Sandhill Crane has left Orkney....

and it appears to be moving south.

Bird Guides:
29/09/09 Sandhill Crane Orkney Windwick, S.Ronaldsay 10:12
flew off southeast, out to sea

29/09/09 - Sandhill Crane - Highland - Wick - 10:54

29/09/09 - Sandhill Crane - Highland - Latheronwheel -11:15

29/09/09 - Sandhill Crane - Highland - Dunbeath - 11:35

29/09/09 - Sandhill Crane - Highland  - Brora 12:25
still west of Brora then flew SW inland


DON'T PANIC! It is heading south lets just hope it comes to the North East. If it has any sense it will!

Andrew's Favourite Bird Joke of the day!

Again I am using a Tim Vine joke, can't remember the exact words so this one might be reworded slightly.


I was driving around the in the countryside one day and in the field there was a grouse,  a pheasant, and a partridge all dressed up as clowns!...............................Must have been game for a laugh.

I like that joke.
Andrew K

Andrew's Favourite Bird Joke of the day!

Thanks to Tim Vine the comedian for todays joke:
"I was driving past a rubbish dump, and I saw a load of seagulls on top of all the rubbish. I thought, who threw them out?"

What does everyone think?

Saturday 26th of September

A very enjoyable day yesterday.

Arriving at RSPB Saltholme we where told the Buff-breasted Sandpiper had just gone from view. However we waited around looking for it and I counted the Snipe nuumbers around one small area. We where distracted by a darn Osprey flying over the reserve! ;) Then back to looking for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper and then someone spotted it! I got ok-ish views of it although quite distant. Also present where Snipe, Ruff, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing, and Curlew. Buff-brested Sandpiper was a life tick for me!

Next up to Dorman's Pool with 2 TBC members (therefore I shouldn't get into trouble) Red-backed Shrike was present and showing very well! This was also a nice life tick for me.

(Red-backed Shrike - Dorman's Pool)

Then onto Saltholme bright an early when it opens at 10:00am! ;) Over to Haverton Hole and we stood for about 30 mins with nothing much apart from Teal, Shoveler, Mallard, Greenshank, and Black-tailed Godwit...............then a fellow birdwatcher from the bird club and myself where looking between 2 large thick clumps of reeds with water in the middle and there where the usual ducks on the dry land with a Greenshank and 2? Black-tailed Godiwits (can't remember) and out of no where swam the Blue-winged Teal from behind the left large clump fo reeds! My fellow bird club friend just confirmed what I was about to ask, when he said he had it! Cracking bird. Apparently it might be the same bird that keeps coming back to Satholme. Who knows? Another life tick!

(Blue-winged Teal concealed behind reeds - Note you can see the white on the birds head)

Then my last life tick is a strange one..............Purple Sandpiper. We went down to Hartlepool Headland where we had 2 Purple Sandpipers which is a life tick I never had seemed to have been able to get in the past. Perhaps as I wasn't really looking for them.

Life list updates:
204 – Buff-breasted Sandpiper
205 – Red-backed Shrike
206 – Blue-winged Teal
207 – Purple Sandpiper

Year list updates:
190 - Buff-breasted Sandpiper
191 - Red-backed Shrike
192 - Blue-winged Teal
193 - Purple Sandpiper

Till the next time..........Slender-billed Curlew.......I mean bye..
Andrew K

Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th of September

Saturday 19th
I good day but a little bit quite in terms of birds. Had some good birds with: Chiffchaff, Lesser Whitethroat (heard), Whinchat, Stonechat, and a lot of common birds as well. All in all a good day and great company.

Sunday 20th
Went for a Seawatch at Whitburn Obs this morning. 6:30 - 9:30.
Bird of note included a dodgy Barnacle Goose, Common Scoters, Red-throated Divers, Red-brested Mergansers, Pink-footed Geese, a Mediterranean Gull right past the hide and the best bird of the day a juv Hobby in off the sea!
All in all a good day.

Year list: 189: Hobby.

Photo's from the last week

(Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Lapwing, and Black-headed Gull)

(Curlew (left) and Whumbrel (right) comparison)

(Red-throated Diver)

(Hooded Merganser - Look at the green bank at the back of the photo, just on the waters edge where the grass meets the water you can see the Hooded Merganser with it's white belly. I think it might be a wild bird)

UPDATE!.......Again.

I should really update my blog daily but.......I am busy. Also no one is following me yet so it feels like a bit of a lost cause at the moment. But I will update it anyway.....

Tuesday 8th of September
I went down for the Hooded Merganser that is down Teeside. I beleive it to be a wild bird for many reasons:
1. It is not from Washington WWT as they clip the wings of the birds there.
2. It avoids being fed by humans.
3. It likes to keep it's distance from people.
Here is my story of my first Hooded Merganser. A friend went to check the L shapedgully at the Petro Plus Pool whilst me and my friend looked ont he main pond/lake. He came back from checking the gully to say there was no sign. I asked if you could see it ok to which he replied yes. So I made my way there on my own. Set up the scope and I could see a duck a way off in the gully. So I looked through my scope and it was a Mallard. Soon after this a bird appeared really close to me in the gully. Lifted the Bins up and there it was! Hooded Merganser! The other two of the my gang where looking at each other talking quite a way off. After a few seconds I managed to get there attention. They came over and one of them had not even set there scopes up and UP! It flew over the field and onto Calor Gas Pool. So we went back to Calor Gas Pool and watched it for a while.

After this we headed to Greatham Creek where I had a nother life tick! 3 Little Stints! Not bad.... not bad.

Saturday 12th September 
Up to the Northumberland coast on Saturday. Very nice birds and weather! Birds of note where Bar-tailed Godwit in front of the hide at Cresswell, Little Stint at Cresswell, Artic Skua, Red-throated Diver, Common Scoter, and Red-breasted Merganser all offshore. Bird of the day was the Arctic Skua for me. Confirmed by Derek C from the bird club.(I'm not very good at sea watching) it was nice to see the Arctic Skua chasing birds. Derek says there was two there!

Life List update:
202 - Hooded Merganser (Might change depending on if it's a wild bird or not)
203 - Little Stint

Year List updates:
186 - Bar-tailed Godwit
187 - Red-throated Diver
188 - Arctic Skua

Andrew Kinghorn