Adult Male Pallid Harrier......The Holy Grail Of Birding!....Wednesday 10th May 2017.

It had only been a few weekends ago when news filtered through that serious local patch watcher Tim Isherwood had seen an adult male Pallid Harrier fly north through his East Yorkshire coast patch at Grimston.This stopped me in my tracks as it is a bird most of us mere mortals would love to see,let alone find.
 Fast forward a week or so and news breaks that a male Pallid Harrier is holding territory in the well known raptor breeding area of the Forest Of Bowland in Lancashire,it has to be the same bird.
 After a lovely trip away with Trace to Northumberland,i got home and just had to go and see this mythical beast for myself.
 I got up at 4.00 am,got all the kit together and headed west across country to my destination at Dunsop Bridge.
 The drive over was pretty good and it was apparent there had been quite a frost overnight.
 I eventually arrived at the lovely little village of Dunsop,paid for my parking and i was off on the 4K hike to where the bird had been holding territory in the Whitendale Valley.
 The walk up was great not only for the scenery,but i logged some great birds which included my 'First' Pied Flycatchers and Redstart of the year,a couple of female Stonechats and some displaying Common Sands,what a brilliant start i thought,but better was to come.
 After arriving at the area where the bird had been watched from along with two other birders,we set up and began to scan the area,then all of a sudden a ghostly shape flew down the hillside and disappeared into a small valley,it had to be him.
 A few tense moments later and there he was,i couldn't believe what i was watching at first,a bird i had dreamt of seeing and now i was actually watching one!.
 I just watched through the scope as he floated about above the bracken covered hillside,taking in all the features of this beautiful bird.
 As we watched he began to collect nesting material which he took into one of the nests he has built in anticipation of attracting a mate,now that would be something else.
 After his nest building activities,he passed across the valley,a hundred metres in front of us,giving stonking scope views and then began to gain height,thermalling higher and higher and then began to display.This has to be one of the most impressive sights i have seen in all my 30+ years birding.He just threw himself all over the sky looping about back and forth,uttering a distinct chattering call all the time,what a BIRD!!!!.
 After this he disappeared over a nearby hillside and we went back to normality after seeing this stunner.
 About half an hour lapsed and he then appeared again doing the same routine of covering his territory and again displaying,just fantastic to watch.
 The 4 hours i had just spent,literally flew by and after saying my goodbyes to the lads who i had been watching with,i made a steady walk back to the car.
 I was on a high as i travelled home back through the bustle of Bradford and down the M62 and back home.I havn't stopped talking about this stunning bird ever since,what an experience and one which will stay with me for the rest of my days.

Male Pied Flycatcher,Dunsop Bridge.

Singing Male Redstart,Dunsop Bridge.

Whitendale Valley.

Skydancer!.

Messingham Sand Quarries....09.05.2017.

A free morning today after getting back from our mini break to Northumberland,saw me heading out locally and seeing what,if anything i could find.
 I started proceedings by looking on the Sheep Fields at the back of the reserve and the new workings which the aggregate company are excavating still.
 Best bird went to my first Cuckoo of the year,belting out that familiar song,unfortunately one which we do not hear as much these days,but still an iconic sound of spring and warmer months to come.
 Other species seen and heard included 2 Garden Warbler,one of which showed fairly well,11 Sand Martin over the workings and another scarce sound locally,a displaying male Snipe over the Sheep Fields.
 A nice diversion away from birds,saw a leveret showing quite closely,oblivious to the strange human rattling away shots on his camera...a little beauty and great to see. 
 After a good look around this area,i drove the short distance over to the reserve proper.
 After shedding a bit of clothing and my tripod left in the car i started by looking on Grebe Lake first,where the best bird of the morning so far was seen.
 As i scanned for Otters,a wader flew rapidly past me....a Whimbrel,this is the first time i have seen the species on the reserve and it headed low,east and over the hedge at the end of the pit and i didn't see it again on the remainder of the reserve,but what a nice record all the same.
 As i wandered around the rest of the reserve,some decent numbers of Warblers were encountered,particularly Garden Warblers,with at least 9 singing males logged.Totals for other species were 16 singing male Reed Warbler,6 m. Sedge Warbler,2 m. Whitethroat,1 m. Lesser Whitethroat,13 m. Willow Warbler and finally 8 m. Chiffchaff.
 It was also nice to see some numbers of aerial insect eaters on the wing today as well,with at least 45 Sand Martin,25 House Martin and 30 Swift,making for a great spectacle as they all fed together in a mixed feeding flock.
 On the newly created fishing pond on the border of the reserve,2 pairs of Egyptian Geese have settled in,with one pair having already hatched a brood of four goslings.
 Another first for the year on a return look on Grebe Lake,saw me finally seeing my first Common Tern of the year,a lone individual sitting on the Tern raft.Hopefully these lovely birds will raise a brood successfully here again this summer.
 So today wasn't a bad day really,but i wish we could have some proper sunny weather for a change.

Leveret On The Sheep Fields.

Leveret On The Sheep Fields.

'Lag' Family.

Female Egyptian Goose With Her Brood.

Stunning Northumberland 5th - 8th May 2017.

After we booked to attend an Adam Ant concert on 5th in Newcastle and an overnight stay,the following 3 days were to be enjoyed in beautiful Northumberland and hopefully some decent weather.

Friday 5th

Not really birding in Newcastle,but wandering around the Quays it was great to see the lovely resident Kittiwakes nesting on the Tyne bridge and Peregrine overhead nearby.


Saturday 6th

We visited several places today which included Amble,Alnmouth and lovely Beadnell where we where staying and to be honest the weather was dry,but pretty cold still with a biting northerly,but we didn't let it spoil things and enjoyed the lovely scenery.Bird highlights included the tamest Eiders i have ever seen,with 20 birds in Amble harbour coming within inches of me,a real treat and a fantastic experience.
 Later in the day the best went to two Little Tern at Beadnell Harbour and more showy Eiders.

Sunday 7th

Today we planned to take part in a walk from Newton by the Sea,taking in the impressive Embleton Bay,Dunstanburgh Castle and lovely Craster.The coastline along here is particularly stunning and it provided us with some great bird highlights.A single Little Tern in Embleton Bay kicked the days sightings off followed by a confiding family party of Stonechats watched nearby as the parents brought food to their brood,fantastic to watch!.
 A single Dark-bellied Brent Goose passed north offshore and on the return leg back to Newton an unseasonal flock of approx. 150 Barnacle Geese followed in the same direction.Assuming these latter birds are of wild origin,then they must surely be part of the wintering population from Holland.
 The only other bird of note was a single Common Sandpiper on Low Newton Nature Reserve.
 After completing our walk,we drove up the coast to Lindisfarne seeing some nice bits which included a cracking singing male Grasshopper Warbler,male Wheatear and 100+ Sandwich Tern and obviously some stunning scenery.

Monday 8th

Sadly it was time to head back south after another fantastic trip away to this beautiful part of the world.

Sandwich Tern,Amble Harbour.

Adult Drake Eider,Amble Harbour.

Female Eider,Amble Harbour.

Female Eider,Amble Harbour.

Displaying Drake Eider,Beadnell.

Drake Eiders,Beadnell.

Turnstone,Beadnell.

Embleton Bay.

Embleton Bay.

Dunstanburgh Castle.

Male Stonechat,Low Newton.

Juvenile Stonechat,Low Newton.

Juvenile Stonechat,Low Newton.

Female Stonechat,Low Newton.

Turnstones,Craster Harbour.

North Bound Barnacle Geese,Embleton Bay.

Grasshopper Warbler,Lindisfarne.

Looking Towards Bamburgh From Lindisfarne.

Male Wheatear,Lindisfarne.

Male Wheatear,Lindisfarne.

Stunning Finch etc.....Another Spurn Visit,Bank Holiday Monday,1st May 2017.

After yesterday's strong easterly winds,a much calmer day was on offer today,so as the last few weekends i made my way out from my home in North Linc's to that fantastic peninsula in East Yorkshire....Spurn.
 I had pre-organised to meet up with Tim again and we had planned to start the visit at the Warren,watching from Numpties watchpoint.
 At first it was steady,with few highlights,but then a Merlin flashed past south and the first of the mornings parties of Arctic Terns flew out east.The latter being my first records of the year of these lovely north bound Terns.
 New birds for the year continued,with another south bound raptor,a Hobby,as it flew south towards the breach,but a little while later it u turned back north and the first of 4 very welcome Swift headed south.
 A steady stream of Swallows were heading south all morning and other migrants around the warren included 2 Wheatear,3 Yellow Wagtail south and another first for the year in the form of a cracking Garden Warbler which was trapped and ringed by Adam.
 The tide was beginning to flow in and was pushing good numbers of arctic bound waders closer and closer and allowed stunning views of Grey Plover,Bar-tailed Godwits and Dunlin in all their spring finery,what a brilliant sight to see.
 After a good few hours watching from here,Tim and myself decided to go for a walk,covering the Canal bushes,Canal Scrape and the Triangle.Highlights included at least 23 Whimbrel seen landing in Well field,with Lesser Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler singing in the Canal area,with a buck Roe Deer in amongst the scrub of Little Hedge.
 A message then came over the radio that a Hawfinch had been found in Kew and we thought to ourselves,we are never going to get there in time.
 As we arrived in the grounds of Kew campsite,we could see that the female Hawfinch was still present,giving some stunning views as it quietly fed on the ground and visited a nearby bird feeder.
 After getting some half decent images of this cracker we decided to head up Beacon Lane and cover the Ponds,Kilnsea Wetlands,Long Bank and Sammy's Point.
 As we left Kew the distinctive 'Chack' of a Fieldfare was heard and it was seen as it flew across the Triangle towards the Warren,a nice sighting all the same.
 Kilnsea Wetlands was our next stop and provided us with some nice sightings which included a lovely flock of Bar-tailed Godwits feeding relatively close to the hide and a couple of Common Sandpiper,the latter my first records of the year,3 Whimbrel,4 Little Egret and a Wheatear.The Egrets were in all their spring finery and looked just stunning as always.
 On to Beacon Ponds and more goodies in the form of another first of the year,Little Tern.At least 5 birds were present and gave distant views as they loafed on the waters edge.Also present were a single Sandwich Tern and a very dapper male Common Scoter and some good numbers of waders which included more stunning Grey Plovers.
 Very little was on Long Bank Marsh apart from 9 Wheatear and as we neared Sammy's a Short-eared Owl was watched hunting the ditch sides and grass paddocks.
 Other birds observed at Sammy's included a very brief singing Grasshopper Warbler,which had been showing really well in the morning apparently,typical.
 Some serious coverage of the area today was beginning to take it's toll and we headed to the Blue Bell for a well earned cuppa.
 After our tea stop we went to look for an interesting looking male Stonechat which was feeding in Well Field and it wasn't long before we were watching it.It was a pretty bright individual and had a decent pale rump and showed some of the characters of the continental race 'Rubicola',whatever it was it was a very smart bird!.
 Also in close proximity to the Stonie,was a very smart Whinchat and yes you guessed right,another first for the year.Both birds were frequently seen in the same scope view giving a great comparison of both species,very nice too.
 As i wearily wandered back to the car where i had parked it at the Warren gate,8 more Wheatear were watched in a small grass field opposite the Canal car park,a nice end to another amazing visit to this brilliant birding area.

Female Hawfinch,Kew.

Female Hawfinch,Kew.

Female Hawfinch,Kew.

Female Hawfinch,Kew.

Female Hawfinch,Kew.

Female Hawfinch,Kew,Taking Advantage Of The Locals.

What A Cracking Bird!.

Kilnsea Wetlands.

Kilnsea Wetlands.

Some Beautiful Grey Plover At Beacon Ponds.

Little Egrets,Kilnsea Wetlands.

Some Stunning Bar-tailed Godwits At Kilnsea Wetlands.

Female Bar-tailed Godwit,Kilnsea Wetlands.

Amazing Contrast In The Plumages Of Male And Female Bar-tailed Godwits,Kilnsea Wetlands.

Incoming Common Sandpiper,Kilnsea Wetlands.

'Rubicola' Stonechat,Well Field.

Whinchat,Well Field.

Male Wheatear,Near Canal Car Park.