Clive Saunders

I wondered too but thought Druridge to the Tyne and back might be too much to expect. Here's my best photo of a bird facing the same way as yours. Close but......???? IMO different birds. What do you think?

Glaucous Gull - Warkworth Beach this morning. Presumably the juv that has been loafing about Druridge Bay, Snab and Newbiggin over the last few weeks. Good of it to venture a bit further north and onto the 5km patch. #NEbirding

Amazing, Mark. I walked the whole of that beach yesterday and there was nothing but sand.

Siberian Chiffchaff - Warkworth Beach Car Park - prob same bird as a few days ago. But this time it was calling !! And a bit easier to get some photos. #NEbirding

Not sure these photos show the paleness of this bird. Siberian Chiffchaff (??) at Warkworth Beach Car Park this afternoon. Very pale and monochrome but unfortunately it refused to call. Opinions welcome. #NEbirding

Yellow Browed Warblers have been hard to come by in Northumberland this year. Delighted to find this one at Warkworth Beach Car Park. this morning- calling it's wee head off - which is always a help in finding them. #NEbirding

Hauxley NR - Buston Links hybrids?? I think the bill on these isn't quite right for Shoveler and there is a little hint of Blue winged Teal ?? I presume these are two of the offspring from the female BWT x Shoveler and male Shoveler from a bit further up the coast. ??? #NEbirding Comments welcome.

Another day, another Caspian Gull. Amble Links Beach this morning. 3cy/4cy ?? Don't see one for ages and then... #NEbirding Yesterday's 1cy was also still present making it my first ever 2 Casp day.

After a couple of "is it or isn't it" birds this week. Finally, I got a Caspian Gull that I was happy with. Amble Links Beach this afternoon. A double gull day with the YLG this morning. Apart from PKCS, this is my first patch Casp this year (and it has not been through lack of trying)! #NEbirding

A couple of pics of the adult Yellow Legged Gull at Warkworth Weir this morning. My good year on patch continues - another new one for the year list. #NEbirding Even on a dull wet day the legs were glowing!

Wagtail Research! - Amble Links Beach today. This one looks like a White Wagtail to me. #markaeaton.bsky.social This was the most obvious of 20 wagtails with 2 others maybe Whites but probably not. (That was a good way to spend an afternoon!)

Thank you, but I think you over-estimate my abilities. These are the two September birds that you mention in your initial post (2023 and 2024). It is almost like I am looking out for a completely different bird! A bit more reading for me, I think!

Ok, yes, rump colour is a good clue. I will have to change my search criteria as I may be passing birds over that look like this one.

Ummh - separation in autumn is very tricky. IMO - the grey on flanks and chest is problematic, I would expect head to be cleaner with grey extending onto the forehead and there seems to be dark centres to some lower mantle feathers. Borderline but I think this is Pied.

In Northumberland, we get on average 30-40 per year on the coast county-wide, but numbers fluctuate. However, inland birds are much more uncommon and so not surprised that one in Cambridgeshire got people interested.

Always exciting finding a small wader. Juv Little Stint at Hauxley Beach this afternoon. My first of the year and one I missed on the patch last year. Another good one to get. #NEbirding

Black Tern at Birling Carrs. (Cheers Neil for the WhatsApp). A bit of local knowledge and my hunch that it would move a little further down the coast on the rising tide proved correct. A difficult one to get on the 5km patch - only my second in 7 years! #NEbirding

Today, 38 empty Fosters cans placed neatly back in the boxes and then dumped under a tree at Amble Links - At least they were easy to remove but it does make me angry! (Although if I had finished 38 cans, I probably wouldn't be able to locate a bin either!)

This set the pulse racing today. I know it is an escapee, the transmitter wire is clearly visible, but it still knocks you off balance when you first see it! Saker or Gyr or hybrid ??? Boulmer this morning. #NEbirding

Help needed please? Seaton Point, Boulmer today. ???? #NEbirding. And please don't say its an Eider! The other one!

Gull season has started. A good gathering on Buston Links Beach this morning. I think this is an Lesser Black Back of Scandinavian origin (probably intermedius). Seems dark enough on the back to me and a shade darker than the LBBG next door. #NEbirding

Not many birds about today but two colour-flagged Redshank. CTN at Low Hauxley - (from the Wash Wader Group) and the returning bird to Coquet Estuary, back for a 4th year (originally ringed on the Humber). #NEbirding Two in one day!

Green and Wood Sandpipers at Buston Links Marsh today. (ID : If it flies off never to be seen again = Green, if it poses for photos = Wood). Good to get Green Sandpiper on the 5km year list even if it remained out of sight for the camera. #NEbirding

Friday. Three days ago.

The colour ring is still present but it has slipped down onto the foot. This has made one leg non-functional. As a result it doesn't show often as the bird is usually sitting down. If it follows the regular pattern, Casper will be here until mid Sept. Winter in Calais and back to Poland to breed.

And this is what her ducklings now look like! At least 4 surviving out of the 8 but others may have been hidden. Good luck with ID when they arrive on your local duckpond!

Buston Links Teal - 3 months on and this is what she now looks like. Seems to have got a bit greyer ??? The bill still looks big but looking more BWT ??. I thought I had this case closed as a hybrid (BWT x Shoveler) but today's views have put my head back a fuzz. #NEbirding #birdhybrids

Caspian Gull - Amble's famous visitor seems to have returned early to the harbour. I presume this is "PKCS" but it has returned with only one leg! (The colour ring leg is missing!) 'Casper' was first seen in the harbour in July 2013 as a 3rd year, and has been seen every year since. #NEbirding

Today, the Buston Links Teal brought her babies out for a family photo. Ducklings already developing a big beak and white loral spot. Be interesting to see how they develop further. #NEbirding #birdhybrids Presumably (BWT x Shoveler) x Shoveler hybrids.

Buston Links - The female Blue winged Teal x Shoveler hybrid reappeared today with five-eight, week old, presumably (BWT x Shoveler) x Shoveler hybrid ducklings. Coming to a duckpond near you!!!! She is keeping the chicks well hidden but a couple did make it onto the photos. #NEbirding #Birdhybrids