11 January 2025 - Northumberland
« Newer | Older »White-billed Diver, Ring-necked Duck, Twite, Grey Partridge, Red-breasted Merganser, Smew, Scaup, Iceland Gull
Had a good day out in Northumberland with the guys, in freezing conditions. There had been a Ross's Gull around South Shields as well as the Grey-headed Lapwing at Chevington. Sadly, we saw neither of these but did have a great day nonetheless. First stop was Druridge Bay Country Park (Ladyburn Lake). It was on show in the low sunlight as we arrived, though was quite mobile. Luckily at one point it did come quite close, but was in shadow when it did, so was hard to photograph well. Superb views through the scope however.
There was also a female Ring-necked Duck on the lake which we eventually picked out among the distant Aythya duck flock.
Moving on, we went to Druridge Bay itself, and walked up behind the dunes hoping for the Lapwing, to no avail. We did see a decent-sized flock of Twite and a fair few Grey Partridge, always a good sighting nowadays. On the sea were a few Red-throated Divers, Scoters and a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers. As we watched from the sand dunes, a large diver suddenly flew past very close inshore, and we first thought it might be Great Northern, though we didn't see the bill, since it was going away by the time we got onto it. On the bird news apps, it seemed that the White-billed had flown off from Ladyburn lake around the same time and was subsequently seen on the sea just a few hundred metres from where we were, so it seems very likely that that was the bird we saw!
Next stop was Widdrington Moor Lake, where there had been at least one Smew, as well as a first-winter drake Scaup. We were able to stand in the makeshift carpark and scan the water. There were plenty of ducks on the lake and the Smew soon gave itself up, although the Scaup was a little trickier. We managed to get good views of both however. There had been a pair of Hen Harriers on the moor behind, but we didn't see either of these unfortunately. It later transpired that there were three Smew, though we only saw one.
After this we went to Big Waters Country Park where an adult Iceland Gull was present, standing on the ice with other gulls, though it was too far away for my camera.
White-billed Diver, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 250 (view full size image)
White-billed Diver-, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 200 (view full size image)
White-billed Diver-, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 250 (view full size image)