7th
Mar. The road down to East Chevington
North Pool has been done no favours by the recent severe weather. More potholes than ever and pre-existing
small ones have grown. The whole area
looked badly hit by the weather. Happily
spring was once again in the air and the sounds that greeted us on arrival was
the calling of Reed Buntings, a pair
was seen in the hedge by the flooded car-parking area, singing Skylarks and calling geese, in the main
Pink-footed Geese. We walked to the mouth of the Chevington Burn
which has once again changed course in the forever moving sand and no doubt
melting snow accounted for the fact that it was running deeply and fast towards
the sea. The sand banked up at the sides
of the burn was every now and again crumbling and it felt that we were watching
geological change in action, which of
course we were. Surprisingly not
even Pied Wagtails were feeding on the sea litter on the beach, but we did
watch a large raft of Common Scoter
directly in front of us and close to the tidal edge. Ringed
Plover and Sanderling were on the shore at the tideline and Eider Duck, Red Throated Diver and Guillemot
were amongst birds seen and there was also a possible sighting of
Black-throated Diver, but that is surrounded with some uncertainty. Watching from so low down did not help with
identification, nor did the waves and the diving and the diver quickly
disappeared. Flocks of Oystercatcher flew by. We both agreed how good it was to be out
again in relatively mild conditions. As
we walked back and along the path between the dunes and North Pool a single Scaup was seen on the otherwise quiet
pool that did not appear to hold anything out of the ordinary, although numbers
of Goldeneye remain.
On our way
to Druridge Pools we watched five Common
Buzzards as they displayed over the fields south of North Pool. One of these birds was especially active.
We were to
have another try for these Water Pipits at Druridge Pools. As I joked that we might not get to the hide
we found just how true that was to be the case.
The place was flooded. We were
aware of floods, especially further north and so should have known better and
taken out Wellington Boots. At least we
could hear the whistling Wigeon and
watch through the trees from the road side.
I took some comfort in a fellow birder telling us he had visited 10
times before seeing the Water Pipits.
The other path was also flooded, and in any event, we were feeling
hungry so made off to the café, but not before being reminded about the two
Great Northern Divers on the pool at Widdrington Moor and being told that a
Marsh Harrier had shown there today too.
Well fed we
moved off to the hide at Cresswell Pond.
After having passed here several times in recently in conditions not
conducive to birding, it was good to find the place a little more settled, in
sunlight and with even a bit of mud showing.
Also, good to see a knowledgeable youngster in there with his mum, both
avidly watching. By now we had seen
large numbers of Pink-footed Geese,
Greylag Geese and Canada Geese and here we found my first
Lesser Black Backed Gull of the year
and large flocks of Teal and Wigeon.
No sign of an Avocet when we were there.
I enjoyed the time in the hide which I had not visited for some time. I remember reading that a judgement was to be
made by the 5th March about the proposed plans for the Banks
Opencast Site. Have I missed something
or have things been bogged down in the usual red tape and delays?
Great Northern Diver courtesy of Samuel Hood (Scoped)
Anyway, we didn’t forget the Great Northern Divers and took a drive
to the moor where we had an excellent sighting of what turned out to be bird of
the day. It was like spring now as we
stood at the side of the road and enjoyed the sunshine as well as the
divers. An excellent day as per usual,
but no sign of a Marsh Harrier for us.
Colourful Lapwing. To many folk see things in only black and white!
11th
Mar. After the dismal weather of
yesterday it was good to see the sun shining as we left for Lindisfarne. The usual wonderful light was met as we
arrived at the island and oh how different it was from the freezing conditions
of our previous visit. We set off along
the lonnen and possibly because of the flooded conditions had the area to
ourselves for most of the time as we tried to dodge the puddles. A plodge was occasionally necessary, the
waterproof boots going a good job. We’d
been met at the car park by a stunningly marked Lapwing
and the sound of Skylarks, Curlews and Oystercatchers. The song of Skylark was to accompany us for much of the walk, although in
general it was a very quiet day in terms of bird numbers. It was nevertheless an excellent walk and
having completed it I felt I had earned my bacon sandwich, piece of cake and
bottle of a type of coke that tasted more like ginger beer, very nice. The walk had ben enhanced by the sight of a
group of 14 Roe Deer (I honestly
don’t remember having seen such numbers together in Northumberland before), my
first Rabbit and Frogs of the year. Best sighting was of the Brent Geese with the priory in the background. The island is one of my favourite places in
Northumberland and I enjoy the fact that no matter how many visitors are
converging it is always possible to get away from the maddening crowd and find
one’s own space.
Some plonker plodging along the lonnen
A look
across one of the bays and out to see brought sightings of Great Northern Diver, Red
Throated Diver, Eider Duck and Red-breasted
Merganser. It was noticeable by now
that mist was encroaching from the sea and it wasn’t long before temperatures
plummeted considerably. We noticed that a good deal of work has been done to protect the pool on the island from Otters and Foxes. Sadly the only birds on the pool at the time we were there was one Coot and one Red-breasted Merganser. Behind the pool ducks could be seen and included Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler. We continued our
walk and enjoyed watching the Brent
Geese before making back to the village and preparing to set off for a stop
at Fenham Flats. The sun was still
breaking through at times, but it seemed that the weather was on the
change. A number of Common Buzzards had been seen during the day.
This colourful guy was was better equipped for the conditions.
The birds at
Fenham Flats gave in the main only distant sightings, the best of them being many
Brent Geese strung out along the
shore. Both black and pale bellied seen
today. I reflected that the period from October to March has provided us both
with some wonderful experiences with geese, both in Dumfries and Northumberland. In fact, over recent years I’ve seen geese in
habitats that I once thought I’d never see when I used to look at Peter Scott
paintings in books I have. This winter
has been the best I’ve had watching geese.
Deciding to give Stagg Rock a miss we now made for home more than happy
with our trip. By the time we were
nearing home it almost looked as if the darkened sky held within it a storm,
and the rain has come today. Bird of the
day? Brent Geese.
Brent Geese
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