Paul Matson's Birding Blog: June 2021

Sunday 6th June

Gary and I had planned to go out birding just before the bank holiday weekend and were toying with the idea of a day in the New Forest, there had not been much bird news anywhere and other than a potential Wood Warbler most of the other forest specialities we had both recently seen. Instead we'd agreed to defer any outing pending what birds might turn up over the following week or so.

Saturday morning I did the local Bird Walk on Blackdown and in the afternoon I had my second covid jab, so hadn't really planned much as I wasn't sure the level of side-effects that might ensue, given the first jab had knocked me sideways for 36 hours. So it was a bit of a blur that led me to driving over to Gary's in Kent at 1am on Sunday morning having exchanged messages on Saturday evening.

Luckily the jab side-effects were very mild and Gary drove the 5 hours to Northumberland, where we arrived at the Blyth estuary around 7am. Yesterday afternoon a Red-Necked Stint had been seen on the estuary being only the 8th British Record, so it was with anticipation and hope that the bird would still be there. We had already decided to spend the day in the area and slowly make our way South finding somewhere to stay overnight on Sunday.

When we arrived, there were already 50+ birders overlooking the estuary and the Red-necked Stint was still there although a little distant. However, the light was generally good and the scope views were great as the bird was an adult in Summer plumage, so one of the best looking small waders there is. We spent more than a couple of hours on the estuary where the bird moved around with a Ringed Plover flock and did come slightly closer although remained on the opposite side of the estuary from where we were looking. The birding paparazzi who managed some stunning photographs approached the other side of the estuary and would have been very close to the bird as the tide rose up and pushed it closer to the bank. Along with the star stint, was a Little Stint, a count of 19 Goosander and several Eider.

We were very happy at this point and had had our fill of the bird so decided to move on. A little way further North, we called in at East Chevington, where a Great Reed Warbler had been reported on one of the pits. We drove down a narrow lane where a couple of cars had pulled in, looked over a fence and saw the bird immediately, but very distantly in a reed bed. You could easily tell it was a Great Reed Warbler but very much scope views only. A Marsh Harrier was in the distance and a lake had plenty of hirundines with a large number of Swifts.

Our next port of call was not far up the coast, just near Drurridge, where we overlooked Coquet Island. The Island was around 1.5kms offshore, but you could just about scope the seabird activity. The Terns were the stars of the island where they have a large colony of Roseate Terns and we manged to pick out a few along with Arctic Terns, Sandwich and Common. There were also a good number of Puffins, just off the island with a few passing Eider, Gannet and Kittiwakes, whilst several Sand Martins were buzzing around the dunes where we were standing.

We decided to drive into Amble on the off-chance there might be spaces on one of the few boat trips around the island, but the town was so packed we couldn't get near the harbour, we constantly scanned the dune-side scrub habitats as we drove along the coast road in the vague hope of picking up a Rosy Starling, but apart from a few Tree Sparrows several Meadow Pipits, Whitethroats and the occasional Stonechat there was no sign of any different Starlings.

We then drove South towards Cresswell Ponds another small roadside pool beside the beach road. A few Tufted Duck with a Red Breasted Merganser were on the pool and a Little Gull was hawking over the water. More Stonechats and a Sedge Warbler were in the small car park hedges. We drove a little further on this road and as we passed another beach car park I heard a reeling out of the window, we pulled in and immediately saw a Grasshopper Warbler reeling away in the grassy weedy scrub next to the car park, we got some very close views of this surprisingly active bird.

It was approaching mid-afternoon, so we slowly headed further south with a vague plan of ending up in the North York Moors, we stopped in Durham by the river for a bite to eat around 4pm and booked a pub in Kirkbymoorside which is on the Southern edge of the Moors. We took a route that took us over the moors and spent the last hour and a half very slowly driving over pristine moorland in great evening light. A Red Kite was next to the road spying a meal and upsetting the local Lapwing (We won't mention the Rabbit Gary !). It wan't long before the first Red Grouse appeared and there were good numbers of Curlew, several with young, performing their display flights, Lots of Lapwing and a couple of sightings of Golden Plover. In the wooded valley we saw Spotted Flycatcher and lots of Willow Warbler.

We could have spent considerably more time with the spectacular scenery but conscious we had been on the road for a considerable time and a meal beckoned so we arrived at the pub around 7.30pm.... just 18 hours after leaving home !. A decent meal, a pint and a good sleep were in order after a fantastic day.

Blyth Estuary, the Red-necked Stint was towards the large Warehouse

Red-necked Stint - small bird in middle !

It was too distant for good pictures

Red-necked Stint

The far left bird behind the Ringed Plovers and Dunlin

With a Ringed Plover

A large gathering of Birders for the Stint

View to Coquet Island

Grasshopper Warbler

North Yorkshire Moors

Curlew

Curlew chick

Red Grouse

Monday 7th June

After yesterdays slightly more frenetic activity we could afford to take today slowly, our plan was another morning drive over the moors and then to head to Bempton Cliffs RSPB to look at the seabird colony.

We left the pub around 7am and headed on a different route over the moors, the weather was slightly cooler, cloudier and windier, but there was some hope we may miss the predicted showers. We had more views of the same species as yesterday evening Curlew, Lapwing, Red Grouse and Golden Plover, but much better views of Golden Plover.

As we drove through the various Yorkshire villages, we noted how each village seemed to have a thriving population of House Martins, Swallows and Swifts, which is much more absent further south, perhaps a nod to the quality of habitat and a thriving insect population.

We arrived at Bempton Cliffs around 10.30am, the place was busy but we soon forgot the crowds once we were viewing the seabirds.

The cliff meadows were giving a stunning display of mainly Red Campion and various umbellifers, visited by a few Red Admirals. The population of Tree Sparrows was doing well here and a day flying Barn Owl was hunting over the fields.

The seabird colony was astonishing, so many birds and quite a spectacle, we spent several hours watching and trying very hard to get pictures of seabirds in flight, which is quite a challenge and quickly absorbs time and the SD card !. The clifftop viewpoints are well positioned so generally looking down on the birds but with several fly-pasts at eye-level. It will be interesting to see officially how the birds have done this year, but it did look like good numbers of Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet, Puffin, Kittiwake and Fulmar were all present.

We stayed until around 2.30pm, then headed on the journey home, calling in at Besthorpe in Notts around 5pm. This smart little reserve is centred around a large reclaimed extraction pit and after a short walk we were watching another Great Reed Warbler, although thankfully this individual was a lot closer than the Chevington bird and was very vocal.

I eventually got home around 8.30pm after a very enjoyable trip and if the River Warbler was still present tomorrow we were already hatching a plan to go to Somerset on Wednesday.