Myself and birding pals Kieran, Johnny and Dan hatched a bit of a far-fetched plan to get up there, including an overnight AirBnB on the weekend of the 11/01 & 12/01. As it turned out, I managed to negotiate a pass from the Mrs and suddenly it was happening!
Despite the excitement of our impending adventure, Kieran unfortunately couldn't make it, having being tied up with work last minute, however myself J & Dan pressed on - despite the concerning news that all three birds had gone AWOL - a situation that unfortunately failed to improve!
We began at Creswell Beach on what was an insanely cold early morning - the first time I've seen frosty sand on a beach! A scan looking for the WB Diver (reported on the sea the previous afternoon) produced a good selection of waders on the beach, plus Eider and RT Diver offshore. The area around Creswell Pool held several sizable flocks of Pinkfeet, a Peregrine, a couple of small groups of Whooper Swans moving south and a trio of Ruff amongst a flock of Lapwing stood on the ice.
Slightly further north, a thorough scan of the sea from Druridge Pools produced at least 3 Velvet Scoter amongst a number of Commons, 2 Black-Throated Divers, Red Breasted Mergansers and more Eider, as well as a group of c25 Twite over and a couple of Marsh Harriers over the pools.
We took a look at Widdrington Moor Lake, a short drive inland. A nice spot but viewing a bit tricky. Anyways some underwhelming views of some good birds included female Ring-Necked Duck, 2-3 redhead Smew and a 1st-winter drake Scaup amongst large numbers of duck. A ringtail Hen Harrier also gave nice scope views, up on the hillside beyond the lake.
We popped into the Druridge Bay Country Park, where just a day ago the WB Diver was showing it's nuts off. But sadly not to be for us. A scan of the sea did produce a surprise in the shape of a small pod of Bottle-Nosed Dolphins moving north.
With time ticking, we decided before the long haul drive south, to stop off in South Shields to scan for the Ross's Gull and perhaps a Glauc or something. As it turned out we saw neither, digging out a 2w Med Gull, a few Turnstones and a very distant Purple Sandpiper!
A final stop at the not so idyllic setting at nearby Jarrow, on the River Tyne for a scan of more gulls. This did produce distant views of both the reported Long Tailed Duck and Green-winged Teal, to further enhance the day's impressive duck list! But again no Ross's or white-wingers.
It was then time to draw a close to the birding. Really great impromptu catch up with the guys, but from a birding point of view, it wasn't what we were hoping for, but nevermind! Probably scuppered by the short-sharp cold snap that hit over the weekend, encouraging the birds to move - certainly the case with the Diver, whose lake had become almost completely frozen over. It's a mugs game twitching!
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