Blyth Harbour Tranquility

Red-throated Diver

To escape the Boxing Day crowds at the coast, bolstered by unseasonably mild temperatures, I went to Blyth Harbour. Fantastic, just me, three Red-throated Divers, and a few Eiders.

Eider Duck

Hardcore Science

No relaxing Sunday morning at the Wildupnorth ranch yesterday, it was an early start and off to Amble (Meadow Well by the sea) to catch a boat to take part in a marine survey looking for cetaceans and birds. The 3 metre swell that had scuppered the survey on Saturday had dropped to 1.5 metres so we left the harbour at 8.40am with four souls on board.

While the sun came out to see us off, the temperature on land was -5 deg C, and as we headed 35 miles out, the horizon to our south grew darker and darker. And the sea got rougher and rougher! Eventually a blizzard hit.



The good news is that the weather cleared after half an hour and the survey continued.

Species seen:

Red-throated Diver - 2 leaving the harbour and 1 about 25 mile out.
Guillemot - numerous
Razorbill
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Common Gull
Black-headed Gull
Gannet - numerous
Carrion Crow (heading out to Coquet Island)
Fulmar
Puffin

One possible dolphin - a blow and a fin were seen by the skipper.

 Martin 'Pelagic' Kitching hastily writes his Last Will and Testament.

Look, a Little Auk in the hedge!

My first twitch of the year saw me heading off yesterday morning for Newholm, near Whitby, to see the Black-throated Thrush. I got there at around 11 30am and was hardly surprised when I found that it had not been seen for 2 hours - not since a cat had literally come within a whisker of getting its claws into a Siberian breakfast.

No sooner had I started to get that sinking feeling, the thrush landed in the garden right in front of me. Jostled amongst the birding paparazzi I managed to grab some video.



There was a good selection of other birds in the garden including blue, great, coal, marsh and long-tailed tit.

For the keen bunch of Geordie birders who had arrived at dawn, their reward was a Barn Owl that obligingly landed on a post next to where they were parked. A local resident said that it's a regular at dawn and dusk. While having a crack with the Geordies, one of them asked if I had seen the Little Auk. Answering "No, where is it?", they pointed to the hedge behind me. Sure enough, there in the hedge was a Little Auk!

Sadly, it was a deceased individual that had been oiled and presumably crash landed in the village. I look forward to seeing one with a pulse.

The fun wasn't over yet, and a number of the group headed off to the South Gare near Redcar to see the Black Redstart and Snow Bunting. I drove right to the end of the Gare and immediately a large flock of 50+ Snow Bunting lifted from the beach. With several scopes now set-up in various directions 3 Red-throated Divers were quickly picked up including a couple just off the point.




A wander to the estuary side of the Gare found the Black Redstart feeding along the rocky shore. Job done :)

They're not called smoggies for nothing.