Northumberland birdathon

 

Trip birds in bold, year birds in green.  Photo credit to David Miller if it says (DM)

First light at Linton Lane

A clear frosty start with the temperature at -2 C and ice on ungritted roads as we headed for Linton Lane to watch the sunrise. As we got out of the car we had robin, blue tit, song thrush, great tit and chaffinch all singing and three pheasants clattered out of the tree above our head with their raucous calls giving us a bit of a shock. The lake itself had teal, moorhen, wigeon, mallard, shoveler, mute swan, gadwall, tufted duck,  goldeneye, grey heron, coot, moorhen, little grebe, oystercatcher  and Canada geese. As the light improved carrion crow, blackbird and woodpigeon started moving and common and black-headed gull dropped in. Unusually for Linton we did not see any owls or raptors. We gave it an hour and then moved on to Queen Elizabeth 2 Country Park. 

QE2 Country Park (DM)

Herring gull joined the list along with cormorant, rook and three tree sparrows on a feeder. The lake itself  contained mallard, coot and goldeneye but did not add any new birds. On to Woodhorn Flash and a female kestrel en route plus magpie before and emergency stop and a U turn as David spotted three grey partridge I had missed. 

Grey partridge (DM)

Grey partridge (DM)

We drove on round to Snab Point where the tide was coming in. This little car park gives beach, rocky coast and a good view out to sea so is well worth a stop. In no particular order we added eider duck, red-throated diver and a raft of 20+ guillemot drifting north on the sea. A nice bonus was up to five fulmar coming in to their nesting sites below the cliff. The shore added ringed plover, redshank, sanderling, purple sandpiper, turnstone and curlew while the gorse behind us had a pair of stonechat and a flock of 25 linnets. A brief stop at Cresswell village gave us starling, jackdaw and house sparrow plus an awful lot of curlew and dunlin out on the rocks. 

Snab Point looking north (DM)

Snab Point seawatching point (DM)

So to Cresswell Pond where we had been given a heads up about pink-footed geese in a field behind the Drift Cafe which contained some Russian white-fronted geese. We were happy to find two, and David also noticed a barn owl in a hedge which I managed to miss! Hard to find something different when looking through around 1000 pinkies  for 10 white fronts which were then spooked by a micro-lite. That's my excuse anyway.

Large pinkfeet flock (DM)

Barn owl in the hedge!! (DM)

Magnificent!! (DM)

There was also a buzzard sitting in a nearer hedge. The pond itself was very quiet (for Cresswell) Again in no particular order we saw mallard, wigeon, teal, gadwall, goldeneye, little grebe, curlew, lapwing, one bar-tailed godwit, three little egrets and some cormorants. Everything was lifted by a female sparrowhawk at one stage. The hedgerow turned up a tree sparrow and little else as there were no feeders around or they were empty. 

Cresswell Pond with the snow covered Cheviot Hills in the distance

                                                                                 (DM)

We moved north to Bell's Farm and picked up skylark in the cattle fields as well as a large flock of pinkfeet and at least 150 white -fronted geese. The camera revealed a couple of barnacle geese which I again managed to miss. 

Pinkies and white fronts at Bell's Farm (DM)

Close ups

(DM)

(DM)

Then on to a very wet Druridge Pools with more water than we have ever seen. I was there in August when it was bone dry.

Druridge Pools in August 2025

Golden plover and lapwing and a lot of water

There were an awful lot of ducks and waders in view from the hide and we added snipe, pintail, shelduck, golden plover and three ruff. This is the first time we have ever seen ruff in February in Northumberland. The icing on the cake here was a splendid marsh harrier which came over and lifted everything. We gave the other hides a miss as the path was flooded and parked up to walk to East Chevington. Again in no particular order we had grey partridge again, a flock of 100+ twite, stonechat, lapwing, red-breasted merganser and great crested grebe off the coast. We reached a nice new hide in the SE corner of the reserve  where a group of birders were looking at a kingfisher perched up and giving good views and we then scoped a distant red-necked grebe, greylag geese and another selection of ducks and waders. The return walk added wren and amazingly a singing cetti's warbler in the reeds. This is the first time I have heard this species in Northumberland but of course we didn't see it! Widdrington Moor Lake added great black-backed gull, reed bunting and lunch at 1530! 

Kingfisher at East Chevington

With time pressing we then headed into Druridge Bay Country Park and connected with two birds we knew were there  - redhead smew and a male scaup as well as pochard. At this stage with the light starting to go we thought we should check the feeders to add a few missing tits and finches but when we reached the turning circle in the car park there were no feeders!! Decision time, so we went to Hauxley to check their feeders and added bullfinch, coal tit and dunnock, but not goldfinch which was still missing from the list! By this time it was past 4.30 so a last hurrah at Hadston Scaurs for the odd wader only added a dead puffin in the sand dunes. Apparently it has been a bad winter for seabirds and dead birds are washing up all along the east coast. We finished with 80 and no goldfinch and I added 15 birds to the 2026 list.  Thanks to the Northumberland WhatsApp group and the many friendly and helpful birders we met along the way. We had a wonderful day and finished off with a shower and out to Puccinis in Cramlington for a celebratory meal. 

2026
93: Slavonian grebe

94: Tree sparrow
95: Grey partridge
96: Fulmar
97: Sanderling
98: Pink-footed goose
99: White-fronted goose
100:Kestrel
101: Skylark
102: Golden plover
103: Ruff
104: Kingfisher
105: Red-necked grebe
106: Cetti's warbler
107: Smew
108: Scaup

First "Overseas" trip of 2026

We haven't been across the water since October  2025 so it was nice to get a chance to add a few English birds to the list. Interesting to see the reactions of a local when I get excited about Canada goose:

"I got Canada goose, we don't get them at home"

"I wish we we didn't get them here either"

First stop was Leighton Moss RSPB on the way north to Tyneside from Liverpool. Always a pleasure and I clocked up 27 species and added 4 to the list - carrion crow, Canada goose, great white egret and marsh harrier. The latter was seen on four occasions and gave excellent views of  both male and female. The main lake had over 60 gadwall but unfortunately the feeders were empty so I didn't get much in the way of small birds. We were ambushed frequently by robins which are clearly being hand fed despite the notices!! I also had Merlin on occasionally and it was telling me nuthatch, firecrest and marsh tit  were about but I couldn't find any of them!!

Any food?

Robin sitting on a "Do not feed the birds" sign.

Another scavenging robin

We took the scenic route north via Langdon Beck for the black grouse lek but the field they are usually seen in was empty. The weather was deteriorating - snow showers and the temperature dropping below freezing so I decided to go on a lower road rather than over the moors. Within five minutes 6 black grouse flew across the road in a snowstorm!!

I had been added to the local Northumberland WhatsApp group so I was able to go to Killingworth Lake and see a Slavonian grebe which has been there all winter. A bonus for me was three goosanders, 2 female and one male and more Canada geese.

Canada geese

Killingworth Lake

Saturday promised to be a clear dry day, possibly the best day of the year so far we were told by the locals, so we were looking forward to the annual dawn to dusk birdathon. It is going to be a long and picture filled piece of work so I am going to run it on a post of its own. No patch updates obviously, but the 2026 list is up to 92

2026
87: Carrion crow
88: Marsh harrier
89: Canada goose
90: Great white egret

91: Black grouse
92: Slavonian grebe
93: Goosander

Keep on keeping on

This will update both patches before a planned trip to Northumberland and Bolton to add all sorts of goodies I can't get locally.

I have added eight to the North Down list - garden goldcrest, Carnalea black guillemot and Ballyholme brent geese, but a visit to the Long Hole to look for rock pipit turned up a most unexpected addition to the patch list in the form of a single twite. I noticed a small bird feeding on the small weedy, stony beach between the Long Hole and the back of the North Pier - not rock pipit as it had a stubby finch bill so having ruled out redpoll I was left with linnet (expected) and twite (a long shot). I got good close views and bingo, it's a twite. 

A female sparrowhawk also had the decency to land in the garden and do a bit of preening - it didn't get a meal. I finally added rock pipit and also picked up an offshore red-throated diver on one of my many visits to look for the kingfisher which has graced the Long Hole for three years but I fear it has finally gone. Stricklands produced the expected grey wagtail on the lower pond so I have now seen most of the species I expect to see at the start of the year. 

Twite at the Long Hole

WOW continues to have high water levels despite the sluice being open. Apparently the sluice drains into a storm drain which takes the water towards the channel. However in times of heavy rain (like 2026) the run-off from the road pushes back up the sluice and pushes the water into the reserve. The key is to anticipate a period of heavy rainfall and close the sluice. Clearly it is not as simple as open the sluice and let the water out, plus the sluice needs frequently dredged, cleaned and raked to remove all the detritus trying to get out and gumming up the works. The resulting high water levels means that the reserve is not as favourable for small waders. I did manage jackdaw and ringed plover at Kinnegar so it is not all bad.

Old friend from April 2021

New Stena ferry

Swan pair, we hope they don't stay

Male gadwall

As well as goldcrest and twite (see above) I finally saw a treecreeper in a friend's garden close to Castle Park in Bangor, Having not seen one in all of 2025 it was a bit unexpected  to see one in a suburban garden. What was even more bizarre was to see one land in a tree in front of me in Antrim Castle Gardens the very next day  while I was using it for cover to watch a small flock of lesser redpoll bathing in a puddle!!  I finally added pheasant by nearly running over a splendid male near Ardmillan whilst out looking for fieldfares which are still off the list. 

2026
80: Goldcrest
81: Twite
82: Treecreeper
83: Lesser redpoll
84: Pheasant

85: Red-throated diver

86: Grey wagtail

NDCP

43: Black guillemot

44: Goldcrest

45: Brent goose

46: Twite

47: Sparrowhawk

48: Grey wagtail

49: Red-throated diver

50: Rock pipit

WOW

58: Knot

59: Jackdaw

60: Ringed plover