1 Pom 5 Great and 13 Arctic Skuas passed Whitburn obs in 12 hours today. It was a full house with the obs manned all day and as i left Stevie Makem was starting the late late shift. MH, PHo, WM, CW,and DC had all contributed and we had a special guest in the lovely Maid Marian paying a visit from Notts, and Stoney was in the house
These are the totals for 12 hours today Monday 31st August in order of appearance, sort of
Black h Gull 80n 59s
Shag 21n 21s
Curlew 28n 1s
Whimbrel 1n
Common Gull 5n 7s
Sandwich Tern 41n 99s
Red th Diver 5n 2s
Common Scoter55n 6s
Teal 884n 84s
Little Gull 16n 20s
Redshank 55n 131s
Wigeon 107n
Common Tern 25n 33s
Arctic Skua 10n 3s
Sooty Shearwater 1n
Heron 4n
Purple Sandpiper 2n
Knot 25n 15s
Manxie 12n
Grey Wagtail 2s
Turnstone 18n 5s
Arctic Tern 9n 1s
Dunlin 10n 5s
Swallow 98n
Puffin 2n 1s
Bonxie 5n
Tufted Duck 2n
Ringed Plover 1n
Pintail 3n
Velvet Scoter 1n
Pom Skua 1n
Leucistic Fulmar 1s
Monday, 31 August 2015
More Teal Vicar........
Sooty Shearwater and 32 Little Gulls passed Whitburn Obs by 11am. 'More Teal Vicar', the old ones are the best, it was the start of autumn wildfowl movement today with good numbers of ducks and more species than of late. The northerly helped to get things moving and with good coverage today we could get a decent day total of Teal with 764 north when i left for a break
I was joined by Saint Mark and Stoney was in the house, this is what we saw in order of appearance
Monday 31st August 05.45-11.00
Black h Gull 60n 47s
Shag 15n 17s
Curlew 26n
Whimbrel 1n
Common Gull 3n 5s
Sandwich Tern 13n 37s
Red th Diver 2n 2s
Common Scoter 51n 6s
Teal 764n 7s
Little Gull 12n 20s
Redshank 6n 105s
Wigeon 58n
Common Tern 23n 37s
Arctic Skua 9n 3s
Sooty Shearwater 1n
Purple Sandpiper 2n
Knot 22n 16s
Manxie 8n
Grey Wagtail 1s
Turnstone 1s
Arctic Tern 9n 1s
Dunlin 2n 5s
Swallow 66n
Puffin 1s
Bonxie 3n
Tufted Duck 2n
Ringed Plover 1n
Pintail 3n
I was joined by Saint Mark and Stoney was in the house, this is what we saw in order of appearance
Monday 31st August 05.45-11.00
Black h Gull 60n 47s
Shag 15n 17s
Curlew 26n
Whimbrel 1n
Common Gull 3n 5s
Sandwich Tern 13n 37s
Red th Diver 2n 2s
Common Scoter 51n 6s
Teal 764n 7s
Little Gull 12n 20s
Redshank 6n 105s
Wigeon 58n
Common Tern 23n 37s
Arctic Skua 9n 3s
Sooty Shearwater 1n
Purple Sandpiper 2n
Knot 22n 16s
Manxie 8n
Grey Wagtail 1s
Turnstone 1s
Arctic Tern 9n 1s
Dunlin 2n 5s
Swallow 66n
Puffin 1s
Bonxie 3n
Tufted Duck 2n
Ringed Plover 1n
Pintail 3n
Sunday, 30 August 2015
You Bustard You.....
I'm just back from a week long family holiday in Fuerteventura, my first visit to the area. As always i was looking to fit in a spot of birding along the way especially as i needed Fuertaventura Chat and Houbara Bustard, since its split from the birds i saw in Israel years ago.
I always go birding from first light on holiday and meet the family for breakfast and that's just what i did along with a couple of excursions. My walk out of Corralejo south through the Dunas de Carralejo Parque National to Riu Oliva Beach became a daily routine allowing me to get a 5 euro taxi back from the Riu hotel to breakfast and still have enough energy left to play in the pool with my Granddaughter Aimee.. Birds were thin on the ground but Berthelot's Pipit and Desert Grey Shrike were not hard to find so that was a good start. Also recorded were Raven, sometimes groups of 5+, Kestrel and Hoopoe. The shoreline held a few waders and i recorded Whimbrel, Grey Plover and Little ringed Plover. Atlantic Yellow legged Gulls were common along with the odd Lesser black Backed and Audouin's.
A free flying Budgie added to the exotic flavour of Ring necked and Monk Parakeet. I saw a few Linnet, House and Spanish Sparrows but didn't connect with any Trumpeter Finch on the whole trip. It became obvious that i was going to need a buckets full of luck to find my target birds or a change in strategy.
So I booked a day trip on a Jeep Safari off the beaten track and it paid off....
We (6 jeeps) set off on a route around the north and north west of the Island. It could be best described as a hit and run event with a number of sites to be visited and little time at each site to be enjoyed, in fact some were 5 minute photo stops. We headed off west into barren volcanic Dessert and i soon had my first reward for the change in strategy with a Barbary Falcon overhead.
The first stop was to look into a volcano close to Corralejo. We trekked up a steep narrow stone path to a viewing area and many of the 6 jeeps passengers who were wearing sandals and flip flops and had young kids with them were struggling on the rough and sharp volcanic rock...
I was scanning the hills id seen the Falcon over when someone asked if id seen the Barbary Ground Squirrels that were coming very close at the viewing area, i hadn't so turned around to take some photos, a couple of small birds were feeding on the rock and i was overjoyed to see they were a pair of Fuerteventura Chats!
Fantastic but brief views were given as they quickly headed out of view. Sadly it wasn't safe to follow away from the platform. Lots of peanut kernel's were on the ground at the platform due to tourists feeding the Squirrels and i wonder if the Chats were feeding on them.
The break neck tour continued but our driver had little interest in birds so mentioning a Buzzard on a wall or a Desert Grey Shrike yards away did not bring the vehicle to a halt. We visited an Aloe Vera Museum in La Oliva, i did not enter the building but birded around and found Barbary Partridge on the wall.
It was frustrating to be very near the site at La Oliva that historically held good numbers of Bustard as described in the Gosney finding birds in the Canaries guide but our convoy had to move off at speed again.....
Realising how close La Oliva was to my hotel i decided another visit was required. I bribed the family and booked a Taxi the next day and got dropped off near the Rosade los Negrines at 2ish and told my driver Phillipe to pick me up at 6 o'clock
I never stopped scanning and working the area but had little of interest, certainly no Bustards so headed back in my Taxi and drowned my sorrows in cold beer. It cost circa 20 euro's each way, well worth it for the experience of birding this unique habitat
Next day was an Atlantic Adventure to Playa Blanca in Lanzarote with my family we had good views of Cory's Shearwaters and flying fish
I called for a taxi on my penultimate day and headed to Tindaya to continue my quest for the Bustard. It was close to the former site but had produced birds more recently. Antonio my driver stopped in Tindaya to check we were on the road to Punta Paso Chico as we had seen no sign posts. We called at the Los Podomorfos restaurant and chatted with the owner who spoke perfect Spanish and was English. Our route was confirmed and we agreed to meet back here for my return journey to my hotel.
As i approached the copse of fig trees mentioned in the Gosney guide i scanned the terrain and nearly fell over when the first bird i saw was an Houbara Bustard. It was a little distant and heat haze was unreal but i managed some record shot photos and video. I birded the area for a few hours in the hope of finding Black bellied Sandgrouse and Cream Coloured Courser but could not. After a few hours i decided to head back to my rendezvous point and try to get an earlier taxi before the heat took me.
My bilingual host rang the taxi company for me as my mobile phone had drowned in the swimming pool at my Hotel, and managed to arrange an earlier pick up, phew and thank you
Much beer, Sangria and Rum and Coke was drank in celebration. My family were happy as i would stop being grumpy, job done you Bustard you...
A big thanks to Dave Gosney and Richard Howard who's 2015 report i used. This is not a full report i did see Plain Swifts and a few other species, its more a description of my quest
I always go birding from first light on holiday and meet the family for breakfast and that's just what i did along with a couple of excursions. My walk out of Corralejo south through the Dunas de Carralejo Parque National to Riu Oliva Beach became a daily routine allowing me to get a 5 euro taxi back from the Riu hotel to breakfast and still have enough energy left to play in the pool with my Granddaughter Aimee.. Birds were thin on the ground but Berthelot's Pipit and Desert Grey Shrike were not hard to find so that was a good start. Also recorded were Raven, sometimes groups of 5+, Kestrel and Hoopoe. The shoreline held a few waders and i recorded Whimbrel, Grey Plover and Little ringed Plover. Atlantic Yellow legged Gulls were common along with the odd Lesser black Backed and Audouin's.
A free flying Budgie added to the exotic flavour of Ring necked and Monk Parakeet. I saw a few Linnet, House and Spanish Sparrows but didn't connect with any Trumpeter Finch on the whole trip. It became obvious that i was going to need a buckets full of luck to find my target birds or a change in strategy.
So I booked a day trip on a Jeep Safari off the beaten track and it paid off....
We (6 jeeps) set off on a route around the north and north west of the Island. It could be best described as a hit and run event with a number of sites to be visited and little time at each site to be enjoyed, in fact some were 5 minute photo stops. We headed off west into barren volcanic Dessert and i soon had my first reward for the change in strategy with a Barbary Falcon overhead.
The first stop was to look into a volcano close to Corralejo. We trekked up a steep narrow stone path to a viewing area and many of the 6 jeeps passengers who were wearing sandals and flip flops and had young kids with them were struggling on the rough and sharp volcanic rock...
I was scanning the hills id seen the Falcon over when someone asked if id seen the Barbary Ground Squirrels that were coming very close at the viewing area, i hadn't so turned around to take some photos, a couple of small birds were feeding on the rock and i was overjoyed to see they were a pair of Fuerteventura Chats!
Fantastic but brief views were given as they quickly headed out of view. Sadly it wasn't safe to follow away from the platform. Lots of peanut kernel's were on the ground at the platform due to tourists feeding the Squirrels and i wonder if the Chats were feeding on them.
The break neck tour continued but our driver had little interest in birds so mentioning a Buzzard on a wall or a Desert Grey Shrike yards away did not bring the vehicle to a halt. We visited an Aloe Vera Museum in La Oliva, i did not enter the building but birded around and found Barbary Partridge on the wall.
It was frustrating to be very near the site at La Oliva that historically held good numbers of Bustard as described in the Gosney finding birds in the Canaries guide but our convoy had to move off at speed again.....
Realising how close La Oliva was to my hotel i decided another visit was required. I bribed the family and booked a Taxi the next day and got dropped off near the Rosade los Negrines at 2ish and told my driver Phillipe to pick me up at 6 o'clock
I never stopped scanning and working the area but had little of interest, certainly no Bustards so headed back in my Taxi and drowned my sorrows in cold beer. It cost circa 20 euro's each way, well worth it for the experience of birding this unique habitat
Next day was an Atlantic Adventure to Playa Blanca in Lanzarote with my family we had good views of Cory's Shearwaters and flying fish
I called for a taxi on my penultimate day and headed to Tindaya to continue my quest for the Bustard. It was close to the former site but had produced birds more recently. Antonio my driver stopped in Tindaya to check we were on the road to Punta Paso Chico as we had seen no sign posts. We called at the Los Podomorfos restaurant and chatted with the owner who spoke perfect Spanish and was English. Our route was confirmed and we agreed to meet back here for my return journey to my hotel.
As i approached the copse of fig trees mentioned in the Gosney guide i scanned the terrain and nearly fell over when the first bird i saw was an Houbara Bustard. It was a little distant and heat haze was unreal but i managed some record shot photos and video. I birded the area for a few hours in the hope of finding Black bellied Sandgrouse and Cream Coloured Courser but could not. After a few hours i decided to head back to my rendezvous point and try to get an earlier taxi before the heat took me.
My bilingual host rang the taxi company for me as my mobile phone had drowned in the swimming pool at my Hotel, and managed to arrange an earlier pick up, phew and thank you
Much beer, Sangria and Rum and Coke was drank in celebration. My family were happy as i would stop being grumpy, job done you Bustard you...
A big thanks to Dave Gosney and Richard Howard who's 2015 report i used. This is not a full report i did see Plain Swifts and a few other species, its more a description of my quest
Good to be back.....
18 Little Gulls and 4 Arctic Skuas passed Whitburn Obs by 10.30 this morning. Yes it is good to be back after a week in Fuerteventura, sadly i missed Kingfisher, Yellow legged Gull and Greenshank while i was away, but still time to pull back a few. I was joined by Saint Mark with a guest appearance by Foss. The lack of wind didn't help but otherwise we are not complaining. We managed to record Dolphin, Porpoise and Lobster toward the NT big count today. This is what we saw in order of appearance
Sunday 30th August 05.40-10.30 SW1 calm sea light cloud
Black h Gull 6n 78s
Dunlin 34s
Turnstone 5n 4s
Little Gull 13n 5s a mixture of adults and juvs with some nice close birds
Teal 23n 2s
05.50 White beaked Dolphin 4+ till 06.45
Curlew 11n 3s
Common Scoter 27n 26s
Eider 4s
Common Tern 19n 38s
Arctic Tern 7n 2s
Sandwich Tern 9n 32s
Manxie 3n 12s
Redshank 5n 53s
Knot 42s
Arctic Skua 4s
Peregrine 1s
Red th Diver 1n 2s
Shag 34s
Common Gull 3n 6s
LBBGull 2n
07.15 White beaked Dolphin 3plus
Ringed Plover 3s
07.30 White beaked Dolphin 4 and 1 juv
Wigeon 6n
Porpoise 4
Grey Heron 1n
Swift 3s
Sparrowhawk 1n
Sunday 30th August 05.40-10.30 SW1 calm sea light cloud
Black h Gull 6n 78s
Dunlin 34s
Turnstone 5n 4s
Little Gull 13n 5s a mixture of adults and juvs with some nice close birds
Teal 23n 2s
05.50 White beaked Dolphin 4+ till 06.45
Curlew 11n 3s
Common Scoter 27n 26s
Eider 4s
Common Tern 19n 38s
Arctic Tern 7n 2s
Sandwich Tern 9n 32s
Manxie 3n 12s
Redshank 5n 53s
Knot 42s
Arctic Skua 4s
Peregrine 1s
Red th Diver 1n 2s
Shag 34s
Common Gull 3n 6s
LBBGull 2n
07.15 White beaked Dolphin 3plus
Ringed Plover 3s
07.30 White beaked Dolphin 4 and 1 juv
Wigeon 6n
Porpoise 4
Grey Heron 1n
Swift 3s
Sparrowhawk 1n
Friday, 21 August 2015
May all of your Terns be black.......
Spotted Redshank and 3 Whimbrel went south past Whitburn Obs this morning on another good day for wader passage. The Spot Shank was another Obs year tick bringing the list to circa 146. Stoney was in the house and we did our best to find a Black Tern after yesterdays record passage at Hartlepool but to no avail. Light conditions were difficult with the heavy cloud and the heat haze was unreal. This is what we did manage to see in order of appearance
Friday 21st August 05.30-07.30 S2 poor light and heat haze
Teal 86n 48s
Common Tern 2n 95s
Common Scoter 39n 13s
Black h Gull 19s
Sandwich Tern 14s
Common Gull 1s
Oyster Catcher 11s
Golden Plover 4s
Whimbrel 3s
Sanderling 25s
Redshank 1n
Spotted Redshank 1s
Knot 2n 7s
Wigeon 3n
Dunlin 22s
Turnstone 3s
Red th Diver 2s
Swallow 12s
Ringed Plover 3s
Friday 21st August 05.30-07.30 S2 poor light and heat haze
Teal 86n 48s
Common Tern 2n 95s
Common Scoter 39n 13s
Black h Gull 19s
Sandwich Tern 14s
Common Gull 1s
Oyster Catcher 11s
Golden Plover 4s
Whimbrel 3s
Sanderling 25s
Redshank 1n
Spotted Redshank 1s
Knot 2n 7s
Wigeon 3n
Dunlin 22s
Turnstone 3s
Red th Diver 2s
Swallow 12s
Ringed Plover 3s
Thursday, 20 August 2015
WWW.....
Bonxie and 2 Arctic Skuas passed Whitburn Obs by 7.30 this morning. I was joined by Magic Mark and Stoney was in the house. WWW, Whitburns wave of Waders, we've had such a good year recording wader passage this year and it continued this morning with good numbers passing, sadly i had to leave for work. Don't want to think about what they will see now I've left..
Thursday 20th August 05.30-07.35 S2 full cloud cover till just before i left
Teal 81n
Knot 57s
Oyster Catcher 90s
Curlew 1n
Common Gull 3s
Common Tern 13n 27s
Common Scoter 74n 2s
LBBGull 5s
Turnstone 4n 5s
Sandwich Tern 37n 6s
Black h Gull 3n 4s
Arctic Tern 1s
Whimbrel 2s
Dunlin 50s
Manxie 1s
Redshank 54s
07.03 White beaked Dolphin 1n
Bonxie 1n
Arctic Skua 2n
Sanderling 3s
Ringed Plover 4s
Thursday 20th August 05.30-07.35 S2 full cloud cover till just before i left
Teal 81n
Knot 57s
Oyster Catcher 90s
Curlew 1n
Common Gull 3s
Common Tern 13n 27s
Common Scoter 74n 2s
LBBGull 5s
Turnstone 4n 5s
Sandwich Tern 37n 6s
Black h Gull 3n 4s
Arctic Tern 1s
Whimbrel 2s
Dunlin 50s
Manxie 1s
Redshank 54s
07.03 White beaked Dolphin 1n
Bonxie 1n
Arctic Skua 2n
Sanderling 3s
Ringed Plover 4s
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
Green for go....
3 Pom, 5 Arctic and 2 Great Skuas passed Whitburn Obs by 7.40 this morning but sadly no Long tail for me yet. Stoney was in the house and it was an interesting watch, you always felt anything could happen and it did when a Green Sandpiper went south to get my Obs list on the move again. That's four ticks in as many days.
This is what we saw in order of appearance
Wednesday19th August 05.30-07.40 SW1-2 full cloud cover till we left, heavy swell
Black h Gull 2n 2s
Manxie 11n
Common Gull 2n 3s
Arctic Skua 4n 1s
Teal 6n
Pom Skua 3n
Whimbrel 6s
Common Scoter 17n
Arctic Tern 1n
Shag 1n
Eider 1n 2s
Sandwich Tern 19n 11s
Common Tern 20n 9s
Velvet Scoter 1s
Med Gull 1s 2nd sum
Sparrowhawk 1s
Bonxie 2n
Red th Diver 1n
Green Sandpiper 1s
Wheatear one on the way back to car
This is what we saw in order of appearance
Wednesday19th August 05.30-07.40 SW1-2 full cloud cover till we left, heavy swell
Black h Gull 2n 2s
Manxie 11n
Common Gull 2n 3s
Arctic Skua 4n 1s
Teal 6n
Pom Skua 3n
Whimbrel 6s
Common Scoter 17n
Arctic Tern 1n
Shag 1n
Eider 1n 2s
Sandwich Tern 19n 11s
Common Tern 20n 9s
Velvet Scoter 1s
Med Gull 1s 2nd sum
Sparrowhawk 1s
Bonxie 2n
Red th Diver 1n
Green Sandpiper 1s
Wheatear one on the way back to car
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