They think it's all over.....

As recorder for Whitburn Obs @whitburnbirds produces a superb annual report along with other useful reports on highest passage of a species in a day month or year etc. He recently gave me an updated Whitburn Obs checklist that shows the total number of species seen since 2013 when I started my Obs list
It prompted me to analyse my 2018 list. The overall Obs list is on 183 for 2018, I have seen 175 an average year but poor for me I have missed more species this year than previously.
Here are the Whitburn Obs total species seen since 2013 with my year list total's last-
2013-165-162
2014-175-167
2015-177-169
2016-186-186
2017-186-182
2018-183-175

So what went wrong, what did I miss
Fea's/Desertas/etc etc (you can't tick it anyway and I'm not bitter at all)
Great Shearwater, I saw it from my caravan at Marsden but sadly not the Obs
Little Grebe, an Obs first I am not upset honest
LRP
Grey Phal
Jay
Hooded Crow, the Harper's made me pay for doing my BB survey on a Saturday with Jay and the Crow
Short-toed Lark, I saw it and called it as a Lark but didn't hear the call- jury is out
Redstart, on the path by the Obs but did not show for me drat

Birds not seen at all at Whitburn Obs this year include
No Partridge sp...
Jack Snipe
Buzzard
Black Guillemot
King Fisher
No Flycatcher sp

So it's not all over yet at least four of the above are still possible and why not a Bewicks or....

By the grace of god.......

2 Roseate Terns a Black Tern and an Osprey were among the congregation at Whitburn Obs this morning. Stoney was in the house and we had good light a fresh south westerly and birds were moving. Pinkfeet started moving south at 06.50 adding an extra spice to the watch and one skein of 7 had a Bean Goose flying with them. Skuas were a feature and @gatesheadandbey called a juv Longtail as it headed north. Rob left for work demanding i kept the Gannet count going and the pressure was mounting but no help arrived. What did arrive by the grace of god were not one but two vicars....
Rev David Atkinson plus one. They enjoyed a first sea watch but failed to get on the Black Tern i called going north. When they left heading for Whitburn Steel i was hoping for a miracle as an Osprey had just gone south close inshore heading for the Steel, how lucky is that hope they got it
It's often the case that when all the birds for miles around go up that you can't find the raptor but this time i did and from memory i think Fos had one a few days ago so thats two past Whitburn in a few days
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Friday 14th September 06.15-11.15 SW3 8/8

Fulmar 13n 8s
Common Gull 4n 25s
Manx Shearwater 9n 2s
Gannet 587n 142s
Black h Gull 62n 183s
Common Scoter 29n 8s
Eider 5n 3s
Sandwich Tern 122n 32s
Redshank 6n 3s
Cormorant 8n 227s
Arctic Skua 9n 1s
Red th Diver 9n 17s
Curlew 4n 2s
Common Tern 111n 163s
Whimbrel 1s
Pink footed Goose 606s
Turnstone 1n 2s
Teal 8n
Shag 14s
Bean Goose 1s 07.14 flying with 7 Pinks
Bonxie 5n 1s
Long tailed Skua 1n juv
Redpoll 1n
Swallow 52s
Ringed Plover 1n 19s
Dunlin 12s
Wigeon 10n
Puffin 1s
Mipit 9s
Golden Plover 3s
Roseate Tern 2n ad
Porpoise 1s
Sooty Shearwater 1n
Grey Heron 1s
House Martin 2s
Black Tern 1n juv

Osprey 1n 11.21 the video is not todays bird but one i made earlier

Mellow Yellow.......

Balearic Shearwater, Yellow-legged Gull, Little Gull...just another day at the office. Stevie Thunder was a late arrival and Stoney was in the house and we had a cracking sea watch. Full cloud calm sea loads of birds, we loved it. It seems to be the year of the juvenile Yellow-legged Gull...two a penny, and Rob called one today. The video later is one from the 10th. Ducks and Terns were moving along with Manxies and Skuas and one of the stars of the show was a delicious juvenile Little Gull. Smaller than the Terns it was flying near cor..Mute Swan is an Obs mega and we had three
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Wednesday 29th August 05.35-09.40 SW2 8/8

Teal 256n 44s
Black h Gull 22n 63s
Curlew 16n
Gannet 1263n 314s
Common  Tern 75n 92s
Cormorant 18n 158s
Fulmar 14n 4s
Sandwich Tern 49n 29s
Common Scoter 151n 64s
Shoveler 4n
Common Gull 1n 7s
Shag 2s
Bonxie 5n 1s
Manxie 93n 18s
Arctic Skua 18n 8s
Mallard 1s
Shelduck 14n 1s
Puffin 1n
Arctic Tern 2n
Red th Diver 3s
Mute Swan 3s juvs
Oystercatcher 10s
Redshank 2n
Wigeon 9n
Golden Plover 6s
Eider 1s
LBBGull 1s
Goosander 1n
Yellow-legged Gull 1 juv
Balearic Shearwater 1 feeding offshore
Grey Wagtail 1s
Little Gull 1n juv
Porpoise 1s
Swift 1n

Ive lost the ability to enhance videos on YouTube now and can't stabalise the hand shake out, i will find another way but didn't have time today

right in the .....Balearic's

Balearic Shearwater, Black Tern, Minke Whale...are we in heaven.....wye no man Whitburn Obs. The started quietly with little or no wind and few birds Stoney arrived just as the wind started picking up and it all kicked off. He called a distant Shearwater going north and it was the first north so we were all over it and were pleased to see it was the first Balearic Shearwater recorded at Whitburn this year.
I picked up on a very distant Tern and called the juv Black Tern a year tick for Rob, then we both smiled as a Green Sandpiper called as it headed south a tick for me.
As always the Cetaceans stole the show with White-beaked Dolphin's breaching then a Minke Whale showed very well as it surfaced three times heading north my second of the week.
My Obs list reached 159 with the Sandpiper and Shearwater at last almost respectful
It was a fantastic watch here are the details of what we saw in order of appearance

Friday 10th August SW3 6/8 05.05-09.15

Curlew 4n 2s
Black h Gull 16n 253s
Turnstone 2s
Sandwich Tern 49n 212s
Common Gull 4n 17s
Common Tern 41n 96s
Common Scoter 7s
Gannet 148n 58s
Cormorant 19n 252s
Redshank 23n 32s
Dunlin 4n 29s
Fulmar 14n 9s
Shelduck 1n
Wigeon 6s
Roseate Tern 3s ads
Ringed Plover 2s
Sanderling 7s
Goosander 8n
Bonxie 1n 1s
Arctic Tern 1n 4s
Knot 17s
Manxie 10s
Med Gull 2s 2nd w and juv
Balearic Shearwater 1n 07.00
Green Sandpiper 1s
Oystercatcher 13s
Black Tern 1s juv 08.54
White-beaked Dolphin 4n 07.20-07.48 then at least one more
Minke Whale 1n 07.56 3/4 out
phew.....

Back in black....with a bit of silver

 5 Sooty Shearwaters went north in over 4 hours on our sea watch this morning. They had a good supporting cast but the Med Gulls did it for me they were a bit special. Add in the Tall Ships and it was canny like. I was joined by Saint Mark and later Pink Floyd, Stoney was in the house.
This is what we saw in order of appearance, I've included a compilation video and some boats

Tuesday 10th July 04.25-08.45 N3 6/8

Gannet 702n 64s
Curlew 3n 1s
Common Gull 13n 5s
Manxie 131n 2s
Puffin 299n 84s
Sooty Shearwater 5n
Common Tern 49n 10s
Fulmar 53n 4s
Black h Gull 30n 4s
Sandwich Tern 8n 19s
Common Scoter 17n 4s
Arctic Skua 7n 2s
Arctic Tern 11n
Whimbrel 4n 1s
Teal 60n 3s
Bonxie 3n 1s
LBBGull 2n
Med Gull 2s both ads different birds
Swift 2n
Red th Diver 2n
Porpoise 1s
Eider 2n
Redshank 1s
Shag 1s
Red br Merganser 1n

June...out with a bang

2 Pom Skuas and a Red-necked Grebe went north at Whitburn Obs this morning on a fantastic sea watch. If this is June comeback soon, both Marks were in and Pink Floyd and we loved it. Great light no fog, quality birds and Dolphins...twice. And a great Northern Diver landed on the sea in front of us mega.
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Saturday 30th June 04.30-10.30 NE2 8/8

Manx Shearwater 98n 17s
Gannet 685n 376s
Puffin 519n 94s
Common Tern 152n 23s
Common Scoter 575n 15s
Sandwich Tern 16n 61s
Fulmar 51n 1s
Pom Skua 2n ads
Arctic Tern 7n 13s inc 1st sum bird nth
Red th Diver 5n
Dunlin 1n
Arctic Skua 5n 1s
Eider 3n
Mallard 2n
Black h Gull 41n 11s inc first 4 juvs of yr
Curlew 19n 11s
Teal 154n a new day passage record for June
Velvet Scoter 1s
Red br Merganser 2n 1s
Shelduck 2s
Shoveler 1n
Black tailed Godwit 3s
Bar tailed Godwit 1n sum plum
Common Gull10n 3s
Red necked Grebe 1n
Swift 8n
Bonxie 2n
Turnstone 1n
Tufted Duck 1n
LBBGull 1s
Great Norther Diver 1n and landed on sea in front of Obs

Porpoise 1n 3s
Bottlenose Dolphin 20 plus north 5.00-5.06 and same pod south 6.06-6.09

Moving Swiftly on.......

 229 Manxies a Pom Skua and a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins all went north at Whitburn Obs on this mornings watch. The wild winds were gone as were the Swifts after yesterdays 164 south.  I had been hoping for some movement as birds went home after being blasted and i was not disappointed. The Manx Shearwaters took me by surprise i didn't expect as many and a single flock of 63 was memorable. As usual the Dolphins stole the show and it was a second sighting this week of Sammy the Squirrel, check him out at the end of the Dolphin video
This is what i saw in order of appearance

Friday 15th June 04.30-09.00 WSW2 6/8

Gannet 244n 10s
Fulmar 33n 2s
Common Gull 1n 10s
Manx Shearwater 229n 6s
Sandwich Tern 12n 66s
Common Tern 21n 12s
Common Scoter 21n 9s
Red th Diver 6n 2s
Pom Skua 1n ad 05.10
Shelduck 3n
Arctic Tern 2n 1s
Puffin 112n 9s
Swift 4s
Bottlenose Dolphin 30ish n 06.18-06.35 mid distance
Squirrel 1on Obs wall
Goosander 4n
Shag 1n
Black h Gull 1s
Swallow 1s
Yellow Wagtail 1s
Eider 6s
Curlew 1n

I can see clearly now...

 2 Roseate Terns a Great Northern Diver and 2 Arctic Skuas went north at Whitburn Obs in 5 hours this morning. When i got out of my car i was relieved to see no sign of fog or mist, yesterday my watch was cancelled due to the thick fog. Stoney was in the house and we enjoyed a fantastic five hour watch. It started slowly but the birds just kept coming, the first Roseate Tern was a year tick for both of us and anyone who saw Robs tweet with the boc photo will know what sort of views we enjoyed of the Great Northern Diver. The Grey Plovers and Godwits were the icing on the cake...can't wait for tomorrow
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Tuesday 5th June 04.40-10.00 N2-3 8/8

Fulmar 166n
Puffin 198n 14s
Manxie 23n
Sandwich Tern 137n 131s
Gannet 326n 139s
Common Tern 66n 2s
Grey Heron 1s
Red th Diver 3n 1s
Black h Gull 2n 1s
Common Gull 2n 3s
Common Scoter 30n 14s
Shag 2n 1s
Roseate Tern 1n 1s
Arctic Tern 16n
LBBGull 1n
Knot 1n
Arctic Skua 2n
Sanderling 5n
Sand Martin 1s
Great Northern Diver 1n
Dunlin 1n
Bar-tailed Godwit 2n
Grey Plover 5n
Turnstone 7n
Ringed Plover 1n
Eider 3s

Shelter from the storm....

1  Bonxie and 12 Manxies went north at Whitburn Obs in over 6 hours this morning which does not sound great. It was however a fantastic sea watch with loads of birds moving mainly north and many of them very close inshore with good light and full cloud cover. The early seafret cleared and the crab sandwich brigade arrived for a memorable watch. An early visit from Fos was followed by Pink Floyd, Unlucky Dave, Hoggie, Wally the brolly and Phil the plumber.  Bird of the watch for me was a Purple Sandpiper that landed in front of the Obs and briefly sheltered from the storm, only the second recorded this year. The local and now oft seen Bottlenose Dolphins put in an appearance as well including two greyer youngsters. Ive attached some video of the event, sorry about the soundtrack but the guys were excited and don't get out often. Pink Floyd was well behaved and was allowed to use a clicker for the first time much to his delight. This is what we saw in order of appearance

Tuesday 22nd May 04.35-10.45 N4-5 8/8 early mist and drizzle

Sandwich Tern 160n 25s
Gannet 986n 94s
Fulmar 264n
Ringed Plover 9n
Manxie 12n
Puffin 16n 2s
Swift 1n
Common Gull 4n 1s
Common Scoter 18n
Dunlin 2n
Purple Sandpiper 1n
Gadwall 3n
Tufted Duck 1n
Red th Diver 3n 2s
Eider 1s
Common Tern 16n
Black h Gull 1n
Bonxie 1n
Bottlenose Dolphin 4n 09.45 and 5n 10.05

The one that got away......

Great Northern Diver and 40 Manxies passed Whitburn Obs in 5 hours this morning. Good light made for a memorable watch following a week of bright sun. We enjoyed a great selection of birds with Waders being a feature. A Plover sp went north with a ringed plover and may have been a Little-ringed Plover, a bird that would have been an Obs first for me but it wasn't nailed....just as well as i didn't get a lot on it. I was joined by Saint Mark back from his Antarctic adventure, Pink Floyd did the catering and Stoney was in the house. Chat turned to what birds we would like to see and Wood Sandpiper was well fancied with Lesser legs a rank outsider. Sandwich Terns gave the highest count of the season and it can't be long before we have a five Tern sp day. Throw in a few Dolphins and bingo a canny sea watch.
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Saturday 12th May 04.55-10.00 WNW 1-2 7/8

Gannet 216n 79s
Bar tailed Godwit 2n
Manxie 11n 29s
Fulmar 66n
Sandwich Tern 15n 525s
Common Gull 6n 8s
Puffin 6n 3s
Common Scoter 43n 4s
Common Tern 21n 17s
Arctic Tern 9n 13s
Purple Sandpiper 1n
Whimbrel 4n 1s
Red th Diver 1n 2s
Eider 4s
Red br Merganser 1n
Dunlin 28n 6s
Shag 3n 1s
Ringed Plover 9n 6s
Turnstone 2n
Shelduck 1s
Little Tern 1n 2s
Swallow 4s
Sanderling 2n
Black h Gull 1n 1s
Kestrel 1n
House Martin 1n
Tufted Duck 3s
Porpoise 1n
Curlew 1n
Great N Diver 1n
Bottlenose Dolphin 4n 09.10-09.15

Gripped off again.....

 Hooded Crow, Merlin, Jay and Lesser throat were all seen at Whitburn Obs this morning. The bad news is i was on the moors doing my BTO first survey, I'd picked which day to do my square based on wind strength and weather in general...big mistake i should have chosen Monday when nobody is in the Obs. The Harper family conspired to totally grip me off. With Mr Harper senior calling the Hoodie as they watched the first Lesser throat of the year. To put this in perspective i found the only Obs Hooded Crows in 2016 and 2017 both on 10/4 and was anticipating a hat-trick....
But well done for finding it and of course to Saint Mark on the Jay and Lesser. I did eventually arrive at Whitburn and pulled back the Whitethroat and had a Yellow Wagtail fly over calling both birds i didnt get last year so it was not all bad news
I also arrived in time to see some of the Bottlenose Dolphins that passed the Obs including the mother and junior featured in the attached video
My Obs list hit 120 and more Hoodies have been seen to the south so you never know, but Jay..forget it
This is what was seen overall in no particular orde

Saturday 21st April 06.05-11.00 S1 0/8

Red th Diver 4n 3s
Gannet 10n
Fulmar 40n 4s
Cormorant 22n 35s
Shag 8n 3s
Shelduck 6n 7s
Shoveler 2s
Eider 12n 5s
Common Scoter 6n 30s
Red br Merganser 1n
Dunlin 2n
Whimbrel 1n 1s
Curlew 4s
Turnstone 6s
Black h Gull 3n 8s
Common Gull 38n 3s
Sandwich Tern 87n 66s
Arctic Tern 3n
Sandmartin 1n 4s
Swallow 5n 2s
Hooded Crow 1n 06.10 grrr
Jay 1s 07.50 grrr
Merlin 1 on range
Wheatear 4
Lesser Whitethroat 1
Yellow Wagtail 1n
Bottlenose Dolphin 1n 14s (3,5,2,2,2) 09.15-10.15 ish

That's what friends are for...

Osprey Arctic Tern and Merlin were all seen from Whitburn Obs on today's watch. It was a mega Obs list day for me with 5, yes count them 5 year ticks and all of them hard to get birds. Saint Mark beat me in and we were joined by Pink Floyd and Boy Wonder, we had little expectation but i should have known when a Ringo flew in off as i reached the Obs.
Our first Arctic Tern of the year was unexpected and earlier than normal and Sandwich Terns reached double figures for the first time this year. Saint Mark stepped out for a scan around and found a probable Merlin perched but distant,  we were aware Osprey had been at a couple of sights south of us so all eyes were looking up. He decided to go and nail the Falcon and was just approaching the Obs on his way back to confirm it's id when he found the Osprey....mayhem erupted and thankfully we all got the bird
Ross stepped out for a comfort break, bins only and found a Stock Dove an Obs mega...that's what friends are for, thanks guys. Next weekend i will be in Gambia for a short birding break so i was relieved to get all these hard to see birds safely on my year list.
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Saturday 7th April 05.55-10.05 6/8 SSE2

Black h Gull 4n 24s
Common Gull 15n 287s
Cormorant 14n 14s
Ring Ouzal 1 in off
Carrion Crow 12n 24s
Shelduck 7s
Manx Shearwater 1s
Sandwich Tern 6n 4s
Razorbill 11n 1s
Guillemot 4n
Red br Merganser 3n
Kittiwake 224n 14s
Arctic Tern 1n
Porpoise 1n 2s
Red th Diver 3n 5s
Oystercatcher 4n 1s
Whimbrel 2s
Merlin 1 female perched on the rifle range
Iceland Gull 2w on the range
Teal 5s
Gadwall 1n
Osprey 1n 07.55
Curlew 1s
Meadow Pipit 4 in off
Shag 3n 2s
Goosander 1s
LBBGull 1n 1s
Tufted Duck 1n
Mallard 2s
Stock Dove 1n

Floppy's back in town...

a Blue Fulmar and 3 Sandwich Terns went north on this mornings sea watch but the Dolphins stole the show as usual. Only five minutes into my watch i picked up on some Bottlenose Dolphins heading north, three became ten as they slowly revealed themselves. No breaching just a slow steady movement keeping fairly low. Stoney was in the house by now and soon showed off his media skills taking video through his scope with a mobile without an adapter, someone should give him a roll in media...Anyone over 60 should not attempt this skill. Later more pods headed north and we were happy to see an old friend Floppy was with them, this Dolphin is easily recognised as it has a bent over dorsal fin that's a bit well floppy. I have attached some video of the event but its my first of the year so.....
The watch was fun packed with the local Fox showing well and a pair of Gadwall continued our run of good quality Ducks
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Wednesday 4th March 06.15-09.15 SW2 8/8 rain/mist

Black h Gull 8n
Common Gull 136n 6s
Fulmar 70n
Teal 2s
Razorbill 42n
Guillemot 61n
Cormorant 11n 5s
Eider 9n
Alba Wagtail 1n 3s
Common Scoter 17n 1s
Turnstone 1n
Porpoise 4s
Blue Fulmar 1n DD a really dark one
Shag 1s
Sandwich Tern 3n
Rock Pipit 1n
Gadwall 2n
Red th Diver 4n
Goosander 3n
Gannet 3n
Fox1 in nature reserve
Chiffchaff 1 singing
Bottlenose Dolphins
10n 06.20-06.40
5n 07.25-07.359n 07.40-07.45

Suppression Blues......

 19 Whooper Swans a Sandwich Tern and a Blue Fulmar went north at Whitburn Obs on this mornings watch. All were reported in our normal way on Twitter for all to see rather than on a closed private WhatsApp group. A heads up from @yellowbrow was much appreciated regarding a White-billed Diver heading south from Newbiggin. Otherwise the public news from the north of us was scant. It makes us wonder should we be so generous in future...Sadly the bird did not arrive
Saint Mark beat me in this morning with our earliest start date of the year and on a nothing day with hardly a breath of wind birds started moving. By the time Pink Floyd arrived migration was in full swing, then lo and behold our lost Boy Wonder joined the party and was soon calling birds like he had never been away. It was cold and i regretted leaving my bag with flask at home for the second time in a week, old age..
The first Sandwich Tern of the year turned up at last and was on a typical date, id missed one that SMI got on Monday on a nice early date, but we are up and running at last, last year it was the 22nd and a recent earliest date was the 17th. Coal Tit, Siskin and the Tern were all Obs year ticks bringing my total to 106
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Saturday 24th March 05.50-10.50 W1 8/8

Red th Diver 23n 15s
Fulmar 207n
Kittiwake 1360n
Eider 4n 8s
Black h Gull 28n 12s
Coal Tit 1 by Obs
Cormorant 7n 14s
Shag 2n 7s
Common Gull  13n 7s
Guillemot 14n 2s
Mallard 4s
Razorbill 6n
Gannet 21n 3s
Common Scoter 15n 18s
Alba Wagtail 3n
Redshank 6s
Shelduck 3n 1s
Peregrine 2n
Siskin 3 
Porpoise at least 5 feeding
Canada Goose 3s
Blue Fulmar 1n D
Mute Swan 2n
Turnstone 4s
Skylark 9n
Grey Wagtail 2s
LBBGull 2n
Sandwich Tern 1n
Grey Heron 1s
Curlew 1n 1s
Whooper Swan 19n
Wigeon 2n
Dunlin 4n
Pintail 2n

Not a bad haul shame the Diver didn't come south for us, maybe tomorrow
My camera was in my bag at home so no video of todays birds but here is some of a White Pelican at Saltholme Pools its poor quality but what a turn up

 

The Magical Mystery Tour....

 Iceland Gull and Raven were the pick of the bunch on a busy sea watch at Whitburn Obs. With spring in full swing and temperatures due to hit 5 degrees we didn't know what was going to happen next on our magical... The birds just kept coming. Stoney was in the house and it was straight down to business. After the Beast 2 i expected to see some bird movement yesterday as they moved back after the blast but it didn't happen, instead it started today. Common Gulls were ghosting north in numbers, hard to count as they seemed to appear from nowhere. Two Great-crested Grebes at Whitburn is unusual and perhaps more predictable was the Iceland Gull.
Birds were coming in/off and as we have seen a lot of lately Corvids were coming in/off and generally moving. I picked up on a Raven way up high heading north in the close proximity of some Carrion Crows, our 4th in a week. To round it all off Pink feet started moving, can't wait for tomorrow morning
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Wednesday 21st March 06.05-10.05 W2-3 6/8

Common Gull 346n 27s
Cormorant 18n 17s
Kittiwake 91n 18s
Razorbill 13n
Fulmar 89n 5s
Black h Gull 54n 22s
Guillemot 30n 1s
Common Scoter 3n 4s
Shelduck 3n 1s
LBBGull 2n
Meadow Pipit 6 in/off
Red th Diver 16n 10s
Eider 3n 3s
Great-crested Grebe 2n
Curlew 3n 1s
Sanderling 18n
Shag 3n 13s
Porpoise 2n
Sparrowhawk 1n
Redwing 2 in off
Grey Heron 1s
Iceland Gull 1n 1st w
Pied Wagtail 3 in off
Raven 1n 07.35 high over sea with Crows
Carrion Crow 6 high north and 2 in off
I managed video of the Iceland and Pinks but decided to go with a Grebe, one of our birds today was in similar plumage on the sea

Peregrine 1n hunting over the sea it failed to take a Kittiwake
Teal 2s
Pink-footed Goose 124n
Mallard 1n
Velvet Scoter 2s

Corvid Conspiracy.....

 3 Ravens flew south at Whitburn Obs this morning right along the cliff top only yards away from Rob and myself. Yes Stoney was in the house and we were enjoying a pleasant watch with little of quality and lots of Common Gulls moving north. In recent days Carrion Crows have become more obvious and abundant with groups close by and also flying distantly out to sea,  a regular event this time of year. We always check them out as we are due or annual Hooded Crow. Rob was watching some Crows go north close in and commented one looked rather chunky. I jumped up and threw open the north shutter as if an Albert Ross was passing but we couldn't see any big black birds. Then three corvids flew south with a smaller bird and i said 'is that a Jackdaw' and lifted my bins to find it was a Crow dwarfed by the three Ravens that were flying ahead of it at eye level. We ran outside and they were already well south looking like landing on Jackies Beach but instead hurried south.
Not my first from the Obs but a great year tick.
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Wednesday 14th March 06.05-10.05 SSE3 6/8

Pink-footed Goose 32n
Black h Gull 12n 46s
Fulmar 127n 2s
Common Gull 336n 37s
Cormoranat 8n 9s
Gannet 6n
Curlew 5n
Guillemot 40n 3s
Kittiwake 10n 10s
Red th Diver 5n 3s
Shag 2n 5s
Razorbill 11n 3s
Shelduck 2s
Common Scoter 20n 5s
Eider 1n
Magpie 29 in reserve
Red br Merganser 1n
Mallard 2n (distant birds)
Grey Heron 1s
LBBGull 1s
Lapwing 1s
Carrion Crow 2 in off
Raven 3s

Ton up......

Spring arrived at Whitburn Obs today as we saw an increase in the number of species seen and a little vis mig. We didn't have anything special but 6 species of wildfowl including our first Gadwall of the year was a vast improvement. The Gadwall were my 100'th species of the year from the Obs and with Sandwich Tern and Sand Martins due soon it should gather pace after a pedestrian February.
I still need plenty of tarts ticks tho like Canada Goose, Coal Tit and Siskin.
I was joined by Magic and Saint Mark and Stoney was in the house, this was Magic Marks last watch till May as he heads off to Antarctica this week lucky boy
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Sunday 11th March 06.15-09.45 SW2 4/8

Fulmar 162n
Curlew 2n 1s
Eider 3n 6s
Razorbill 3n
Guillemot 6n 11s
Red th Diver 4n 9s
Common Gull 6n 8s
Goosander 1n
Black h Gull 19n 52s
Greylag Goose 2s
Cormorant 7n 8s
Kittiwake 49n 5s
Shag 4n 11s
Shelduck 3s
Porpoise 5 feeding
Common Scoter 7n
Great-crested Grebe 1s
Carrion Crow 6s
Gannet 4n
Mallard 3s
Pied Wagtail 1n
Sanderling 1n
Skylark 1n
Turnstone 2n
Grey Heron 1s
Gadwall 2n

Fancy a Shag........

Three species of Diver and a Blue Fulmar passed Whitburn Obs in 4 hours this morning. I was joined by Pink Floyd and Stoney was in the house on another wet Obs watch. The south easterly was chucking rain at us most of the time making it hard to keep the optics dry. Birds were slow to get moving but when they did it wasn't bad. For the third day running i found a Great-crested Grebe on the sea, Rob managed to get on it but Dave did not and as on the previous days it was never seen again. The cracking Blue Fulmar won bird of the day followed by our 3rd Puffin of the year.Shags continued to feature with today's haul bringing the four day total to 116 mainly south, some will be locals but many are just heading south.
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Tuesday 6th February 06.35-10.35 SE3 8/8 rain heavy at times

Black h Gull 7n
Kittiwake 34n 22s
Fulmar 100n 110s
Guillemot 70n 449s
Shag 16n 3s
Razorbill 2n
Red th Diver 5n 8s
Cormorant 4n 1s
Eider 1n 1s
Gannet 14n 3s
Puffin 1s
Common Gull 2n 1s
Mallard 6n
Little Gull 2n 3s (1 1st w)
Great-crested Grebe 1 on sea
Black th Diver 1s
Great Northern Diver 1n
Common Scoter 4s
Curlew 2n
Blue Fulmar 1n (D)

In like a Lion....

 Slavonian and Great-crested Grebe were both off Whitburn Obs this morning, both Obs year ticks and both scarce. I was on my own this morning cold and wet from the easterly, Magic Mark was AWOL, Saint Mark was somewhere between Copenhagen, Birmingham airport and Nottingham. Stoney was not in the house.
Who would have thought on a miserable wet and windy morning i would get three Obs year ticks. My first bird of the day was a tick,Woodcock coming in /off, Next i picked up on a Great-crested Grebe on the sea amidst the Little Gull feeding area. I never saw it again but did find a Slav Grebe bobbing about on the rough sea, this was soon lost as well drifting south. No Ducks was a bit of a shock and the Shag fest was nice
It was good to get a few new birds following on from yesterdays Little Gull after a very poor February. The list in on track with 98 so far, it would be nice if @SteelySeabirder could send south one of his Tystie's.
This is what i saw in order of appearance

Sunday 4th March 06.40-10.15 ESE3-4 8/8 rain/sleet/snow

Woodcock 1 in off
Common Gull 8n 39s
Fulmar 21n 25s
Guillemot 22n 51s
Kittiwake 5n 56s
Shag 2n 34s (we had 34 sth yesterday as well)
Black h Gull 10n 1s
Little Gull 2n 13s (3 juvs)
Great-crested Grebe 1 on the sea drifted south i think
Golden Plover 3s
Gannet 4n 13s
Slav Grebe 1 on sea drifted sth
Red th Diver 2s
Razorbill 2s
Black th Diver 1n

The Little Gulls were difficult to video in dark conditions

Not todays bird.......

Winter Birding Weekend.....

 2 Long-tailed Ducks and a  Red-necked Grebe went north on this mornings Whitburn Obs sea watch. They were my first Long-tailed Duck of the year and brought my Obs year list to 91 species, a bit of a slow start but plenty of time to improve. Both Saint and Magic Mark made it in today and Stoney was in the house to round off a great weekends seawatching. Today's Snow Bunting and yesterdays Pink feet added to that winter feel. We may have to rename Pink Floyd due to his ability in finding impossible to see skeins, Goose got a few votes
This is what we saw today in order of appearance followed by yesterdays sightings.

Sunday 18th February 06.55-10.00 S1-2 7/8

Black h Gull 14n 64s
Fulmar 170n
Guillemot 116n
Razorbill 38n
Goldeneye 1n
Shelduck 2n 1s
Shag 5n 4s
Common Gull 10n 13s
Cormorant 2n 17s
Scan Herring Gull 1s
Red th Diver 7n 20s
Porpoise 2s
Eider 2n 2s
Red br Merganser 1n
Snow Bunting 1n
Greylag Goose 3n
Mallard 3s
Redshank 8s
Red-necked Grebe 1n 08.48 (thanks for the heads up Graham Stoker)
Grey Heron 1s
Long-tailed Duck 2n drakes
Curlew 1s
Kittiwake 2n
Gannet 7s
Skylark 1n

highlights of Saturday 17th February 07.05-10.30

GBBGull 166s
Great Northern Diver 1s
Pink-footed Goose 261n
Med Gull 1s ad (3rd different adult in 2 days)

Obs January round-up

My Obs year list reached 83 on the last day of January, a little down on 2016 and 17 which were 86 and 87 respectively. It's been slim pickings at times but has had it's highlights in particular a nice early White-billed Diver. Today we had the record highest ever count of White fronts go north, a tough bird to catch up with and its our second skein of the month. The White wingers are in the bag along with Red-necked Grebe
Normally i have to wait till the autumn for Redwings and Fieldfare but this year all the Thrushes are ticked except Ringo.
So what did i see last January that i didn't this year...well it's a long list with some top birds
Great White Egret, Snow Bunting, Merlin, Long-tailed Duck, Scaup and Whooper Swan to name a few.
Stoney was in the house today and called my first Pintail of the year
One thing i can guarantee i will be back as often as possible, i ended last year on 182 so that's my main target

The video of today's White-fronted Geese is distant but we were able to get decent scope views, of interest are the wind turbine bases which thankfully ended up heading north...phew
Sorry could not get it to load so here's one from earlier in the month

Menage a trois......

 3 Peregrine Falcons were hunting together over the sea off Whitburn Obs in what must have been a first. Recently we witnessed a Peregrine try and take down a Red throated Diver which was amazing to see. Today we first saw two Peregrines chasing Curlew, then a single in hot pursuit of a Golden Plover then a huge female with both of her males after a feral pigeon. Sadly i failed on the video front when all three were coming in toward me with the big momma in the middle, menage a trois
The crab sandwich boys made a surprise Friday visit and this is what we saw in order of appearance

Friday 26th January 07.45-11.00 WNW 7/8

Eider 6n 3s
Fulmar 63n 1s
Guillemot 48n 1s
Common Gull 21n 16s
Shag 2s
Black h Gull 36n 26s
Cormorant 3n 6s
Shelduck 1n
Red th Diver 15n 22s
Razorbill 2n
Scan Herring Gull 1s
Curlew 18s
Porpoise 1n
Turnstone 5s
Red necked Grebe 1n
Wigeon 2n
Gannet 1n
Black th Diver 1n
Grey Heron 1n
Mallard 3s
Golden Plover 1n
Peregrine 3 (2m 1f)

White wing vigil......

29 Russian White-fronted Geese flew south at 09.35 on this mornings watch. It was just reward for Magic and Saint Mark and myself following over 6 hours of watching from the cold Obs this weekend. Amazingly it was our only sea watching year tick tho discussion on the actual number was arduous it varied between 30, 29, 27....Our target birds for the weekend were white winged gulls, Glaucous and Iceland to be precise and today seemed the better day with a continuous stream of gulls heading south. It was not to be but the Whitefronts made up for all of that, although they are a very rare Obs bird this is the forth consecutive year we have connected. Ive included some video from @harperBirder and myself as i was late getting on the birds
This is what we saw today in order of appearance

Sunday 14th January 07.50-11.10 S3 8/8

Scan Herring Gull 1n 7s
Common Gull 83s
Black h Gull 59s
Guillemot 180s
Eider 6s
Cormorant 4s
Heron 1n
Shag 2s
Red th Diver 5n 12s
Common Scoter 1s
Shelduck 1s
Gannet 1n 1s
Fulmar 6n 9s
Curlew 1n 13s
Red br Merganser 1s
Wigeon 3s
Russian White-fronted Goose 29s 09.35
Golden Plover 70s
Brent Goose 1n db
Razorbill 1s

Groundhog day.....

White-billed Diver won star bird on our sea watch at Whitburn Obs today. Maybe we should rename the Obs WBD City....it is for sure the best east coast site to see this sought after sea watching mega. @middy-birding called a high distant Diver coming north, although we didn't realise it yet The Prof had struck gold again. It took forever to come north and needed its i.d.sorting but eventually we nailed it as it came up to straight out. I was late with my video camera and missed the bird but thankfully a couple of the guys got decent photos, it helps with the description...So its my old video again sorry

We did promise our Northumberland sea watching friends another good bird soon at Tim's party and we came up with the goods. So in return can we have a Ross's Gull please, tomorrow will do

I expected more folk in the Obs on our first northerly of the year but not many ventured out in the cold. It was good to see Hoggie back sea watching after being under the weather recently and he got his just deserts

We saw some great birds but of note was the first Blue Fulmar Magic Mark called or should i say Black Fulmar. Its upper parts were black but underwing and belly still showed a lot of white..I've never seen anything like it
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Saturday 6th January 07.40-12.30 NNE5-6 4/8

Black h Gull 15s
Fulmar 715n   yes 715
Common Gull 52n 688n
Guillemot
Curlew 142n
Kittiwake 60n
Red th Diver 7n 14s
Gannet 47n
Great Northern Diver 1n
Razorbill 9n
GBBGull 90n
Eider 4n 4s
Goldeneye 3n
Scan Herring Gull 1s
Blue Fulmar 4n
Lapwing 45n
Common Scoter 5s
Kestrel 1n
Porpoise 1n
Shelduck 9n
Med Gull 2n 2s ads
Cormorant 2n 2s
Velvet Scoter 4n
Manx Shearwater 1n
Bonxie 1n 1s
Golden Plover 15n
Shag 2n
White-billed Diver 1n ad 10.30ish till 10.45

Your the one that i want.....

 Red-necked Grebe south at Whitburn Obs this morning was the stand out bird, a good call by Saint Mark. We gave it a good go but not much was about. My 2017 list ended on 182 and in the end a start of 42 species from the Obs was a good start. The only disappointment being a probable heard only Kingfisher by Magic Mark wasn't nailed down. Amazing that the first Fulmar recorded was blue..
Most wanted bird of the morning was the Water Rail which showed well from the viewing screen in the nature reserve. Only a few hundred yards from the Obs but not viewable....maybe i will hear it over the coming weeks
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Monday 1st January 07.50-11.15 SW1-2 4/8

Common Scoter 1s
Cormorant 11s
Common Gull 2n 33s
Black h Gull 3n 22s
Guillemot 21n 42s
Porpoise 5s
Red th Diver 20n 45s
Blue Fulmar 1n
Fulmar 9n 9s
Gannet 18n 25s
Eider 2n 1s
Shag 2n 4s
Grey Heron 1s
Golden Plover 1n 2s
Goldeneye 1n 1s
Turnstone 2s
Rock Pipit 1s
Red-necked Grebe 1s
Redshank 1s