St Marys Island.
I set my alarm early this morning, so I could drive down to St Mary’s in the hope of catching up with some migrants. Initially everything was quiet, with only a single Chiffchaff and a couple of Goldcrests . After an hour, a Water Rail suddenly appeared in front of me, in the branches of a Willow. Far from where I’d expect to see a Water Rail, and wow, amazing close views. About 20 secs later it dropped to the ground and strolled off. Deffo not a shy one this one.
Further searches of the nearby area, proved fruitless, so I went for a wander to the wetland and around to the main car park. The wetland was alive with a few Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck and Gadwall. A good selection for a small area. As I made my way between the two car parks, a small bird on the path caught my attention. The distinctive face pattern, behaviour, size and markings were that of a Lapland Bunting, which is a great record for St Mary’s and well worth my early start on a Sunday morning.
Next was a walk on the rocks, as the tide was very low, and I thought I’d check out the nearby waders. Nothing of note, but there were plenty of Curlew, Redshank, Golden Plover, Turnstone, Sanderling and Oystercatchers with a couple of Grey Heron.
Tynemouth
Whilst reading my Twitter, I noticed a Ring Ouzel had been recorded close to Tynemouth Pier. So as it was on the way home, I stopped off. Whilst I was chatting to the birder, whom had tweeted about the Ring Ouzel he pointed to a Firecrest which had only arrived about ten minutes earlier. How lucky is that. Great close views and the Ring Ouzels were still nearby as a bonus.
On returning home, there were confirmed sightings of a Firecrest at St Mary’s, also near the 2nd Mound and at Whitburn.
Paul Buskin
