The chance to see what was originally a Lesser Canada Goose, that is now called a Richardson`s Cackling Goose (confusing isnt it?) at Budle Bay, Northumberland presented itself on Monday night. Mark from York called me and we had a chat about the goose and a Long tailed Skua that was up that way on a golf course in Goswick. So along with Darren from Leeds and Ellis from York we agreed to meet up on the A59 near Knaresborough at 8-00am. We made good time along the A1 as we headed north, even the traffic around Newcastle wasnt bad.
On the journey up Ellis gave us the news that the Hooded Merganser that we had seen at Kilbirnie Loch in Ayrshire, Scotland last year had been accepted by the rarities committee, happy days! Our first call was at Goswick golf club were a Long tailed Skua (pale phase, juvenile) had taken up residence and was affording very close views (to say the least). As we parked on the car park it appeared that a big tournament was in progress, would this spoil our chances of seeing the bird? At this point a gentlemen approached us, he outlined that the golfers would not be using the part of the course until the early afternoon where the Skua was and that the bird was still present. We thanked him for the information and headed for the 8th tee. The bird was soon found and for about an hour was watched and photographed by us all. All of us remarked that we will never have such a close encounter with such an enigmatic seabird as this again. Mark made us laugh when the Skua was about a yard away that we could have a selfie with it. All in all quite a fascinating hour!
No news from Budle Bay, near Warren Mill about the Richardson`s Cackling Goose as yet, but as we arrived around 10 birders were searching through about 5000 Barnacle Geese for the bird. We moved along the coast to Lime Kiln Lane at the south of Budle Bay and within 10 minutes had found the goose. A Todd`s Canada Goose was also present but when a Pink footed Goose was stood behind the Richardson`s Cackling Goose the size comparison and structure clinched the identification. Nice bird to see and a good challenge. We stopped near Bamburgh Castle at Stag Rocks and saw Purple Sandpiper, Red throated Diver and lots of Eider.
A Red necked Phalarope along with a Barred Warbler had been found at Druridge Bay pools near Widdrington, sort of on the way home, got to be worth a call. At the entrance to the reserve a few birders were waiting for the warbler to put in an appearance, so we headed off to see the distant phalarope. Still a nice bird to watch as it gave the impression of a whirling dervish (if you dont know what one of those is, google it) Back at the entrance the Barred Warbler showed really well along with a Garden Warbler, to which I remarked borin and got a few strange looks (Sylvia borin, Latin name for Garden Warbler) Time was pressing on as we headed for home, the traffic around Newcastle/ Gateshead was pretty bad. Really good day out with one of the lads having two new birds on his list.
