Post May update - Pallid Swift etc

 A little into June, and already more to write about, but here's my #LocalBigYear writeup for the month of May. 

Starting the month on 157 and finishing strongly on 172, it was a strange month, highlighted by a couple of really good days. The highlight was undoubtedly the Pallid Swift I had go south on a pre-work early morning visit on the 18th, detailed below:

A wander around Seaton Pt, although fairly quiet, always felt like it could deliver something good, with a steady southerly passage of Swifts and Hirundines, and the odd grounded warbler. Whilst walking back to the car at 0655, I noticed a Swift coming south fairly low and on it's own. Straight away it looked a little different from the 29 Swift I'd had go past so far, and my initial looks through bins was to check it wasn't an Alpine, as it had a slower flight style and appeared bulkier: it obviously wasn't and as it was now getting close I went for the camera and rattled off some shots as it flew by. A distinct memory I have of the bird on the initial views was the flat glides, and generally less erratic motion, which then made it easier to track in my viewfinder and gain some good shots.

On checking the back of the camera, I straight away noted some features I associate with Pallid - a scaly body, brown tones and general bulkiness. Wanting to get some feedback before work and give others a chance further south, I stuck some BOC's out and drove home to get ready. Initial feedback was decent, but caveated with wanting to wait to see the processed images - understandable given the BOC's did indeed make the bird appear warmer. There's far less identification documentation on adult Pallid Swifts than juvs, and so ever since the sighting I've been delving through image banks to further my understanding - all the feedback I've received subsequently has been pro-Pallid, and subject to acceptance, it would be a first for the Boulmer area, and my first BBRC rarity find here.

Bluethroat and Firecrest:

The 16th was eyed up across the East Coast as having potential for an arrival - eastliers and rain for most of the day. A pre-work drenching whilst aimlessly wandering round Seaton Pt was fruitless for me, but Mark dug out a splendid Firecrest by the layby there, somewhere I hadn't managed to do. A bit of a pain to see for me, even more so to photograph in fairly heavy rain, but a patch tick and real scarcity up here.

The worst photo on this blog

On finishing work, news came through of a male Red-Spotted Bluethroat at Howick - after some initial messing around, it showed really well in the evening light for an appreciative crowd. A good one to get and one that I thought I would have to replace from my 2020 list this year. The one decent migrant I did get in another round of Seaton Pt was this Grasshopper which arrived the previous day, and is still present - another patch tick.

Flushed from the path initially into a small bush

Don't really like boring portraits like this normally

Howick Seawatch:

Late in the month, a couple of days of moderate northerlies drew my attention, and for Sunday the 29th in particular where rain was forecast, I reckoned a Stormie was on the cards. Having not seen one in Northumberland, I was unsure when they are first 'gettable' on a seawatch, so asked around with the general consensus being that it was a little on the early side. To maximise my chances, I elected to watch from Howick, a spot that Ben in particular has had some good days from in the past and is much higher than the anything at Boulmer itself. 

Imagine my shock when at 0538AM I picked up a Storm Petrel heading slowly north about a 1/3 out, coming in all the time. Although not mega-close, the views were actually really nice, and if my phone didn't have a cracked camera the phonescope results would have been fairly good I think.

Full 1080p recommended to see anything

As well as the Storm Petrel, throughout the morning I clocked up 9 GN Divers, 170 Manx, 4 Bonxie, 84 Scoter, 5 Goldeneye, 600+ Sanderling and an Avocet all north amongst a good other selection of species. The other highlight was a superb adult Long-tailed Skua which was tracked north from Whitburn - it wasn't all that close for me and Mark, but it was brilliant to see one with a full-on tail.

Getting fairly regular now, but still bizarre to get one on a seawatch

One of the 4 Bonxies

All 9 Great Northern Divers will full summer plumaged birds

Other notable bits:

• Blue-headed Wagtail - a female-type flew south during a vismig on 11th May, picked up in the bins as 'interesting' coming head-on, confirmed as so from flinging the camera in it's direction.

A properly grey head with a bit of a necklace necklace stood out head on in the bins

• Cuckoo - A patch tick singleton flew south during an evening vismig session on 19th May, mobbed by pretty much everything in the area.

• Mandarin - It had to be done...when Stewart messaged to say there was a drake on Howick pond on 'Pallid Swift' day, and that he would kindly point it out, I popped across in the evening - certainly one I didn't think was possible in the area.

• Quail - whilst out looking for Owls at dusk, a few notes burst out of a Barley field near Dunstan
• Red Kite - distant bird picked up north of Longhoughton from Seaton Pt on 11th May before it dropped down.
• Scaup - Pair north off Seaton Pt on 2nd May.
• Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher - Female type on 17th May by the farmhouse at Seaton Pt, with the Spot Fly by Boulmer car park in the paddock.

Looking forward:

Anyone birding within 5km of Longhoughton, feel free to find any of my following, semi-realistic targets for the summer:

• Ducks - Garganey, Long-tailed Duck.
• Seabirds - Pom, Black Guillie, Balearic, Great Shear, Cory's, Sab's, Leach's.
• Passerines - Garden Warbler (I'll get one I'm sure), Tree Pipit, Pied Fly, Green Woodpecker, Crossbill.
• Waders - Ruff, Curlew Sand, Wood Sand, Little Stint.
• Yellow-legged Gull.
• Raptors - Osprey, Hobby, LEO.

I'm sure there's things I've forgotten from that, but they're all doable I reckon. Hopefully the first couple of weeks of June have some easterlies for things like Marsh Warbler and Red-back Shrike, and hopefully some rarities make an appearance.