Local Yellow Wagtail

 

Yellow Wagtail and Quail!!

 Evening walk produced a flying Quail and a singing  Yellow  Wagtail 

Bufflehead and Spurn

Bufflehead female (escape) at Lin Dike Fairburn Ings followed by some lovely spring migrants at Spurn

Iberian Chiffchaff and Spring Migrants

Excellent birding weekend while the wife is in Spain!. Yesterday we dipped on the Rock Thrush at Spurn but made up for this with the Iberian Chiffchaff at Flamborough. No pics but an excellent write up with pics and sounds by Martin  Garner http://birdingfrontiers.com/2013/04/28/iberian-chiffchaff-at-flamborough/
Then onto Tophill Low for several Yellow Wagtails and a Blue headed Wagtail. We also bagged my first Little Owl of the year near Spurn.
Today a quick visit to Padley Gorge provided excellent views of 3 Whinchats 2 males and a female and a pair of Pied Flycatchers

Blue headed Wagtail or possible Channel Wagtail

Spotted an interesting Yellow Wagtail at Audenshaw today.Initial thoughts were it was a Blue Headed Wagtail but the head is on the pale side and with this amount of white on the throat it could be a hybrid between Yellow wagtail and Blue headed wagtail- A so-called Channel Wagtail. Also present were nominate British Yellow wagtail, White Wagtail, Wheatear the first Swifts of the year, Great Crested Grebe and  Common Sandpiper

Firecrest and Black-necked Grebe

Mixed bag this weekend. Arctic Tern Swillington Ings. Bittern heard booming. A flock or about 15 Yellow Wagtails and singing Blackcap Fairburn Ings. Firecrest, Avocet sitting on eggs and Yellow Wagtail at Spurn.
Today a quick visit to Altrincham sewage works produced 2 Black-necked Grebes and yet more Yellow Wagtails.

Wagtails and Plovers

Some great local birds today at the rough ground at Kingsway Business Park Rochdale. Three Yellow Wagtails, several White and Pied Wagtail and a good selection of plovers. More Little Ringed Plover than Ringed Plover. Also present were Lapwing and many Meadow Pipits, Skylark, 2 Dunlin and a Redshank.
Back at home some Lesser Redpoll are enjoying the free seed as well as a Treecreeper who I have seen several times over the last weeks feeding on the ground

Roseate Tern

Me and Dave had a great day out in the sunshine on the east coast. We initially went to Wykeham to look for Honey Buzzards and failed. Again.
We then  went to Amble and got the boat over to Coquet Island. We had great views of sea birds including Puffin, Guillemots, Razorbill, Shag, Common tern, Arctic tern and Sandwich tern. There were Eider in the harbour and plenty of Cormorants. The star attraction was Roseate tern and we had a rather unsatisfactory view of one sat on the rocks. It was hard birding due to the movement of the boat, the distance fomr the island and my lack of experience at looking at terns. Still, we saw it so it goes on the list!.
After Northumbria we went looking for Quail in a field near at Kirklevington in Cleveland and were rewarded by at least 2 singing males. We also saw a pair of stunning Yellow wagtails.
  We finished back at Wykeham in the evening hoping for Nightjar and failed but were rewarded by some excellent roding Woodcock. All in it was a great day's birding.

                                                                Common tern

                                                                      Arctic tern