Boulmer birding day 3 (lunchtime)

Spent 3 hours walking to the north of Boulmer, and some more fantastic birding.
On the shore near the village 5 Rock Pipits, including one which was noticeably paler with a stronger eyestripe - possibly a 'scandanavian' Rock Pipit? In one of the bushes I was surprised to find a Tree Sparrow. Nearby were 2 Twite, which perched for a while giving good views. Linnet and Goldfinch, as well as Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail on the grassy areas.
The next hour saw the tide come in rapidly and the waders pushed much closer. Initial highlight were 4 Purple Sandpiper in with the c100 Turnstone, Dunlin, Sanderling, Knot and Ringed Plover.

The above is a picture from my phone showing that the waders were within about 10m and really showing well.
Next, I found another couple of Purple Sandpiper, and in front of one a noticeably smaller, grey wader. Very Dunlin like on initial views I became excited as I noted the short bill, and then primary tips extending beyond the tail. This was looking spot on for adult winter White Rumped Sandpiper. The breast markings cut off to a clean white unders, with some streaking on the flanks. All I needed now was the rump. But as the tide continued to come in the birds began to move deeper into the sea-weed and I lost sight. Then a big wave came in scattering the 100+ waders in all directions. I never saw it again! Below are the notes from my notebook...

I'm leaving it as probable but it's difficult to say what else it could be.

The remainder of the walk was still very pleasant. 5 Wigeon just offshore as well as c20 Eider. A male Common Darter landed close briefly, making the most of the autumn sun. One field held hundreds of Curlew, Lapwing, Redshank and Oystercatcher. Zoom into the picture and check out all the blobs 😉

 A male Stonechat was nice, and finally, a cracking adult Mediterranean Gull flew over the village as I walked back to the cottage.

Boulmer birding - day 3 (morning)

Glorious sunrise this morning. As I walked to the beach 21 Whooper Swans flew over, low, calling. Great start. 200+ Pink feets flew over in several groups as well. Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail were moving along the coast, and the morning highlight was half a dozen Twite chirping south. Buzzard hunting low finished off the first walk of the day...

Northumberland birding - day 2

3 walks today along the coast at Boulmer.  Highlights today were Snow Bunting, the Black Throated Divers again, Peregrine and Merlin hunting, Red Breasted Merganser and 100+ Gannet fishing. The final walk in the evening sun led to close up views of waders on the shore. A mix of Sanderling, Knot, Turnstone, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank and Curlew.

In between this was a visit to Cresswell Pond. Brief views of the Long-billed Dowitcher, as well as Long-tailed Duck, Little Stint, Greater Scaup and Whinchat in the dunes.
An excellent day!

Boulmer - Northumberland day one

An afternoon stroll with the dog on arrival along the beach. Sanderling, Turnstone and Redshank ran through the sea-weed. Bar-tailed Godwit and Oystercatcher on the sand, and a flock of 100+ Curlew flew over. A Rock Pipit briefly landed at my feet, looked at me, called, and then flew off.
We are staying in a lovely cottage with an upstairs view of the sea. Scope set up and scans. Simon picked up a couple of Manx Shearwater, as well as Eider and Common Scoter. Red Throated Diver flew past before we picked up 2 divers on the sea. It was the 2 Black Throated Divers earlier reported on birdguides :-) Quality birding from the comfort of the cottage.

Black-eared Wheatear

Zipped over to Fluke Hall for the reported Black-eared Wheatear. Fantastic views of the female bird, less than 10 metres away, and showing off to a good audience.

A tricky one to identify. A lot of white in the outer tail, and not much evidence of scaling on the upperparts. Also the underparts appear to be missing any mottling. The dull, grey colour overall means either Eastern Black-eared or Pied. Didn't look as dark as the Pied I've seen in the past - this would be a new bird for me but looks pretty good for Black-eared Wheatear.
Some additional pictures below:

Also in the area flocks of Dunlin, Sanderling and Redshank flew past. Many Curlew on surrounding fields, and a walk along the coast also produced a flyover Yellow Wagtail.
Finally a Little Egret struggled into the wind producing a good photo opportunity.

Anglesey Photos

A selection of photos from a fantastic week on Anglesey. The range of birds and butterflies were superb. The first couple of photos show the tricky'blue' that we found. The missing spots on the lower forewing count against Common Blue, but the hindwing seems against Silver Studded Blue. One to ponder...

This photo is of a Common Blue showing the lower spots on the forewing...

Lovely picture of a Small Copper just outside the front door of the cottage.

Choughs were seen outside the cottage. Shame we missed the 12 on Thursday!

And finally, the ridiculously close Rock Pipits at South Stack and the Mediterranean Gull with missing tail at Penrhos.

Anglesey Day seven

We've been very lucky with the weather this week. Today we were greeted by strong winds and a few early showers. The wind meant happy boys though as finally they'd get some body boarding 😀 Before we headed to Rhosneiger the morning walk with the puppy brought another Wheatear, and very close Buzzard, Kestrel and Raven. A stoat was a nice addition to the overall wildlife total.
Rhosneiger was very windy and many people were already out on the water. A walk along the tideline produced a nice mixed flock of 12 Dublin and 6 Little Ringed Plover.

Early evening we visited Penhros Country Park. Good numbers of Curlew and Oystercatcher on the mud, with a mixture of Mallard, Teal and Wigeon. A Mediterranean Gull minus its tail was curious, and a single Bar-tailed Godwit flew through.
It's been a great week at Cerrig Cottages. Fantastic accommodation in a beautiful setting right next to a RSPB reserve. Couldn't ask for more 😀😀😀