Friday 7th May

 As if to prove my point a minor extreme weather event hit the area not long after I finished the last post.

Spring?

There were a few rolls of thunder, a flash of lightning and the village was suddenly bombarded by a heavy strafing of hailstones at least the size of marrowfat peas, which quickly covered the roads and gardens.  Who'd want to be a butterfly in that? 

Today a fortunate set of circumstances led to a more fortunate outcome.

I was supposed to be going cycling but my friend cancelled.  A recent cricket injury to my thigh was feeling tight anyway and I was worried I might do myself more harm than good by getting the bike out.

At breakfast I noted that a yellow wagtail had been reported at Bothal Pond and a ring ouzel at Nebiggin.  So I decided that chasing them up would be a healthier thing to do with not too much walking involved.

Flukily I turned up at exactly the right location at Bothal, as what was in fact a black-headed wagtail turned out to be in a horses' field on the other side of the road from the pond. An extensive band of twitchers had already custered by the hedge.  At first all I could see was a couple of swallows.

Amusingly the wagtail was spending its time following the horses to pick up whatever they were turning over in the field.  At first it was favouring the horse furthest away but when a woman entered that part of the field it switched horses and came gradually nearer.  Meanwhile one of the twitchers drew my attention to a wheatear on a dungheap and a couple of horses came over as if to ask what all the fuss was about.

Wheatear

At times the wagtail got really close to either end of a horse and on one occasion, looked like it was in danger of being eaten by one.  It was as if it was a matter of luck that the bird was hungrier than the horse!

Black-headed Wagtail - with horse

Among the twitchers there was some talk about a mockingbird having been seen but I decided to move on to Newbiggin to see if I could catch up with the ring ouzel. Before I moved on a quick glance at the pond revealed some tufted ducks, lapwing and greylag geese, so relative small beer.

At Newbiggin I missed my way slightly trying to find the path to the links when a couple of women in a car stopped to ask me what bird everyone was looking for.  I assumed the ring ouzel was meant but they showed me a picture of another large gathering of twitchers at a rather run down looking location.

I got to the relevant bit of waste ground just off the main street where apparently the bird had been showing all morning before moving off.  It then reappeared briefly on someone's shed just long enough for me to get a hurried shot before disappearing again.

Mockingbird

I waited for half an hour eating an apple but it didn't show up before rain moved in ahead of forecast.

Overall it was a remarkable morning.  The black-headed wagtail does turn up in Northumberland but is one of the rarest wagtails and the mockingbird was several thousand miles away from its normal haunts.  Plus it was complete chance that I found out it was at Newbiggin.

I owed both sightings to the activities of twitchers, who in particular pointed out where to look for the wagtail.  But another mystery must be:  What an earth inspired someone to check out a piece of waste ground in the centre of Newbiggin in the first place?