January

 That's the last orders bell ringing for January. Since the previous post, we have had another power outage taking us to 298 hours without electricity since the 26th November. 

Its unbelievable in the 21st century that this can happen in the UK. As if that's not bad enough there is no mobile phone signal in our village either. That's another hard one to get your head around. On the mainland UK, 5 miles from the A1, 20 odd years since mobile phones became de rigeuer and its like 1970. You could call from Novosibirsk or Merzouga just not from here. 

Getting back on track, how has the local patch fared this month.

Very different to 2021, with a good few species absent including -

Canada Goose, Brent Goose, Whooper Swan, Grey Plover, Purple Sandpiper, Med Gull, Little Egret, Barn Owl, Kingfisher, Peregrine, Hooded Crow, Reed Bunting, Greenfinch and Meadow Pipit.

Highlights have been Great Northern Diver, Raven, Twite, Marsh Harrier, Gadwall and Woodcock.

Overall, I am about 8 species short on last years total despite having reasonable weather for most of the month and being out everyday. At least there is still a lot to play for in February.

   

Its all about the timing...

 I am on a days leave today. Using them up before the year end. Around 10 am I walked Peggy down to the small pond in the estate to see if the rough sea had put any ducks on it. It really is a small pool surrounded by trees so is never getting much, but a Gadwall or even a Green winged Teal is a possibility so I went for a look.

It was really quiet and still, very little moving. 14 Teal, a pair of Mute Swans, 3 Little Grebes and a few Moorhens were all I could see, then, at the very back along the edge, a Water Rail ran half the length of the pool into some bulrushes. Nice, to get a reasonable view here. 

We were about to continue our quiet stroll when there was such a rushing of wind noise! I almost ducked and looked around, it sounded like someone waving a branch around, nothing, then I looked up to see a big immature Peregrine in full speed stoop at a Woodcock! The wind rush was from its wings, it sounded like a jet. The Woodcock must have just come in off when the Peregrine stooped, luckily for it, it plunged into the willow scrub at the back of the pond, forcing the falcon to slam the brakes on and back peddle over the tree tops. The Woodcock was gone, and the Peregrine slowly made its way west without a meal.

On the way back up the track, I was giving the pond another look when a second  Water Rail flew right through my binocular view and landed in the same spot as the first. There was such a squealing in the rushes then silence again and the pond returned back to its usual self... a bit of lucky timing is always helpful

It is these small things that make watching a local patch so enjoyable. Its not always about rare and scarce...

 

The spot at the back where the swans are is where the Water Rails ran into and just left of there is the Woodcock sanctuary!

White winged Gulls and Grebes...

Despite efforts, we didn't see any of those. I suppose this post could have been called Pallas's Sandgrouse  for that matter, but hang on.

The morning was spent hunting around Amble Harbour and the Coquet Estuary in mixed weather conditions looking for those said title species. As the wind has swung to the north for a bit, maybe there will be a northern gull next week? We'll see. Actually we did see some grebes, several Little and one Great crested, but thats not what I meant here at this time of year.

John added six common species to his patch list and for me the highlights were a fleeting view of a Kingfisher dashing across the harbour and out of sight, and a Little Egret flying from Warkworth Gut up towards Alnmouth.

After lunch, the wind increased to a blustery NW, so I popped along to Craster for a half hour seawatch to see if I could add to my patch tally. The seawatching was dire ( as usual at this time of year, but you never know) but some salvation was had by a Woodcock flying out of the scrub at the Arnold Reserve, over the road in front of my car, and off up the heughs. A nice unexpected addition.

With a flexi day off tomorrow and the weather improving, I might get out again to see if the squalls have stirred anything up.

75. Woodcock

Ton Up...

Another bleak winters day today, but the morning on foot around the patch turned up a massive 6 new additions, including two of the targets mentioned yesterday.

The wind was strong again, cutting, on the coast path, but after adding an extra layer, I took position on the cliff top at Cullernose Point gazing at a largely blank sea. If I had not been doing the Patch Challenge, I would have given this no more than a cursory glance and been off for shelter, but common species take on extra significance with an added spice of competition.

So, I sat it out for 45 minutes seeing three new additions that would have hardly had me lifting the bins later in the year -

Gannet 3 adults S
Kittiwake 1 adult N
Wigeon 2 N
Goldeneye 1N
Eider 3 N
Common Scoter 1 female N
Fulmar 30+ milling around.

Amazing to see the top two species are worth two points in the challenge...

In the fields were 100+ Skylarks, 40 Golden Plover, 2 Lapwing, 30 Fieldfare and 50+ Linnets.

At this stage I retired home for breakfast and to shake off hypothermia before heading out again in an inland direction.

A wet corner was very productive when 11 Snipe flushed with 2 Woodcock nearby. I'll keep an eye on this damp spot for Jack Snipe, a full new species for the patch, as the weeks go on. A rough field here had more Fieldfares and Redwings with 3 Reed Bunting but still no Yellowhammers?

3 Brown Hares were beginning to 'box' on the heugh.

The route home was mainly quiet in the woods but after some lengthy perseverance my target surrendered -a Treecreeper, skulking about in the moss low down on a tree trunk. The pond here had 6 Mallard a Little Grebe and a Heron. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was in full drumming mode, a hint of spring in this winter weather.

That's me then for another week, 90 species (100 points) and a new record for January after 87 in Jan 2010. With still another weekend to go and a common species or two left to find, hopefully I can push the boundary even further.    

A sneaky one...

 As I was driving out of the village this afternoon a noticed a lump on the village green that shouldnt have been there. Mmmm, it looks familiar. No bins, but scope in the boot revealed the lump to be as expected - a Woodcock. I managed this shot with an iphone4s on my Lieca 32wa eyepiece. The large physical size of the eyepiece glass makes digiscoping quite tricky...

There were 2 Waxwings on the village apples this morning too and 9 Grey Partridges along the coast path. A Fulmar has returned to the cliffs nice and early.

Lets seen what the cold snap brings this week...

Same old, same old....

Off work again due to snow. This will mean another series of late shifts to make the time back up...

So as it was down to somewhere below -6 and it didnt get any warmer than -3 it was time to get out for a wander.

It was a lovely crisp sunny day, but face numbingly cold.

The coast road looking at Seahouses Farm, Howick.

The main road looking west. As you can see, its well gritted.

Howick Burn Mouth. The south end of my patch. Snow on the shore...

I walked down the Long Walk and back via the coast path...

Woodcock were much in evidence again today with at least 14 flushed. I managed to see three or four on the ground before they moved on...This one was at the base of a Yew and allowed two 'walk byes' to get a photo...

Crouching Woodcock...

Also of note were 38 Grey Partridge, 600 Woodpigeon in one field and some viz migging on the walk back-

Skylark 239 S

Brambling 3 S

3+ Snipe and 2 Redshank were on the small Howick Burn near the frozen pond, 3 Yellowhammers were in the Village and 4 Goldeneye were off shore...

When I went to feed the birds in the garden first thing, a Woodcock flushed from near the log pile. 2 Tree Sparrows and 2 Brambling were at the seed.

I wonder if I get to work tomorrow...

Day 11...

A very minor hint of a thaw here today, then freezing then a heavy snow shower. But mainly clear and sunny...

Met up with JWR at Alnmouth and checked the river and shore next to the golf course.

Plenty of wildfowl and waders on the unfrozen estuary mud -

300 Dunlin,  7 Snipe, 5 Woodcock, 200 Teal, 110 Wigeon, 35 Mallard and a drake Gadwall. Only one drake Goldeneye with a Little Grebe made a change from the dabblers. A female Sparrowhawk did some butterfly flapping around a wet piece of marsh looking for crouching snipe.

A few birds were feeding in a strip of game crop - 6+ Tree Sparrow, 50+ Skylarks, 20+ Reed Bunting and 9 Whooper Swans. Down on the beach a small clump of sea buckthorn held a few Song Thrushes and 3 nice Fieldfares plus the now obligatory Woodcocks. Three skeins of Pinkfeet flew south totalling about 300 birds. Two male Stonechats were on the frozen golf course, with one showing particularly well around the car park.

At dusk back home three or four Woodcock were flying around the Village heading out to feeding spots.

A good sighting late on last night, 11.45pm, on my way back after taking Bunty for her bedtime stroll our neighbours outside light came on and lit up a nice Barn Owl sat on our garden fence! It flew off over to the back field. I wonder if it has been looking for mice on my bird feed?

Even tidal waters have been frozen then smashed as the water receded...

Alnmouth Golf Course. The only things on the tee boxes today were Skylarks...

Song Thrush getting some sustenance from the sea buckthorns next to the beach. 

No snow...

Day 10 of our freeze and this is the first day it hasn't snowed. It was cold and frosty with a nice clear blue sky.

A lethargic, lonely looking Larky....

Keen to see if the hard weather movement was continuing I took Bunty up to the coast path, walked south to the Bathing House and back via Howick Lane. We were out from 8.40 - 9.35am...

First up, while I was feeding the garden birds, a Waxwing, alone for a change, was up in a tall tree in the copse calling like mad, seemingly looking for its colleagues. It soon departed to the south.

Viz miggers up near the coast path were -

Woodpigeon 223 S and 21 N I am always unsure whether these are locals looking for new feeding spots or are they really moving off to milder climes? Those moving south were quite high and steady in their flight so I feel they weren't just going down the road...
Curlew 9 S
Skylark 4 S thats all with about a dozen in the fields. A sharp drop off from yesterday.
Brambling 4 S
Pinkfooted Geese 57 S
Tree Sparrow 1 S high along the shore.
Goldfinch 25 S in single figure parties.
Siskin 2 S
Greenfinch 1 S

Other than those appearing to migrate were -

Peregrine 1 adult male S later seen going N at 4pm presumably back to roost.
Woodcock 11 including 4 in one gorse bush.
Snipe 1 or 2 in the back field.

A Grey Seal was 'bottling' close in while 3 Roe Deer were in the open looking for food. See accidental shot of one below. You can clearly see its a buck...

A Woodcock Winter...

My morning began in -5 degrees out with Bunty. We only walked from home up to the coast path.  Woodcock seemed to spring from every sheltered patch and 5 were seen within 15 minutes, with another 3 later. Then I noticed this poor creature that had hit a sheep fence. It flopped along the verge trying to take off without success.

I kept it in a box in the house until this afternoon. Although I could see there was no fixing this one ( the right wing was shattered) I didnt have the bottle to 'do the right thing', so I realeased it onto a wet sheltered patch nearby to let nature take its course. It was quite a perky character. What a shame...

At lunchtime I saw that a flock of geese had settled in the coast path field, so wandered up with the scope to check them out. There were exactly 200 Pink footed Geese, but more interestingly there was a good movement of birds south along the coast so I did a bit of 'viz migging' from the road end.

No sooner had I counted the geese, when I saw a thrush on the far fence. Peering through the scope, it was one of a party of 4 Mistle Thrushes, but as I looked a movement behind caught my attention...HEN HARRIER! And not just a hen harrier, a stonking adult male looking all silvery and uplit, tipped with black. Still watching I scrabbled for the camera but not only was it distant, it was too quick for me and was out of sight, south, within a minute or so...

Right then, back to the counts, I thought, when I heard the calls of more Pinkfeet heading my way. Looking up, they came right over head and one was white! The Newton Pool Ross's Goose, no less, accompanied by 5 Barnacle Geese and 40 Pinkfeet. They whiffled in to the flock in the field for a feed and a preen, and ten minutes later they were off again heading south... 

Ross's Goose with Barnacles and Pinkfeet...

The original flock...

An hour later (watched 12 - 1pm) with numb feet I had counted -

Whooper Swan 8 S ( 7 ad and 1 juv)
Pink footed Goose 525 S
Barnacle Goose 5 S
Ross's Goose 1 S
Hen Harrier 1 S
Golden Plover 11 S
Snipe 8 S and N around the fields
Curlew 5 N
Dunlin 53 N and S around fields some were attached to Skylark flocks.
Lapwing 16 S
Woodpigeon 76 S
Skylark 355 S a constant stream of birds low over the fields.
Mistle Thrush 9 S
Fieldfare 4 N
Brambling 2 S
Linnet 67 S
Twite 1 S
Goldfinch 1 S
Reed Bunting 3 S with Skylarks
Lapland Bunting 2 S with Skylarks.

To warm my feet I had a walk north along the coast path to Cullernose Point and back. The 11 Whooper Swans were still in the field near the lay bye, 32 Grey Partridges were easily seen against the snow in small coveys (8, 2, 9, 7, 6), 1 female Sparrowhawk looked like a male Gos in flight, briefly, until seen perched, a pitfall for the unwary, 2 Buzzard, 16 Oystercatcher, 1 Purple Sandpiper and 3 Woodcock.

Fake Gos...

At dusk I watched 5 Woodcock flighting out of the hedges and woods to the coast to feed, joined by a lone Snipe...This brings the days Woodcock tally to 16.

OFFH List - 160. ( Ross's Goose included, but not on my 'real' list...)