What a difference a week makes. On the 15th of April I took a local walk round the patch and other than Chiffchaff and a single Sand Martin there were no summer visitors.
Today was a different story. Passing Monkseaton metro station I had Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroat. Along the waggonway there were more warblers, mainly Willow warblers and Chiffchaffs.
At St Mary's I had my first Sedge Warbler. Swallows and Sand Martins are now around in numbers and Sandwich Terns are crying out.
All in all I feel it is now time to say it - Spring has sprung. Roll on the summer.
Today along the waggonway (warbler boulevard)
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler (too quick for me)
Sandwich Tern
Peacock Butterfly (not a Painted Lady as shown on some North Tyneside Council signs)
Starlings on the beach
Purple Sandpiper
Reed Bunting
Sand Martins checking out the cliffs on Whitley Beach
Dessicated Frog
Dessicated Lumpsucker
Don't ask. This type of thing happens when the sun comes out in Whitley.
Walked to St Mary's via the waggonway and then returned along the beach picking up 38 species. Temperature hit a tropical 16.3 deg C!
Along the waggonway there was a flock of c150 Greylag in the fields between the golf course and the Beehive pub.
Waggonway
At St Mary's the wader numbers are way down. No Bar-tailed Godwit, no Ringed Plover, no Dunlin and only a single Sanderling on Whitley Beach. Lots of OAPs throwing chips at the gulls. Oh, and there was a pair of Shelduck on the wetland.
'Punk' Grey Heron on St Mary's Wetland
Fresh landslides on Whitley beach
Lumpsucker on the beach
I got a new Blogger tick - Tyne to Tweed. He did better than me and picked up a Barwit and Purple Sandpipers.
