Lesser Grey Shrike - Newton-by-the-Sea (Northumberland)

With news eventually out, that a 'grey shrike' that had been at Newton for three days had at last been correctly identified as a Lesser Grey Shrike, my first thought on Friday afternoon (apart from how on earth had someone managed to mis-id a Lesser Grey Shrike as a Great Grey Shrike, and then keep it quiet for three days) was that I really needed to see this bird, having dipped three previously in the UK, including two in Northumberland.  However, with a busy family weekend ahead, I knew that the only way to get there would be to take two little helpers with me on the twitch.

 

Saturday morning saw myself, and the kids, arrive at the car park at Newton Links after a (thankfully) uneventful drive across the county.  As soon as I was out of the car the Lesser Grey was immediately obvious, fly-catching from various bushes and fence posts along the edge of the car park, much to the appreciation of the 20+ birders gathered in the car park.  With the kids kitted out in wellies and coats we slipped into the dunes (safer than a car park with four and one year olds) where I enjoyed fantastic views of the shrike for a while before being dragged off the beach to test our wellies in the surf.

Lesser Grey Shrike (1st-winter). Newton Links (Northumberland). 16-November-2013.

 

Lesser Grey Shrike (1st-winter) with insect prey. Newton Links (Northumberland). 16-November-2013.

I didn't really have time to see many other birds whilst at Newton (shrikes, kids and all that), but there were a couple of Goldcrest calling from the Links House garden and six Sanderling on the beach.  Thanks to Gary for being the first birder to see the shrike who could actually identify it, and for then getting the news out promptly so that everyone else could enjoy this stunning bird as well.

 

Wark, North Tyne (Northumberland)

Moving on to much more mundane birding, it's been fairly quiet in the village for the past week or so.  The on going work on the bridge doesn't help, and has had a detrimental impact on the variety and numbers of birds on the river.  However, recent highlights have included Kingfisher, Tawny Owl and 2 Buzzards, good numbers of winter thrushes, plus Tree Sparrows, Siskins and Lesser Redpolls.

Patching It

It's been all about my patch, Grindon Lough, during the first half of November as I haven't been able to get further afield.  We are now well and truly settled into winter at Grindon with hundreds of Wigeon, Teal and Lapwing at the lough, plus the usual flock of Canada Geese.  The two adult Greenland White-fronted Geese that returned to the lough on 24 October are still present, as is an adult Whooper Swan that first appeared on 3 November.  Highlight of the past two weeks was a Kingfisher on 8 November, my first here in 12 years and thus a 'full-fat' patch tick!  That's as exciting as it gets though, with the best of the rest being a couple of Dunlin, the odd Pink-foot and 70 Golden Plover.  It's only a matter of time before I find a Yank Wigeon or GW Teal though...

 

 

Hello Bird World!

Well, every other birder that I know seems to have their own blog so I thought it was about time I got around to having one too.  I don’t like being left out!

Presumably anyone reading this (optimistic I know) has navigated here accidentally.  However, if you do continue to read this then be warned – you will not read anything interesting, or exciting on here.  No full frame pics of migrants, no exciting tales of finding rares on far flung islands, no warts and all accounts of travelling across the country for a mega…just the occasional brief summary of the small amount of time that I’ve managed to squeeze a bit of birding in between work and kids, occasionally illustrated with the odd fuzzy record shot.

So who am I?  I’m a birder living and working in Northumberland but, as I often work all over the country, often find myself birding away from home.  I’m obsessed with finding my own rares, although I’m not very good at it.  I’m also prone to the odd twitch if about a thousand variables align themselves correctly all at the same time.  My local patch for the last 12 years has been Grindon Lough, a small, shallow natural lake on Hadrian’s Wall, which I try and get to several times a week.  It’s nothing special but does reward me with the occasional good bird.  At least it’s a lot better than the concrete basin that I previously patched for over ten years in inland Lancashire!