Anyone seen Big Bill?, 27th May 2019

Holy Island was again our destination early on Monday morning and again it was belting down with rain, even more heavily than the morning before. Apparently the causeway would become unsafe to cross around 10 o'clock, although I later learned that not so perilous owing to the very small high tides at present, proving that for a landlubber such as myself there is so much to learn about the coast and birding its whereabouts. But we were parked up by the causeway by 7, frequently having to use the windscreen wipers so that Mrs Caley could gaze out into the gloom one way while I looked out of the open drivers window to the south, sheltered from the northerly rain by the car. Because of the awful weather we had vetoed the notion of walking out on to the north shore in another search for the Broad-billed Sandpiper, it hadn't been seen the day before anyway, and had elected to search through the waders by the causeway instead. Our usual experience of wading birds is to see the occasional birds that find Farmoor Reservoir on their travels and we get excited if we find a single Ringed Plover or Sanderling there. Here on Holy Island and indeed all along the Northumberland coast there are thousands upon thousands! It was good for us to watch common wading birds in their familiar habitat rather than on the concrete embankment of Farmoor.

Sanderling

While the rain fell we observed the ubiquitous Ringed Plovers and Dunlin. There were far fewer Sanderling than the day before, the end of May is peak migration time for those most energetic of waders and yesterdays birds may have already continued northwards to their breeding grounds. We had different birds on view today, several Curlew fed in the main channel and a flock of around a score of Bar-tailed Godwits were on the marsh away from the road, to think I had travelled specially to Slimbridge just a month or so ago to year tick a couple of those!

Curlew

As the water levels surrounding the causeway rose higher and previous areas of mud and sand became submerged, a few Sandwich Terns arrived to fish in the main channel. They were our first of the year and became #218 on the Old Caley year list.

Sandwich Tern

Little Terns arrived to fish too, one bird choosing to hunt in a recently flooded part of the salt marsh right next to our car. Still my favourite of our Tern species, I always enjoy watching their antics and listening to their raucous calls. I think that Little Terns have a pugnacious quality especially when their larger cousins are around. The bird flying close above the car gave us excellent close views but I rued the weather once more since I imagined the shots that I could have gained had the weather been more clement.

Little Tern

After a couple of hours, and with no break in the rain, we fled to the Barn at Beal for an excellent coffee and breakfast sandwich. I used the time to check on the weather prospects for the rest of the day, the recent bird news, and leafed through the "Birds of the North-East" guidebook for other places to visit. When we had been in Northumberland last year we had spent a few hours at Low Newton by the Sea where there is a seasonally flooded scrape and a pond as well as a beach of course, although it's a popular spot for the general public to visit. There had been a pair of Temminck's Stints frequenting the scrape recently and, although we already had the Upton Warren bird on the year list, it would be good to see another one, or two.

It was almost deserted when we parked up and walked down the hill towards the scrapes no doubt because of the poor weather conditions. The Ship Inn here is renowned for its good beer but it was still closed at this hour and besides I was more interested in finding the birds. I scanned the scrapes paying particular attention to the waders. I quickly found Ringed Plovers and Dunlin feeding on the grassy edges but couldn't find any smaller species of any description. I harboured a small hope that the Broad-billed Sandpiper may have relocated here but then quickly reminded myself that I do not possess that type of luck! I looked through the birds again and again and then on the fourth go spotted a much smaller bird. It was a Stint, not a Temminck's but a Little Stint. Not as rare as a Temminck's either but more useful to me since it was my first for the year and took the year list up to #219!

Little Stint (& Ringed Plover)

There were lots of other birds to see at Low Newton too. Hirundines fed over the water chasing insect prey kept low by the rain, and also collected softened mud for building their nests on the adjacent buildings. I had a bit of fun trying to capture them in flight but conditions were far from ideal.

House Martin

Sand Martin

Half a dozen Shelducks grazed on the far bank of the scrape until some unseen stimulus made them take to the air and come hurtling overhead. The only other wildfowl were a pair of Gadwall and a few Mallards. A Lapwing patrolled the nearest margins and a trio of Oystercatchers squabbled at the far side of the field.

Shelduck

Lapwing

A Sedge Warbler sang heartily from the scrub that backed the beach, I remember one showing extremely well here last year, and a Reed Bunting sang its own much weaker, but still beautiful, refrain from a little further along the track. 

Sedge Warbler

Reed Bunting

Low Newton has a healthy population of House Sparrows and we frequently saw them hovering over the rough grass areas seemingly "hawking" for flies, something I've never seen my local ones at home do. More in keeping with the ones in my garden they did enjoy dust bathing as well.

House Sparrow (male above, female below)

At last the rain had stopped but it had left behind a gloomy and muggy afternoon. We left the scrapes having found no sign of the previously reported Temminck's Stints, pausing as we walked past the cottages firstly to admire a female Blackbird preening on the ridge of a roof and then to watch a couple of Swallows hawking insects above the trees. I could imagine those trees being a magnet to migrating warblers come the autumn.

Blackbird

Swallow (headless variety)

After a couple of hours in the refuge of the holiday cottage we returned to Holy Island and this time in the now much improved conditions, even the sun was threatening to put in an appearance, ventured out onto the north shore flats. The wind had increased considerably and instead of heat haze being an issue we now had to contend with a miniature sand storm instead. Birding in this part of the country is not for the faint-hearted! We could make out Gannets passing close inshore and a few Ringed Plover and Sanderling scuttled along the waters edge but there was no sign of anything rarer. I remembered a conversation I had with a Geordie birder while waiting to see the Baikal Teal at Hornsea on Saturday. He was telling me what he knew about the Holy Island area and a bit about the birders that had it as their local patch (lucky them). Apparently a man called Ross had once found a Ross's Gull nearby so I suggested that maybe in order to find the Broad-billed Sandpiper that I should seek out a large chap going by the name of Bill....I'll get my coat.....again!

Walking back to the Snook car park a fine male Linnet sang from the top of a grassy stem in the Dunes and Meadow Pipits eyed us warily as we passed, many had beaks full of food for waiting nestlings.

Linnet

A brief stop back at the causeway again yielded nothing of note, the tide had gone far out now and the exposed sand stretched for miles. There was a Little Egret fishing in the main channel so I rattled off a few shots before calling it a day.

Little Egret

Holy Island, 26th May 2019

We spent the morning watching a fierce rain storm raging outside, impossible weather for birdwatching, but at least it gave us time to recover from the long drive north and gave me time to plan out the rest of the week. There was much that I wanted to do while in Northumberland, such as taking the Puffin Cruise boat trip around Coquet Island to see the Roseate terns again and to explore Holy Island which would be new territory for me. There was an added incentive to get onto the Island too since the Broad-billed Sandpiper had been seen again yesterday. The only snag now, other than the inclement weather, was that the Island was cut off by the tide until 15:00. So we settled for a Sunday lunch while we waited for the tide to recede and  for the weather to improve.

It was still raining when we drove onto Holy Island and headed for the Snook car park. The Broad-billed Sandpiper had been favouring the north shore which can be accessed from the Snook, the piece of land that almost connects the island to the mainland, and I was feeling hopeful that, at just after the high tide, that I'd be able to find it. I learned a lot very quickly as soon as I'd cleared the dunes, the shore, even at high tide, was half a mile out from where we stood! Laid out in front of us was a vast vista of sand and mud and, despite the rain that had fallen and a rather chilly temperature, a shimmering heat haze made scanning with the scope almost impossible. This was going to be much harder than I'd imagined. I half-heartedly walked out onto the sands but gave up after just a few hundred yards and retreated to the car again. I hadn't seen a single bird out there, whereas we had noticed a few small wading birds along the causeway as we'd driven over, so we felt that we may as well sift through the feeding birds there.

I parked up right by the place where the main channel races under the road and began looking at the waders around us. Ringed Plovers were everywhere, with some right next to the road which allowed for some nice close up shots. The rain had abated too and we were even blessed with a drop of late afternoon sunshine. One particular Ringed Plover was feeding within just a few yards of our vantage point.

Ringed Plover

I cast my gaze further away and picked up some Dunlin and Sanderling that were feeding on the mudflats. I paid most attention to the Dunlin since I knew that the Broad-billed Sandpiper, if present, would be associating with them but no amount of scrutiny could turn up the rarer bird. After exhausting the search and with the tide falling I satisfied myself with capturing the Dunlin extracting worms from the sand and mud.

Dunlin

Sanderling

A year tick then presented itself in the form of a beautiful Little Tern, probably my favourite of our breeding Tern species (although that opinion may change later in the week). The Little Tern, #217 on the year list, was actively fishing in the main channel and afforded great views as it dived for fish after hovering above them. I didn't manage to capture a dive but did get a poor shot of the bird with a fish.

Little Tern

The Little Tern was joined by another and they began chasing each other up and down the channel. This gave me a chance to grab some nice flight shots as the birds passed.

Despite another search through of the wading birds there was still no sign of the Broad-billed Sandpiper and I determined to research thoroughly in the evening how to access the north shore properly tomorrow and make a more concerted effort in finding the bird, should it be there of course. The truth is that Holy Island and the surrounding area is vast and there are umpteen places where wading birds can go to feed and me being new to the area wouldn't know of most of them so all I could do was to concentrate on the little info that I already knew. I had spoken to a couple of other birders that I'd met during the afternoon but none of them had any inkling of where or when to look.

Twitchy in Yorkshire! 25th May 2019

We had booked a fortnights holiday to the Cairngorms, as usual, a few months ago and I'd been looking to find somewhere to go for a few days on the way up too. Last year we had visited Northumberland for just a couple of days on the way to Scotland and I was keen to repeat that visit. However Mrs Caley and I have become tired of hotels so I hunted online for a short break in a cottage. There wasn't much on offer and I found 3 or 4 that suited but was astounded how expensive just a 2 day break was in that part of the country, it was half term week after all. On further investigation I discovered that the rates remained the same for a 3 day break and even for 4 days. It wasn't long before I'd booked a cottage for the whole week since it was only 20% more expensive than the original planned 2 day break and considerably less expensive than an equivalent stay in a hotel! We'd have a decent looking cottage just 10 minutes from Bamburgh and 20 minutes from Holy Island, both good birding hotspots on the Northumberland coast.

But we wouldn't go straight to Northumberland of course and I'd spent the days and weeks before our leaving day seeing news, via Birdguides, of rare and scarce birds arrive, and depart, in the North East region. The week before we left home the east coast had witnessed a major fall of Bluethroats but sadly none had remained more than a couple of days. More excitedly a Broad-billed Sandpiper had been found on Holy Island just a few days before the 25th and had stuck so I was hopeful of securing a long awaited life tick once we got there.  

The drive north would take us through Yorkshire first and I had identified a couple of twitches on the way to keep us occupied. The first of these took us to Wintersett Reservoir near Wakefield to look for a Great Reed Warbler, a bird that I'd only seen twice before. It was a fine and sunny day as we pulled up into the car park but I was unsure of exactly where the bird was and there didn't appear to be any other birders around so I checked and rechecked the information available. Luckily I had deciphered  the details correctly and found the right track that led down to the area where the Warbler had taken up residence since we met another birder who had just seen the bird and he told us to keep going and we'd hear it singing. Sure enough, long before we even arrived at the reedbed we could hear the loud and varied song from the Great Reed Warbler. I remembered the song from the Paxton Pits bird that we'd seen in 2016.

Great Reed Warbler, Paxton Pits, 28/05/2016

Very fortunately there was a slightly raised platform that overlooked the reservoir through a small gap in the surrounding trees and even more conveniently the Warbler had chosen a spot that could be viewed through the gap. Less advantageous though was that it had chosen for its territory the outermost reeds, about 30 yards away, so seeing it was tricky to say the least! We had to peer through the reeds and had to adjust the scope into a position where we could watch the bird unhindered. It wasn't easy getting a spot where Mrs Caley, being shorter, could get a clear view but eventually we managed it. The Great Reed warbler became the first year tick of the holiday making it #215. I spent around an hour trying to get a decent photo and failed but at least I had a few more record shots of the species to add to my similar images of the Paxton bird.

Great Reed Warbler, Wintersett Reservoir, 25/05/2019

Returning to the car we stopped at a different viewpoint and had clearer but much more distant views. We suffered for them too because some nasty biting flies also favoured the spot and we were both left sporting some very itchy and sore lumps on our arms later that day!

Now we had secured the Great Reed Warbler it was time to chase something much rarer even though it would take us quite a long way out of our way. At least by booking a cottage we weren't tied to any arrival time so it wouldn't matter what time we arrived in Northumberland. A Baikal Teal, a duck that  is usually found way to the east of the UK in northern and eastern Russia, had been seen in Cambridgeshire over the last month or two. Even though the site was less than 2 hours drive from home I had decided against going to see the bird since it required a long walk to get to and views were from a long way off. However in the past few days the Baikal Teal had moved northwards, spending a couple of days at Kilnsea near the Spurn peninsula and just the day before had been found on a lake slightly further north at Hornsea which was around an hour and a half away from Wintersett.

The drive was easy and we neared Hornsea Mere at around 14:00 that afternoon. Hornsea Mere is the largest inland body of water in Yorkshire and we had no idea really of how to access it. In fact from the road it was difficult to see, being screened by large trees. We did spy a couple of birders walking along the road but the traffic didn't allow for stopping and asking questions. I drove through the busy village, pulled up in a quieter spot, and googled a streetmap of the area. There was a footpath to the south of the lake so I made for that place, thinking we'd gain a way to the edge of the lake from there. Luckily there were another couple of birders walking back toward us so I waited for them to arrive then asked them what they knew. The Baikal Teal which had been visible very distantly from the footpath had apparently flown to the west end of the Mere and would now be viewable from a bird hide at a place called Wassand right at the western end. The couple said that we could walk from our current position but it would be much easier and quicker to go from the Wassand estate where you pay a small fee to park and to gain entry to the bird hide. Ten minutes later I was knocking on a gatehouse door to buy a couple of "Birdwatching" tickets for the princely sum of £3 each. This gave access to a small car park, already almost full, and directions to the small hide on the edge of the Mere from where the Teal was purportedly showing.

As we walked towards the hide through mature woodland my mobile informed that the Baikal Teal was indeed showing well from the Wassand bird hide so at least we had got ahead of most other twitchers although we did get overtaken by a car load that had arrived after us. The hide was a two tiered construction with a photography platform sitting on top of the main hide. This elevated viewpoint was full to the brim with 4(!) other birders and their equipment so we joined the queue of another 4, the car load of overtakers, and waited nervously for our chance to see the Teal, which would be a life tick for us, provided it was accepted by the records committee of course. After around 15 minutes our chance came and we managed to get views over the water. The Baikal Teal, #216 for the year, was loafing around in company with 3 drake Wigeon right at the far western end of the Mere and about 100 yards away. More record shot opportunities!

Baikal Teal, Hornsea Mere, 25/05/2019

Despite willing the ducks to swim nearer they were having none of it so we had to be content with scope views, good as usual, and distant photos. There must be a good chance of this Baikal Teal being accepted by the BBRC since it has always shied away from close human contact and has moved northwards. As I write this the Teal moved up to Northumberland, after we left of course, then even ventured into Scotland for a couple of days at a site in Lothian before returning to Northumberland where it remained difficult to see well.

In between watching the Baikal Teal do nothing much more energetic than doze the afternoon away, we were kept entertained by a dynamic Hobby hunting high above the lake, an uncommon bird in these parts according to George the warden who was expertly marshalling the throng of around a dozen birders that had made it. A male Marsh Harrier was also busy on the opposite side scouring the reedbed for prey.

Hobby

Marsh Harrier

The SatNav had informed me that our holiday cottage was still nearly a 4 hour drive away so we had to get going in order to get there before dark. 

Blue Winger! Monday 3rd June 2019.

We'd had a frustrating start to the Scottish leg of our holiday on Sunday when we managed to miss out on seeing all 5 of our target species on the Moray coast! Perhaps we were still a bit jaded from Saturday's drive north. The only consolation came in some Black Grouse near Tomintoul and a Short-eared Owl close to Lochindorb. A drake Blue-winged Teal had been discovered over 3 months ago in the West Highlands not far from Aultbea and it had been on my radar ever since. Seemingly settled on a small Lochan adjacent to the cemetery it would be just my luck that it'd move on before I got there so the decision was taken to go as soon as possible.

Mellon Charles, where the Blue-winged Teal was hiding out, is 100 mile drive from Carrbridge where we're staying and would take around 2 hours to reach. The weather forecast was generally rain with a few sunny periods, in fact the outlook for the next fortnight was for rain! For the first part of the journey though it was dry but once we reached the higher ground further west the wet stuff did indeed start falling. Not ideal birding weather but we were twitching so it shouldn't hinder us much.

We parked up by the cemetery, looked out over the small reed fringed Lochan and saw nothing! Well next to nothing, there were a couple of drake Mallard's and a Little Grebe. A small posse of Common Terns flew in and bathed in the fresh water but for the next 45 minutes we had no sighting of the target bird. 

Common Tern

I walked around the Lochan as far as I could to gain different angles on the site but still couldn't see the Blue-winger and those familiar doubts began to surface, maybe we'd come to look just too late. But the bird had been present yesterday so it had to be still there, surely? I came across and surprised half a dozen dozing Mallards on a lawned verge which all jumped into the Lochan. As I walked back to the car and to Mrs Caley the Mallards headed for the far corner and swam into the reeds there. An altercation ensued, squabbling over suitable resting spots I supposed. I lifted the bins and there to my relief and surprise was the Blue-winged Teal! It must have been disturbed by the Mallards from its unseen position within the reeds. Relief because now I felt that the holiday was back on course!

Blue-winged Teal, Mellon Charles 03/06/2019

The Blue-winged Teal was the 227th species to make the Old Caley Year List and the 4th that I've seen in the UK after birds in Kent, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. These were however, the closest views that I've had of this rather handsome duck. Blue-winged Teal have a blue head marked with a large comma shaped white patch between the eye and the bill, I pondered why isn't it called a Blue-headed Teal? The rest of the plumage is a Gadwall like brown body with a black rear end and a white circular spot near the tail. The Blue-winged name comes from the pale blue patch on the opened wing which is only seen when the bird flies or stretches. The bill is quite spatulate and similar to the Shoveler, a female of which it had been associating with but of which there had been no sign of, maybe she was sitting on a nest and maybe they'll be some Shoveler/Blue-winged Teal ducklings soon.

The Blue-winged Teal had returned to the sanctuary of the reeds so we decided to head off for a coffee and to look for White-tailed Eagles at the nearby Gruinaird Island area. The weather decided that it would defeat that objective by turning very foul indeed, no Eagles would dare be out and about in those conditions. We checked out a minor road to Mellon Udrigle and were delighted to witness a close flypast of a male Hen Harrier. I couldn't stop the car, get the window down and raise the camera quickly enough to get a photo before it disappeared over a ridge and we couldn't relocate it. We also saw a Merlin in hot pursuit of some Meadow Pipits so at least the birding was looking up!

After our coffee and cheesecake fix we returned to the Lochan and helped ourselves to seconds of the Blue-winged Teal which was now showing much better and more openly albeit still at the furthest end  of the water.

We had a quick look around the Gairloch area where we had seen our first Otter a few years ago but apart from some Seals and a Grey Heron there was nothing doing so we turned for our temporary home.

Grey Heron

As we drove past the well known Osprey spot near Lochluichart on our way back to Speyside, there is an active nest on top of an electricity pylon there, an Osprey flew across the road ahead of us adding that species to our year list (#228). We had spent 2 hours waiting for Ospreys to fish on the River Lossie yesterday with no luck so it was good to see it!