Saturday 4th.
We set off up the A1 making a quick brekkie stop near Durham before eventually making it all the way to Goswick,a small hamlet on the stunning Northumberland coast.....except today the weather wasn't conducive for looking far out to sea for a Common Scoter with extra yellow on it's bill.
As i mentioned above,on arrival at Goswick golf club,the weather wasn't particularly great,with light drizzle on and off and slight mist,but i thought buggar it,i'll give it a go anyway.
I made my way down to the beach,with not a soul in sight and began to scan the sea.I located the Scoter flock,about half a mile offshore,so quickly realised without the hubble telescope at hand,i certainly wasn't going to be seeing any Black Scoters today!.
I stuck at it though and was kept entertained by the lovely wintering locals, which included singles of Great-northern Diver and Slavonian Grebe,a duo of Velvet Scoter,20+ Long-tailed Duck and a pair of Red-breasted Merg's.
To be fair,it was a disappointment that i had no chance of seeing the Black Scoter,at the range of the flock or in the current conditions,but the birds on offer otherwise would have made for an impressive tally back home and certainly made up for it.
After talking to some of the local birders next day,they laughed that i had tried to see the Black Scoter,as it is a proper nightmare to see,this certainly made me feel a bit better.
Sunday 5th.
After a good nights sleep and a mega brekkie,we left the hotel in bright sunshine,a welcome change to the day previous and headed over to Druiridge Bay Country Park.The drive was a very enjoyable one seeing some lovely coastal towns which included the stunning Warkworth.
After arriving at East Chevington TDR decided to chill in the car,while i went off in search of target number two,the Pacific Diver.
After a quick look around Ladyburn Lake and some cracking views of Scaup and more Mergs it was onto East Chevington north pool.A quick scan and there it was,the Pacific Diver.
The first thing that struck me about this bird,was it's smaller,compact size than Black-throated Diver,something that was highlighted perfectly when it swam alongside a Coot,being not that much larger to be fair.The more rounded dusky head,shorter looking bill and lack of rear flank patch were all use full ID pointers,particularly the latter feature which was particularly help full when the bird was sleeping,making it really easy to pick out.It is incredible to think were this bird has travelled from to arrive here,as the bird will have hatched as a chick the previous summer in the high arctic of North America and should be wintering somewhere off the Pacific coast of North America right now,amazing!.
I continued to just watch the bird at my leisure,taking in all the features and some field notes,being truly relieved that i had added my second 'New' species of the year to the notebook after not seeing the Scooter.
A few other niceties were also seen while watching the Diver and included another Slav Grebe,more 'Punky Crested' Mergs and at least 7 Scaup.
After enjoying this cracking bird,the local goodies and great scenery,i wandered back to the car seeing 3 lovely Stonechat along the way.
Unfortunately it was lunch time by now and we had to head back home along the A1 back to Linc's,but it won't be too long before we are back up here again in May.
Another great couple of days away in this beautiful part of the world and we both look forward to coming back.
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| Some Of The Noisy Locals At Druiridge Bay. |
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| Posing Cormorant,Ladyburn Lake,Druiridge Pools CP. |
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| Cormorant,Druiridge Pools CP. |
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| Cormorant,Druiridge Pools CP. |
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| East Chevington North Pool. |
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| East Chevington North Pool. |
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| Believe It Or Not,The Grey And White Blob In The Middle Of The Pic Is A Pacific Diver. |
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