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.

Goosey Goosey Gander

A visit to Druridge Pools included an hour scoping some 1200 geese for the possibility of the Bean geese reported on Sunday. All I could pick out from the Pink-foot flocks were 2 White-fronts and 5 Barnacles. The Bean geese may well be in there somewhere but many were taking a nap so no legs or bills to go on. The White-fronted geese views were restricted to a couple of heads popping up from the throng so couldn't get a race.

The geese were in the fields to the north of the road between Cresswell and Druridge pools, about a quarter of a mile before the pools.

4 Smew were still on Druridge pools, along with a couple of male Goldeneye. Other birds included a single Buzzard and a male Bullfinch at Widdrington.

Whitley Today

A Great Tit singing in our street this morning put spring in my mind, that was until I went outside, brrrrrrr.

The gale force Siberian winds made any prolonged birding painful - streaming eyes and numb face and fingers in 60 secs. I started at North Shields fish quay and worked my way up to St Mary's (in a warm vehicle). Not much to report other than 3 Common Scoter in the bay at the north end of Whitley beach. There were other ducks at sea worth a check but the wind made the use of a scope impossible.

It was good to see Redshank, Turnstone and Oystercatchers back on the links, able to get there beaks into the ground at last.

The Barnacle Goose is still at Tynemouth boating lake.