Summer's on the way!

It has been slow going around Gateshead and my search for a Gateshead Caspian Gull have come to nought. Searching through the gulls at Stella and Shibdon today did produce adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, the first of the summer migrants.



Lesser Black-backed Gull

A look up to Burdon Moor was curtailed by the icy wind, but there was some good crack and a brief Short-eared Owl.



Short-eared Owl

Having seen a few photos of the Stag Rocks 'Black Scoter', I've decided to remove it from both this and last year's year lists. The pictures show an odd Common Scoter with a large amount of bright yellow on its bill, but not the swollen blob of Black Scoter. The distant views I've had in both years (last year was at Cheswick) have been of a very dominant bird with a thick neck and a large amount of yellow on the bill. I'm convinced that I've seen the same bird both years and have yet to speak to anyone who's had close views of a confirmed Black in either year. I hope to be proved wrong.