Long Nanny, High Newton & Newton Pool, 25th Nov 2007

After the mental short toed lark incident yesterday I headed back there first thing this morning to see if it was still present........

Sunrise at Long Nanny first thing this morning.....

I hoped to beat people to the Lark and do a bit of stalking (yes I said "stalking".....) to get some decent close up pics... as it happens a few people had the same idea tho....

..... So as I am always banging on about idiotic photographers with huge lenses sitting on top of birds and flushing everything, I figured it would be pretty hypocritical (and selfish) of me to keep pushing closer just for a decent pic.....

So after an hour or so of enjoying the bird I left the site having stayed true to my birding morals, and with some really shit pictures as a result !!

Nice bird...... shit pics !!

The ironic thing is my mate went down there this afternoon and was enjoying good close views when some geezers with "lenses almost too big to carry" (his words not mine) came marching up and flushed it, he said they then proceeded to chase it about around the saltmarsh.....MARVELLOUS !!

Anyway.... the lark was fuggin ace, a quality patch tick !! While we were there we had a female merlin half heartedly chase the twite about a bit.... and 5 snow buntings flying north... ..... BUT........ was that long awaited lapland bunting anywhere ?........ WAS IT BOLLOX !!

As I headed off I saw some of the more usual winter stuff for the Nanny....

The usual winter stuff...... "....aren't stonechats BRILLIANT !!"

At Newton Links car park another snow bunting flew north.

Next I headed up to High Newton, then pulled to a rapid halt when a treecreeper flew across the road in front of me... not a common bird here so worth a look.... I jumped out of the car and found myself in the middle of a tit flock !! Great tits, blue tits, coal tits, a few goldcrests, a treecreeper...... then .... a chiffchaff ! Cooool ! It was one of those northern/eastern jobs an abietinus... Very distinctive...... a pale bird, grey and white with a prominent wing bar, but it had contrasting greenish fringes to the tail and wing feathers....

I was dead chuffed with the chiff........ but then........ FIRECREST !! FUGGIN AWESOME BIRD !! Yep one of my personal favourites and not too common in Northumberland..... BRILLIANT !! Now I don't know if you've ever tried to digiscope a firecrest ??!!! I didn't even attempt it....

Couldn't be bothered trying to digiscope a firecrest.... so here's a pic of where it was instead !

I spent an hour or so chasing the mobile and elusive firecrest up and down the road, then headed off towards the pool.

Along the roadside hedgerow I had a group of 5 tree sparrows which were nice, not a common bird at Newton. I stopped at the Tin Church, more goldcrests, a couple of bullfinches and another chiffchaff here, but this time a bog standard olive coloured collybita looking bird......

Down at the pool one scaup was still there and millions of teal !! Well.... a hundred teal at least !!.....

So..... for the first time in ages I feel like I've actually had luck on my side this weekend.... On Friday I decided not to drive for flippin hours to a far flung part of South Wales for a Pechora Pipit...... turns out it had gone anyway so i would have dipped it ! Then I was fortunate enough to find a couple of good birds on the patch, and one was a patch tick !!!

............. Mmmmmm ............Right I'm off to buy a lottery ticket now !!

Newton Point & Long Nanny, 24th Nov 2007

I decided to give the patch a good floggin today so I parked at Low Newton and planned a route taking in the Tin Church scrub, Newton Point, Football Hole and the Long Nanny...

The scrub at the Tin Church held 2 bullfinches and a couple of of goldcrests but no sign of that late pallas's warbler or firecrest I keep hoping for !!

At the point I spent half an hour watching the sea but only managed 4 little auks and 3 red throated divers.. pretty quiet....

Football Hole was a bit busier with plenty of gulls and the usual waders... a flock of 9 goldeneye in the bay had a female long tailed duck hanging on too...

Hanger on....

Next I moved on towards the Long Nanny and started walking along the long beach at Beadnell Bay... Horses had been galloping along the beach and the ringed plovers seemed to like roosting in their tracks.... well cooool !

Click on the pic... You can see the ringies squatting in the hoof holes !!

I did my usual and walked around to check out the saltmarsh by the Long Nanny bridge, I've been dreaming of finding a lapland bunting here for years.....need it badly for the patch list.... could today be the day ???? ......

....... errrrr....... NO !

My mind started rambling.....

Jesus am I ever going to see fuggin lapland bunt here ??? I saw 2 snow bunts last week.... and a load of twite........ great habitat, so why does the place seem to repel lap bunts ???

I scanned the saltmarsh for twite....

This is a twite....

As I checked out the resident flock of 30 odd twite and grumbled to myself about lack of lapland bunts I noticed a smallish pale bird land behind the twite....... I focussed in my scope........ and......... eh ?............Wait on a minute.......... WHAT THE FUCK ?????

............ FUCKIN ELL !! THAT LOOKS LIKE A SHORT-TOED LARK !!!???? NO WAY ????

This is exactly what I saw...... I happened to have my camera out taking some twite pics, so I managed a fumbled out of focus shot before it flew off....

Yep you heard me right..... IT FLEW OFF !! Left me wondering if I really did just see that ?? I reached for my phone and discovered I'd left it in the car..... BOLLOX !! So.... I kicked about for 20 minutes and luckily saw it again very briefly, I managed a couple of record shots before it flew off into the dunes again...... (click on these to enlarge)

Dodgy record shots....

So.....I had to yomp for 40 minutes to get my car and phone, when I headed back down at 3.30 it was still present but the light was way too poor for any better pics.... Maybe tomorrow....

Moon rising over Beadnell Bay....

Newton Point, 12th Nov 2007

I've not been able to get out to Newton for over a week now.... bummer...

Kevin the National Trust warden sent me a rather cool picture tho...

Since they took over the compound at Newton Point the "Trust" have planted some scrub and trees and even dug a small pond to benefit migrant birds.... Its still really exposed there, so Kevin made this "new age tree" from tideline driftwood and stuff to offer a bit of cover for newly arrived tired migrants....

I think he was hoping for something unusual to turn up around the pond but probably wasn't expecting this !

Little Auk in the compound ! 12th Nov 2007

Newton Point & Long Nanny, 11th Nov 2007

FUGGIN ELL WHATS GOING ON ???

I've had a totally blinding day today !!!

I got a patch tick.... a cracking biscuit coloured glaucous gull... now normally this would definately be my highlight of the day, and don't get me wrong the glauc was AWESOME............ but.............

LITTLE AUKS !!!

The little auk spectacle just couldn't be beaten, I have honestly never seen anything like it before !! Yesterday I did a one hour seawatch and was totally chuffed with 190 odd little auks..... today....... well today, I did an hour again and saw 1,936 little auks !!! Nope thats not a miss-type... I saw 1,936 little auks in one hour !!!

They're little and they get everywhere !! They kept bouncing off me, getting tangled in my hair, perching on my scope, getting stuck in my tripod, and when I got up to leave I needed a shovel to shift them all !! ABSOLUTELY FUGGIN AMAZING !!

I took these with my little point and shoot camera as they flew past me.....

Today I had some of the best views I've ever had of these great little birds, a couple of really special moments as flocks flew along the beach towards me then went either side of me so close I could almost grab them !!

Seawatching wasn't the easiest today, too many little auks to count and the wind was really strong and seemed to be north/north-easterly, the waves were crashing in and there was a lot of surf about..

Here's a well thought out arty shot of the surf and some passing little auks..... mmmm... ok you've sussed it....... this is actually just a crap out of focus picture !

Surf at Football Hole

Seawatching at Newton point between 11.30am and 12.30pm....

1,936 little auks
1 grey phalarope (only my second ever at newton)
1 1st winter glaucous gull - PATCH TICK !!
1 great-northern diver
7 red-throated divers
9 common scoters
2 velvet scoters
1 long-tailed duck
1 red-breasted merganser

The kingfisher was still at the point today and also 1 snow bunting here....

After an hour being blasted by gale force winds, and bombarded with little auks, I decided to head around Football Hole and down to the Long Nanny. In Football Hole then usual suspects were still about, and the purple sand count had risen to 9. Along the beach to the Long Nanny a steady stream of little auks kept me entertained, then at the burn mouth itself there were 37 twite and 2 snow buntings on the saltmarsh. A large flock of 100 odd waders here was mainly made up of ringed plover and dunlin, with a few sanderling and turnstone.

From the Nanny I headed back to wards the point to enjoy some more little auks before dark... god knows how many in total have actually passed Newton today ??

I saw some great birds today, but the little auk experience will definitely stay with me for a very long time....

The stars of the show.....

Newton Point & Football Hole, 10th Nov 2007

What a great day.. the little auks are here !!

In the morning it was pissing down so I stayed in my pit...... It looked like it was clearing late morning so I headed to Newton in anticipation of some little auk action. On arrival I discovered that there was a constant drizzle and visibility was shite...

Being a hardcore local patcher I decided without hesitation to brave the weather........ errrr...... well...... no actually thats a big lie.... Really I just stayed in the car hoping for the rain to stop !! After half an hour it became apparent that the weather wasn't going to change very soon, so I did brave the weather and headed off to the point...

I decided to put in one hour seawatching and I wasn't disappointed... in the first five minutes I had a few little auks and a pom skua....

Using my advanced photography skills I managed to digiscope a little auk in flight....

Little auk, note all the classic ID features...

The little auks are just AWESOME ! Quite a few were very close and one landed on the sea with a puffin just off the point.

Little Auk, Newton Point

Between 1pm and 2pm I saw....

192 little auks
1 pom skua
1 great northern diver
20 red throated divers
1 red breasted merganser

During this time I was also lucky enough to have a kingfisher on the rocks at the point, a good bird for Newton.

After Newton Point I headed round to Football Hole for a bit. The shore was full of waders including 3 purple sandpipers. On the sea there were 7 goldeneye, 8 common scoter and a couple more little auks whizzing by.

Fuzzy purp with a cosmic glow....

The days are short now so I headed home with a big smile and a warm feeling from my funky little auk experience....

Sunset at the coastguards cottage

Newton Point & Newton Pool, 8th Nov 2007

Today it took me 7 hours to drive to Newton..... Yep 7 hours..... thats because I took the scenic route via Perth in Scotland !! Brunnich's guillemot MY ARSE !!

Keen to get at least one decent rare this year I left early and drove towards Aberdeen, we stopped at the services for coffee when the news came through that it wasn't there... after a couple of hours kip in the car and no further news we turned round and headed home...

The day was half over so we headed to Newton for the afternoon...

First off Newton Point where we spent 1.25 hours seawatching... Skuas were flying south and everything else seemed to be heading north... we saw:

1 little auk
4 pom skuas
2 bonxies
3 unidentified distant skuas (probably poms)
1 sooty shearwater
1 manxie
1 common scoter
and a woodcock battling the westerlies to make landfall.. Awesome, a proper migration moment !!

Next off we headed back towards Low Newton. A large gathering of waders were on the rocks again feeding in the high tide surf...

Above - Surfbirds, well not real surfbirds but you know what I mean...

The waders on the rocks included:

1 grey plover
4 barwits
5 purple sands
and plenty of sanderling, redshank and turnstone...

Purple Sandpiper

After Low Newton I moved on to visit the pool, plenty of wildfowl still there including the scaup again.

Nice arse !

New in was a male pintail in interesting plumage....

Snipe numbers seemed to have died off here but at least 2 water rails are still showing well in front of the hide...

Northwesterly then Northerly winds for tomorrow and Saturday look interesting, should get a few more skuas and little auks I hope..... who knows... maybe that brunnich's will re-appear down here !! I'd shit myself if I saw that bobbing about off Newton Point !!

High Newton & Newton Point, 4th Nov 2007

When I checked my bank balance it became clear that I would have to turn down a very kind offer of a lift to North Uist this weekend….. BOLLOX !!

My mates went tho, and I soon had texts telling me it was in the bag…. I’m chuffed for them but to be honest…. I am gripped….. AGAIN !!

Reflecting on my autumn of missing all the decent birds….. I got quite depressed and my birding motivation went out the window… instead of putting mist nets up in the dark early on Saturday morning I stayed in bed… then when I woke up instead of heading to Newton I headed straight to the garage and got the R6 out ! I spent Saturday blasting about the B roads and clearing my head… but I couldn’t resist dropping into Newton along the way…. Good job I did, it got me fired up again and as a result I was out early again today with all thoughts of mourning doves, rubythroats, sibe thrushes and brown flycatchers well and truly blanked from my mind…

And you know what…….. I had a great day !

I spent the morning ringing, it was another thrush day a few redwings, song thrushes and again plenty of blackbirds. It was also another big bullfinch day too, once again I caught a shed load of em…. Did you know female bullfinches can have pink on them ? I caught a couple today with pink wedges in the tertials (this is a shit pic and doesn’t show the colour well but in real life this was quite a bright pink like a males breast colour)...

Female Bullfinch wing..

...and here's one I ringed earlier....

Mid morning I had a flock of 30 whooper swans flying south over the site, and there was also a slow but steady movement of siskins again…. With the number of siskins moving in the last couple of weeks I hoped it would just be a matter of time before I caught some….

Siskins, male above and female below...

The best bird of the day were tree sparrows tho…. Yep sparrowZ (plural), I caught five !! Considering I only saw my first tree sparrows at Newton a couple of months ago I was chuffed with this…

Sometimes when your ringing you catch things you’re not expecting too…..

I think this is a migrant hawker ? A dragonfly in November ???!!!!

Mid afternoon I packed up ringing and headed out to the point… I was eager to see one of the hundreds of pom skuas that have been reported lingering of the east coast this weekend harassing thousands of those little auks…. I spent an hour at the point and didn’t see either….

...BUT…….

I saw not one..... but TWO great northern divers !! OK doesn’t sound like much but GN divers aren’t that common at Newton… I’ve only seen one here before, a summer plumage bird in May 1995 !!

UFO - Unidentified floating object...
This is actually the worlds worst ever photograph of a great northern diver

At the point I also had a long tailed duck, 8 commons scoter, 1 velvet scoter, 7 red throated divers and an arctic skua….. yep ….really….. an arctic !! Everywhere has got poms and I get a fuggin arctic… typical !!

Red-throat....

So there you have it… tree sparrows and great northern divers…. Who needs mourning doves eh ? …. Mmmmm….. well actually come to think of it I STILL NEED MOURNING DOVE !!! Oh well…….