Remainder of August...

After the TBC in Lancashire I had a bit of a gull week, with Caspian Gull in South Tyneside and the Bonaparte’s Gull in the same field just days later. This year I went to the BirdFair, I was mightily impressed with it this year and will no doubt go back down net year, if finance allows! The good thing about the BirdFair is I was able to connect with at least one of the juvenile Two-barred Crossbills at Broomhead Reservoir, I had what was almost certainly the male but it was a distant bins view only. A night time visit to Old Moor RSPB gave me views of my second Night Heron of the year, this made up for a particularly memorable BirdFair this year.

(Caspian Gull - copyright Andrew Kinghorn) 

The weather took a turn for the best and I was able to finally connect with a Booted Warbler, a flog of the Headland and a brief seawatch had yielded nothing that morning, so it was great to catch up with this bird. It showed surprisingly well, I’ve always liked Booted, Skyes’s and Eastern Olly. I managed to add Black Tern to my Durham year list, I was getting a little concerned about it! Then all the fun started, I had my first Greenish Warbler of the year in Marsden Quarry, then went onto Whitburn Coastal Park to see the juvenile Red-backed Shrike and then went onto find a Greenish (oops I mean Arctic Warbler), more on that later (perhaps). Not one of my finest moments in birding, just goes to show the danger of complacency! Later on in the afternoon I headed down to catch up with the Wryneck at Seaton Carew, a check of Lambton Pond didn’t reveal the hoped for yank wader sadly. I went to Whitburn every day last week and managed to see a second and third Greenish Warbler at Whitburn Coastal Park on the 28^th, and a Barred Warbler the next day.

(Greenish Warbler - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

With September dawning it was time for yank waders, and I took young Harry over to see the Stilt Sandpiper in Cheshire. He got my sympathy vote…and I got to see it as well of course! The next day I was watching a White-rumped Sandpiper at East Chevington NWT, purely with the thought that it isn’t going to turn up on the estuary, but there is time yet. Finally yesterday evening was a dash down to Castle Lake DBC to connect with a fine eclipse drake Ring-necked Duck.

 (Stilt Sandpiper - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Stilt Sandpiper - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Ring-necked Duck - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

A brilliant August and fantastic start to September!