Plenty to see

First of all this morning was a wander along cliff top at Newbiggin north bay. Nowt oot the ordinary
but plenty of the regular Pipits, Wagtails, Linnets, Goldfinches and of course Stonechat.

After bowl of soup with a massive cheese scone at The Drift I walked the road from the end of Druridge Pools to Chevington Burn. There were similar sightings but many more Stonechat.
At the Burn a Kingfisher flew upstream and a large flock of Pinkfoot flew over heading north.
Lots of Common Darters were busy outside the Budge hide, while Red Admiral and Speckled Wood made the most of the sunshine.

Shorelark

It was late this afternoon that I saw there had been some Shorelark activity at Blyth south bay adjacent to the Yacht Club. So off I went to locate the bird feeding amongst the blue containers next to the access road. It was not at all put off by a number of vans going past.

Lapland Bunting

Having spent a couple of unsuccessful days pursuing a Lapland Bunting on The Leas, South Shields I was up and out with the news of another at St Mary's Island this morning. After assuming the wrong location I eventually got there and was over the moon to see the bird feeding along the gravel path between the two car parking areas. My camera, or me,  was unable to cope with the poor light so I had a go at creating my own brighter image.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Tried to do the responsible thing this morning and complete the tax form.
Five minutes in and there was the first tweet of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Whitburn. I carried on, needs to be done. Then another tweet, and another.
Thats it I'm off.
Parked up and walking down to the field only to be told it flew off ten minutes earlier.
However on reaching the field the bird dropped back in, and I had my first sighting of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Get in.

Promise I'll be more responsible tomorrow, honest.

Guilty as charged

After Stewart's comments what better way to start to redress the balance of low blog posting rate by restarting with a Red-footed Falcon sighting.
Having missed yesterdays flurry I sprang into action this morning and arrived at Cresswell to see half a dozen cars parked up and the bird on a straw bale. A first for me.

The falcon stayed about thirty minutes alternating between bales and posts, then after a few seconds on the power line took off northwards and out of sight.
A quick visit to the Ponteland Hide at Hauxley produced only a Common Sandpiper and five Redshanks, one of which just avoided being snatched by a Stoat.

Photo Comp

Now that I know that this is Sam  Hood's winning photo, displayed at Logan Botanic Gardens I thought I'd show it here. Sorry about spotlight reflections.

Mull of Galloway

Just back from a few days camping in Portpatrick. Wanted to renew some old friendships with people and places, and was fortunate to get five days of sunshine.
Had a nice mixture of a wide range of wildlife sightings including Arctic Skua, Manx Shearwater, Cuckoo, Spotted Flycatcher, Raven, Otter, Red Squirrel, Dolphin, Painted Lady and Grayling.
The Spotted Flycatchers were a delight to watch and I spent an hour in Logan House gardens watching at least ten as they dropped from branches to pick insects from the lawns below. At one time I could see five at the same time.
The Manx Shearwaters were nice to see from Corsewall Point with a SW breeze pushing them closer.
It was just off the point that an otter went by and Dolphins were seen on a couple of days.
I camped at Castle Bay site with Dunskey Castle on the cliff tops which was the haunt of Ravens.
I was surprised at the number of Grayling Butterflies on the cliff top heathers along with  well worn Painted Lady.
Wildlife was easier to spot than WiFi spots. On one search, I was advised Bangor was one of the nearest.
On a visit to Logan Botanic gardens I viewed a  wildlife photography  display where one of the winners was Sam Hood, and I wondered if that was "our Sam" from over here?