Up North : The sequel
A promise of Common Sandpiper drew me back to “Up North”.
This bird has eluded me on many occasions all over the Isle of Man, so today I decided to go with the Isle of Man Northern expert Cjw, in the hope he could find me one of these little buggas. A trip to the top of the Island is like a day out for me so we decided to encompass many of the north’s best birding spots.
First on the agenda was Port Lewaigue, this is an area of small trees and bushes smack on the North East coast, perfect for migrating birds (so I am told). After a quick walk round the only notable bird was a Male Blackcap singing in a tree. What looked like a prime digiscoping opportunity soon fell to pieces after the bird refused to sit out in the open so we both ended up with more branches than bird in our pictures.
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/wormwell/Blackcap4.htm
Next stop was slightly north to Glascoe Dubh. This is a farm duckpond that attracts a lot of weird and wonderful things (mainly over winter )but last week had a Common Sandpiper prancing about 10 ft from where you can watch from.
It also had the Isle of Man’s first ever American Wigeon (found by Cjw himself!) so is always worth a quick look.
Unfortunately apart from the passing Sand Martins and Swallows there was nothing to be seen. Scratch one location for Common Sandpiper!
Next it was our aim to go right to the top of the island to the Point of Ayre, to have a quick look out to sea, see if anything Skua-ish was flying past. Before we reached there it was suggested that we take a quick look at an area called The Phurt. This again is a small patch of bushes right on the coast. It was also down a tiny track that I didn’t want to put my car down so I parked 200 yards away and decided I would wait for Cjw to tell me if anything was about. After a few minutes I thought the 200 yard walk would do me good,
, so I picked up my bins and walked up to the bushes.
I was greeted with “only Dunnock” and put my bins onto what I thought was the bird he was talking about. I looked at it and instantly “Whinchat” came into my head (Even though I haven’t seen one for about 12 years). I said “That’s a Whinchat isn’t it?”, he disagreed and said “no it’s a Dunnock”, after a few minutes argument and a slight stamping tantrum from myself, I finally pointed him away from the Dunnock and onto what I thought was a Whinchat, two seconds later I got a congratulatory slap on the back and Cjw was onto the phone to inform another northern birder of the find.
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/wormwell/Whinchat1.htm
While watching the Whinchat I spotted a Peregrine flying over. I love Peregrines but got a touch worried that he might spot the Whinchat for his tea! Luckily enough he carried on his way probably heading off for a nice pigeon or two.
There were also several House martins passing through which were nice to see, now just the Swift left to see this year.
Extremely happy with this we moved off to the actual tip of the island. Where funnily enough there is also a rubbish “tip”. We drove round looking at the thousands of gulls hoping to find the Iceland gull that was spotted a month back but weren’t so lucky. At the tip is a massive flock of about 30 Ravens but all seem to be very scared of people so again I couldn’t get a nice picture of one.
We then had a quick look at what is going to be another landfill (but at the moment is a small pond) hoping for a Common Sandpiper but too many gulls put paid to that. Scratch location number two!
We also had a quick look at Point West which is right behind the Point’s lighthouse. A few Porpoise, Gannets and Sandwich tern were seen here but no Skuas or Shearwaters.
Next stop was Ballaghennie (a shingle beach area) which is a few miles drive down the coast. A good place normally for Divers but this time it was empty.
We then moved further south along the coast to Smeale hoping to get a Yellowhammer out in full view, Cjw could hear one and we got about a three second view but that was it, so we gave Smeale up as a bad job.
We again moved south this time to The Lhen (a small river surrounded by gorse bushes that runs parallel with a shingle beach and sand dunes). This river had produced two Common Sands last week but our check drew a blank. Scratch location number three! We had a look at a Whitethroat in the gorse bushes and it was performing well but the lack of sunlight meant all my pictures came out dark.
We also had a quick look out to sea, but this area really was completely dead.
Starting to run out of areas for Common Sandpiper we decided to try and have a look at the Point of Ayre Gravel pits. Last week there were fourteen Common Sands seen there and the draw of that was too great. We trekked the 500 yards or so through gorse and thorn bushes!! (OWwwwwwww) and sat down in the heather on a path looking the short distance into the flooded pit. We scanned the edge like mad and spotted Eiders, Tufted Ducks, Shelducks, stacks of gulls but could not spot any Common Sands at all. At this point we could see the rain clouds approaching and Cjw kindly advised me to give up.
As I was doing my last desperate scan of the distant shoreline, I saw a very white gull mixed in with the Herring Gulls, time seemed to slow down as thoughts of Iceland Gull came rushing into my head. With what only must have been milliseconds later the gull stretched its wings and there were no black wingtips!! Iceland gull I shrieked with excitement! Cjw again not believing me said “give me a look”. He had a look and sure enough here was my 150th Manx bird!! Unbelievably the wind then started to gust badly and the rain began. I quickly attached my camera to the scope and tried desperately to get a record shot over a distance of approximately half a mile in the wind and rain! (60x zoom and full zoom on the camera)
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/wormwell/Iceland Gull.htm
We got back to the car soaking wet and my legs were cut to blazes. But my smile stretched from ear to ear. This was one of my best birding days ever and it was only 1pm. The rain persisted we decided to call it a day. On my drive home the rain stopped so I decided to have a quick call at Ballaugh Cronk which is a slightly similar habitat to the Lhen. Last week there had been a Black throated diver sitting close offshore and I was hoping it might still be there for a picture, but no sign of anything.
With the rain still holding out I had a quick look up the tiny stream that runs into the area. I had never looked up it before so didn’t expect to see anything, apart from maybe a Grey Wagtail or something, when I scared a bird from one of the muddy edges. It flew up the stream really weirdly, very low and with a funny wing beat, I got the bins onto it and didn’t instantly recognise it at all. It landed at the fringe of my bins vision but I could definitely make out white underneath. Slightly excited I quickly ran back to my car and got the scope out and returned to the stream. Through the scope I could straight away see all of the birds features and the funny bobbing motion I had been told to look out for. I knew then I had my first ever Common Sandpiper!
The rain then started to pour and as I scrambled to attach my camera the bird flew further up the river before I could get a shot off. I waited for an hour or so for the rain to stop but it never did and neither did the bird come back but I was so happy I didn’t mind. Two lifers in one day and a spot of a Whinchat, does it get any better than this?
Pete.
A promise of Common Sandpiper drew me back to “Up North”.
This bird has eluded me on many occasions all over the Isle of Man, so today I decided to go with the Isle of Man Northern expert Cjw, in the hope he could find me one of these little buggas. A trip to the top of the Island is like a day out for me so we decided to encompass many of the north’s best birding spots.
First on the agenda was Port Lewaigue, this is an area of small trees and bushes smack on the North East coast, perfect for migrating birds (so I am told). After a quick walk round the only notable bird was a Male Blackcap singing in a tree. What looked like a prime digiscoping opportunity soon fell to pieces after the bird refused to sit out in the open so we both ended up with more branches than bird in our pictures.
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/wormwell/Blackcap4.htm
Next stop was slightly north to Glascoe Dubh. This is a farm duckpond that attracts a lot of weird and wonderful things (mainly over winter )but last week had a Common Sandpiper prancing about 10 ft from where you can watch from.
It also had the Isle of Man’s first ever American Wigeon (found by Cjw himself!) so is always worth a quick look.
Unfortunately apart from the passing Sand Martins and Swallows there was nothing to be seen. Scratch one location for Common Sandpiper!
Next it was our aim to go right to the top of the island to the Point of Ayre, to have a quick look out to sea, see if anything Skua-ish was flying past. Before we reached there it was suggested that we take a quick look at an area called The Phurt. This again is a small patch of bushes right on the coast. It was also down a tiny track that I didn’t want to put my car down so I parked 200 yards away and decided I would wait for Cjw to tell me if anything was about. After a few minutes I thought the 200 yard walk would do me good,
, so I picked up my bins and walked up to the bushes.I was greeted with “only Dunnock” and put my bins onto what I thought was the bird he was talking about. I looked at it and instantly “Whinchat” came into my head (Even though I haven’t seen one for about 12 years). I said “That’s a Whinchat isn’t it?”, he disagreed and said “no it’s a Dunnock”, after a few minutes argument and a slight stamping tantrum from myself, I finally pointed him away from the Dunnock and onto what I thought was a Whinchat, two seconds later I got a congratulatory slap on the back and Cjw was onto the phone to inform another northern birder of the find.
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/wormwell/Whinchat1.htm
While watching the Whinchat I spotted a Peregrine flying over. I love Peregrines but got a touch worried that he might spot the Whinchat for his tea! Luckily enough he carried on his way probably heading off for a nice pigeon or two.
There were also several House martins passing through which were nice to see, now just the Swift left to see this year.
Extremely happy with this we moved off to the actual tip of the island. Where funnily enough there is also a rubbish “tip”. We drove round looking at the thousands of gulls hoping to find the Iceland gull that was spotted a month back but weren’t so lucky. At the tip is a massive flock of about 30 Ravens but all seem to be very scared of people so again I couldn’t get a nice picture of one.
We then had a quick look at what is going to be another landfill (but at the moment is a small pond) hoping for a Common Sandpiper but too many gulls put paid to that. Scratch location number two!
We also had a quick look at Point West which is right behind the Point’s lighthouse. A few Porpoise, Gannets and Sandwich tern were seen here but no Skuas or Shearwaters.
Next stop was Ballaghennie (a shingle beach area) which is a few miles drive down the coast. A good place normally for Divers but this time it was empty.
We then moved further south along the coast to Smeale hoping to get a Yellowhammer out in full view, Cjw could hear one and we got about a three second view but that was it, so we gave Smeale up as a bad job.
We again moved south this time to The Lhen (a small river surrounded by gorse bushes that runs parallel with a shingle beach and sand dunes). This river had produced two Common Sands last week but our check drew a blank. Scratch location number three! We had a look at a Whitethroat in the gorse bushes and it was performing well but the lack of sunlight meant all my pictures came out dark.
We also had a quick look out to sea, but this area really was completely dead.
Starting to run out of areas for Common Sandpiper we decided to try and have a look at the Point of Ayre Gravel pits. Last week there were fourteen Common Sands seen there and the draw of that was too great. We trekked the 500 yards or so through gorse and thorn bushes!! (OWwwwwwww) and sat down in the heather on a path looking the short distance into the flooded pit. We scanned the edge like mad and spotted Eiders, Tufted Ducks, Shelducks, stacks of gulls but could not spot any Common Sands at all. At this point we could see the rain clouds approaching and Cjw kindly advised me to give up.
As I was doing my last desperate scan of the distant shoreline, I saw a very white gull mixed in with the Herring Gulls, time seemed to slow down as thoughts of Iceland Gull came rushing into my head. With what only must have been milliseconds later the gull stretched its wings and there were no black wingtips!! Iceland gull I shrieked with excitement! Cjw again not believing me said “give me a look”. He had a look and sure enough here was my 150th Manx bird!! Unbelievably the wind then started to gust badly and the rain began. I quickly attached my camera to the scope and tried desperately to get a record shot over a distance of approximately half a mile in the wind and rain! (60x zoom and full zoom on the camera)
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/wormwell/Iceland Gull.htm
We got back to the car soaking wet and my legs were cut to blazes. But my smile stretched from ear to ear. This was one of my best birding days ever and it was only 1pm. The rain persisted we decided to call it a day. On my drive home the rain stopped so I decided to have a quick call at Ballaugh Cronk which is a slightly similar habitat to the Lhen. Last week there had been a Black throated diver sitting close offshore and I was hoping it might still be there for a picture, but no sign of anything.
With the rain still holding out I had a quick look up the tiny stream that runs into the area. I had never looked up it before so didn’t expect to see anything, apart from maybe a Grey Wagtail or something, when I scared a bird from one of the muddy edges. It flew up the stream really weirdly, very low and with a funny wing beat, I got the bins onto it and didn’t instantly recognise it at all. It landed at the fringe of my bins vision but I could definitely make out white underneath. Slightly excited I quickly ran back to my car and got the scope out and returned to the stream. Through the scope I could straight away see all of the birds features and the funny bobbing motion I had been told to look out for. I knew then I had my first ever Common Sandpiper!
The rain then started to pour and as I scrambled to attach my camera the bird flew further up the river before I could get a shot off. I waited for an hour or so for the rain to stop but it never did and neither did the bird come back but I was so happy I didn’t mind. Two lifers in one day and a spot of a Whinchat, does it get any better than this?
Pete.
