Drove up to Cresswell with my bike for a ride along the coast, aiming to call in at as many ponds and pools as possible! Quite variable numbers of birds around. A lot out on the sea initially, with several
red-breasted merganser out on the surf with a few
eider and, I think, a pair of
razorbill.
But the first new bird for 2012 - and a long awaited and welcome addition to the list - was:
138 Barn Owl
First one was over the dunes near the parking area for Cresswell pond, and then, as usual, once you've seen one, along comes another - the second circling and gliding over the grass and reeds to the south of East Chevington pond.
Creswell Pond also held significant numbers of
whimbrel and
curlew as well as the 2+4
avocet, 5
snipe and several
redshank. Also, a
yellow wagtail on the farm buildings nearby
Nothing much on Druridge Bay pools, but I'm pretty sure I heard a Tawny Owl twit-twoo-ing as I headed on up to East Chevington, and there were a lot of
Stonechat in the bushes and shurbs along the paths (and a lot of swallows and house martins taking advantage of the clouds of insects which I was swallowing a fair number of too...)
At East Chevington, there was a decent flock of
greylag on the pool, and one or two
sandwich tern and
common tern and a single
great black-backed gull among the
black-headed gulls. And in addition to the Barn Owl mentioned above, a brief view of a female
marsh harrier hunting, but which never reappeared after diving down into the reeds.
Back to Creswell, and another scan of the beach revealed the arrival of a good number of waders: a few
turnstone, 20-30
sanderling, 10-15
dunlin, 3
oystercatcher, and several
139 Ringed Plover
All in all, a good potter along the coast
