Wednesday 26 December 2018

Geltsdale on Boxing Day ... diverse ducks on the Tarn ... Long-tailed Tits in expanded range ...

As the early morning mist hung in the Tyne Gap a vocal flock of 70 Pink-footed Geese winged their way low over Hallbankgate as they headed eastwards ...

,,, then on Tindale Tarn duck numbers were looking good with some Wigeon swimming out of the reeds by the screen ...




... all now looking very smart ...

... and some of the Teal were close by also ...



A male Pochard lingered among the many Tufted Ducks ...


... and a male Goldeneye showed its eponymous eye well even in the indifferent winter light ...



Along the Howgill Beck towards Howgill a feeding flock of tits was in the Alders and Willows ... several Long-tailed Tits were scattered through this group ...




... presumed to be of the British race A.c.rosaceus they certainly showed a complete lateral crown-stripe and narrow white central crown-stripe ... the shade of the underparts seemed to vary significantly with attitude ... ( a search of images of the central / western race A.e.europaeus showed wide variation with some being remarkably similar to A.e.rosaceus ) ...






The Bird Atlas 2007-11 shows widespread gains in distribution since the previous 1981-84 survey ...


The map below shows the Winter Relative Abundance form the 2007-11 survey and highlights the concentration of the population in the SE of Britain ... the tetrad at Geltsdale is in an area of very low abundance ...




... viewed at Tetrad level this becomes more clear ...



This indication of a range expansion since the 2007-12 survey in Cumbria must show a welcome continuation of the good fortunes of this delightful bird in Britain ...














Sunday 16 December 2018

Some December birds ... in Cumbria and Cambria ... American Royal Tern ... and some other nice birds ...

The American Royal Tern at Lligwy Bay, Anglesey was undoubtedly something of a highlight ... found on the 10th December, it remained through the next day but was not seen thereafter ...

... it gave some reasonably close fly-by views as it commuted between the headlands on either side of the bay ... and some rather more distant views as it flew round just off either headland ... it became very easy to pick out even at long range with its strikingly white mantle and inner wing and surprisingly dark outer wing ...

... when it flew towards the beach in the bay the impressively large orange bill looked almost incongruous ...



Back in Cumbria and the Workington / Flimby flock of Mediterranean Gulls which still had an unusually high count of 28 birds in mid-November had finally dropped to a single adult by the start of December ... 

A look at St Helen's Beach which often holds Mediterranean Gulls ... and the cupboard was bare ... but the mix of muddy sand, rock and seaweed there can pull in other species ... a strange looking Carrion Crow with extensive white in the wing flew lazily by ...


... and the waders which are often quite diverse included some very attractive Golden Plovers ... just lit up a little in the weak winter sun ...



... in the fading light a couple of adult Whooper Swans winged their way south just offshore ... always an inspiring sight to see birds like this on the move ...


The wintering Barnacle Geese in the Anthorn / Cardurnock area of The Solway had included a Todd's Canada Goose which eluded me on several visits with the Barnacle Goose flock sometimes in inaccessible undulating ground and sometimes dispersing widely ... the search did provide quite a bit of interest though ... and some lovely views ...



... the three leucistic Barnacle Geese that have frequented the Solway in recent winters were present and remaining close together ... on another occasion there was a different and much whiter leucistic Barnacle Goose ... and then another atypical Barnacle Goose with a strikingly pale mantle but with otherwise normal plumage was among the flock ...

... and a bird with a superficial resemblance to a dark morph Snow Goose mingled among the Barnacle Geese ...


... both the bill and legs had a pink / grey mottled pattern suggestive of mixed parentage with presumably Barnacle Goose and, judging by the small bill, possibly Ross's Goose being in the mix ... 

... it was not made particularly welcome by the other birds ...






Friday 7 December 2018

Back on the Old Patch ... it's Teesmouth ... with Taiga Bean Geese and a Long-eared Owl ...

The much predicted storms due to sweep the country today did not hamper a brief tour around some of the sites where I was introduced to proper birding as an early teenager ...

... the Zinc Works Road which we would walk along to gain access to The North Gare after leaving the bus on the Seaton Carew road has changed only a little ...

... the rough grassland of Seaton Common that lies just to the north of the road still holds significant flocks of wildfowl and waders and today feeding Curlews and Wigeon were scattered across the ground ... some by the small pools and wet areas and some among the winter remains of thistle beds ...

... then a small group of six Bean Geese flew in from the north and settled ... these were Taiga Bean Geese ... and as they emerged from a slight hollow in the land they gave some nice views ...


... their characteristically long necks and long slender bills stood out as clear features that made then distinct from Tundra Bean Geese that are more familiar to us in Northern England ... a real treat to see this form away from their more traditional wintering areas in Scotland and Norfolk ...


When the RSPB established its reserve at Saltholme a few decades ago there was a general feeling that we birders would have our access to areas such as Back Saltholme restricted ... we could no longer park in the little triangle along the southern road and walk in to that part of the marsh that had hosted Marsh Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper and other exciting birds in recent times ...

... and yet today the new tracks that run through to Haverton Hill allow us to get to an area of wet scrub that I certainly knew nothing of in those early days ... and this is where three Long-eared Owls were roosting today - one of which showed very well in a lax privet bush while the winter sun shone through the scant foliage ...





Friday 23 November 2018

Birding Loch Ryan ... Brents, Grebes and an interesting Song Thrush ...

Loch Ryan was blessed with cloudless skies and bright sunshine yesterday morning ... from the Bishop Burn there was a great raft of Greater Scaup far out in the bay ... but a few groups of birds were quite close ...



... the females were almost all adult birds with striking white patches around the base of the bill ... very different from the more subtly marked immature birds at Siddick in recent weeks ...



... with the tide being well in there were few gulls but this adult Common Gull looked particularly pristine ...



... as we walked along the track towards The Wig a bird flew up from the rough grass and landed further along ... and followed by another ... the flight was deeply undulating and seemed Song Thrush-like but the rump was contrastingly paler and greyer ... reminiscent of Fieldfare ...

... some stealthy approach lead to good views ...




Song Thrushes indeed but this was not typical habitat for resident birds ...

... a search of the literature indicated that these were likely to be Turdus philomelos hebridensis ... which are characterised by the more heavily spotted underparts, generally darker colour tones and a greyer rump as compared with the race T.p.clarkei which resides in Britain and the near continent ... they occur on the Outer Hebrides and Isle of Skye in the breeding season and are known to winter in Ireland, just a stones throw from Loch Ryan ...

Having enjoyed these close views of the birds up to this point, it was back to the more familiar Loch Ryan style of birding with distant views of ducks and grebes bobbing about among the waves and always appearing to be on the far side of the loch ...

So from satisfying DSLR photography to hit and miss 'phonescoping ... a small group of Long-tailed Ducks with the male of this pair sporting a fine tail ...


... and Slavonian Grebes were dotted around the loch ...


... along with these were Great Crested Grebes, Red-throated Divers and Black Guillemots ...  around 100 Pale-bellied Brent Geese were directly into the sun near the end of The Wig ...

On the south side of Wig Bay some Brents fed in the shallows ...



... and a Greenshank did similarly in a sheltered corner ...



... a search of Luce Bay as the clouds came rolling in and the wind whipped up was less productive ... three Great Northern Divers were the main rewards with one adult fairly close inshore ...


... and then the rain came as the early winter dusk set in ...





Tuesday 13 November 2018

Beautiful North Northumberland ... some visual highlights ...

Three days away over last weekend produced some good birds ... the Bewick's Swans that had previously eluded me at East Chevington showed up and at Cheswick Sands the returning Black Scoter was much closer in shore off Black Rocks than before and then flew south to join another small group of Common Scoters ...

... but mostly I walked the quiet tracks and took in the the visual delights that presented themselves ... a flock of Pinkfeet came in off the sea ... with their quiet lovely calls adding to the scene ...



... heading north along the coastal footpath from the start of the Holy Island causeway a Short-eared Owl lifted from the rough grass and perched on the fence ...



... then flew to another post and surveyed the scene ...



On the windswept beach at East Chevington the burn mouth gave a little shelter and a highly mobile flock of around 80 Twite returned repeatedly ...



... feeding voraciously on tiny seeds ...



... and five Snow Buntings flew in and mingled with the flock ...



Monday 12 November 2018

The Hartlepool Little Swift today ...

Shortly after first light the Little Swift was visible in a recess around the first floor bay window of a terrace house on The Headland where it was seen to go to roost at around sunset yesterday ...


... at 7.03 the white rump of the roosting bird showed up in the dark corner ...


... at 7.19 it began to stir and look around ...



... and dropped from its perch and flew purposefully along the terrace towards the sea and round the end of the terrace ...

With the sun still another ten minutes away from rising it was relocated on the north side of the Headland as it performed circuits ... sometimes low over the sea ...



... and then wheeling round above the horizon ...


... a leg trails slightly ...

The throng of observers numbering well over a hundred watched from the promenade as it flew low over the rocks that were presumably harbouring some invertebrate food ...

As the sun came up the plumage was illuminated ...







This much admired vagrant from somewhere in the N Africa / Middle East / S Asia region  follows on from the last accepted record which was in 2015 and with the previous one another three years before that ...



... and good for me to be back on my old patch with a late autumn treat ...