Great White Egret

The Great White Egret at Bothal Pond  presented no problems as I pulled it there it was just along the edge of the pool with just a couple of observers there also , they soon left and it was strange standing there alone with such a one time mega bird ,it still is a mega bird but sightings are more regular now  and it's the sort of rarity you could easily find for yourself . So I enjoyed it all to myself as it wandered around the pond edge then hopped over the fence to the north end .

 The bird had a drooping feather in flight it looked either the innermost primary or outermost secondary , not sure if it's moult or damage .

  Called in at castle Island on the way past but nothing of note the water level fairly low .
Also stopped at the quayside River Blyth   Red Throated Diver not far off the side of the river but just to far away in the non accessible area , three or four Guillemots with a couple of dead birds on the tideline . The Tall ship has a new berth taking off more of the jetty access so you cant see down to the piers as well .

A Couple of short videos of the bird feeding , the sound needs to muted to drown out traffic etc: you can see it paddling its feet to try and disturb fish

Wader day 20-8-09

Unable to sleep last night I was up very early and at Bothal pond which held 6 Greenshank,1 Wood Sandpiper,2 Green Sandpiper,1 Spotted Redshank, and about 30+ Snipe, another day of strong winds which is not good for digiscoping, also had 3 Swift which hung around most of the morning, next stop Longhirst flash large number of duck which I admit I ignored, a F Marsh Harrier over , a quick stop at Linton but nothing of note so I headed for Cresswell and into the hide which only had a couple of people in most at the north end , level dropping and wader numbers increasing, 50+ Dunlin, 3 Black Tailed Godwits(30 on Monday) ,4 Ruff, 1 Curlew Sandpiper ,2 Greenshank, 1 Green Sandpiper,also a few Sanderling the Semipalmated Sandpiper dropped in a couple of times, and even stayed when all other waders took flight , another 2 Swift, probably keeping ahead of the rain,eventually those from the far end came to look for the Semi-P, only to find it had taken off as they came in the door (frustrating or what !!!), after having given cracking views on the sandbank, the hide filled and it was time to go.

Update 1-07-09

Having computer problems so behind in my posts, here are a few photos from the past few days , checked Bothal Pond , Longhirst (Greenshank) and Linton the other day a walk along the Coquet and called in at Newbiggin in the hope of a Juvenile Med gull there was five birds on the rocks 2 Adults and 3 2nd years, more Latticed heath and a paler version of Lead Belle, 4 Painted Ladies, and a Speckled Wood at Warkworth, East Chevington only 4 Little Gulls and a few Terns , with Marsh Harrier over.
Banded Demoiselle Female

Male

Lacewing

Large Skipper

Grass Vetchling

Probably an ornamental grass garden escape about 6 feet wide and high

These sort of catkins hang off the grass about 6+ inches long

Monkey Flower

Banded Demoiselle

Looking more blue in this shot

Speckled Wood probably getting minerals from the mud