridge Pools, Northumberland

100: Little Egret
101: Willow Warbler

No sign of Garganey :-C


Had to go down to NE to visit mother-in-law so nipped in to St Mary's first to try for that elusive Garganey....still no show!!! Very strong wind so it was probably staying in the shelter of the reeds :smoke:

[Gill Osborne]

Friday, 10th April
Druridge Pools, Budge Hide

102: Garganey :king:

Finally!!!!! On the fourth attempt in five days 3:-)

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday, 16th April
Alnmouth, Northumberland

103: Sandwich Tern ~ 5 feeding at mouth of river.

[Gill Osborne]

Hulne Park, Northumberland
Thursday, 16th April

104: Siskin
105: Swallow
106: House Martin
107: Blackcap

Well, not a bad couple of hours :t: Had three summer migrants and heard a Green Woodpecker yaffling twice but couldn't see him :smoke: Jays heard too but, again, no sight obtained. Also - whilst trying to spot the screeching jays - I missed what I think may have been bullfinches which were in a small tree right in front of me!!! :eek!: First I knew was when they flew up and just as quickly dropped down into the valley below :smoke: The general impression was of a small bird with a white rump and dark (black?) tail. Never mind, I'll catch up with them at some point.
Also had a lovely red squirrel feeding on opening shoots in a small tree and, further on, a superb roebuck picking his way delicately through the trees next to the livery stables.
Also had two new butterflies for the year - a Peacock and a Green-veined White.

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday, 7th May
Druridge Pools, Northumberland

108: Swift
109: Sedge Warbler
110: Black-tailed Godwit

Also on the floating island and then swimming/playing in the water before heading over to the far bank, three Otters - Neil's first! He was chuffed to bits! :t: I'll get him into birding/wildlife yet! ;)

[Gill Osborne]

Tuesday, 12th May
Druridge Pools, N'land

Just a quickie today as I finshed work at 1.30pm and had to be back home by 4pm to do the tea before Neil went off to work :smoke:
Fairly quiet from the Budge Hide - skylark/sedge warbler/willow warbler/wren singing...a pair of greylag with 4 goslings, three pairs of gadwall, reed buntings very active and chasing each other around and lots of Garlic Mustard in bloom which was absoluitely heaving with St Mark's Fly *Bibio marci*...a bug-phobic's nightmare 3:-) Yes, I'm heartless ;) :king:
As I left the Budge Hide to walk to the other two I heard a bird singing away in the trees around the path. My first thought was of something 'warbler-ish' like a blackcap but it didn't sound quite right for that species. After almost ten minutes of waiting it showed itself...Lesser Whitethroat! :t:
Further on was another and this showed itself extremely well, albeit briefly once it realised I was watching it!
Nine dunlin in summer plumage and five ringed plover in front of the smaller hide and not much from the Oddie Hide - redshank, male Pied wagtail, Grey Heron, 5 male Mallard...no otters showing today :smoke: Bit of a shame as a couple from the Midlands were staying at Alnmouth for a holiday and otters would have been a nice treat for them. They said they've seen them many times on scottish islands though.

111: Lesser Whitethroat

I would have loved more time to nip along to Cresswell Pond, East Chevington and Hauxley but it was not to be :smoke: And Thursday, my one day off, is a non-starter too as I'm at the dentist for root canal work *oh joy* :smoke: :-C Darned work!!!! Gets in the way of my birding!!!! :C

[Gill Osborne]

Just been checking out my list I keep at the back of my diary to check what I have seen so far and, more importantly, NOT seen! Oh dear lord...the list is embarrassing :eek!:

Still To Get include such easy birds as *don't laugh* goldcrest...bullfinch...goosander...guillemot...ja y...kingfisher...kittiwake...knot...puffin...red kite...red-legged partridge...ruddy duck...shag...tree sparrow!!!

Disgusting!!!:smoke: And I call myself a birder!!!! 3:-)

Nae worries...I know exactly where to go to pick up all of these birds and I'll get to work on it over the next few weeks :t:

[Gill Osborne]

I'm beginning to rethink my id of Lesser Whitethroat from Tuesday afternoon! There have been a few reports of lessers being around in various local areas so I guess I'd just convinced myself that what I was looking at was a lesser instead of a common :smoke:

So I think I'll scratch it off my Year List until I can get back up to Druridge (tomorrow afternoon or Sunday) and get a positive identification :t:

*sigh* this brain-turning-to-mush is happening more and more at the moment......it's either old age kicking in (at 41!!!) or I'm just in need of a holiday!!! Roll on Saturday 13th June so I can knock off work at 9.30am and have a whole blissful week of birding without any phones ringing or ratty customers or reps harassing me to give them big orders :storm:

Year List now back to 110 :king:

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday, 17th May
Druridge Pools, N'land

111: Common Whitethroat
112: Spoonbill

Solved the problem of last week's mis-identification - twas a Common and not a Lesser :smoke: Got the id sussed in my head now though and the song too :t:

Also had my first Wall butterflies of the year and yet more great sightings of the otter :t:
Such a lovely warm early-summer day....it was a shame to have to head back home! :smoke:

[Gill Osborne]

Tuesday, 19th May
Rothbury

113: Bullfinch
114: Garden Warbler


A quick trip to Rothbury proved very fruitful with another two year ticks :t: A walk along the river had numerous willow warbler, chaffinch and blackbird in song. A family of two adult and five young Long-tailed Tit were active in shrubs around me and having them flitting about with constant high-pitched calls and feeding their young just feet from me was one of the loveliest - and most relaxing - experiences I have ever had :t: Good day! :king:

[Gill Osborne]

Monday, 25th May
Craster, Northumberland

Had a fabulous day out birding and picked up a few I should have had by now. This is just the basics - I'll do a proper post later on this evening :king:

115: Kittiwake
116: Shag
117: Guillemot
118: Razorbill

Boulmer, Northumberland

119: Arctic Tern
120: Whimbrel

[Gill Osborne]

Saturday, 30th May
QE2 Park, Northumberland


121: Barnacle Goose


A single one feeding on the banks of the lake with a mixed flock of mute swan, canada geese, moorhen, black-headed gulls, rook, jackdaw and carrion crow. No leg rings and no sign of wing clipping and, when a woman offered food to the various birds, the barnacle gave her a very wide berth! A lazy migrant perhaps that cannot be bothered to head north? ;) :-O

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday, 31st May
A1068, opposite Shortridge Hall turnoff

122: Little Owl ~ sunbathing on top of a stone bus shelter at 8.50am in bright sunlight!!! :king: Completely unexpected...I had to turn the car around and go back for another look :t:

East Chevington

123: Marsh Harrier
124: Reed Warbler *Lifer No. 199* :loveme:
125: Greenshank
126: Little Gull

Druridge Pools

127: Wood Sandpiper


Cresswell Pond

128: Tree Sparrow


Also had my first Cinnabar Moths at Druridge and three HUGE Woolly Bears that were over 2inch long!!!!

[Gill Osborne]

Wednesday, 3rd June
Ingram Valley, Northumberland

129: Red-legged Partridge
130: Whinchat

[Gill Osborne]

Hahaha finally caught up with the buggers!!!! :-O

Sunday, 7th June
Alnwick Moor

131: Red Grouse *Lifer No. 200* :loveme:

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday, 11th June
Bassenthwaite Lake, Cumbria

132: Jay
133: Osprey

[Gill Osborne]

Tuesday, 16th June
Patterdale, Cumbria

Our second trip to the area in a week! Whilst Neil was busy helping our friend do some building work on his garage I took myself off for an hour or two's birding on the banks of Ullswater o:) I set off at 2pm and got back at *cough* 7.30pm!!! :-O Well......I always get distracted when out birding ;)
I had a fabulous few hours in boiling hot sunshine and showed some gorgeous birds to a lot of walkers passing by :t:

134: Redstart
135: Spotted Flycatcher
136: Tree Pipit *Lifer No. 201 :loveme:

[Gill Osborne]

Tuesday, 23rd June
Cresswell Pond

137: Grasshopper Warbler :t:


I went to Druridge hoping for a cuckoo but it was absolutely dead bird-wise - and no otters either!!! :smoke:

I did have a lot of butterflies though! Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Common Blue, Large Skipper and a single Painted Lady :king:

I then popped along to Cresswell and whilst chatting to a lady with six adorable chinese crested a male Grasshopper Warbler flew onto a nearby hawthorn shrub and started reeling in full view! First one I've ever seen clearly :t: A couple of other birders had never seen one before and were very pleased when I told them what it was.

Still need that darned cuckoo though! :smoke: I won't give up!!!!! ;):-O

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday, 28th June
Newton Links, N'land

138: Little Tern

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday, 30th August
Canongate Bridge, Alnwick

139: Kingfisher o:)


After a dismal couple of months I'm feeling a lot better and back in the fray once more :t: Today is the first day of a fortnight off so planning to do LOTS....obscene amounts...of birding!!!

Now how do I tell Neil.....;)

[Gill Osborne]

Well...the poxy Lakeland weather has been just a tad annoying this week as it has been very heavy rain a lot of the time :C But today wasn't too bad so we headed out to Haweswater to look for the eagle.

Saturday, 5th September
Haweswater, Cumbria

140: Goosander
141: Raven

Planning an early start tomorrow to head down to Leighton Moss and the Morecambe Bay area :t:

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday, 6th September
Leighton Moss, Lancashire

142: Marsh Tit

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday, 17th September
Cresswell Pond, Northumberland

143: Merlin ~ flew in and caught a small wader! :t:

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday, 27th September
Cresswell Pond, N'Land

144: Glossy Ibis *Lifer No. 202* :loveme: