Description
Join ornithologist, Andrew Kinghorn, for a brand-new workshop exploring autumn bird migration on the Northumberland coast
Key Information
Course tutor: Andrew Kinghorn
Date: Monday 5 August, 9.00 am - 3.00 pm
Course structure: 1-day workshop
Meeting Point: East Chevington car park, NZ 27145 98478, pesky.clever.slouched
Course cost: £35 NHSN Members / £40 Non-Members
Course Outline
The Northumberland coast is famed for its rugged beauty and avifauna, this is particularly on show during early Autumn. Wading birds and gulls should be well on the move by early August, having left their breeding grounds and now looking for sites to forage en route to their wintering areas.
We will be spending the day around East Chevington NWT and Druridge Pools, the first site is a large nature reserve with a lot of different habitats. We will start by taking a look at the pools here, with luck the wader passage should be well underway and there should be birds to get to grips with. We will have a look at waders in various plumages and go over their identification. With some luck there could also be some movement over the sea, we will take a look to see if there are any seabirds either passing or sitting on the sea off the burn mouth. We will also not forget the expansive reedbeds at East Chevington, we may be lucky and see Marsh Harriers here that spend the summer in the area. If the Reed and Sedge Warblers are still in partial voice, we’ll have a crash course on telling them apart too. From here we will then move onto Druridge Pools, which can again be particularly good for wading birds and we will once again take a look out over the dunes and sea.
The day will be taken at a leisurely pace with plenty of time for questions and discussion. I hope you come away with a renewed optimism of birding in early summer, a time that is sometimes passed over by many.
Recommended Equipment:
Binoculars are ideal, but not essential as a scope will be provided for sharing. Please also bring a packed lunch.
About the tutor:
Andrew has more than 16 years of field experience and has experience watching birds across the UK and Europe. He has seen over 500 species of bird in the UK alone. Andrew started as a local birder in his home county of Durham, he then joined the Durham Bird Club and has been an active member since. Currently, Andrew is the Chair of the Durham Bird Club but has previously held roles as County and Assistant County Recorder. After a stint in the IT sector, Andrew returned to ornithological consultancy in 2021.