Cabot's Tern

With the news a short while ago that American Sandwitch Tern (Cabot's) has now been separated from 'our' Sandwitch Tern I thought I best brush up on my ID of how to separate the two. This article is brilliant and a must read if your interested in learning how to separate them: http://www.nabirding.com/2011/09/25/sandwich-or-cabots/


EDIT: Thanks to David and Tristan for informing me that I have made a mistake. There has already been an accepted record of Cabot's Tern. A bird found dead. 


So here's hoping the first twitchable alive bird with a pulse will turn up since the split. Its the sort of species I really like; hard to ID. 

 (Cabot's Tern - © Mark Newsome)

(Cabot's Tern - © Mark Newsome)

Looking at the photos above perhaps the pattern on the head might be the initial give away of the next possible Cabot's Tern in the UK. Having read that article I am ready for any Sandwich Terns....that I can get a good view of!


Until next time, Foghorn out!

Memories Part 3 - 26/09/2009 - Teesmouth Triumph

I can remember this part of my birding life as lifers seemed to be still fairly easy as I was just spreading my wings further afield than my local area, new and exciting birds were becoming obtainable. On this particular day I had 4 lifers all on the North Tees Marshes in County Durham.

The day started off with a crowd of birders parking by the side of the A178 and viewing Back Saltholme and after a short while our target appeared; Buff-breasted Sandpiper. The bird was distant but with Ruff so the size comparison was fairly easy to see even at range. A nice surprise was an Osprey that flew over the reserve heading south while we were looking for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, at the time it was only the second Osprey I had ever seen. Brilliant start!

(Buff-breasted Sandpiper - © Jamie Duffie)

Next stop was Dorman's Pool to look for the Red-backed Shrike that had been present for a couple of days. The bird was picked up fairly easy and it was brilliant to see my first ever Red-backed Shrike, it was a juvenile bird and my first ever species of Shrike.

(Red-backed Shrike - © Ian Forrest)

From here we headed into Saltholme RSPB itself, we walked to the Allotment Pool and after a wait of about an hour or so our third target appeared; Blue-winged Teal. The bird was mainly asleep and didn't do much but the white crescent on its face was easy to pick out and I was very pleased to see this rare duck from the United States.

(Spot the Blue-winged Teal - © Andrew Kinghorn)

The same bird has returned again every year since! See Ian Forrest's picture of the same bird taken this year:

(Blue-winged Teal - © Ian Forrest)

We then decided to do some general birding and went to Hartlepool Headland and it was the time of year just as the Purple Sandpipers were retuning to Durham's shores. As this was the first year I had transport the Purple Sandpipers I saw were my first ever!

What a day with 4 lifers and all in my home county of Durham. Memories!

Until next time, Foghorn out!

Living up to its name....

News broke this morning of a Solitary Sandpiper in Lancashire, knowing how hard these birds are to get away from the South coast I decided I was going today. I knew it was on a pool in a field and I wasn't sure if it would be there tomorrow so I decided to go. Picked up The Finch, and Kieran and we were Lancashire bound. We arrived at about 2.30 and paid a handsome £4 each to get in. A short walk to the field and we were soon watching the Solitary Sandpiper, it was distant but views were satisfactory and I was able to note the long primary projection and the dark rump with white barred outertail sides. I was surprised at how distinctive the bird actually was with the long primaries and the overall colouration being more like Common Sandpiper then Solitary Sandpiper. The bird went about is business feeding and walking about, having a bit of a stretch briefly as well. A brilliant bird and the first ever in Northern England (?) apparently! It was living up to its name well as it was literally the only bird on the pool!

(It was raining - pic © Derek Charlton)

(Solitary Sandpiper - © Craig Shaw)

Until next time, Foghorn out!

Good views.....

I started the day off in Marsden Quarry looking for Yellow-browed Warbler that had been found, I stood and searched for about an hour but no sign at all. However I heard a Nuthatch, which is incredibly rare for the South Tyneside area. Also a Brambling was a nice bird to see and my first of the Autumn, in addition to this a mixed flock of birds held Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, and Goldcrest. While standing 4 Redwing flew over, a sure sign that Autumn migration was now in full swing. A search inside the quarry was pretty fruitless but was good listing to the twitching story's of Ian Mills, he's been on some amazing twitches and seen some amazing birds over the years. After leaving Marsden I sat in the car and had my lunch.

After lunch I headed to Whitburn Costal Park to see how the ringers were getting on, they had quite a haul and I knew they had caught and rung a Yellow-browed Warbler fairly early doors. On arrival they were ringing a Song Thrush and I was told how to tell the difference between a British and continental Song Thrush. A Goldcrest was also processed before being released. I hung around a while in the hope that the ringers would re-trap the Yellow-browed Warbler. About 30 minutes or so passed and one of the ringers looked at one of the nets visible from the ringing hut. It had a bird in it, I lifted my bins to look at it. It was a warbler....he made his way over fairly quickly and took the bird out and came back. He lifted his hand with the bird in it and said something along the lines of "You thought I was joking, I told you I was going to go and get the Yellow brow from the net":

(Yellow-browed Warbler - © Andrew Kinghorn)

Another short time passed and just before the nets were being put down another 2 birds were caught; Willow Tit and Redwing. Willow Tit (like Nuthatch) is another mega rare bird in the South Tyneside area, only about the 3rd ever seen in South Tyneside. The Redwing was stunning and when you get up close you can really appreciate how fortunate we are to have this thrush wintering in the UK.

 (Willow Tit - © Andrew Kinghorn)

(Willow Tit - © Andrew Kinghorn)

Until next time, Foghorn out!