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Northumbrian Birding (3 Viewers)

Kinghorn the bird brain. said:
Oh right, I see. There where two other birders in the hide at the time and I am not sure if they saw the Scuap or not, they certainly didn't tell us about it.

Glad you saw the Scuap anyway, I think I got my first ever one in Cresswell back in 2008.:t:
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Hi Andrew - you must have been with 2 other people on Thursday morning about 10.45ish ...

I was in the far RH Corner of the hide and the other person 'the lady with the long lens' is called Venetia Parkins.. We didn't see a Scaup while we were there otherwise i would have certainly mentioned it. To be honest i found it very quiet with the only excitement being 2 Little Egrets which headed south as Vee & I walked up the farm track to the hide.

Anyway, I wished i'd realised it was you with your pals, i'd have said hello, i'm sure i'll recognise you next time - but i've got to admit i'm useless remembering faces.
 
Spent an hour at castle island looking for caspian gull, there was a gull there that had us going for an hour, but eventually we decided it was a herring gull.

Certainly had some very interesting features. The lad i was with pointed out some features it was missing.

Moved to kitty brewster to chk the estuary, nothing out the ordinary, however we did hear a squeeling water rail in some reeds(water filter site) which is a welcome sound in northumb.

edit: given the gull had a bill resembling caspian, am now wondering if it was a mixed bag gene wise. imo it was herring gull grey on the back, and graham thought was too short legged. The head looked right for caspian, but the body didnt look right. Tricky bird!
 
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degsy_safc said:
Anyway, I wished i'd realised it was you with your pals, i'd have said hello, i'm sure i'll recognise you next time - but i've got to admit i'm useless remembering faces.
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Yes I saw you and thought it was you but wasn't 100% sure. You sounded like you had quite a broad Geordie accent and therfore from Northumberland. I was going to ask if it was you but thought it better not to in case I was wrong.

I can well believe you would have pointed out the Scaup, so I hope I didn't sound rude saying you wouldn't have. It was after all a very quiet day at Cresswell that day I noticed:-O
 
woodhornbirder said:
edit: given the gull had a bill resembling caspian, am now wondering if it was a mixed bag gene wise. imo it was herring gull grey on the back, and graham thought was too short legged. The head looked right for caspian, but the body didnt look right. Tricky bird!
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Just out of interest, has the bird been aged yet?
 
Kinghorn the bird brain. said:
Yes I saw you and thought it was you but wasn't 100% sure. You sounded like you had quite a broad Geordie accent and therfore from Northumberland.
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:-O:-O Must be due to the amount of time i spend there :-O:-O

Kinghorn the bird brain. said:
I can well believe you would have pointed out the Scaup, so I hope I didn't sound rude saying you wouldn't have. It was after all a very quiet day at Cresswell that day I noticed:-O
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Not at all rude, if we'd seen one we'd have definitely mentioned it, like we have both said it was terribly quiet. Listening to you and your pals as you were scanning the pond edge i was kind of hoping you would have found something through the scopes - no such luck.. We both left approx 15 mins after you did, partly due to the influx of those damn tiny black flies, which seem to get absolutely everywhere.
 
I am coming to Seahouses on Saturday and staying in the area for 2 weeks. I still need Roseate Tern. Where is the best place to pick them up ? I saw a report today of one at Long Nanny. Once they disperse from Coquet Island do they turn up along the coast.
 
Darren Pearce said:
I am coming to Seahouses on Saturday and staying in the area for 2 weeks. I still need Roseate Tern. Where is the best place to pick them up ? I saw a report today of one at Long Nanny. Once they disperse from Coquet Island do they turn up along the coast.
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Alnmouth beach can be good for seeing RoseateTerns and the Long Nanny.Also further down the coast East Chevington is worth a look for them.
 
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Or.....do as I do and cheat! Get one of the boat trips around Coquet Island in Amble - only £4 for an hour long trip ;)

I had some tourists in our shop today wanting to know where they could see puffins so I told them either the Farnes or Coquet Island and told them which boat trips to use - apparently I gave them a lot more info than the Tourist Info across the road did! :-O
 
rokermartin said:
Alnmouth beach can be good for seeing RoseateTerns and the Long Nanny.Also further down the coast East Chevington is worth a look for them.
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East Chevington has been getting the odd roseate in for a wash and brush-up with the other terns and gulls for at least the last 4 weeks. It's just a question of being there at the right time. There was one there not long before I arrived yesterday at about mid-day and I've had them in ones and twos on various occasions.

A couple of little terns dropped in there yesterday too.

This photo was in June when the water level was at about the same level it is back to now after all the rain we've had has covered the mud we were so pleased to see.
 

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Gill Osborne said:
Or.....do as I do and cheat! Get one of the boat trips around Coquet Island in Amble - only £4 for an hour long trip ;)

I had some tourists in our shop today wanting to know where they could see puffins so I told them either the Farnes or Coquet Island and told them which boat trips to use - apparently I gave them a lot more info than the Tourist Info across the road did! :-O[/QUOTE

Is it possible to id Roseates from the boat. I remember a few years ago I went on a boat ride around Blakeney Norfolk and I found id 'ing Terns impossible
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It's not too bad - some of the boats get pretty close to where the roseates breed and you can clearly see them next to the boxes that the wardens have built for them to nest in :t:
 
rokermartin said:
Alnmouth beach can be good for seeing RoseateTerns and the Long Nanny.Also further down the coast East Chevington is worth a look for them.
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I'd say roseate tern is pretty difficult at the Long Nanny, it usually gets just a handful every year. There has been one bird lingering about here for a few days now, but you've gotta be in the right place at the right time to see it.... still well worth a visit tho, just to see all those terns ! Keep looking offshore too, I picked up the roseate fishing out there at the weekend.....

The previous couple of years (not this year) the Long Nanny/Low Newton area has had an unusually high number of dispersing post breeding birds (in late July/early Aug). It seems very quiet this year so far tho..... In the year many birds were around here, the most reliable place seemed to be the emblestones at Low Newton, still worth checking these..... I have been, but nothing yet so far this year....

TBH if roseate is your target I think there are other more reliable haunts that seem to get them every year without fail..... St Mary's Island seems to get regular late season reports... Someone told me East Chev and Hauxley get them daily in the summer too, dunno if that's right ?

Good luck ! :t:
 
Newton Stringer said:
Someone told me East Chev and Hauxley get them daily in the summer too, dunno if that's right ?

Good luck ! :t:
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I had a Roseate Tern earlier on in the year at East Chev briefly but it soon headed off and away. I believe it is a good place to look for them if the observor is willing to give it a bit of time, it must be reasonable as I only go a handful of times each year and I have seen a Roseate.

If anyone is interested a very reliable spot for them is Sandhaven Beach in South Shields, its not very far from Trow Quarry and at this time of year their are daily sightings of Roseate Tern.
 
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Newton Stringer said:
I'd. Someone told me East Chev and Hauxley get them daily in the summer too, dunno if that's right ?
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And if they're not showing there then Amble Harbour is just a few minutes drive away ;) :-O

You definitely MUST get yourself up to the tern colony at the Long Nanny as the birds are fantastic :t: Summer-plumaged Great Northern Diver reported there today too :king:
 
3hrs seawatch at ch pt this evening with 5 other assorted loonies.

4 arctic skuas, 1 bonxie, 100+manx, 6 roseateT, 1 sooty shearwater, 3 red throated divers.

reports of 12+ med gulls on beach.
 
the slightly more expensive boat from amble - booked at the seabird centre - is a catamaran and has permission to pick up a mooring opposite the roseate tern breeding area on coquet island. there were roseates about on monday.
 
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