Anyone for Football?

        A visit to Low Newton on a fine Winter's Day is usually a pleasure, though when we arrived yesterday the large number of people and dogs on the beach didn't bode well for birding along the tide-line! Twenty-three Whoopers in the fields behind the scrape soon caught our attention; the edges were  busy with Dunlin, Redshank,Curlew and Lapwing plus Mallard,Teal,Wigeon, and a few Shovelers on the water- but nothing more than the usual suspects! Newton Pool was fairly quiet, a few ducks, a Little Grebe and one Snipe.
              We soon headed off to the 'Football'.... more precisely Football Hole........ a lovely semicircle of sand and rock facing east to the open sea just north of Newton Point. Little groups of female Common Scoter, typically twos and fours were scattered round the coast as we rounded the point. Our first surprise was a beautiful Redwing  perched on the rocks- whether just arrived (very late) or thinking of departing (very early) or just resting, we cannot say. Our next surprise was to watch a Short-eared Owl fly in off the North Sea and head inland low over the dunes doubtless looking for suitable prey. Excellent.
               The northern end of the bay had a fine collection of diving ducks busily feeding in the corner, which was catching the best of the wave action. We eventually counted six pairs of Goldeneye,  a similar number of  Eiders and four Long-tailed Ducks (sadly no drakes). The final bonus as we headed back round was a Red-throated Diver close in to the rocky shore indulging in a bit of preening. Another little moment of magic.

Wild Goose Chase

Wild Goose Chase

With Keith full of cold I decided to have a day's birding in the Bamburgh area, the first port of call being Harpers Heugh to look for Geese, unfortunately as with almost every area I visited today the shooters were out in force. There were a few geese in fields just west of Budle Bay, mainly Greylags but also 3 Pink-feet and a single Brent Goose. Next to Stag Rocks where at least 50 Long-tailed Ducks were offshore accompanied by Common Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser and 15 Red-throated Divers. In yet another change of scenery I headed off to Spindlestone Hides where the feeders had Chaffinches, Blue,Great and Coal Tits on them along with Great-spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch, but no Marsh Tits. My final visit was to Elwick where the fields were alive with the sound of geese, there were about 2000 Pink-feet and almost 1000 Barnacle Geese, also 6 Bean Geese, 30+ Pale Bellied Brent Geese and the unusual sight of a Bar-headed Goose.      

East Chevington 26th November

East Chevington 26th November

Shore Larks are one of those birds which are either here in small numbers at this time of year or totally absent, so when 7 turned up at East Chevington it would be churlish not to go and have a look. The birds were soon located but getting good views were not easy as the number of people on the beach meant that they were very flighty. It is the most we have seen at any one time in the county but not for some favoured locations, north of the border at John Muir Country Park there has been a flock of up to 35 birds for the last few days, lets hope they stay for a while longer so more people can enjoy these stunning little birds.

Rare Bird Baird's Sandpiper -Newton Scrape

Today, at Low Newton Scrape, a Baird's Sandpiper feeding near, but separate from, a group of 10 Dunlin. Also, on Holy Island causeway 3 Little Egrets & 1 Greenshank and at Budle Bay 4 more Little Egrets.
Yesterday, at 14.30hrs,  a Barn Owl sat in the hole in an Ash tree , near Wooler...
Good numbers of Pinkfeet are moving to & fro in the Milfield Plain area.

Double Issy

Double Issy

What an autumn it has been on Holy Island, at this rate it will be rivalling Fair Isle, so with this in mind and determined that I would not miss out on the action after Keith got the Accentor yesterday whilst I had to work, we headed off to Holy Island and crossed as soon as was safe. On parking we headed straight for the area of beach where the Accentor was watched yesterday, several others were already there but no sign of the fabled sibe. This wasn't a problem as 100 yards along the beach the assembled crowd watched a very approachable Isabelline Wheatear, only the second for the county, it showed really well down to a few metres as it searched the tideline for scraps. We then spent some time searching the dunes for the Accentor with no success, at which point we headed to the Half Moon slack and were soon scoping a very pale Isabelline Shrike which had been found the previous evening, it was mobile but by keeping back and keeping still views were possible. What a two weeks it has been with 3 new birds for the Island's list and lots of happy birders who will always remember this Autumn.

Exotic Accent

Exotic Accent

Yet another busy day turned upside down by news of a Siberian Mega.As anticipated from recent news a Siberian Accentor was found on Holy Island, a county first! I made my way to the island via delays by slow traffic, roadworks & closed railway crossings. On arriving at the North shore, just west of Snipe point I found about 30 fellow birders waiting for views. A few brief fluttering glimpses of a bird dropping into the dunes wetted the appetite and we were not disappointed since the bird eventually hopped out into the open and gave brilliant views down to about 10 feet! Amazing! When the bird flew back  into the dunes everyone gave a big sigh of relief and very nearly a cheer of delight. Being time constrained I made my way from the island to arrive home to news that another first for the island, in the form of an Isabelline Shrike had been found at the Snook!  But it didn't spoil my day.

Holy Island, a haven for migrants!

After recent easterly winds and last night's rain, today - Saturday 15th October - dawned drab and damp so grounded migrants were still likely to be on Holy Island - their first land-fall from Scandanavia.
Indeed, a Pallas' Warbler was showing in a bush at the Snook. Redwings, Blackbirds, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Gold Crests were everywhere, whilst at least 3,000 Brent Geese and 4,000+ Pinkfeet were seen on Fenham Flats along with a flock of 3,000 Golden Plover. 2 Greenshank fed by the causeway. Well worth the visit!

Incidentally, last evening, at 18.30hrs, approaching dusk, 4-5,000 Pinkfeet flew in skeins, whiffling down onto the mudflats of Budle Bay  - very moving and atmospheric!