An Ashintun Gander

A late visit this afternoon to Ashington was very productive. In the brassica field opposite the QEII Country Park there's been a large flock of Mute Swans for a few weeks.

On closer inspection, late this afternoon, there were also 2 Barnacle Geese and 4 Whooper Swans.

Barnacle Goose

Whooper Swan

There was also an impressive flock of Pied Wagtails numbering about 100. Certainly the biggest flock I've ever stumbled upon.

High Speed Recon

I visited my BBS (Breeding Bird Survey) square, NZ2494, for the first time yesterday to see how I can best tackle it surveying wise. Despite being popular with flytippers and having the east coast mainline running through it, it has good potential for birds with a good habitat mix of woodland, hedgrows, fields and housing. I counted 18 species on my visit including a mixed flock of 100+ Fieldfare and Redwing.

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The village here is called Widdrington Station. Nothing stops here.

After my recon mission I headed south on the A1068 towards

 Ashington and came across 38 Whooper Swans.