Over the last few months I’ve felt as healthy as I ever have, no doubt the amount of time I spend outdoors has played a big part in this; it’s genuinely good for mind, body and soul. Then, yesterday morning, when the alarm woke me, I felt grim…really grim. Aching limbs, sore throat, stiff neck, headache. Having now endured about 24 hours of ‘man-flu’ jibes I’m feeling human again, although I’ll probably spend the rest of the day keeping warm and not over-exerting myself. As an added bonus, the weather is lovely, clear blue sky and a good overnight frost. So, what more excuse could I need to watch the comings and goings at our feeding station? This morning has seen 5 or 6 blackbirds in the garden – and a lot of aggression on our extension roof as they all seek to attain dominance. There was a ‘coming-together’ of Sparrowhawk and Kestrel over our house as well, but I didn’t witness the outcome of that as the birds disappeared away over the church and out of sight. Which will/won’t appear/re-appear? Guess I’ll just have to keep watching…
Category: Birdwatching
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“Much better than on the telly”
The road beneath our wheels was a clear sheet of ice as we proceeded cautiously, past several drivers who hadn’t. The day promised clear skies and sunshine, but the strong northerlies overnight had whipped the sea up to the point where taking a boat trip would have been foolhardy at best. Of course, we always have a Plan B…so as the tide receded we were by the Holy Island causeway with a Landrover full of clients. Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit were all probing the soft mud as Pale-bellied Brent Geese and Shelduck walked along the water’s edge. Then, mayhem…waders in the air as far as the eye could see. Tight flocks of Dunlin and Golden Plover weaving this way and that. It could really only mean one thing…and there was that one thing – a Peregrine Falcon tearing through the maelstrom. Eventually it settled, sentinel-like, on the mud and the waders settled back down. At the other side of the causeway a flock of Twite were shuffling amongst the seaweed and we set out on a walk in the biting cold of this winter’s day. A Common Seal (not common at all in Northumberland) was feeding in the surf just offshore from the end of the Crooked Lonnen and a flock of Curlew, Oystercatcher and Lapwing lifted from a field as a Carrion Crow harassed each bird that gained the prize of a juicy worm. A few Grey Seals were seen as well and we left the island, stopping to eat our lunch at a site overlooking the mudflats.
Heading south down the coastal route we eventually arrived in Druridge Bay. As a stunning sunset developed Whooper Swans flew over our heads, softly calling to each other, and a Starling roost began to form. Small flocks flew by on their way to this evening rendezvous, eventually becoming bigger flocks, and then there they were; above the skyline, twisting and turning like one amorphous being. More and more birds joined the throng until there were probably 10000, circling and circling over the roost site until the climax of the dance and the final headlong dive into the reedbed.
Like Rooks going to roost, Minke Whales feeding on Herring shoals, a Peregrine Falcon stooping at prey…a Starling roost really is a must-see.
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“Have you seen…”
…a big, black, hairy bull? He’s got a ring through his nose” Not exactly the words you want to hear from a farmer on a quad bike, when you’re in the middle of nowhere doing some more tetrads for the BTO Atlas. No, we hadn’t seen him, and weren’t entirely reassured by the farmer’s assertion that the bull was very placid. So, we headed on into the forest anyway. No sign of any bulls, friendly, angry or otherwise, and no sign of any birds. The howling, icy-cold gale was probably encouraging them to keep themselves tucked away in the densest areas of vegetation. Eventually we did find a tit and ‘crest flock. Plenty of Long-tailed Tits, those entertaining balls of pink, black and white fluff, Goldcrests, Coal Tits and the regular churring of Wrens (now there’s a species with ‘angry little bird’ syndrome) along our route. Then, nearing the end of our eight mile walk, there he was; contentedly munching the pathside vegetation, and clearly very placid.
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Wild Goose chase
For several years now we’ve been involved in the Icelandic-breeding Goose Census, and our survey work has enabled us to enjoy some spectacular flocks of birds departing their overnight roosts as daylight breaks, not only the geese but there’s also a roost of several thousand starlings at East Chevington, the site we count. Barn Owls are a regular feature of our early morning visits there as well. However, 2007 produced fewer geese than we expected and last month’s count revealed the presence of very few Greylag Geese and no Pink-footed Geese at all. We know they are around in southeast Northumberland – after all, we see birds regularly and it isn’t unusual to hear them calling in flight over our house at night. This month’s count was scheduled for this weekend so we headed out at 05:30 this morning, and headed for separate sites. Very few again at East Chev, but Sarah saw several flocks flying in over QEII Country Park. We haven’t found the roost site yet, but eventually no less than 1700 Pink-feet were gathered in one field…only 10mins from our house! Some map-work has revealed the possible roost sites so we’ll be out early again tomorrow. Maybe the census will have to change the site that is required to be counted in southeast Northumberland, although East Chev still holds some birds so we may have to carry out our own co-ordinated count at multiple sites to determine the exact number wintering in our area.
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Lovely weather for…
…ducks and geese. On Tuesday we were out on a tour in Druridge Bay, and were luckily sheltered from some torrential rain. Quite a lot of the day was spent discussing how to identify different species of duck, and relating head/bill profiles to what each species eats. Some nice waders were found as well; Wood and Purple Sandpipers were the highlights, but Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits were together at Cresswell, allowing a comparison between these two sometimes tricky species. A couple of hours sitting on Church Point, Newbiggin, yesterday evening revealed an almost total absence of seabirds – but lots of wildfowl. Nearly 1400 Barnacle Geese, 450 Pink-footed Geese and 7 Velvet Scoters (gorgeous birds – if you’ve never seen one then click this link) all flew past as the sky darkened and looked increasingly ominous. Maybe these NW winds that are bringing so many Leach’s Petrels to the west coast will send a few our way…
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An unusual double
This week was scheduled to be a non-tour week, as the Landrover was due to be serviced and also going in for its latest safety inspection with Wansbeck District Council. Now, this might be a pain but it’s a requirement for any company carrying it’s clients in a vehicle and it provides peace of mind for our clients that they are carried in a vehicle that is fully licenced, insured and tested to exacting safety standards. Of course, it passed 🙂
The spare time that has been generated this week just happened to coincide with promising weather conditions. Promising enough for me to spend several hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday seawatching from Church Point, Newbiggin. Monday was fairly quiet, Tuesday was quiet as well, apart from a frantic 10 minute spell when we had an adult Pomarine Skua, juvenile Long-tailed Skua and 6 Great Skuas. On Wednesday morning the persistence finally paid off as I found a Great Shearwater heading north. Walking back to the carpark, elated at having found such a magnificent, and scarce, bird, I was stunned as a small, incredibly bright, warbler flew past me. Sneaking up to the wall around the cemetery allowed me to get a better view as the bird sat on a gravestone – even more stunning when perched, it was a Yellow-browed Warbler. So, a seabird that breeds in the Tristan da Cunha islands of the South Atlantic, and a tiny warbler that breeds 3000k away from us in east Asia, both managed to appear at a small fishing village on the Northumberland coast within 2hrs of each other. And that’s why I’ll never get tired of going out and observing wildlife – you just never know what’s going to happen next.
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Since I last blogged…
We’ve spent three tiring but very enjoyable days working on the Birdwatching Northumberland stand at the British Birdwatching Fair (highlights were a talk by Jari Peltomaki about owls in Finland, and ‘An Audience with Simon King’ was very entertaining as well) where we spoke to an awful lot of people who are interested in birdwatching tours and wildlife watching holidays in Northumberland.
