11th October 2009 – Northumberland

Chris arrived at my house at 0700hrs and we were soon on our way to Northumberland. The weather was damp and dreary until we got to the Cresswell area where it was in contrast; bright and sunny. We had a quick look at the north end of Cresswell Pond before heading onto Druridge Pools.

The previous day a Radde’s Warbler had been found in the bushes alongside the path to one of the hides. We hoped the bird was still present! Amazingly, as soon as we arrived the bird was in view. We managed some nice views of the bird, before it disappeared again into a gorse bush.

Next we made our way to the hide in the hope of seeing the Glossy Ibis again. I could not quite believe how close the bird was when I looked through the windows of the hide, it could have not been more than 10 feet away! This gave good photographic opportunity (or it would have if I could work out how to use my camera in strong sunlight).

A side from the very entertaining Glossy Ibis, a Greenshank showed really well in front of the hide. This bird was catching small fish from the shallow waters. Additionally Chris managed to find us a cracking Green Sandpiper!

Next we made our way to St Mary’s Island where we hoped to see both Yellow-browed Warbler and Firecrest that had been reported there. On arrival we manged to hear at least one Yellow-browed Warbler calling, however the thick cover and breezy conditions made it very difficult to locate the bird. We met up with the Craigster who had come across to Northumberland for the day with Rach. Thankfully his sharp eyes and useful directions promptly got me onto one of the Yellow-browed Warblers. These birds are superb; I never tire of seeing them!

The Firecrest was  quite frustrating as it always seemed to be showing in the area I had just been searching! Eventually I did manage to get some good views of this strikingly stunning bird. After a quick look in Whitley Bay cemy we made our way into County Durham to look for a Common Crane that had been present over the past few days.

On arrival to the area near Kibblesworth once we had located the right area (thanks to the Craigster) we were soon watching a very active Common Crane. The views (although not really close) were really good as we watched the bird as it fed in a recently seeded field. I managed to take some digiscoped pics of the bird.

In addition to the stills; I also managed to take a few short video clips of the Crane.

It had certainly been an action packed day, with some really good quality birding! We finished the day off with a quick look at Grindon Lough before heading homewards!