Grand day out

You know when you run out of blog titles from time to time; its one of those times. It was good to get out and do some birding in Durham. That's the place where the Garden of Eden used to be if you are unsure where I mean.

The first port of call was Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park down at Teesside. Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Small Skipper, Speckled Wood, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Large White, Ringlet and Common Blue were all noted. Small Skipper and Ringlet were new butterflies for me and I had excellent views and managed some photos. Oh to be new to butterflies!

 (Common Blue - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Ringlet - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Ringlet - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Small Skipper - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Small Tortoiseshell- Andrew Kinghorn)

After Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park a move was made onto Dorman's Pool where Spoonbill was showing well but distantly. I have become a little bit complacent about these brilliant birds recently, not good! Super birds. It proved that the site was to windy for the hoped for Grayling butterfly. However it is still fairly early and therefore it is highly likely the species isn't out yet. 

We then went to Wingate Quarry where we had Marbled White (which showed exceptionally well!!), Small Tortoiseshell, Ringlet, and Meadow Brown.

(Small Heath - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Marbled White - Andrew Kinghorn)

The last port of call was Bishop Middleham where we had brilliant views of a 1st summer Hobby which flew in after about an hour and a half wait. Also we had 2 summer plumaged Black-necked Grebe and on leaving a Green Sandpiper. Butterflies of note included Small White and Small Tortoiseshell. 

What a truly superb day!

Until next time, Foghorn out!

White winger - No its not a gull.

I put out a plea on BirdForum mid last week and it was answered by Alan Whitehead AKA Duffbirder; see here. We agreed we would go on Saturday and then we checked the weather forecast and it wasn't so good! So we put it back to Sunday. So at about 5.45 on Sunday morning I rose and got ready for when Alan was coming to pick me up. It wasn't soon until we were in Northumberland and picking up another mate; Alan. Confused? You should be! So the 3 of us headed for the long journey north to Aberdeen. Thankfully the company was excellent and the journey seemed to go by really quick!

We arrived on site at Murcar Links Golf Course where the bird had been showing offshore. We were feeling quite relaxed having known the bird was seen this morning on our way up. The bird is undergoing a moult so we were fairly sure it wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon. When we arrived out hearts sunk when we looked around and saw half the entire worlds population of Common Scoter offshore about 6.2 miles out. They might not have even been in British waters.Thankfuly there was a flock that was fairly close and we set on scanning those. We didn't draw a complete blank as we saw a cracking drake Surf Scoter but not the hoped for White-winged Scoter. The scoters moved a bit south and so did we. But as we arrived the birds were flushed by someone on a quad bike on the beach. Me and Northumberland Alan just laughed in disbelief and how the people of Aberdeen were almost set on making sure we didn't see the bird. Another 2 or so hours passed by and all we had to show for our efforts were at least 2 cracking drake Surf Scoters which were nice but no White-winged Scoter. Then it happened; by "it" I mean the event where someone shouted "I've got it!!!!!!".

Que the usual panics from the rest of us "Where?" and the usual replies "Back left of the flock" etc. I wished someone had said on the sea as I would have said "Here was me looking on the golf course!". On a serious note after the first guy had it he did give very good directions. Very soon after I said "Yeah......i've got it", every eye in the crowd looked at me and then back through their scopes. It soon disappeared out of my view, this was getting frustrating. We all remained calm and then after a short while I found it again and managed some brilliant if a little distant views of this cracking bird! Once you got your eye on it its surprising distinctive to ID and keep your eye on:
- Beware of the field guides which show a well defined marking under the eye as this is hard to see in this bird from some angles.
- The pinkish ring around the bill near the tip is obvious and makes the bird fairly easy to separate from Velvet Scoters present.
- The bird in good light is very dark chocolate brown like that of the colouration of female velvet scoter which it was associating with.

(White-winged Scoter - used by permission - © Matthew Deans)

We did have the bird flapping its wings but even at rest and when preening the white bar across the secondary featherers could be seen. Overall the bird is quite distinctive and sticks out quite nicely from the crowd once you've got your eye in. But I wouldn't know what it was if I had found it so well done to the finder for flagging it down! I would like to think I could pick a bird like this up if I saw one again in the UK while out birding if I ever get chance. What a super bird! Oh and I saw Guillemot which was a year tick.......I don't seawatch much away from Autumn!

Brilliant day, brilliant and educational bird, loving British birding as always. 2 more to official 300 BOU but this bird represents my 301st lifer in the UK.

Until next time, Foghorn out!

You'll Go Monster Mad For The Honey Buzzards

See how I changed that to avoid copyright issues with these guys.

Saturday I went with 2 mates to North Yorkshire and we had a couple of target species we wanted to see. Our first stop was for the Honey Buzzards at Wykeham Forest in North Yorkshire. We arrived at the vantage point overlooking the forest and a Honey Buzzard was already on show! It took us about 5 minutes but eventually we managed to pick it up. Just in time as well as minutes later it started to do its fascinating display flight. I have never seen anything quite like it. They remind me of a massive day loving Nightjar when they do the display flight; they clap their carpals against each other a few times in succession whilst slightly loosing height at the same time. They do this whilst flying fairly fast paced making it a truly amazing spectacle to observe. We enjoyed spectacular views of what we think was at least 2 males and 1 female. On no less than 3 occasions we had the male overhead. On 1 occasion he was right over my head and on another occasion we actually watched him look down with both eyes at the crowd! I can safely say these were the best views of Honey Buzzard I have ever had and the first decent views of adults I have ever had aswell.

 (Honey Buzzard - © Adam Williams)

 (Honey Buzzard - © Adam Williams)

(Honey Buzzard - © Adam Williams)

We headed off and just as we did it started to rain slightly but it wasn't to heavy and we joined a mini crowd standing and listening to Turtle Doves calling. We had at least 2 birds; one flew off right and it was a poor view. However one of the bird we had sitting in the top of a pine tree not obstructed for a couple of seconds. Turtle Doves are super birds and what a nice bonus!

From here it was a short 30 or so minute drive to a reserve called Fen Bog in the heather moorland of North Yorkshire. Our hopes of Hen Harrier were a bit more than low (none) but we weren't after that species, we had 2 targets; Whinchat and Large Heath butterfly. The butterfly is quite rare and Fen Bog is known as a good spot to see them. First we had a look around for some suitable vegetation and this was when we had a cracking Whinchat. Not a bird I see a lot of as they are a rare breeder in Durham and the well known site is about a 4 mile walk each way over heather moorland with no pathways. We then had to wait for the train to go past, I tried hard not to look so not to be accused of being a birdwatcher and a train spotter. But I love the engineering behind steam engines and the trains themselves so I stood back and admired as it went past with its passengers aboard. There was a break in the cloud and for about 15 minutes we had a break in the weather and we have lovely warm sunshine. So we checked an area of suitable habitat, we found 1, then 2, then we stopped counting! We must have had at least 4 Large Heaths and we had good views as we managed to see 2 of them on deck to study the underwing. Also we had 1 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and had my first chance to study the underwing of this species aswell; it showed well and sat still for a long time allowing us to enjoy it.

(Whinchat - © Adam Williams)

(Large Heath- © Adam Williams)

(Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary - © Adam Williams)

A stop off at Saltholme RSPB gave one of my mates his first Spoonbills of the year with 3 showing well feeding. We then headed home but before I got home we had a Hobby fly across the A19 near Elwick in Durham! Superb! A county year tick and always a great bird to see in Durham. I hope this species continues to spread and become more prominent in Durham.

(Spoonbills- © Adam Williams)

A truly fantastic and memorable day with the highlights being the Honey Buzzards displaying and the Hobby.

Until next time, Foghorn out!

Pectoral Sandpiper at Teesside

News broke late last night when I was at the Cinema of a Pectoral Sandpiper on Saltholme RSPB; still I wasn't going to let that spoil my evening and rightly so as I can highly recommend the new Pirates of the Caribbean to anyone who hasn't seen it!

So early on this afternoon my and a mate went down to Greatham Creek to see this stunning Pectoral Sandpiper. When we first arrived and for about 20 minutes afterwards there was no sign of the bird, we decided to split up to try and relocate the bird. Then my mate was going to go and check the other side of the creek, no sooner had he wandered off I spotted it. It literally just appeared! Thankfully my mate had only got about 20 meters so came back and we enjoyed superb close range views. What a bird! Had amazing close range views which allowed us to study the bird in detail. We left just before the rain started. All in all a great half day out birding.

You can click on any image to enlarge it. Also please view the video in HD for best results, if you are unsure on how to do this CLICK HERE. I would advise you turn your sound down or off as it was very windy when I was taking the video.

 (Pectoral Sandpiper - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Pectoral Sandpiper - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Pectoral Sandpiper - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Pectoral Sandpiper - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Pectoral Sandpiper - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Pectoral Sandpiper - Andrew Kinghorn)

Stay tuned for yesterdays birding report when I was in North Yorkshire looking for butterflies and birds. Stay tuned!

Until next time, Foghorn out!

Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary

A quick look out over the dales of Durham today with a mate of mine produced at least 4 Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary butterflies but there were possibly more around. It was hard to tell as at one point we had 3 within minutes of each other. Also today we had 1 Green-veined White and 1 Large Skipper. Click on each image below to enlarge them.

 (Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary - Andrew Kinghorn)

  (Green-veined White - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Large Skipper - Andrew Kinghorn)

Also I added Spotted Flycatcher to my county year list to take me to 192 for the county so far this year.

Until next time, Foghorn out!

Previous White-throated Robin records

Just been looking through at some data from my BirdGuides CD "The CD-ROM Guide to Rarer British Birds" and was looking at White-throated Robin. Some of you will already know there has been 2 previous British records and I have the dates to hand:


1983 on the Isle of Man, Calf of Man, the bird was a male and was a one day bird on the 22nd of June.

Then another record from 1990:

1990 at Pembroke, on the island of Skokholm, it was a female first seen on 27th of May and stayed until the 30th of May.

So the previous records have been untwitchable birds for the masses. So in effect the Hartlepool Headland bird is a first for the UK for nearly all birdwatchers alike. It is also the longest staying as you can see from the records above. It went missing yesterday early afternoon however is back but has relocated slightly.

(White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

Until next time, Foghorn out!

Spring Highlights 2011

I have had an excellent spring this year, to me its all about enjoying the birds for what they are but it would be a lie to say I am not slightly keen on my own personal lists. So here some small statistics to compare last years spring to this years in terms of numbers of lifers and then fit these lifers into the following; scarce birds, rare birds, and very rare birds.

Birds	2010	2011
British Lifers	11	7
Scarce Birds	2	3
Rare Birds	0	2
Very Rare Birds	2	1

From the above table it doesn't look like I have had a very good spring in terms of numbers but I have had some simply superb birds that I didn't think I would see. You can see from the graph that on very rare birds I am down on one. I saw Black Scoter this year of Stag Rocks in Northumberland whereas last year I had Iberian Chiffchaff at Potteric Carr SWT in South Yorkshire, and Trumpeter Finch at Blakney Point in Norfolk. I am also up on rare birds having seen 2 this Spring opposed to none in 2010; the rare birds this year included a very showy Western Subalpine Warbler on Holy Island, a stunning male and it showed superbly well for a bird that is usually quite skulking. This was a good bird for me to get back having missed the last long staying individual at Trow Quarry in South Shields. The second rare bird will probably be one of my birds of the year; Terek Sandpiper. This was another great bird to see after having missed the previous two that were down at Teesside.

Scarce birds I am up 1 on last year. Last year I had Capercallie at Loch Garten RSPB in Aberdeenshire, and Montagu's Harrier at an undisclosed site that probably every birds knows who is reading this blog in Norfolk. This year by comparison I had Red-necked Phalarope at Frampton Marsh RSPB in Lincolnshire and then another 2 days later at Welney WWT in Norfolk. Also I had another scarce gamebird in the form of a Golden Pheasant at Sculthorpe Moor NR, with these birds deemed as 'untickable' for BOU rules its on my personal life list only. But my favourtie scarce bird of the spring I have left until last; Golden Oriole. After spending about 10 hours over a period of 2 days looking for these birds last year I failed both times. This time  when I went on my first visit I had excellent (for the site) views of the Golden Oriole and saw another briefly on my second visit. Again another bird that will no doubt make my top 10 birds of 2011.

Lifers were down on last year however that is to be expected as last year I went to Speyside where I was able to connect with the Scottish specialities I still hadn't seen; Capercallie, Ptarmigan, and Crested Tit. Also I had a fair few new common birds from Norfolk suck as Woodlark, Stone Curlew, etc.

So all in all its been a superb Spring time for me with some cracking birds. But forget all the numbers, its the birds that are important:

(Black Scoter - © Willie McBay)

(Trumpeter Finch - © Derek Charlton)

(Terek Sandpiper - © Andrew Kinghorn)

(Western Subalpine Warbler - © Colin W.Pears)

(Red-necked Phalarope - © Andrew Kinghorn)

Until next time, Foghorn out!

White-throated Robin re-visited

Went back today for my second visit of this far flung eastern vagrant, would be a bit rude not do so as I needed to go somewhere close by anyway. Again I enjoyed superb views and a little bit closer than when I first saw it. Please forgive the fact the video goes slightly out of focus at some points but its handheld and hard to keep the bird in focus all the time.

This bird is definitely my bird of the year so far; stunning and a pleasure to watch in my home county. So there are some more photos from today and also another video I took today. Please view the video in HD if you are unsure how to do this CLICK HERE.

 (White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

(White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

(White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

(White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

(White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

Until next time, Foghorn out!

It's just another manic Monday

I'm glad it wasn't Sunday
'Cause that's not WTRobin-day
My I had to runday
It's just another manic Monday!


Note: please watch my videos in HD. If you are unsure how to do this then please CLICK HERE. Also images can be enlarged by just clicking on them.


I had planned to go with a friend of mine over to Cumbria to look at the rare Marsh Fritillary butterfly. I parked my car on my mates drive around about 08.35 and got out the car. "I take it you've heard?", I asked my mate. Seeing if he had read his pager about news of a Red-flanked Bluetail at Hartlepool Headland. He said he hadn't; checked his pager and I made a joke that whenever I seem to leave the county something good turns up! I said I would go and see it when I got back from the day out as it was 'only' (forgive me) a Red-flanked Bluetail, I had never seen one in Durham so I was keen anyway. We were in the car a whole of 5 minutes when my phone rang and the name appeared "Tristan Reid";
Tristan: "Your not in Cumbria yet are you?."
Me: "Hi Tristan, yeah I know about the Red-flanked Bluetail."
Tristan: "Its just been Mega'd as White-throated Robin."
Me: "Are you joking?"
Tristan: "No!"
Me (to mate who was driving): "HEAD FOR HARTLEPOOL! Its been Mega's as White-throated Robin. Thanks Tristan we are on our way!"
Mate: (reads pager message + expletives)

So after my mate panicked having read the pager message and grabbed his pager, the gear stick, and steering wheel at the same time we headed for Hartlepool. When we arrived it had been released and we were amongst the first 50 or so birdwatchers on site. I was in a bit of a panic knowing they can be elusive birds, I needn't of panicked as it was showing well hopping around the hedges that go around the bowling green. Wow! Just seen a White-throated Robin in the UK! Another species I had never really given much thought to as having a chance to see in the UK let alone in my own county of Durham.

When I first clapped eyes on the bird and started studying it I could see quite easily why the mis-ID was initially made. The bird from a distance looked just like a Red-flanked Bluetail, however closer study reveals the following separating it from Red-flanked Bluetail:
- Fairly long bill, looking more powerful than that of Red-flanked Bluetail.
- All dark black tail, this feature showed well a couple of times when it turned around and was noticeable more so in flight.
- Finally the size was noticeable; not as small and dainty looking as a Red-flanked Bluetail. Built more like a mini thrush.

 (White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (White-throated Robin - Andrew Kinghorn)

More videos and images can be seen HERE.

After watching the bird for a couple of hours and catching up some some mates we decided we would leave the bird to it as well as leave the twitchers to it. It had flown from where we had originally seen it and was becoming a little elusive as the crowds started to arrive. From here we headed to Seaton Carew where news had broke of a male Red-backed Shrike. Now they are also a stunning looking bird! So we headed along and parked beside the sewage works and walked south to the place where it was. We had stunning views of the bird as it showed really well for us. 

(Red-backed Shrike - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Red-backed Shrike - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Red-backed Shrike - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Red-backed Shrike - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Red-backed Shrike - Andrew Kinghorn)

As we had planned to spend the day in Cumbria with butterflies and it was a nice day in Durham it would be rude not to go and look for some locally! So we headed off to Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park which is now semi-famous for its Ring-necked Duck over the past 2 years as well as Nightingale this year. We had a few butterflies on our walk around and here are some pictures of what we saw below:

 (Common Blue - Andrew Kinghorn)

  (Common Blue - Andrew Kinghorn)

  (Durham Brown Argus- Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Large Skipper - Andrew Kinghorn)

  (Large Skipper - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Meadow Brown - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Small Heath - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Speckled Wood - Andrew Kinghorn)

 (Speckled Wood - Andrew Kinghorn)

We also had a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly but I was unable to photograph that, it was very fresh and no doubt just came out. Small Tortoiseshell and Meadow Brown were lifer butterflies for me; I am new to butterflies just this year so that's understandable. 

A brilliant day, a one to remember for a long time yet.

Until next time, Foghorn out!