birdman
Орнитол&
Northumberland - Day Four (Great Skua pix added)
Day Four, and the final day, with rain promised.
So we took our chances and tried to get some birding in before the rain came, with a slow drive down the Northumberland Coast.
First stop was some combined birding and rockpooling at Boulmer Haven. We saw a good selection of the usual suspects, including some unided small waders and three or four Ringed Plovers.
Partnyorsha, paying more attention to the pools, said she had seen Elvis… or maybe it was some elvers. Yes that was it… about 30 or so, with some other small fry, and a hermit crab.
As we left, a light shower began to fall, which lasted only until we reached (unexpectedly) Hauxley Nature Reserve. We hadn’t planned this visit, and certainly didn’t give the reserve as much attention as it deserved, stopping barely an hour. But we did pick up some nice waterfowl and waders, including a Greylag x Canada Goose and some Greenshank.
Next to East Chevington (which is difficult to find if you don’t know where to look!) and a hope of seeing the White-winged Black Tern. Well we were there for a fair while… and it wasn’t. I later found out that whilst we were at East Chevington, it was on the Farne Islands!!! Bit of a disappointment really, but that’s birding… and you never know, it can always spring up a surprise when you least expect. And anyway, amongst the many birds that were there, we heard the unmistakable call of a Grasshopper Warbler. (Also we saw a really groovy caterpillar, which if the photos come out, I’ll post for someone to id.)
The rain was really beginning to threaten now, and so we decide to make our way home, but before we committed ourselves, we called in at about 5.45pm at the Drudridge Bay Nature Reserve, just to have a last look at the sea.
As we climbed the dunes, and reached the top… well sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time! A Great Skua landed on the beach.
And I had left my camera in the car!!!!!
So I rushed back to the car – you’ll remember I’m built for comfort, not speed – sorted out the camera, put on the long lens and the 2x converter, ran back up the dunes. “Is it still there?” Yes it is! So, with more panting than on a premium rate message line number, I tried to take a few reasonable shots. Which I think, I hope, I managed. After 5 minutes, a man and his dog got close enough that the Skua took off and flew out to sea, enabling me to get a couple of flight shots. These are probably all very fuzzy, as they were hand held with the long lens and converter and that certain breathing difficulty(!), and not only that, they were the first six or seven shots of a new film, so you’ll have to wait for any photographic evidence such as there is!!!
Even so… lifer number 5, and a great way to end a great few days way oop noorth.
Combined birdlist follows – correct I hope – with 77 different species + 1 hybrid positively identified, as usual * denotes heard only.
O = Outbound
A = Allenbanks
S = Seahouses Harbour
F = Farne Island Trip
BB = Budle Bay
HI = Holy Island
HV = Harthope Valley
J = The Jolly Fisherman
HS = Howick Scar
BH = Boulmer Haven
HX = Hauxley Nature Reserve
E = East Chevington
D = Druridge Bay
Arctic Tern - F
Blackbird - A,E,HI,HX
Blackcap - A
Black-headed Gull - A,BB,BH,D,E,F,HI,HX,J,O,S
Blue Tit - HI,HX
Buzzard - A
Canada Goose - HX
Carrion Crow - A,BB,BH,E,HS,HX,J
Chaffinch - A,HV
Chiffchaff - A*
Collared Dove - HI
Common Tern - E,F,HI,HX
Coot - E
Cormorant - E,F,HS,J
Curlew - BH,D,HI,HV*HX,S
Eider - BH,F,HI,HS,J,S
Feral Pigeon - F,HI,HV,O
Fulmar - F
Gannet - F,HS,J
Goldfinch - BB,HX
Grasshopper Warbler - E*
Great Skua - D
Great Tit - A
Greater Black-backed Gull - F,HI
Greenfinch - HS
Greenshank - HX
Grey Heron - A,BH,E,HV,HX
Grey Partridge - HS
Grey Wagtail - A,HV
Greylag Goose - E,HX
Greylag x Canada Goose - HX
Guillemot - F,J
Herring Gull - BH,F,HI,J,S
House Martin - A,E,HI,HV,HX,J,O
House Sparrow - BH*,F,HI,HX,J,S
Jackdaw - BB,E,HI,J,O
Kestrel - HI,HS
Kittiwake - F,HS,J
Lapwing - E,HI,HX
Lesser Black-backed Gull - F,HX
Linnet - D,E,HI,HV,HX
Magpie - HX,O
Mallard - E
Meadow Pipit - HI,HV
Mistle Thrush - HV,HX
Moorhen - E,HI,HX
Mute Swan - E,HI
Oystercatcher - BB,BH,D,E,F,HI,HX,J,S
Pheasant - A,BB*,HI*,HV,O
Pied Wagtail - A,BB,E,HI,HV,HX,O
Puffin - F
Razorbill - F
Red Grouse - HV*
Redshank - BB,E,HX
Reed Bunting - E,HV,HX
Ring Ouzel - HV
Ringed Plover - BH,E,F
Robin - A,HV
Rock Pipit - F
Rook - HV,O
Sandwich Tern - E,F,HS,J
Sedge Warbler - E,HI,HX
Shag - F
Shelduck - BB,BH,E,HX
Shoveler - HI
Skylark - E,HI*,HV,HX*
Song Thrush - A,HI,HV
Spotted Flycatcher - A,HV
Starling - BB,BH,E,HI,HX,J,O,S
Swallow - A,BB,BH,HI,HV,O
Swift - A,HV,HX
Tree Pipit - HV
Turnstone - HX
White Wagtail - HV
Wigeon - E
Wood Pigeon - HI,HS,HX,O
Wren - A
Yellowhammer - BB*,O
Day Four, and the final day, with rain promised.
So we took our chances and tried to get some birding in before the rain came, with a slow drive down the Northumberland Coast.
First stop was some combined birding and rockpooling at Boulmer Haven. We saw a good selection of the usual suspects, including some unided small waders and three or four Ringed Plovers.
Partnyorsha, paying more attention to the pools, said she had seen Elvis… or maybe it was some elvers. Yes that was it… about 30 or so, with some other small fry, and a hermit crab.
As we left, a light shower began to fall, which lasted only until we reached (unexpectedly) Hauxley Nature Reserve. We hadn’t planned this visit, and certainly didn’t give the reserve as much attention as it deserved, stopping barely an hour. But we did pick up some nice waterfowl and waders, including a Greylag x Canada Goose and some Greenshank.
Next to East Chevington (which is difficult to find if you don’t know where to look!) and a hope of seeing the White-winged Black Tern. Well we were there for a fair while… and it wasn’t. I later found out that whilst we were at East Chevington, it was on the Farne Islands!!! Bit of a disappointment really, but that’s birding… and you never know, it can always spring up a surprise when you least expect. And anyway, amongst the many birds that were there, we heard the unmistakable call of a Grasshopper Warbler. (Also we saw a really groovy caterpillar, which if the photos come out, I’ll post for someone to id.)
The rain was really beginning to threaten now, and so we decide to make our way home, but before we committed ourselves, we called in at about 5.45pm at the Drudridge Bay Nature Reserve, just to have a last look at the sea.
As we climbed the dunes, and reached the top… well sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time! A Great Skua landed on the beach.
And I had left my camera in the car!!!!!
So I rushed back to the car – you’ll remember I’m built for comfort, not speed – sorted out the camera, put on the long lens and the 2x converter, ran back up the dunes. “Is it still there?” Yes it is! So, with more panting than on a premium rate message line number, I tried to take a few reasonable shots. Which I think, I hope, I managed. After 5 minutes, a man and his dog got close enough that the Skua took off and flew out to sea, enabling me to get a couple of flight shots. These are probably all very fuzzy, as they were hand held with the long lens and converter and that certain breathing difficulty(!), and not only that, they were the first six or seven shots of a new film, so you’ll have to wait for any photographic evidence such as there is!!!
Even so… lifer number 5, and a great way to end a great few days way oop noorth.
Combined birdlist follows – correct I hope – with 77 different species + 1 hybrid positively identified, as usual * denotes heard only.
O = Outbound
A = Allenbanks
S = Seahouses Harbour
F = Farne Island Trip
BB = Budle Bay
HI = Holy Island
HV = Harthope Valley
J = The Jolly Fisherman
HS = Howick Scar
BH = Boulmer Haven
HX = Hauxley Nature Reserve
E = East Chevington
D = Druridge Bay
Arctic Tern - F
Blackbird - A,E,HI,HX
Blackcap - A
Black-headed Gull - A,BB,BH,D,E,F,HI,HX,J,O,S
Blue Tit - HI,HX
Buzzard - A
Canada Goose - HX
Carrion Crow - A,BB,BH,E,HS,HX,J
Chaffinch - A,HV
Chiffchaff - A*
Collared Dove - HI
Common Tern - E,F,HI,HX
Coot - E
Cormorant - E,F,HS,J
Curlew - BH,D,HI,HV*HX,S
Eider - BH,F,HI,HS,J,S
Feral Pigeon - F,HI,HV,O
Fulmar - F
Gannet - F,HS,J
Goldfinch - BB,HX
Grasshopper Warbler - E*
Great Skua - D
Great Tit - A
Greater Black-backed Gull - F,HI
Greenfinch - HS
Greenshank - HX
Grey Heron - A,BH,E,HV,HX
Grey Partridge - HS
Grey Wagtail - A,HV
Greylag Goose - E,HX
Greylag x Canada Goose - HX
Guillemot - F,J
Herring Gull - BH,F,HI,J,S
House Martin - A,E,HI,HV,HX,J,O
House Sparrow - BH*,F,HI,HX,J,S
Jackdaw - BB,E,HI,J,O
Kestrel - HI,HS
Kittiwake - F,HS,J
Lapwing - E,HI,HX
Lesser Black-backed Gull - F,HX
Linnet - D,E,HI,HV,HX
Magpie - HX,O
Mallard - E
Meadow Pipit - HI,HV
Mistle Thrush - HV,HX
Moorhen - E,HI,HX
Mute Swan - E,HI
Oystercatcher - BB,BH,D,E,F,HI,HX,J,S
Pheasant - A,BB*,HI*,HV,O
Pied Wagtail - A,BB,E,HI,HV,HX,O
Puffin - F
Razorbill - F
Red Grouse - HV*
Redshank - BB,E,HX
Reed Bunting - E,HV,HX
Ring Ouzel - HV
Ringed Plover - BH,E,F
Robin - A,HV
Rock Pipit - F
Rook - HV,O
Sandwich Tern - E,F,HS,J
Sedge Warbler - E,HI,HX
Shag - F
Shelduck - BB,BH,E,HX
Shoveler - HI
Skylark - E,HI*,HV,HX*
Song Thrush - A,HI,HV
Spotted Flycatcher - A,HV
Starling - BB,BH,E,HI,HX,J,O,S
Swallow - A,BB,BH,HI,HV,O
Swift - A,HV,HX
Tree Pipit - HV
Turnstone - HX
White Wagtail - HV
Wigeon - E
Wood Pigeon - HI,HS,HX,O
Wren - A
Yellowhammer - BB*,O
Last edited:
