Sightings Roundup - August 2006 · Steve Evans / Mark Newsome

August usually sees all our breeding species still with us, along with returning waders and passing shorebirds, making for a veritable feast of birding ... but this year the weather had other ideas.  July's heatwave really had lulled us into a false sense of security.  The only benefit of this month's rainfall was an all-too-brief selection of coastal drift migrants. 

Summer breeding visitors

It appears that many of our summer visitors have had a good season.  Examples include 100+ Whitethroats in the Easington area and 20+ Spotted Flycatcher near Kinninvie on 4th.  Several juvenile Cuckoos were noted as they passed through.  Swifts were noticeable by their absence from breeding locations after the first week, but groups persisted in favoured feeding areas well into the month.  Washington's Avocets unfortunately lost one of their chicks early on, and one of the parent birds left the site, leaving its mate to rear the remaining chick alone, but this chick is now fully fledged.  Two Reed Warblers were at Low Barns - the first here for many years and hopefully a new breeding species for the site in years to come. 

Still nesting

Even while migrants were appearing fresh in from foreign lands, several of our breeding birds were still busy.  Great Crested and Little Grebes were still incubating, while Spotted Flycatcher, Wren and Yellowhammer all had young in the nest. 

Post-breeding dispersal

Single Merlin began to appear at the coast from 9th, while 2 juvenile Peregrines graced Whitburn and Saltholme on 28th.  A Treecreeper was away from its breeding area at Barmston Pond by 10th.  Several juvenile Mediterranean Gulls were dotted along the coast ... breeding in the county surely isn't far away? A family party of Barn Owls was on the wing on 16th, while Long-eared Owl families were breaking up: one of the last begging juveniles was noted on 18th following its parent in flight.  Single Turtle Doves at three sites, including Joe's Pond / Rainton Meadows' 10th record, keep us guessing at this species' actual local status.  The month's highlight for many was the multiple Kingfishers at Low Barns NR, Witton-le-Wear.  These were often seen perched at close range and fishing together in small family units - surely one of the most impressive sights in the British countryside. 

Seawatching

Seawatching at Whitburn was rather hit-and-miss. Skuas were in below-average numbers with only one Arctic Skua count over 50, just 2 Pomarines and no Long-taileds. Shearwaters fared a little better with Manx Shearwaters reaching 335 on 13th and Sooty Shearwaters peaking at 62 the same day.  The scarcer shearwaters were just that, 2 Cory's and 4 Balearic Shearwaters being reward for the lucky few.  Other notable seabirds included 5 Red-necked Grebes, Velvet Scoters on 4 dates, 4 Scaup and up to 29 Little Gulls. Extras seen from Hartlepool included a Red-crested Pochard on 2nd and several Pomarine Skua and Balearic Shearwaters. 

Drift migrants

Wet weather in off the North Sea during 18th - 20th brought a selection of drift migrants from the east to our coastal areas.  The well-watched urban headland at Hartlepool produced both Greenish and Barred Warblers with 10+ Pied Flycatcher, with South Tyneside's watchpoints picking up Red-backed Shrike, Garganey and Hobby as well as Tree Pipit, Redstart, Reed Warblers, Whinchats and Yellow Wagtails.  At the same time a Wryneck was at Dawdon, while a farmer hand-delivered another one alive to the staff at Low Barns NR - his cat had caught it! 

Waders

Returning waders continued this month with various sites holding Green Sandpipers, including Washington WWT with 5 and Bishop Middleham with 10 or more.  A feature of July had been a noticeable passage of Black-tailed Godwit; this continued with a hundred on the Tees Marshes mid-month and a nice find of a single passage bird at Selset Reservoir in Lunedale on 4th.  Post-breeding flocks were established, with numerous groups of Lapwing and Curlew.  800 Golden Plover were back at Whitburn while Snipe started reappearing, with 21 at Barmston mid-month.  Variety increased as the month progressed, as Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank and Wood Sandpiper came in from the far north. 

This month's highlights and unusual sightings