Trip reports
Low Newton and Long Nanny
Saturday, 15 March 2008
When we arrived at Low Newton Car Park we could immediately see male and female Stonechats through the coach windows. On the way to the cliff area a Skylark could be heard singing (but couldn't be seen). Overlooking the beach a Pied Wagtail was spotted with a Rock Pipit nearby. Towards the sea there were Turnstone, Redshank, Eider Duck and Red-breasted Merganser. On a rocky patch in the water lots of Purple Sandpipers were seen through the telescope and a male Goldeneye came into view.
While walking through the village we saw plenty of Starlings, Blue Tits, Sparrows and a Jackdaw perched on a chimney pot.
Towards the Hide there was a water meadow area where Greylag Geese had congregated, one Barnacle Goose amongst them. Near the water there were Mallard, Moorhen, Teal and a solitary Pintail, which was quite hard to identify, as it was asleep when I passed.
On the walk up to the Hide there was an area of bushes and trees where Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Goldfinch and Magpie were seen. You had to tread carefully to avoid all the toads on the pathway.
Looking at the Pool from the Hide I saw Reed Bunting, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Gadwall and Grey Heron. I walked back to the village along the beach and saw Sanderling, Bar-tailed Godwit, Red Throated Diver and a solitary Grey Plover. On returning to the coach quite pleased with my tally I was very envious to hear of the species I had missed. These included Common Scoter, Water Rail, Black-throated Diver, Little Grebe, Slavonian Grebe, Water Pipit (an identification to be later revised - see below), Linnet and Siskin.
The weather brightened somewhat on reaching Newton Steads Car Park and we set off along the path at the back of the dunes towards the bridge over the burn outlet named Long Nanny. The sea area had Redshank and lots of Ringed Plover with a Shelduck flying overhead. Philip pointed out a seal in the water and he also identified five different types of gull in a flock at the water's edge. They were Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull. More Sanderling and Dunlin were seen and on the water plenty of Wigeon. Joyce later told me that Gannets had also been seen at some distance away.
Making our way by the farmhouse at the end of the day the Peacock in the garden decided to display. What a beautiful bonus! On the way home Mistle Thrush, Lapwing and Buzzard were seen from the coach.
Thanks to everybody who came to tell me what they had seen throughout the day and also to those who helped me with identification. We all agreed that the trip had been very productive in terms of numbers of species seen as the habitats had been so varied.
Sabena Monk
p.s. from Brian Moorhead:
I think we were all agreed on this having been an excellent fieldtrip which produced a long list of bird species, and members will find above a report of the day prepared by Sabena Monk This marked Graham's final fieldtrip in his first year as fieldtrip organiser and I am sure we all look forward to an equally good second year. There are just a couple of points I would like to clarify if I may. First of all I know some members were wondering as to the origin of the name Long Nanny. This is the name of the burn that runs down to the open sea. I appreciate many of you may know that, but a few members did not. I understand that there is a large standing stone in the area which seems to have been named Long Nanny too although I'm happy to be corrected on that point.
The second point I would like to clarify is that the two birds seen in the flooded field near the pond, thought to have been winter plumage Water Pipits may well have been littoralis Rock Pipits (sub-species of Rock Pipit from Scandinavia). I understand two of these birds were seen the day prior to our visit and in a rather pristine plumage were said to have looked very like Water Pipits. I have looked at numerous photos of these species now and I am left wondering how many times the two species are mistaken for one another. They can look very similar. I have removed the Water Pipits from the group list for the day because of the doubts. As I write this I am aware that a Water Pipit remains at St Mary's Island and I also recorded one at the village pond, West Allotment in December, happily both confirmed by other birders.
Brian Moorhead
Red Throated Diver
Black Throated Diver
Slavonian Grebe
Little Grebe
Cormorant
Gannet
Grey Heron
Mute Swan
Greylag Geese
Barnacle Goose
Shelduck
Mallard
Gadwall
Pintail
Wigeon
Teal
Tufted Duck
Goldeneye
Eider Duck
Common Scoter
Red Breasted Merganser
Kestrel
Common Buzzard
Pheasant
Grey Partridge
Water Rail
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher
Ringed Plover
Grey Plover
Lapwing
Sanderling
Purple Sandpiper
Turnstone
Dunlin
Redshank
Bar tailed Godwit
Curlew
Black Headed Gull
Herring Gull
Common Gull
Lesser BB Gull
Great BB Gull
Feral Pigeon
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Skylark
Rock Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Stonechat
Song Thrush
Mistle thrush
Blackbird
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Magpie
Rook
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Siskin
Reed Bunting