Howdon Blogger

Iceland Gull - North Shields

2012-01-25T06:34:00.000Z

Shot off from work at 16.00 and was at the North Shields Fish Quay by 16.25 and the following pic was taken at 16.29 in the ever increasing dark

The adult Iceland Gull did put in an appearance but flew around then dropped behind the shed. The gulls on top of the shed were spooked a couple of times but the Juvenile either stayed or was one of the last off.

Quiet Day On The Patch

2012-01-23T20:45:00.001Z

Sunday morning and off to Big Waters for a wander round with Alan J and Ian D but the wind and rain conspired to put us in the hides but even then it got a bit wet and windy inside. The pond had the usual collection of stuff although the numbers were a bit up on the last couple of visits. Plenty of Goldeneye with the highest count reaching 13, the 2 Whooper Swans were still around, 3 Tufted Ducks stuck together like glue and more than half a dozen Cormorants managed to stick around in the wind. We wandered up to the main hide inbetween squalls and found that the water by the hide was still frozen with a few Mallards standing or sitting on it. Good look round but nothing much around and despite Alan's promise not to move from the Feeding Station windows until he had spotted a Brambling, nothing flitted into view and no new species for the year made their way onto my list. Didn't take many pics but heres a couple I did.

Nice sunrise at St Marys but the wind was bloody awful and only stayed out of the car for 15 mins

12 of the 13 Goldeneye sticking in a tight group

The 2 Whooper Swans with their heads up for change

Why Mallards like to stand on ice beats me

Barnacles arriving with the Greylags.

Ducks gathering in the North East corner to avoid the wind and

the 2 Otters that were patrolling the fringes.

Just another quiet day in that little jewel on the edge of Tyne and Wear

First Border Crossing into Durham of the Year

2012-01-21T22:38:00.001Z

Couple of more shots from last week which I have just got round to taking off the camera tonight.

The first one is the Greylags arriving at Big Waters with one of the Barnacles tagging along on the end.

At Killingworth the lake was 75% frozen with all the Mute Swans tucked away in the biggest bit that was Ice Free and with this Gull looking on wondering if there is any space left for a swim.

Back to today and I had all sorts of things planned but the weather changed that so I thought a venture over to the other side of water starting at Shibdon where I bumped into George on his morning walk and had a nice catchup chat whilst looking over the pond for the Glaucous Gull. Next visitor to the hide was Stephen B, a new birder but one who has the same Fuji as me but also has a TCx2 which he let me try out, thanks Stephen. Then Ron H and his bazooka dropped in but unfortunately it didnt get much use as the Glaucous still did not appear but we were told it had been seen at Stella. We did see a Kingfisher, several Dunlin, Snipe, couple of Sparrowhawk although the wind and rain at times did make viewing rather difficult. Heres a couple of pics.

Had a quick run up to Far Pastures where several others had had the same idea and were wandering around the car park looking for the Firecrest but to no avail. Several Goldcrests, a couple of Treecreepers, and the usual tits and finches kept us entertained especially when you put a little food down. A couple of Red Kites wandered over but had put by camera away by then and only had long distance shots although it was a year tick. My last port of call for the day was Lamesley where I saw my 2nd Kingfisher of the day but there was very little variety with only Curlews, Teal, Mallards and lots of Gulls on display which I studied but couldn't turn them into anything more exciting.

Back home early to get my new router installed by son Gazza and my new phone connected properly. I remember 25 years ago I was teaching them how to programme in basic, building computers, communicating with compunet, black boxes etc etc and now I need them to get my bloody phone working.

Looking forward to my Sunday tour of Big Waters tomorrow providing that the BBC has predicted correctly

Short Eared Owls & Other Pics From The Weekend

2012-01-19T06:52:00.002Z

A few pics from last weekend which I have just finished doing post production (a little cut here and a little sharpen there) on as I went snap happy and took hundreds.

Mary Poppins tells us we must "start at the very beginning" but this is the final pic I took this weekend as I was heading home from Cresswell it was just perching next to the road about 200m before the purveyor of all that is fantastic (the Ice Cream Shop).

This beauty landed on the ice at Gosforth park hope it had a bit of protection down below as it seemed surprised that it was not water. (Can they tell when they come in to land if it is water or ice??)

Once again a Short Eared at Cresswell but this time on the posts by the watch point.

Delightful Stonechat which kept us thoroughly entertained between bouts of Short Eared Owl activity

A couple of "Happy Snappers" at their Roosting Area hoping a

Professional will come along and show them how the big black

things work If anyone sees them please take pity and give them a

bit of advice cos if you look at their places where they put their

happy snaps K's and M's you will see they definitely need help.

Coloured Rings

2012-01-17T07:43:00.000Z

Have received a few reports back of Coloured Ringed Birds Nick A and myself saw in December which I had mentioned briefly in a previous post but have had a spare hour whilst waiting to go to the Doctors for my annual 100 Blog Service

Sanderling

GreenYellow//GreenflagWhiteRed

Ringnumber 896215 First ringed on 19 May 2009 at Sandgeroi, Iceland and has been back and forward to Whitley Bay on at least 3 occasions since then and has been reported over 70 times in both places

Pic by Paul McMullen

Turnstone

YellowMetal//Red

Was one of seven birds ringed between March 1998 and February 1999 on the Amble to St Marys coastline. A single ring is missing on the Right Tarsus

Turnstone

OrangeMetal/WhiteRed

Ringed 3 Feb 2000 at St Marys Island, Whitley Bay (BTO Metal Ring No SX83315) as an adult (born before Summer 1999) In recent years it has been reported at St Marys in December 2009, January, September and November 2011.

Turnstone

RedMetal/WhiteOrange

Ringed at St Marys by me (Robin Ward) on 3 February 2000 as an immature (born in 1999) BTO Metal ring No SX83306. I've no recent sighting of this bird so great sighting - Many Thanks

Unfortunately no pic of this bird

Bitterns

2012-01-15T21:10:00.001Z

Saturday morning and before going to Big Waters I thought an hour at Gosforth Park might be worthwhile so arrived there about 07.30 and even then there was 2 vehicles already there but off to the hide I went but it took me over 35mins to get there, 10 lovely deer, 5 in the West fields and 5 in the woods kept me hanging around for a while. They ones on the field knew I was there immediately so had to keep still but after 5 mins watching I started along the path and they started also heading in the same direction but keeping the same distance, 3 more appeared on the path directly in front and another 2 wandered in from the woods but as soon as they saw me they were off.

Them watching me watching them

Onto the hide but stopped again by 2 Greater Spotted Woodpeckers drumming away marking their territory and the woods were alive with Blue and Great Tits. Eventually arrived at the hide and was surprised to only find Paul McM there who was staring through his lens and said he couldn't move cos he could see a Bittern through it (just) but when he looked away he couldn't make out where it was. So after a lot of directions (blind leading the blind thing) and 25mins later I stumbled on it. It was only 30m away but in the middle of the reeds. After 10mins I realised there was another about 6ft away when it moved, Paul spotting it also. Watching them both I took my eyes away from the scope and a Bittern took off from the reeds and flew behind us, I asked Paul which one had gone and he said he had saw the one fly also but there was 2 still there, sure enough there was still 2 there. A few minutes later one of them flew across the pond and landed about 15m from the hide where it started walking in and out of the gully and reeds for the next 2hrs. Meanwhile the other one decided to get to the edge of the reeds and do that amazing balancing act that they do on top of the reeds. It was without doubt a great 3hrs viewing (btw, didnt get to Big Waters). Here is a few pics taken in amazing sunlight which makes everything look golden but for a special head and neck shot check Paul's here.

These 2 were the earliest shots I took when the sun wasn't that intense

and me and Paul were absolutely shivering in the hide

Can't remember the sun disappearing and the settings didn't change but it was in

an area where there was shade

If you look at the Bittern's legs you can see their proper colour where the reeds are

putting them in the shade

Finally, I took several hand held videos (you can tell my the wobbling which was caused by the bloody shivering). They are in full HD but they look much better if you view them in the UTube Viewer

"Undisclosed Location"

2012-01-14T05:26:00.001Z

Had a day off work yesterday so did a trawl up the coast in the fantastic light dropping in at most of the reserves on the way. I don't have time to do a normal "long-winded" blog but at my last stop yesterday there were at least 3 if not 4 Short Eared Owls hunting from about 13.30 till 15.30 and a couple of my friends who were already there said if I put it on my blog a lot of those bloody photographers (LOL standing there looking at their lenses on a gimbal which is heavier than all my gear put together) would be around and they wouldn't be able to get parked. Now as most people know I'm not a supressor of all those rare birds I have self found (started LOL again and had to take a sup of my early morning cuppa remembering all those rare birds I have self found and 2 seconds later I resumed typing). So now in my 4th calendar year as a Birdwatcher (someone said that to me the other day) I realised that I cannot suppress this vital information fully so have done what all those photographers on Bird Guides, Flickr etc do and publish a photograph and say yes I have seen them but use the caveat "UNDISCLOSED LOCATION" so here is a pic that I managed to snap with my camera which cost just a couple of quid more than a gimbal at an undisclosed location.

Short Eared Owl at Undisclosed Location

A Fun Fuji Weekend

2012-01-09T06:40:00.000Z

Saturday and off early to play with my new Bridge Camera, the Fuji Finepix HS20 EXR, thought it was time to upgrade from my now ever so old Fuji which has had more drops and bangs than any of my equipment. The first pic I took with it earlier on in the week was a memento of a momentous day in my life, the Bus Pas for Wrinklies - my first Zero Fare ticket. Cant see myself using it a lot at the moment but might be handy when I eventually finish work and don't have to shoot off at dawn when I'm off work to get the maximum birding time in

Headed off to Gosforth for a couple of hours before going to Big Waters on Saturday, no Bittern but there was a trio of Snipe who failed their camouflage test as I spotted them, a few ducks on the pond with my first Pochard of the year and an hour in the hide with Paul M, Davy and Nigel T was quite agreeable. I bumped into Terry C on the way out, looking like a pack mule as he lugs his big lenses around. I stopped at the Feeding Station for 10mins where a couple of Nuthatch, Treecreepers and Woodpeckers were "showing well" until a Sparrowhawk put paid to the chatter and everything went silent apart from Jeff and Paul banging away repairing the store shed which didn't seem to phase the birds at all.

I then moved on to Big Waters where I added two more bird to my patch list, Long Tailed Tit and Song Thrush. A pleasant couple of hours spent with AlanJ and KeithB added to the enjoyment. Then onto Prestwick Carr where nothing had been seen for most of the day but as a lot of people left out came at least 2 Short Eared Owls.

On Sunday off to Blyth where at least 20 Snow Buntings wheeled around and above the Stubble Field next to the church although a lot of their movement was caused by quite a few walkers and their dogs and during my 30mins there I didn't see one of them pick up any deposits left by their uncontrollable dogs (there is more shit lying round that area than passes through the main inteceptor pipe for the Howdon Sewage Plant), 4 of delightful well under control dogs, ran at me barking with one of them jumping up and putting its paws on my back. When they eventually get control of their dogs the standard phrase used by these morons spews out "They wont hurt you, they just like people", well how the F**K do I know that, how would they like it if I ran around waving my tripod in the air and stopped just in front of them telling them I was just having a bit of exercise. A flock of Curlews flew over and eventually landed on the field to the South but a delightful little Scotty Dog, white with tartan coat (thats the owner, not the dog) ran into the field sending them up again and the bloody woman never took a bit of notice as she puffed away on a fag. The 8 Partridge I saw were quite mobile due to various dogs trying their sheepdog tactics on them. 3 of the owners got together in the middle of a field for a chewing the fat session whilst their dogs ran wild, although I did hear the odd call for them to come back which they totally ignored (thought I heard the call FENTON at one stage also, which made me look up in case I had missed a herd of Deer). On to Big Waters for a wander round with AlanJ and IanR and as I arrived 2 Goosander flew over my head in the direction of Arcot and then when we got to the pond there was another 5 swimming around. Unfortunately that was the highlight of the visit but even so the walk was informative and entertaining as usual.

Onto Prestwick Carr where the Short Ears were definitely outnumber by the big lenses. I tried the panorma shot with the new camera but even cropped that as 50% of it was just hedges. I did meet a colleague from work, who whilst not an avid birdwatcher is quite interested in the countryside and had come to see the SEOs. I also went along to show her the Shrike but they had found it themselves.

Well a couple of days playing with the camera is probably not enough as I still hanker for the instantaneous action of my Nikon "instamatic" but the old camera definitely needed replacing. I will give it a couple more weeks but still feel the need for a 300 F4 (and if that Lottery Win happens I will get an even bigger lens and hopefully hire Maria's Sherpa to carry it round for me)

Desert Wheatear

2012-01-04T06:43:00.000Z

Monday took an early trip to Newbiggin, was the first there apart from the Father and Son collecting the Coal Dust off the tide line with the Desert Wheatear just wandering around the tractor and trailer. I wandered round the beach and it seemed to follow me rather than the normal way round. Had a bit of seed in my pocket so put some down and was suprised to see it come up and take a couple of bits although it did return quite quickly to looking for insects. After about 90mins, there was about 10 people there then, I decided to leave and headed down the beach but the Wheatear then flew ahead of me and stopped about every 10m to allow me to take a couple of pics then would set off again. This went on for about 2-300m with all the rest of the birders trailing along also. So have added my pics to the zillions that are out there now of this particular bird. Also visited Woodhorn, Cresswell, back to Woodhorn and inevitably to Big Waters then to Prestwick Carr finishing the day by picking up the beloved and heading off for our last meal of the holidays before returning to work on Tuesday (I Couldn't Wait)

Slightly blurred but shows off the tail well

This one looks like a furry ball in the early morning sun

The Last Post (of the year - so you will all have to suffer next year)

2012-01-01T08:15:00.000Z

Happy New Year to everyone, its 07.00 and I'm itching to get out there but the beloved is sitting in bed with a big cuppa and a toasted teacake humming and haahing as whether she will join me or not. Whilst I'm waiting I have just read John's Blog about his 2 highlights of the year and bugger me if I wasn't with him for both. His fast lane comments struck a chord also as at 00.40 when the phone rang and it was one of the daughters ringing to say Happy New Year I replied in not quite the same vein of exuberance then passed the phone to Carole rolled over and had a sip of my Lemonade then went back to sleep.

This was my first real year of keeping full information of what I have seen and here are the results of the "Howdon Jury"

Patch (Big Waters) the most important - 112 (but I dipped on the most important - Great Grey Shrike)

Northumberland (including Newcastle and the Tyne) - 197

Great Britain - 222

All Time List - 258 (only since 14 Aug 2009 although I was birding earlier)

Haven't had time to do a blog the last few days, its the fast lane life I lead, so here is a couple of pretty (except one of them) pics taken since 27 Dec.

One of 3 birds that I managed to take pics of with Colour Rings on in the last few days (this is the worst one but it was great to get it flying and see the rings)

One of my favourite birds, the Sanderling, performing their aerobatic lightning fast desplays

Take heed of the sign. Was driving up Arcot Lane when this Harris Hawk flew down the lane towards the car then veered off at the last moment and I shot this through the window. I then got out the car and was within 6ft of it when a chap appeared and said it was his.

Back to St Marys very early, no people or dogs, just the odd wierdo with cameras taking pics of inanimate objects (lighthouses) with big pieces of plastic across in front of their lenses (puzzling)

Once again the Sanderlings at rest but all with an eye open watching the idiot with the camera

3 of the 9 White Fronts at Big Waters

And the Final shot of the year was taken by Alan J as he held one of my cameras whilst I did the lying down in the dirt to see through the hedge to take the above picture. Didn't know he had done this till I got home. Was going to increase the size of the pic to XL but then again I think I don't have to bother

Once again Happy New Year to everyone with particular felicitations to

Alan J

Ian D

Alan F

Keith B and C

Martin

Paul M

Peter PCW

John A

Jack B

Maria and Sherpa Tensing

John B (Camo Man)

Charlie

Macsan

Nick A

Tim S

Nigel T

Willy C

Graeme B

Jaybee

George from Shibdon

If I have missed anybody out I apologise, blame the wife as she has just asked for another cuppa and I am just here to obey

Big Waters and Prestwick Carr

2011-12-27T21:56:00.000Z

Tuesday and off to Big Waters. Straight into the first hide and Alan J was already there with 9 White Faced Geese in front of the hide along with approx 90 Greylag. After 30mins all 9 of them took to the air and headed North but landed after going about 3 fields.

Also on the pond was a Med Gull, only the 2nd one I had seen this year at Big Waters.

We were joined by Maureen and her son then went to the main hide where Brian B was trying to spot one of the elusive Otters. Ian D joined us also. After 45 mins of banter the number of adult Mute Swans on the lake was universally decided as 21 after many recounts. We left the hide as I was going to head to St Marys when Alans phone went, it was Alan F in the hide letting me know I had left my small digital camera in the hide so had to go back. Thanks guys and in appreciation for contacting me, the following pic which was left on the phone, from them, is published so the rest of the blogging community can appreciate what a couple of good looking guys they are.

After collecting the camera I changed my mind and headed towards Prestwick Carr to see the Owls and possibly the Shrike. I also bumped into Maria and Sherpa Tensing, Peter and several others. I reckon if you visit Prestwick for 5 Days you will probably meet 98% of birders in the North East as its been one of the best shows in town for a couple of months now and you cant go just once (for the tick). Great views of the Owls and Shrike were had but all I could manage for posterity was a SEO atop a tree, but who cares cos for 90mins it was absolutely absorbing as usual.

Back on Patch

2011-12-27T08:17:00.000Z

Christmas Day and after opening the pressies me and the Beloved headed up towards Newbiggin with the target bird being the Desert Wheatear. After a walk along the beach heading North and having seen 2 other birders scrutinising a certain spot then leaving and walking along the golf course I was confident it was going to go in the Notebook. Got my bins on it from a 150 or so metres away but then it took off and flew straight past us so we turned around and headed back only getting one more glimpse of it on the edge of the banks about 100m from the caravans. We then headed down to St Marys but it was absolutely chokker so headed home for Christmas Dinner.

Boxing Day and Carole decided to give it a miss and try to get rid of the cold completely (its now 07.00 on Tuesday and she failed miserable so I will have to go out along again today) so off to Big Waters. Arrived 09.00 and only 1 vehicle there so a quick wander round but nothing much around apart from the wind whipping me to death and a small flock of Siskins in its normal spot. Off to the 1st hide where there was a delightful Little Grebe feeding just outside and giving me the eye for disturbing his meal

On the Island were several Cormorants mainly intent on making themselves look good and it was quite a while before a couple of them put their heads in the recommended position to ascertain whether they are carbo or sinensis. So the following pic (small digi camera clagged up against ancient Nikon scope) has the heads at the correct angle for identification as suggested in this article. After studying it intently and with all my accumulated years of birding expertise (3 and a bit) I have decided that I still am not sure so am sending the pic to someone who might.

Whilst I was away in Norfolk the last of the Whoopers departed any only Mute Swans were left which were a bit more active than in the last few weeks with lots of aggro going on. Couldn't quite figure out which ones were the resident couple as there seemed to be 3 Adults (no red rings on) and 1 Sygnet ganging up on others and chasing them then I became more confused when 10 Sygnets came coasting in and settled in with the other 4 birds I have just mentioned.

No sign of the 100+ Geese including the White Fronted which have been around Big Waters for a couple of weeks with the exception of this solitary Greylag which was soon chased off by the aforementioned Swans

Then headed up to the main hide where 3 Greater Spotted Woodpeckers in the Feeding Station were the highlight as the scrape is now non existent due to the influx of water. A small flock of Siskin also came in. Ian D arrived and a 30min chat ensued with me doing most of the talking about Norfolk and its delights then I headed off to Gosforth whilst Ian went on "The Big Walk".

At Gosforth I dropped into the new(ish) feeding station first where Jack (Whitley Birder) was already esconed. It was quite active with Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Treecreepers and Nuthatches being the highlights although there were plenty of Tits, at last a couple of Chaffinches and several Goldfinches and Blackbirds.

Then headed off to the Pyle Hide where I was pleasantly suprised at the the reed cutting that had gone on since I was last there, it certainly enhanced the viewing experience of the birder. A Water Rail was spotted up the left hand channel which was being harassed by several Moorhen and finally decided to leg it. At the very extreme of the channel a slight movement betrayed the presence of at least 3 Snipe which eventually were chased off by the Moorhen yet again. A very badly digiscoped (once again cheap camera pushed against ancient Nikon lens).

Next to appear was a Kingfisher and this time the excuse for not getting a decent pic was that the camera kept focusing on the reeds in the background making the actual bird look a bit like one of those cuddly toys ~~I bought~~ someone might buy from an RSPB outlet.

Finally a short video of a Nuthatch taken with my ever increasing elderly bridge camera (hoping the wife with take pity and let me buy a new one even though when I do bring up the subject she always says "its your money buy one if you want" then turns away with the head up in the air. I want one that does HD Videos like this one from Cain's blog of the Desert Wheatear

St Marys In Great Winter Sunlight

2011-12-25T07:36:00.000Z

Happy Christmas to all out there in Birding Land and outside of Birding Land (mostly my Kids, Grandkids and Great Grandkids) and especially to those who profess their dislike of the festive season.

Returned to Howdonland on Friday evening then after a bit of admin and shopping on Saturday Carole told me to go and watch some pretty birdies somewhere while she washed clothes, tidied the house up and I suspect wrap a couple of presents. So after a bit of protestation which didn't last too long and telling her that she should be resting as she has failed to dislodge the horrible cold she has had for a couple of days I was out of the door like a shot in the direction of St Marys. Parking outside the cemetery I walked past the North Field which was as usual populated by mainly Curlews and the odd Lapwing. The tide was nearing its peak so there was plenty to see close to with lots of Gulls, Redshanks, Sanderling, Turnstones and the odd Cormorant close to the promenade. On the promenade itself were plenty of Pied Wagtails, several Rock Pipits and Turnstones who weren't too bothered by human presence.

In the Wetlands there was a substantial amount of Gadwall (18 I could see although I was told later there were 30+). Wandered around to the top of the grass bank overlooking the North Bay where I met a nice guy who has just moved up here from Sunny Wiltshire to Non Sunny Monkseaton, Nick Adams. I spent about 2hrs there watching Sanderling, Turnstones with the odd couple of Purple Sandpipers "playing" and feeding in the tide line.

Nick was interested in Colour Ringed birds which I have recently become more interested in and we spotted 3 Turnstones and 1 Sanderling with rings. Nick kindly sent me an email with the details on as I had forgotten my book. The highlight of the day was watching a Peregrine making several attempts at getting his Christmas Eve Dinner but as far as we could see failed despite at least twice cutting a single Golden Plover out of the flock of many hundreds but never succeeding in the final kill. Most of this happened in glorious light and was an amazing spectacle to watch with hundreds of birds wheeling around the sky or diving onto the muddy rock faces to disguise themselves.

Other birds seen were quite a few Eiders and a solitary Med Gull (seen by Nick but by the time I got onto it I could only describe it as a "blob in the distance". There was also a couple of Greater Spotted Twerps frolicking in the Surf although I am not sure if they were of the Human Race as the male looked a bit like Jamie Oliver

Finally, whilst away in Norfolk/Suffolk over the past week my lifetime total increased by 4 to the magnificent total of 256

they were

Egyptian Goose

Caspian Gull

Yellow-legged Gull

Western Sandpiper

Once again Happy Christmas to everyone, even those Bah Humbugs in Beadnell and Wallsend

Its Nice To Be Back

2011-12-18T10:03:00.000Z

A trip up to Scotland for a few days where the first day was sheer white out in certain spots with almighty winds but the rest were just cold with the odd spot of rain and snow. Managed a holiday tick total of 78 species, nothing spectacular apart from the scenery which was truly magnificent in places but even better was the evening entertainment in the bar accompanied by the odd few pints and gin and tonics and the company of Big Eric, his wife Kathleen and Vernon and his wife Dot.

We arrived back on Friday night and when I woke up Saturday morning was absolutely loaded with cold but the beloved suggested a walk in the fresh air around Big Waters might be beneficial. Off we went and was surprised to find that the pond was 80% iced up as it didn't feel all that cold. There was still a couple of Whoopers on the island, 15 Mute Swan and 11 Sygnets, 7 Gadwall, 4 Goldeneye, 4 Lapwing, 4 Little Grebe, 5 Canada Geese and plenty of Mallard, Wigeon, Coot and Teal.

We then headed for a wander round the public end where there was plenty of Fieldfare but only saw a few Redwing. Also saw 5 male Bullfinch and 2 Treecreepers, quite a few Goldfinch although no Greylags were found in the fields.

A Kestrel came and landed quite close us to us on a tree and didn't leave till we had gone right past it, then it only flew about 50m then landed on a fence post next to the path

A flock of 76 Siskin with at least 1 Redpoll in was feeding in several spots around the woods, I first estimated about 50 but got a shot of them in flight and counted 77, have now added How to Estimate Better to my list of things to learn about Birding at No 124

Then after a couple of hours wandering around we went for a quick visit to the hides, bumping into Keith B, Charlie and Graeme B. Not a great lot close to the main hide due to the ice being at its thickest there. So headed back home to a nice cuppa and a few doses of LemSip but am now feeling a lot better. Now its Carole who has it pretty bad and today is her 6???th birthday and we are going out to lunch with one of the kids so no doubt I will get the blame for her feeling off colour.

Am off again on Monday for a few days in Cley.

Where Have All The Whoopers Gone ?

2011-12-10T19:29:00.001Z

Saturday morning and didn't arrive till 10ish due to a bit of last minute Christmas shopping and handing my application into Nexus for my Bus Pass which I will be eligible for on 5 Jan 12 which is 329 days after my 60th Birthday but due to the new increase in the pension age everything is being "staggered" back to bring men into line with females (I always thought men were brought into line by females anyway). So I went for a walk round with Alan J and the pond was already showing large swathes of ice which seems to bring the Mallards out in force with 122 of them on the pond/ice.

The Whooper count has now reduced to 2 over the last couple of days since the wind became wild and woolly although Alan thinks that the weed from the pond has been blown to the edges, which is forming rather large piles (see the picture at the end) and as this seems to be the main source of food he suspects that this is the cause for the Whoopers departure

Also on the pond were 119 Wigeon, 5 Shoveller, a couple of Tufted Duck, 5 Goldeneye and 50 Teal. There was also Coot, Cormorant although the Mute Swan adult count has reduced to 12 but the Sygnet count has gone up to 13.

From the 1st Hide we could see a few geese behind the trees over on the fields across the lake, 2 of which looked like White Fronted Geese so off we set on a walk round to try and get a better look at them. Despite the very strong winds over the last few days, as we walked round we only found 1 tree had gone over, fortunately it didn't have a nest box on it.

We disturbed a couple of coveys of Pheasants, a couple of flocks of Redwings and a few Fieldfare, caught a glimpse of a Little Owl but carried on at a much faster walking pace than normal in case, yet again, the Geese had flew onto the pond whilst we were walking round.

At last we got to thefinal field they could be in and thankfully they were. We eventually got a count of 8 Adults and 1 Juvenile White Fronted and 137 Greylag Geese

Here is the weed that I mentioned above and it is quite widely piled up around the bottom (East) end of the pond

Completing our walk round we came across 6 male Bullfinches and 3 Females, the most I have ever seen here. Also spotted were a couple of Treecreepers

Nice quiet walk round only bumping into about 3 or 4 members of the public but no birders/photographers although we did see John Ds wagon on our way out.

Sunday Walk

2011-12-07T06:33:00.001Z

Sunday morning and didn't bother with the hides at Big Waters, just meandered around the public end with no purpose at all, just quite pleasant in my new T**t Hat which my wife had given me as an early Crimbo present. As I had left the house that morning I said I was going to Go Outdoors to get a new hat, you know one of those stupid ones with the furry insides and Deputy Dawg pull down ear things, my beloved said hang on and delved into the bottom of her wardrobe and gave me a small package, damn I thought, hope its not a camouflaged one but suprise suprise it wasn't so now I'm a happy warm stupid Deputy Dawg lookalike with an early crimbo present. Mind you the prize for the daftest looking birding hat still goes to a very nice chap who I bump into occasionally although I haven't seen him wear it since last year at Blyth. Suppose I better mention the birds now, 3 Goosanders flew off the pond as I got to the bottom end, if I'd had my eyes open and could hear properly I might have noticed them and got a decent shot in the open instead of shooting through trees and reeds, this shot is the best of a bad bunch which now lie on the cutting room floor (deleted).

I did manage to spot a few things which I did get pics of, a nice pair of bullfinches into the morning light although once again this was the only one of about 5 shots in focus (ish).

A Goldfinch of quite a largish flock, 20+, which settled onto this "plant" for at least a couple of minutes whilst I tried to see if there was any Redpoll around.

The odd Redwing dropped onto the Grass round by the area where the "Alien Circles" are.

Stupendous Blackbird up near the Car Park.

The birds I saw and tried to photograph but failed were a Treecreeper down by the boardwalk over the dipping pond. a couple of Goldcrest on the bushes by the picnic table, another 2 Bullfinches (male), several Fieldfare seen on at least 3 occasions, the 2 Barnacle Geese which came in with the Greylags again but were just a bit too distant. Finally, whilst complaining about the weather I happened to glance back at my pics from last year and the following was taken a year ago Sunday.

Honestly Alan, They Were Under Constant Observation

2011-12-03T20:13:00.001Z

Didn't get out till late this morning, 07.15, was stuck trying to get through a very difficult level of Angry Birds, but eventually got to Big Waters when it was light. Bumped into Malcolm so went direct to the hide with him where Charlie was already in situ. Everything was up by the hide trying to keep out of the nithering (now why should nithering come up as an error on spellcheck when my Gran use to say it all the time) wind.

Now my first pic was taken when I first arrived at some bloody ridiculous ISO and other settings which I hadn't changed from taking my last pics on this blog, the starlings.

Started doing my count of the birds on the pond and for the first time since the Whoopers arrived they outnumbered the Mutes, there was only 5 in view and 5 Sygnets with the Whoopers numbering 14. The next bird in was a Kingfisher which landed on the nearest perch. Got a few pictures of it but wont bore you with them as everyone seems to put up stunning pics of them which will outshine anything I do. So after counting I came up with 4 Shovellers, lots of Wigeon, Mallards, Teal, 6 Goldeneye, about 100 Lapwing floating around with about half of them dropping onto the North Field for a late breakfast. Also floating around was a small flock of about 20 Fieldfare and a larger one of about 40 Goldfinch which dropped into the Feeding Station. Also spotted 4 Little Grebe which I didn't think anything unusual about that at the time. Then I got back to watching the Whoopers, a great past time, who were very active today.

I then went for a quick trip up to Prestwick Carr, there had bean geese there but they bean gone now. No Shrike could be seen, was probably there but the low sun meant you couldn't see to where it normally hangs out. I did see a Short Eared Owl in a tree and 2 flocks of about 50 Fieldfare. Headed back to Big Waters after 30mins and sitting in the bushes by the entrance to the car park was this gorgeous Robin not 3ft from my drivers window who did a few poses then left.

As I got out of the car Alan J arrived and we set off for a walk together, first thing we saw were 4 Goosander (3 Male, 1 Female)pass only about 20m away coming into land on the pond, one of them decided he didn't like the look of the landing strip so off he went but the other 3 stayed. We then started discussing what I had seen earlier and when I mentioned 4 Little Grebe Alan looked at me and asked that dreaded question "Did you have them under constant observation at all time" as if there was 4 that will be a December record since records began. Yes I had as he stared at me and this banter went on for quite a while. Anyway we got to the bit of the path round the lake where we would be out of the nithering wind and get warm when suddenly the birds we were going to look at, Greylags, took off from the North Field and flew onto the pond, a quick look at each other and we turned round and retraced our steps all the way to the 1st hide. From the hide we got a count of 82 on the lake and 19 still on the Field but they were all Greylags. The 2 Barnacles were still with them. Alan started counting again, checking on my counts and actually getting more than I had earlier and he even pointed out the 2 Little Grebes he could see and reminded me of the Constant Observation Rule. About 5 minutes later I did draw Alan's attention to 4 birds on the other side of the pond - 4 LITTLE GREBES - we then spent about 20 minutes trying to morph them in to 5 but failed miserably. Anyway a pic was taken of 2 of them as they came over to the hide but I could never get the 4 of them together.

A canny blowy cold visit was made better by quite a few birds and good company, forgot to mention Martin (hope I got the name right) and his wife who were in the hide with us. Nice couple.

One, Two, Three, Alan, can I borrow your clicker?

2011-11-30T20:55:00.000Z

We left Caerlaverock and headed for Gretna to try and watch the amazing "murmurations" that take place there. My beloved and I had caught view of one when passing Gretna services 2 years ago and the short view we got far outdid most of the pictures I had seen but could not stop on a dual carriageway. When John A suggested going I, tied in with a trip to see the Barnies I was up for it. So we both researched where to go and I had printed off maps, stuck post its on, plotted my Sat Nav and everything was in the hands of Navigator John when we left Caerlaverock. There actually was only one problem when we guided ourselves beautifully into the correct spot with at least 8 other cars with people out watching, the problem was that the bloody Starlings hadnt been reading the same thing on the Internet that we had and were at least a copse too far for any decent photography so we basically watched from the second we had arrived as the Starlings had just started to appear for the next 25 minutes. There were several flocks coming in and some of them converged forming a massive flock although some seemed to just drift around with the odd Billy No Mates standing out as it flew in late and looked for a flock to join. It was spectacular and the various people that were there said we were directly over the spot where they had been showing for the last few nights but it was purely pot luck as sometimes they stayed for a few days but did tend to move a copse or two in any direction.

As you can see from below I did take a few pics but it was very dark so I have had to overexpose a fair bit in post photo production (a technical term used by me and experts alike, which means moving a couple of sliders left and right until it looks better) and as Alan F would say "it will sharpen up in photoshop", unfortunately I dont own Photoshop. Whilst we were up watching the Barnies at Caerlaverock someone showed us a picture he purported to have taken of the roost last year which looked more like a chaffinch than some of my early pictures and when John and I walked away John said he was waiting for me to add on to my compliment of "Great Pic" "did it take long to do in Photoshop?"

All I can say is go and see it if you havent already been, if you have go again, cos I certainly will

Caerlaverock

2011-11-30T06:28:00.000Z

John A and I set off for Caerlaverock at 5.30 on Sunday morning we intended to stop at Macedees for a Latte near Denton only to find it covered in scafolding (sob sob). We then had a nice drive apart from a bit of a strong wind arriving at 07.15 but had already seen quite a few Barnacles moving around as we approached the place. A quick walk down to the Observatory watching a marvellous sunrise as we proceeded along the Lonnen.

One of the two aims of the day was to see the Barnacles and by god did we see them, there was thousands and how anyone manages to count them amazes me as some of them are very mobile whilst some feed for quite a while in one place whereas the mobile ones seem to skitter around from one field to another in large groups ranging from 10 to a couple of hundred.

We attended the 11am feed of the Swans although only 2 Whoopers and about 30 Mutes appeared along with quite a mixture of ducks, the highlight of which was this marvellously patterned female Pintail

The "Commentator/Feeder" told us that there were 400 Whoopers just a couple of fields over but hadn't came to the feed in any great numbers (which I had seen on previous visits) due to the availability of food in the fields due to the "un-normal" weather we have seen recently. We did see a huge flock (in the hundreds) from one of the hides later on in the day. There was 250-300 assorted birds on the pond including about 20 Greylags which arrived just on time for the start of the feed but took no part (no White Fronted unfortunately as it seems like they are all over in Northumberland)

We went to the Teal Hide and just got settled in and chatting to a couple who were staying in the cottage on the reserve for a couple of days (they were from Long Horsley) when a Sparrowhawk flew past carrying what looked like a mammal in its grip (do they catch mammals ?). From the hide we saw Several Shoveller, Tons of Teal, Waddles of Wigeon, Many Mutes, Many Mallard, a Gorgeous Godwit, Gaggles of Gadwalls, Bountiful Barnacle then another Sparrowhawk came over and the birds came off the water and the scrapes in sections which no camera could capture although Barnies and Mutes just looked on with an air of indolence.

A wander round the reserve visiting the tucked away spots produced Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, a couple of Linnet (although one of the wardens said there was a flock of over 100)goldfinch, a couple of Treecreepers, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wrens and the various Tits and Finches in quite large numbers.

We then left at 14.30 for our 2nd aim of the day (can anyone guess)

Patch Tick 111

2011-11-28T21:01:00.000Z

Saturday and a slow drive to Big Waters. Once again a few Red Wing and Field Fare around but most things keeping their heads down in the bloody awful wind. Went straight to the first hide and most things were huddled round the island and against the reeds but not for long when the Otter disturbed them and off they went so off I went up to the main hide. Only Charlie there this morning and after a brief chat I looked around and everything had left and gone back to around the island. A bunch of geese approached, only 12 of them, from the North but didnt take a lot of notice as I thought they would do a once around then land on the pond but they just didnt look right so got the bins on them and saw they were all Canadas with 1 different one, I thought it was a White Fronted Goose but they dropped into the field behind the Dogwood and even though I kept looking I never got view of them again. The Otter came out again and for some reason every bird from the area of the Island to the 1st Hide came barrelling over to the area of the main hide and at the same time a Sparrowhawk came thundering through carrying something. Eventually everything settled down.

I wondered outside when Charlie said someone was on the Boardwalk (always quite a good idea in my opinion as they disturb birds during their walk in (still hoping for a flushed Woodcock)) and sure enough a couple of Redpoll flew to the top of the trees and sat there long enough for the recent arrivals to get a good view also. I then headed back to the 1st Hide prior to going to Laverock Farm to stock up on birdfeed and bumped into Alan F and after settling in Alan J arrived then a new chap (a possible ID was Bedlingtonwanderer after reading his recent blog but then again my bird ID is not the greatest at the best of times never mind my Blogger ID skills). Anyway the chap and his son from Blyth who had been at the main hide arrived also and it was like Piccadilly Circus (6 people in the hide at the same time, must ask Alan to check the patch data and see if this is a record). A Buzzard was on the post on the North side of the pool and a Fox walked along the scrape towards the main hide although looking at the hide we seemed to get the impression that nobody had noticed it. Then Alan F noticed a speck in the sky coming in fast, Peregrine he shouted and we were all on it within seconds. It didnt come particularly close but great views for about 45secs or so but no doubt Alan J will tell me it was only 39 ! A new patch record for me and up to 111 for the year

I then had to leave just as things were beginning to warm up to collect Birdseed but forgot to mention those little cuties whose numbers are increasing very slowly, I saw 6 this morning but higher numbers have been seen recently

A Pile of Sh**e

2011-11-23T19:36:00.000Z

Well not exactly a pile but certainly a little plop of poop

The poop is proudly held by Andy, Graeme B's mate at Holy Island on Sunday as when he was watching the Black Redstart it decided to relieve itself and then move on, quick as a flash Andy was up and had scooped it up and proudly displaying it.

Eat your heart out Chris Packham - anyone can get Owl poo, but this......

(ps, its the little white bit on the top)

Meanwhile back at Chez Hall another bad picture of one of the local Sparrowhawks taking a rest

whilst the pantry is restocked.

My Brain Hurts After A Great Day

2011-11-21T23:05:00.000Z

Sunday morning up and away by 7 and a quick visit to Killingworth Lake. 4 Goosanders on view, 2 Male and 2 Female with one of the Males being a Full adult with gorgeous plumage. But as usual they are up and away like rockets once you get within 50m of them, unlike the ones we saw earlier in North Wales who came up to you and took bread from hand. Quite a few Tufted Ducks and at least 118 Mute Swans. The Mallards seemed to be having a mass migration onto the smaller pool and were crossing the road in small groups of about 6 to 8. They would wait for a car to pass (quite busy for 7.20 on a Sunday) then would scuttle across then the next lot would wait even if there was no traffic until the next car would appear then away they went as soon as it passed. I watched this happen at least 8 times then wandered across the road to see where they were going as they would hop across the wall and would dissappear. There was over a 100 tucked on the little bank leading down to the water. On to the patch at Big Waters and the Sun assisted by the clouds was giving some awesome views as I wandered round the public end.

By the football pitch car park there was loads of Thrushes around bathing in the light and warmth of the sun and on this tree alone there must have been a mixture of at least 50 Redwings and Fieldfares.

Plenty of them on the Football Pitch also but had to shoot with the Sun in front of me and from inside the car.

One of the bonniest birds around, the Fieldfare, is even more of a stunner in the sun, now if only I could teach my camera to take pictures of what I can see.

I was standing by the gate in the car park finishing off my Maccydees Latte when this Blackbird came and landed on a branch right above my head and just sat there. I didnt take a pic at first just stood and watched thinking that if I lift my camera it will be away, so finishing my coffee I went and put my cup in the bin and the Blackbird hopped over to the tree next to the bin so with 2 hands free I took a couple of snaps put my camera down and he then flew away. Now if only the Redwings and Fieldfares had been that accommodating earlier on.

I had a quick visit to the hide and a chat with John B who was occupying his usual corner then headed back to the car to meet Graeme B for a trip up to Holy Island to see a visitor from the East. I actually bumped into Graeme halfway down the track on his hunkers examining a freshly killed Blackbird with a ring on. We then left and bumped into Alan J and Ian D on the way out and told them where the dead Blackbird was. On our return Alan had already sent an email saying

"Yes it was one that I ringed but interestingly it was a while ago.

A 4M Blackbird 24/06/2006. There had been no further retraps."

Off we went to Holy Island arriving about 30mins before the water receded enough for us cross although these Brent Geese being unable to read completely ignored the signage. Whilst we were waiting I did spot an outline looking into the sun and thought thats different, pointed it out to Graeme, who confirmed it was a Pintail and thought "the boy had done well" until Graeme said there were quite a lot round here.

With a couple of nods and winks from a local couple and directions worthy of a Satnav we were viewing our Eastern visitor within 5mins of getting out of the car. It was certainly a great view as well with the bird doing some great leaps up for a quick snack and whilst everybody seemed to keep their distance and acted very responsibly the bird didnt seem to care and just went where it wanted and was at times within 4-5ft of some of the watchers, especially those that were standing on the top of the steep cliff (a 15ft drop from the path actually).

We watched it for a good 30mins then headed off to look for its a cousin, a Black Redstart (with no unprounceable words in italics after it). Bumped into quite a few people and stopped to chat (Hi Maria and Dave and Vee and Dan and etc, etc.......) which probably was the reason we didnt find the Black Redstart but a bit of mountain climbing was participated in by myself (although to Graeme it was a bit of a saunter). Loads more Brent Geese around continually coming in to land just off the beach then buggering off again. We tried to conjure up some Grebes but only a few Eiders offshore and a couple of seals couldn't be morphed into anything although it did give me time to suck in a bit of Oxygen.

Graeme got a msg on the phone saying that a Black Guillemot had been seen off the shore beside the excavations, so off we went, although I did lighten my pack at the car (Scope and a couple of heavy things) as Graeme said it was a bit of a trek. Of he went briskly stopping every 3-4 mins putting his bins up and looking around (what a polite chap he is) whilst I caught up. We eventually reached the top of the Dunes and I was looking around for Livingstone but all I could see was a normal family (couple with 2.4 children and a wee doggie) wandering along the beach (obviously we werent in the back of the beyond). About half an hours scanning produced a few Common Scoter, several Guillemot (no black), a Red Throated and a Great Northern Diver. Feeding in the pools on the rock edges was the normal suspects plus a single Grey Plover and 3 Knot. We then headed back and immediately bumped into 2 Short Eared Owls and watching them whilst we were heading back, they seemed to "bump" into one another with at least one of them calling (which Graeme said was unusual). They hunted for quite a bit then dissappeared out of sight to the West. Toward the end of the trek across the dunes another SEO came up from the ground about 20m in front of us and did a few circles then it headed West also. A slow drive back as the sun faded with me doing most of the talking (trying to clear a bit of space on the old internal hard drive) as once again after a day out with a great guy who imparts knowledge like I exhale CO2 my brain was full to overflowing and didnt have any more space to try and remember birdie stuff.

Thanks Graeme

Then when I got home my beloved prepared a great bacon and sausage buttie and as I sat down to scoff it she gently pushed the Nikon D70 across the table and said that word that makes Chris Packham rub his legs and makes the pic takers in Big Muddy Hide actually move

SPARROWHAWK

Bewicks at Big Waters

2011-11-20T07:05:00.000Z

Saturday and off to straight to Big Waters arriving at 07.00 with lots of Whoopers and Mutes being the most obvious thing in the mist as the sun started to rise (well somewhere it was rising cos not much light was filtering through here). Sat at the picnic table for an hour scanning the pond, brought some Hovis Wholemeal and I was the Mutes best friend whilst I was still chucking it out for them but just like in the real world when you have nothing left everyone buggers off. I did manage to collect 2 ring numbers I hadnt seen before so will wing them off to the BTO this week for checking. I have received 2 sighting reports back this week.

Ring Number: W11480 Species of bird: Mute Swan ringed by Coleman & Coleman as age 2nd year, sex Male on 31-Jan-2004 at Killingworth Lake.

Ring Number: ZZ7285 Species of bird: Mute Swan ringed by Coleman & Coleman as age Nestling, sex Male on 18-Aug-2008 at Wallsend, Rising Sun Country Park.

So it looks like these 2 hadn't travelled far but could have been round the world and back again but doubt it very much. In the bushes next to the picnic table I did spot 5 Goldcrests just sitting there and left them alone for 10mins but when the first walker appeared I decided to try and get a pic but as soon as I moved from my scope they were away. There was also a small flock of about a dozen or so Long Tailed Tits moving around and the number of Thrushes was much more than usual on top of the trees and scurrying across the grass under the trees. Up to the 1st Hide for an hour and things were starting to get better. The Swans were now getting more active.

The Cormorants, only 8 which is not as many as usual, doing their flying low and straight across the lake towards the tree then pulling up hard and waiting for another bird to take off creating a space on one of the more popular perches but this one failed on more than one occassion.

From the main hide 5 Male and 3 Female Gadwalls were easily visible.

These 2 dragged themselves up onto the scrape and canoodled away for more than an hour hardly moving, another 2 new BTO numbers were scoped for checking.

Then from the North West came the sounds of shooting which resulted in a mass exodus of the birds from the Scrape (with the exception of the 2 Mute Swans) and they all flew across to the other hide which had just occuppied by Alan JJ who stayed there for another hour.

Eventually I have managed to get a few more shots of my favourites of the moment, the Whooper Swans and the 2 new arrivals, the Bewick Swans.

Bewick Swans

The difference in size is quite obvious in this picture

Finally an unusual view of the Emirates arrival at a different angle than usual, managing to get quite a bit of Big Waters in.

Did pop up to Prestwick Carr in the afternoon where some more stunning view of the Great Grey Shrike were had and 8 SEOs in the air at the same time. No pics were taken as was too busy admiring them through the optics (Bloody Stunning)

The Beauty of Big Waters

2011-11-19T06:35:00.000Z

Got away from work a couple of hours early so off to Big Waters. It was extremely dull

but there was quite a bit of stuff liberally scatter around the pond but unfortunately the birds

I had come to see where just too far away to be photographed but did pose nicely for views

through both bins and scope. These were the 2 Bewick Swans and the 2 Male Goosander.

Also on the pond were 13 Whooper and 41 Mute Swans, the Mutes being a new record for

Big Waters but Alan J needs a quick check through his copious records to confirm it. The Otters were

out and about a couple of times although the Ducks seem a bit more tolerant of them and dont

move around like dimented dimenters although the Gulls are forever harassing them , Also the

Wigeon numbers are staying around the 140 mark, with the Mallards increasing alsos. At least

8 Goldeneye were on parade looking extremely smart, 3 Shoveller, one of them being a very

dapper male, 3 Pochard, a couple of Tufted Duck and the normal interspersing of Coots and

Moorhens with the family party of Canada Geese dropping in at the end of the day.

The gaggle of Greylags arrived at 16.00 as it was getting too dark to count although Mr Johnstone

did have a go but then it was too dark to read his clicker, although we did make out the

2 Barnacle Geese that normally tag along with them but no White fronted unfortunately.

Anyway a nice afternoon with Alan, whoops forget to mention the copious amounts of Fieldfare

and Redwing that are about and a couple of largish flocks of Lapwing, the bigest being 145.

Cant do a post without a picture so heres one I took about 15.30 when the sun came out

for a few minutes and made the pond look even more stunning than it usually is.

And The Award For The .....

2011-11-13T18:53:00.000Z

The Award for the worst photo of the Greater Yellowlegs and the Grey Phalarope together goes to

Howdon Blogger

But who cares, I got some great views of it and the Grey Phalarope

Big Water Tick 109

2011-11-12T20:59:00.000Z

Saturday and off Big Water, the 12 Whoopers were still there although they all gathered together just after 8 and then took off headed east towards the coast. The familiar trill of the Waxwing drew my attention to 8 of them flying in the direction of Prestwick Carr. The pond was very busy by 8.30 with 80+Greylags, 28 Mute Swans, a couple of Barnacle Geese, 2 Great Crested and a Little Grebe, 13 Cormorant, 11 Canada Geese, lots of Wigeon and Teal, a few Tufted, Mallards, Coots, a Couple of Water Rail and the whole pot being stirred by an Otter, a Sparrowhawk, a Buzzard and the Police Helicopter.

About 9.30 I headed up to Prestwick Carr and couldn't have timed it better arriving just in time to see the Great Grey Shrike again putting in a good appearance for about 20 mins with a another couple of its stunning hovering displays. I returned to Big Waters after a bit of crack with Peter and John and a few others and bumped into Alan J and John D who were just leaving and John had seen 7 White Fronted Geese (Albifrons), 8 Pinkfeet Geese and an adult Otter with 2 cubs. The only occupant in the hide was Maria so another good chatting session was had which was rudely interrupted by 2 birds coming out of the reeds in front of the hide, looking around then taking to the air, the good news was they were a year tick for me for Big Waters (Goosander) but only got a shot of their backsides as they took off.

Also was glad to see the Whoopers had returned, all 12 of them.

On the way out there was an absolute gorgeous greenfinch which I couldn't resist watching for 10 mins

Great Grey Day

2011-11-11T18:42:00.000Z

Left work early and popped up to Prestwick Carr and got some great views of the

Great Grey Shrike.

It flitted from bush to bush and hovered quite a bit although it never seemed to dive from the hover to the

ground. When it did go to ground it just dropped from the bush or post it was on and stayed for between

20-30 Seconds

Had a bit of a chat with Peter and Dick who joined me on the bumpy road just as the Shrike was

chased of by a couple of Magpies. They had been watching it from the approach road and had

also been having good views. Plenty of Fieldfare around, a solitary Snipe flew over and apart

from a Kestrel which seemed to be around most of the time I was there it was pretty quiet.

Sunday With Johnny

2011-11-09T07:27:00.000Z

Due to technical difficulties (the beloved made me look at holidays for the last 2 days) the blog from Sunday is yet again late. Sedgedunum John and I headed up to Blyth first and sure enough plenty of Eiders on show and plenty of Coo Coo Cooing going on.

On to the Harbour where we quickly located the 8-9 Snow Buntings but this one just sat there for a while giving some decent views. I didn't bother to take "good" pics cos I had some great pics last year (thats my excuse)

As a certain lady I know always says quantity is better than quality (I think she is talking about bottles of wine) I went for the pic with the most birds in - I know there is 5 in this pic

It was then I had another Lifer in the form of Will Dawes, ever such a nice chap. We bumped into several other birders also but to correct a friend of mine, "another guy" is called Tony. The Bonus Bird of The Day, a Red Throated Diver, was spotted moving out to sea down the river, diving as it went ~~(The clue is in the.......~~ Better stop there or I will be done for ~~Plagerisen Pleygerism~~ Copying

After a brief tip to Newbiggin to take in the delights of "The Couple" (still dont get it) and a look at the odd bird or 27 Med Gulls, but they promptly dissappeared as we were walking to the beach when some well brought up young lad who obviously failed his SATs (its the 6th you fool) let off a rather loud banger and the area was devoid of wild life (even the dogs crapping on the beach left) within 30 seconds.

On to Druridge where John A, who on espying our 2nd Common Darter of the visit managed to get it onto his hand with no problems at all (I remember previously when he was in my car a draft copy of my new publication "Dragonflies - How To Train Them" went missing)

On our departure from Druridge I spotted a Ladybird huddled under the base of a Teazel. Is this very late for Ladybirds or was it just the bloody awful weather the last 2 years that makes me think this.

DISCLAIMER - ANY RESEMBLANCE BY THIS BLOG TO OTHER BLOGS IS
PURELY COINCIDENTAL

Another Good Day Out

2011-11-06T20:15:00.000Z

Over the past couple of weeks several ringed birds have been spotted by visitors to Big Waters and some of the results received so far are:

Cormorant - ringed as a nestling at Rutland Water (no info if it was of the sinensis race)believe this has also been seen on Castle Island

Whooper Swan - ringed as an adult female at Welney in 2009
Black-head Gull - ringed as pullus in 2010 at Hirsholm, Frederikshavn, Denmark*
Barnacle Goose - ringed in 2007 as an adult female on Nordenskiold in Spitsbergen !!!
Mute Swan - TNT is a nice recovery, ringed as a female cygnet at Carham on the River Tweed on 08/08/2003. There are no subsequent sightings in the database so great to find out about a bird that's been off the radar for 8 years.

Still waiting for 3 reports from BTO

So remember all of you Big Waters people if you see a ring or photo it, please let someone know (preferably Alan as he seems to get the info much quicker than me)

Took a pic of the birds from yesterday to save me typing it out (didnt have time as one of the kids popped

in after her visit to Nigeria)

Always take a few shots early morning when I arrive and was particularly

pleased with this one

Some great Fungi around at the moment with this one, for me, definitely the

pick of the bunch (took some better ones with my small compact but when Carole

and I went for a meal in the afternoon I left my camera on the table but didnt

realise till this morning, checked with the hostelry but no trace of it, so if you get

offered a cheap black Nikon dont buy it because its been back to Nikon 3 times to get repaired)

I mentioned previously that lots of Pheasants are in the Feeding Station filling themselves

up on apples so there are plenty of opportunites to get some great pics of this

extremely photogenic bird

Once again though my attention is drawn to the Whooper Swans who seem to

dominate the pond at the moment

Day was rounded of well though with The Toon still carrying on their run

Big Waters During The Week

2011-11-05T06:26:00.000Z

Found quite a few of these around Big Waters, more than 20 in fact, so not knowing what they were I contacted the Ranger Service who told me that they were cut to allow them to sow Yellow Rattle wildflower seeds. Yellow Rattle is a parasitic flower which attaches itself to the roots of grasses and stunts its growth. This has a beneficial effect on the meadows as many wildflower species struggle growing amongst lush grass. Alternatively they are a message to aliens

Still appearing at Big Waters by popular request are a couple of Barnacle Geese along with a cast of normally 70+ Greylags although late this afternoon there was 120+.

The Cormorant numbers are increasing and they numbers seem to peak early morning with my best count so far being 18. The 12 Whooper Swans are still there today, thats 17 days now since their arrival.

The Gulls take over the dead tree at times.

But when the Cormorants decide to go back the Gulls are forced to give up their places

The Buzzards normally stay on the North side of the Pond but last weekend a couple of them came on the South side to do a bit of soaring.

No Bills Today, So Wasn't Cross

2011-10-30T06:04:00.000Z

Early start at Big Waters and when the sun started to rise there was some amazing colour.

It was still quite dark when the 14 Whoopers decided on an early morning stretch. Camera was on the wrong settings after taking the shot above and I was just pointing it and shooting but the movement in

this one I particularly like

In the Feeding Station the apples were attracting lots of Pheasants and at one stage there

were at least a dozen in view

Plenty of birds around with a couple of Goldeneye, 2 Buzzards over the pond, 16 Lapwings making several appearances but never landing, 23 Mute Swans and 10 Sygnets, 2 Little Grebe, 4 Great Crested Grebe, 18 Gadwall, 18 Teal, 43 Coot and lots of Wigeon. Half a dozen Long Tailed Tits arrived at the same time as Treecreeper (my first ever in the Feeding Station) and it kept working its way up a tree, flying off but immediately returning to the self same tree. A Water Rail also did a few runs inbetween the Reeds and the Filling Station. A delightful Wren kept me and Charlie busy trying to get a shot of it as it flitted from one side of the Feeding Station to the other.

A Kingfisher was present till about 9.30 and returned later when we returned to the hide to get out of the rain and have a chat with John D. The Otter was active for a lot of the morning also catching at least 3 fish and keeping the birds on their toes as it worked its way round the pond. I went for a walk with Alan J and Keith B but we only got to the bottom of the pond when we spotted some birds dropping onto a conifer just as the rain started. We stood and watched them for a while, identifying them as a couple of male Crossbills, a female and 7 Redpolls. See what you can count in this very distant, overexposed, oversharpened picture.

The walk was abandoned after 30mins sheltering in the trees, which enabled us to spot a couple of

Goldcrests, a couple more Redpoll, Long Tailed Tits and a Buzzard. We headed back to shelter in the 1st hide and I spotted a Juvenile Sinensis Cormorant with a coloured ring which hopefully Alan will be able to trace

A flock of Greylags arrived and after several recounts we decided on (I think) 71 plus a couple of Barnacles (a patch tick for me)

We then headed up to the main hide for a chat with John D and as mentioned above the Kingfisher returned the Otter came out again to stir the birds up and despite trying no one could confirm my early morning count of 14 Whoopers with only a count of 12 being obtained. As Alan and I left we realised there had been quite a large fall of Blackbirds and a few Thrushes with at one stage nearly 30 Blackbirds in view so the inevitable hunt for a Ring Ouzel took place but with no luck, one day though...........

Despite the rain stopping the walk we had a super time and as you always learn something when you are out no matter how old you are the one thing that will stick with me today is the positioning of the identification number of the 7 AWACS planes (dont ask).

Arrived home early to take the beloved out for a meal but she was too interested watching the film crew outside the house doing an episode of Vera starring Brenda Blethan so that saved me a few bob (well done Brenda) but no doubt she will want a nice meal out tomorrow and has already reminded me a couple of times that the bird food stock is getting quite low and the garden needs a bit more attention. The life of a Birder is so simple, allowed out for birding then do what your told, sound familiar anyone?

Wonder Where The Pipit Went

2011-10-29T07:08:00.000+01:00

Friday morning and up a little bit earlier than usual so decided to have a walk round St Marys to blow the cobwebs away. Suprised to find myself the only person around when I arrived (well no cars around). Tide was just starting to recede so after a once round the reserve I took a couple of pics and was quite happy with the results. The lighthouse I believe has been lit to celebrate breast cancer day.

Not used to shooting in the dark I upped the ISO on this one.

Tried a bit of arty farty shooting as someone had left a bike here (only saw one other soul - who arrived by car, humped a camera out with filters and all bits of stuff set everything up and looked as though he only took one pic then left)

Finished work early in the afternoon and headed back to see if I could see the Richards Pipit. There was 3 or 4 people scanning the fields to the West of the Wetlands so presumed it could still be around. Then all of a sudden 2 individuals with scopes and cameras climbed over the barbed wire fence and started walking around the fields with the result that several birds took to the air heading West. They then headed West themselves and climbed over another fence which then put them in the field where the Curlews feed so up they went. They then turned round, climbed another fence and probably by this time if the Pipit had been there it wasn't now. The people watching eventually drifted along and several nice things were said about the 2 gentlemen who had kindly put the birds up for us. I could be doing them disservice, they might have been doing an authorised survey or might have even owned the land that we thought they were trespassing on, but .......................

ps. afterwards after spending an hour watching a spot where a YBW had just been seen and only getting glimpses of a Goldcrest, Robin, Blue Tits and a Chiff Chaff I decided to leave as the light was just about gone. I walked back to the car and on the bush by the first stile was a YBW which 2 of us got a good 20sec view (success)

Good Day Down South

2011-10-23T17:59:00.000+01:00

Picked John A up at home and after a swift discussion the car went South to Teeside instead of North to Big Waters. We arrived at about 07:30 and there was already 37 people there that I could see. The throng gradually increased and must have grown to over a couple of hundred but spread around the area quite liberally. We parked ourselves at the top of Dormans Pool and waited and waited but at least we had decent company to pass the time of tday with, JohnB and friends. There was plenty of things to see whilst waiting including Pintail, Shoveller, Great Black Backed Gull, Snipe, Little Egret, Gadwall and the many skeins of Greylagss that flew over.

We waited till about 10 but even by then quite a few people had drifted off so we headed over to Saltholme for a Latte and a Bacon Roll (gone are the days of a mug of tea and a ham sandwich consumed whilst wearing flat caps). We sat down and whilst having our Tens'es we were treated to a great flying display by a Kestrel right ouside the window of the cafe. A lot of the shots I took were through the glass which turned out quite well but this one I must admit I stuck my head round the balcony door.

A quick look in the Phil Stead Hide had us looking at Black Tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Lapwings, Grey Wagtail and a Little Egret.

Off down to Greatham Creek where there were some Common Seals just next to the bridge,

2 of them had a good old scrap or possibly a bit of heavy petting, never can quite tell with seals (bit like some couples in the Bigg Market on a Saturday night). This actually carried on for nearly

an hour as we walked all the way down to the Hide at Seal Sands and back and they were still at it.

We heard over the grapevine (guy sitting next to us in the Sea Hide got a phone call from his mate) that a Semipalmated Sandpiper was back at Salthome so off we went arriving just in time to spot it vanishing into the distance. We waited in vain for it to return for a proper view but sadly no such luck so off we went. Arrived back in the reception and John need to "wash his hands" so I said I would wait for him and standing there reading the literature on the notice boards a cry went up "Pallid Harrier" so I rushed outside just in time to see it come soaring across the top of the Phil Stead Hide then across the main road all the time being mobbed by a couple of crows then it dropped out of site. John came out with his extremely clean hands cursing his luck but within a couple of minutes it was up again so out came the instamatic and some crap pics were obtained. If you wish to see better pics check out Ian Forrest's or John Beeson's

After this we headed up to Dormans Pool where we chewed the fat with a few lads then headed home where, for the information of all those that commented, I successfully finished off the hedge

Once again another great day with great company

General Things From The Past Week

2011-10-21T06:16:00.000+01:00

A few more pics from last weekend and during the week.

A beautiful sunrise over Northumberland

Back at Big Water lots of movement due to the Otters sauntering around. I did notice that the Wigeon seem to be one of the first to take flight, even before the Coots sometimes.

Another panic caused by something at the back of the scrape. A Fox perhaps but they dont seem to come out in the open much although John B got some stunning pics of one in the middle of last week

Couple of Whoopers just having a bit of exercise, havent been there since Wednesday so hope they are

still there on Saturday but one of them was ringed at Welney a couple of years ago so they might be

heading back there.

A flock of, sometimes 60+ and sometimes 110+, Greylags have been making an appearance

over the last couple of weeks with a few of them going onto the scrape

A couple of Water Rail put in an appearance the last 2 weekends but only managed to

get a pic of one of them this week

Thank god its Friday, just one more day stuck in our Sauna of an office then Big Waters here I come, but alas our lass wants the hedge finished off so will have to spend a couple of hours on that also.

Whoopers 1 - Mutes 0

2011-10-18T06:42:00.000+01:00

Saturday and a quick trip down to St Marys to see if anything had popped up overnight. Once again a Redstart was viewable in the gloom, a dozen or so Redwings flew in and landed in the field next to the Curlews. 45 mins hunting around with a couple of others but nothing found apart from a Chiff Chaff so back to Big Waters with the light getting better. Quick wander round the public end with 6 Mistlethrush sitting in one tree, most I can ever remember seeing together. A record count, for me, of 29 Magpies, in the field near the entrance to the reserve. On the pond were loads of Wigeon and Coot which I never got round to counting as the Otter and 2 appearances by a Hen Harrier and a Buzzard overfly kept everything going around like a merry-go-round at a fair. I then went to the other hide where Alan J, Alan and Ian were sitting watching the Whoopers, with Alan J doing yet another count to see if the figures can be improved. A bit of a fracas broke out to say the least when a Mute Swan decided to have a go at a Juvenile Whooper with the following results.

The whole family of Whoopers, Mam, Dad and 2 siblings came to the rescue of the beleaguered juvenile

and made mincemeat of the Mute Swan which eventually slunk away with its head held extremely low

After this the family had a little celebration of their own which was commentated on by that star of Radio 4s Saving Species "Alan J"

During the day we we noticed quite a few Red Admirals, Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers showing well in the sunlight and when Graeme B arrived he pointed out that all the Red Admirals were moving N to S as though on a migration. We had already seen about 7 or 8 but Graeme started from 0 and ended up in the 30s. On departure from the hide there was a Common Darter sunning itself outside the hide so after a couple of pics I put my hand next to it and it just walked on to it, staying there for a good 30 secs whilst I raised it up in the air to show Maria in the hide. When it flew off from my hand it landed on my head and stayed there for a short time also. Unfortunately when it went on my hand it was too close to focus and couldn't quite aim my camera at my head whilst it was on it so you just have to take my word for it.

Once again a super day with super company

Day Off

2011-10-16T17:43:00.000+01:00

Friday and a day off work so off for a wander round Big Waters. Walking up the boardwalk I could see lots of Swans in the the gloom so stopped and peered through the bins. I could see 8 Hoopers on the Island so turned round and went back to the first hide. Opened the hide as quiet as I could and gently let the windows down. The whole bay was filled with just about every bird on the pond and some of the Hoopers were only about 10m in front of the window. Gently brought my camera up but just then about every bird in view took to the skies. Cursing myself I leaned forward and looked out through the window and realised it wasn't me that had set the birds of but an Otter which was now swimming in the Bay just where the Hoopers had been previously.

8 of the Hoopers had stayed on the Island but everything else had scatterered all over the lake

Spent a pleasant hour watching them but things never settled down as the Otter was very active and was in and out of the reeds on both sides of the lake never giving anything a chance to settle. Also spotted 3 Snipe, 4 Pochard (increase of 2 on the past few days), the Wigeon count had also increased and was now near 100. The Gadwalls seemed constant at around 15 and the Teals had increased to14. The 2 Great Crested Grebe now seemed to be feeding together instead of at either end of the pond. Also a Kingfisher made a couple of appearances outside the Hide. I then headed up to the main hide where John B was clicking away. Stayed for a couple of hours watching a Kingfisher flitting around,

the inevitable Greater Spotted Woodpecker

a Shoveller, 35 Coot, 4 Pochard, 18 Gadwall, 11 Teal, 13 Cormorant, 6 Tufted and 80+ Wigeon.

The number of birds on the Pond was constantly changing with more Hoopers arriving putting

the number up to 23.

Also sitting at the Picnic Table was Alan J doing his daily count before setting off on the "Big Walk" then texting me to say he could see 3 Golden Eye which despite searching the Pond I never got to see. Off for a wander and to see if the Turtle Dove was around but only a couple of Mistle Thrushers were around sitting tucked away in the bushes.

Decided a nice walk to stretch my legs was needed so headed to St Marys where there were a couple of birders who I knew who said there had been a couple of Yellow Browed Warblers seen but all I managed to get my bins on was a Chiff Chaff and several quick views of a Redstart. After a couple of hours I decided to head home and take the beloved for a meal and just as I turned the corner on the west side of the reserve a birder beckoned me over and sure enough there was a YBW sitting in the bush. Went home happy and picked up Carole for a well deserved meal.

Back To Big W For A Further Gander At The Turtle

2011-10-10T21:17:00.001+01:00

Sunday morning and off to Big Waters with John A for a look at the Turtle Dove. We

had intended to head down South but a combination of the weather and a Turtle Dove

changed our minds. Got there for 7 and there was already a car there then within a minute

another car arrived and expecting to see some birders alight was suprised when the occupant

of the 2nd car, a lady, got into the front seat of the first car, next to a male. Then within the next

minutes another 2 cars arrived and a couple of people walked down the path. Now I have

been coming to Big W for a few years and this was its equivalent of Piccadilly Circus with

only John and myself interested in Birds, of the feathered variety. Too many people around and no

site of the Dove so we headed for the hide. There was plenty to see and below is just a quick

snapshot out of the North looking window.

We passed a pleasant hour with John B and Charlie, watched the Otter cause havoc on the pond, then

the Sparrowhawk tear through the Feeding Station. Also overhead heading Westerly were

10 Curlews calling as they went. A Kingfisher also put in an appearance but just sat on a distant

perch. The light was getting a bit better so we thought it was time for a wander and a further

hunt for the Turtle Dove. We bumped into Keith B on the way and off we went to try and

find it. There were about half a dozen people there but only one had seen it before it shot

of after a plane flew over. We split up but it only took about 10mins before I found it not

to distant from where it was perched the day before. Took a couple of distant shots again

but didnt want to get too close and disturb it.

This pic courtesy of Keith Bradley is the original one taken when found the previous evening.

John and I after a good hour headed off to St Marys hoping that the bad weather might

be keeping away the general public, unfortunately there is some people as idiotic as us

and the place, whilst not packed, was not what I call empty. On the North Bay 2 females

with 4 dogs ensured that nothing much was feeding although a Bar Tailed Godwith and a

Curlew did venture onto their normal spots on the Beach but didn't stay too long

On the promenade there was lots of birds including a few hundred Golden Plover which

never stopped landing and taking off after a minute or so then breaking off ito individual

groups, dispersing then rejoining. The sun did break out infrequently giving us quick

glimpses of the magnificent colouring of these birds. A Sparrowhawk flying along the edge

of the seashore had just about everything up with wings apart from a couple of Great Black

Backs who just looked around contemptously.

From the lighthouse we did spot several Common Scoter, a couple of Guillemots and Razorbills

with quite a few unidentifed (too lazy to carry scope and tripod) birds in the distance. We did go

down to the Haven for a looksee but alas no YBW came out to put us in their Bloggers seen list.

It Isnt the 2nd Day of Christmas - So Why ?

2011-10-08T23:24:00.000+01:00

Extremely glad the weekend had come, had only managed to get out for an hour on Wednesday

to Tynemouth but managed to get some good views of the Yellow Browed Warbler. So early saturday no sooner had I arrived at Big Waters Hide after a quick walk round the public end and managing to catch glimpses of Chiff Chaff, Bullfinch, Treecreeper and 2 Kestrel a Harrier was spotted by JB and even though it was only 07.20 all 3 of us present had a go with the cameras, why I dont know as the pic below is the

best one I got and JB and Malc binned nearly all of theirs also.

The Sparrowhawk made several appearances, occasionally just

sitting in the Feeding Station demonstrating his power

A Water Rail actually ran into the pond then realising it was a bit deep

had to fly across the pond (tried hard to think if I had seen one

fly previously but cant remember).

The Hen Harrier and 2 Otters kept the birds on their toes making

several appearances and making everything shoot from one

side of the pond to the other

During the week several good sighting were had including 60+ Brent Geese, Marsh Harrier, Pink Foot

Geese, Peregrine, 13 Siskin and a quite an increase in totals of ducks with Gadwall hitting a new record, Wigeon and Coot increasing and also, with a bit of perseverance, after going through the 100s of Gulls

Alan J managed to find the elusive Med Gull.

Today about 20 mins after Keith B left for home Alan got a phone call and immediately left the hide saying

Turtle Dove down by the beacon so off we went. I realised this must be quite a rarity as I had never seen

one and Alan had started "running", not quite as fast as a speeding bullet but faster than a pensioner on a

mobility scooter. Just before we got there the 11.20 Emirates flight came over and Alan looked at me

and said "bet thats put it up". When we got there he was proved correct and despite looking for 15mins

we couldnt find it. Keith had to leave but showed us a couple of pics and we were now both convinced

that he had seen it (I never doubted you Keith) as in the past people have got Marsh and Hen Harriers

mixed up and sent people texts, then after showing pictures only for the more experienced birders to point out their errors (or possibly just start laughing). Anyway Alan and I started looking and after 15-20mins I

spotted it flying into the scrub from the stubble field. So keeping it under constant observation (technical

term learnt from Graeme B - which translates loosely as dont take your f*****g eyes of it) I hollered for Alan. When he arrived and confirmed it several texts were dispatched and a mini twitch was on.

I didn't get the best of pics (see below) but it certainly is a bonnie bird.

Quite a while since one has been seen at Big Waters (Lifer for me) as you can see from

the data supplied by Alan J below (Thanks)

Gosforth Park

2011-10-05T20:24:00.000+01:00

With the weather being totally crap on Sunday after an obligatory trip to Big Waters I decided

to try out the new Feeding Station Hide at Gosforth Park. Its well laid out and is certainly starting

to attract the birds. For about 30 seconds at one stage I could see 4 Treecreepers within a

5 to 25m range.

There were at least 2 Nuthatches doing darting raids looking for Sunflower

Seeds or the peanuts wedged in the fat.

Whilst not exactly unique this pose of a Nuthatch is not one you see very often

Also the Feeding Station was alive with Blue and Coal Tits but strangely no

Finches came in either although you could see plenty within a 25m radius

of the hide.

Monday morning at work I was pleased to see the return of the

Mistle Thrushes, 4 of them in fact. This one never moved from the

top of the lamp post for some time even when a couple of Jackdaws

flew past mobbing a Sparrowhawk.

Its Saturday So Where Was I ??

2011-10-05T06:56:00.000+01:00

Saturday morning at Big Waters and the Sunrise was stunning

The mist hanging over the pond gave some great effects.

The early morning light made some of the birds look different especially this Dunnock

The ducks on the pond are beginning to increase with a record count of Gadwall (8 male, 8 females) heading the list. The adult Mute Swan count also rises daily with the highest total being 29 as far as I know. The resident pairs Sygnets had their first full flight on Saturday and circled the pond twice and caused a bit of panic with the visiting adults so 10 of them took off also and flew around with the Sygnets. Am still trying to figure out what is going to happen when the Sygnets leave and if there will be a takeover as there is quite a bit of posturing, bullying, and side-taking going on

A few Pochard have been showing, along with a double figure count of Tufted and a couple of Great Crested and 3 Little Grebe. The Coot count is now up to 26 after quite a while staying at 23. Quite a few Wigeon are also around although one minute there is at least a dozen and a minute later you cant see one

In the Feeding Station a couple of Chiff Chaffs have been seen, a Redpoll, several GS Woodpeckers and the occasional Yellowhammer.

Once again another short video of a Woodpecker which gets closer and closer

A Marsh Harrier was seen and photographed on Monday afternoon by Paul and Robin, unfortunately I was at work.

A Weasley Good Weekend

2011-09-27T19:24:00.000+01:00

At last a bit about the weekend at Big Waters, Saturday was great, bad light but great views of two different Kingfishers early morning but seems to shoot off about 9am. So heres yet another snap of one, whilst not in the same league as other with quantity of pics taken I must admit if one turns up I watch first then Mr Nikon get to have a look also

Also a bit of a distant video of one fishing

There were at least 3 different Great Spotted Woodpeckers around also with a couple of them having a go at the new "Totem Pole"

Once again another short video this time of the GSWoodpecker

The highlight of the weekend though was the Small Mammal trapping event which was done by a lady whose name escape me but she was extremely knowledgable and 18 of the 20 traps produced mammals including various voles and shrews with best being my first view of a Pygmy Shrew which unfortunately was about the only thing I didnt photograph. One of the traps contained a weasel, how it managed to get in there was unbelievable but I suppose the lure of easy food was too much. The traps are opened in a big plastic bag but when the one with the weasel in was opened and it leapt out the poor chap doing the opening nearly had a coronary. It was put into a plastic box after a minute or so, in order for it to be released so as not to stress it out but it just kept sticking its head over the box and looking around at us. After a few minutes it shot out and darted between the planking on the boardwalk.

Finally a couple of random shots from the weekend

Get Off My Tree

Part of a Flock of 114 Greylags arriving at Big Waters

I'm Rich

2011-09-26T19:30:00.000+01:00

I was standing at Prestwick Carr last night when I felt someone pressing something in my hand and thought immediately it must be another lady leaving me her telephone number but when I turned to see who it was I was suprised to see Peter who gave me a broad wink and sidled away. A bit worried I opened the folded paper and

So to all of you who said he would never pay up for that slightly rash bet HAH! Its OK Peter I promised not to spend it rashly on Wine, Women or F4 Lenses.

Prestwick Carrs

2011-09-23T20:42:00.000+01:00

Haven't been able to get out this week due to work and other commitments (the garden is looking tidier, the house has been hoovered and my new tivo is great). So here is a few things I saw flying around Prestwick Carrs last Sunday although I think I was the only person there for the first 2 pics and there were, it felt like, about 500 for the next 3.

Found another pic with 3 SEOs in the frame

Sparrowhawk

2011-09-22T21:37:00.000+01:00

A young Sparrowhawk which decided to have a rest in the Feeding Station at Big Waters.

It just sat there for just under 2hrs in the morning and about an hour in the afternoon.

Took a few short videos of it during the afternoon rest with

this one showing it taking off - it did return about 2 mins later

and stayed for another 15mins.

See A SEO and Win A Tenner

2011-09-20T14:35:00.000+01:00

Great views of the Short Eared Owls were being had at Prestwick Carrs on Sunday night with up to 8 being seen at the same time when a chap behind me said "Bet you £10 you cant get 3 of them in the frame at the same time". Well being the top notch pictaker I am, within 5 mins I produced the following pic.

Now I thought I was biding by the rules of the bet when I showed him this. Nothing was said about them being in the air so when he said "I should have worded my bet more carefully and said they should have been flying", I immediately put the following one forward saying "You only have to ask". No doubt the bet will be honoured sometime (LOL) by the Anonymous Wagerer

GOOD JOB HE NEVER MENTIONED QUALITY THEN

I REALLY WOULD HAVE BEEN BUGGERED

Blue Streak v The Killer

2011-09-18T20:32:00.000+01:00

Hi, I'm the beautiful Kingfisher and I am the

Photographers dream bird and this is my perch

Bugger Off, Im a ferocious Sparrowhawk and a

Photographers dream also and you have been evicted

Patch Birding at Big W

2011-09-13T06:35:00.043+01:00

The New signs went up at Big Waters this week to officially let everyone know this is a Nature Reserve.

Spent most of my birdwatching time at Big Waters again this weekend. Even the urge to twitch the Sharp Tailed Sandpiper at Greatham Creek was not taken up. One chap said you must be becoming boring spending most of your time there but I disagree as seeing something in your own little patch is just as exciting. Although I dont lay claim to finding the Black Necked Grebe (first since 1998), the 5 Whinchats (none since 2003) and seeing then photographing my first Osprey over Big Waters was fantastic. Last week I arrived home from work slightly later than usual and made a cuppa, changed and sat down in front of the computer and looked at what had been seen around the area on Birdguides, SEO at Prestwick, Curlew Sandpiper at Blyth, great I thought as Carole said 10mins to Dinner then I saw an email from AJ saying Black Neck Grebe at Big Waters and when Carole appeared with my dinner and said "oh your going out then" I was sitting there redressed with bag on back of chair and knife and fork ready. Thats when I realised that Patch Birding was becoming the main focus. Back to the weekend and arrived at Big Waters and wandered down to the public end and the first things I saw were these Mallards in a line and the first thought that came to my mind was

READY, STEADY, WAKE UP

There was quite a lot around including 4 Gadwall, 7 Little Grebes, 11 Pochard and a possible sighting of the Black Necked Grebe again but I couldn't be positive as it was right up the far end and if it wasn't then a claim for the record for this year of 8 Little Grebes will be put to the Big W Official Records Team (AJ). The one Great Crested Grebe which has been around for a while was joined by another younger one which seemed to be chased in by a Grey Heron and was still there on Sunday although the 2 never get close. 4 Tufted Duck and 2 Shoveller were also spotted. A Kingfisher put in an appearance but after sitting on a perch for a couple of minutes it was promptly set upon by a Sparrowhawk which chased it for a few seconds with the Kingfisher letting out some "fearsome squeaks", but eventually it got away although I never managed to get the 2 in the same shot.

Outside the hide a Common Darter was having a snooze on the boardwalk rails

A record count of 19 adult Mute Swans was seen although on walking up to the hide on the boardwalk I did see 5, then another 2 take off and fly Southwards then about 1min later I was in the hide and counted 19 on the pond but under the "Graeme Bowman" method of constant observation I can only claim 19. Anyway here is another couple of boring pictures of Swans with the unmistakable Big Waters "Tree" in the background

A Kingfisher put in several appearances on Sunday obviously not phased by the Sparrowhawk as according to most of the photographers who told me when I arrived "The" Kingfisher had been several times and one did appear several times whilst I was there also.

A slight readjustment of the Feeding Station furniture means that you can get some glorious shots of the more common birds now and who can resist a good shot of a Blue Tit which is spoilt only by its jewellry (those bloody ringers).

A walk round the reserve, the long way on Sunday produced very little due to the wind. Even in the most reliable spots where a couple of Darters or a Hawker and a Warbler might be seen were in the process of being Strimmed by the "Rangers" so absolutely nothing was around. The signs of Autumn are showing with this wilting beauty being the only place along a nice walkway being availed of by insects.

A good (ish) weekend and looking at the weather forecast for next weekend a bit better than the one that is forecasted although the BBC still have time to get it wrong as in the background whilst I am typing is Paul Moody saying today, Wednesday, is the best day of the week with it being downhill from here.

A Day In The Garden

2011-09-09T22:10:00.000+01:00

Early morning and Carole has been out to replenish the feeders and scatter a bit of scraps around for the multitude of birds. First in are the Blue Tits, Great Tits, a Robin, a Dunnock and today the first Goldfinch for while. Also the semi resident pair of Herring Gulls and a Juvenile are early arrivals to check out if our next door neighbour has thrown out some titbits

An early rising House Sparrow pick up a bit of bread and flies back to the hedge

The advance guard of the Starlings take up position on one of the hangers and

normally tend to stay there for quite a while

Then the small flocks start arriving building up to sometimes 150+

The House Sparrows tend to travel in 2 flocks, one of about 25 and one of about 40 although they sometimes will flock together and then fill the hedges

The Starlings will also settle amongst the House Sparrows although this morning they stayed on the ground picking away at the various items Carole has put down.

After they have had their fill she then fills up the water so the fun can begin. At times there is 50 birds waiting to get in this Water Dish although there are 3 others but they are metal which they mainly drink from. The Blackbirds and Magpies favour the metal ones and dunk their food in it then fly off with it, at first I thought it was to feed chicks but now I have observed them doing it all year round.

Couple of Starlings joining in now although they are normally 50/50 with the Starlings doing a bit of bullying to get more space.

This one is the biggest and is reserved for House Sparrows who are doing

individual training for the 2012 Olympics

After a few lengths of the pools they then head up to the sun deck

and lie on the hot top drying themselves off

After a bit of a sunbathe they tend to scarper as this bugger is always

lurking somewhere. Carol said all he did today was fly into the

bush and stay there for about 10 minutes before heading back

to his lair at the church

Sunday at Newbiggin and Big Waters

2011-09-05T22:02:00.000+01:00

Sunday morning and it was so pleasant I thought a sit down at Newbiggin armed with a Large Latte and watch for a Long Tailed Skua would be a good idea (failed miserably) but obviously a few others had the same idea as 1 after another 5 more appeared. Sat and chatted with Steven Fryer (he who puts great pics on Gateshead Birders including that fab Cuckoo one) and his well behaved pooch. Not a great lot seen, but the weather and company were canny and with the assistance of Steven and another gentleman who I recognised (ish) but didn't know his name we spotted 2 small flocks of Common Scoter one with 5 Velvet in, although I could only see 3 with white flashes but then again I think my scope was made from Brown Ale Bottle bottoms and the others were not. Also a couple of Red Throated Diver put in an appearance with 1 of them lazily paddling across the front of the viewing point giving some great views. 3 Whimbrel shot past and approx 15 Knot came in close and were past in a couple of seconds and a small flock of Sanderling zoomed past (god they are pretty in flight) although it took a while to recognise them as Im only used to seeing them 2ins above the sea at St Marys. A Seal kept bobbing up close in although the 2 Dolphins? that we saw kept their distance. There was lots of Sandwich Terns passing and it was the only time I picked up the Camera but without a lot of success so no pics

Left for Big Waters at 08.30 and upon arrival was greeted by 10 Magpies sitting on the fence a not altogether common site.

The Resident Swans and their family were on the bank looking for people with bread but not a soul apart from me was around.. Nice pic of one of the Sygnets though.

A good walk around with Ian D and Alan J produced quite a few birds although the highlight was 5 Whinchat which were the first ones seen at Big Waters since May 2003 (unless of course some photographer pops up with a couple of pics) also a Collared Dove whilst not exactly rare is a good tick for the patch. Eventually back at the 1st Hide for 10mins at the end produced a couple of Gadwall and the duck numbers increasing. Also a personal best count of 14 Adult Mute Swans although I'm still one behind Alan J. It looks like the Waders will pass us by as the water is just not receding and will stay like that unless someone plugs a big electric fire in to warm the place up (Not much hope of that according to the BBC Weather Girls, but "hey" I've lost count of the number of times they have been wrong recently). As I got into bed last night I looked up in the direction of the Big Guy and asked him nicely if we could have some bad days like Beadnell ~~Birding~~ Stringer although even his have been a bit better lately.

Big Waters - Saturday

2011-09-03T22:11:00.000+01:00

07.25 and off to Big Waters via Macydees for a Latte. On arrival not a soul around, no cars in the car park and very little sounds on the walk to the hide apart from a Chiff Chaff it its normal place by the gate. Not even John B's car was there so all alone I opened the hide windows thinking nobody had disturbed anything so what would be out there. Well there was plenty of stuff but it was all in the distance from the Island down to the Public End. Alan J was the only other person to come later on (when the rain had stopped) and during the period we saw 13 Adult Mute Swans and the 9 Sygnets, who were doing their first warm ups with their wings going full blast for 5-10m. The Adults were still doing their Im the King of the Castle thing but I think it is just showing off as nothing was chased off although some did fly off but returned after a couple of circuits of the lake. Also a couple of Pochard just appeared, no sign of them flying in so dont know how long they had been there. An adult Little Grebe and a juvenile were spotted but once again they never came together. A Great Crested Grebe is still by itself and has been for nearly 2 weeks now with no sign of the one it was with for a week. 62 Lapwings had a spin around but the water still hasnt receded enough for them to drop in. No sign of the 700 Gulls that were around last week with only a couple of Lesser Black Backed and a handful of Black Headed Gulls around. An juvenile unringed Great Spotted Woodpecker was in the Feeding Station along with a Ringed one so we know that there is at least 3 around. A Sparrowhawk or possibly several made at least 6 runs through the Feeding Station and collected a Blue Tit on the first foray, lots of bad pics taken but one decent(ish) one when it stopped for 2 Seconds on a stump (the bit that I took was decent anyway(the head would have been if I had got it in frame))

Also in the feeding station was a Chiff Chaff who does the round of the cages and seems to peck at the seed but dont know if he actually eats any as he is only in a couple of seconds and by the time you get the bins on it he is away to the next one. Got a couple of pics as he seems to settle on the branches for a little while before he does his circuit.

Also seen were a few Skylarks going over and a couple of Meadow Pipits. Went down to the Public End to try and get a better view of the ducks and swans that were around but sods law dictated that a lot of them went towards the hide by the time we got down there. There was still a few Common and Migrant Hawkers around and as soon as the sun popped out so did they. Couple of other pics from the day:

Mute Swan Sygnets and a few Mallards

Swan in Full Attack Mode Which Fizzled into Nothing

Blackbird Looking A Bit Wet

"Did You Put It In The Book", "What Book ?"

2011-08-31T22:43:00.000+01:00

Most of the weekend was spent at Big Waters (how unusual) and the following pics of a Great Spotted Woodpecker were taken over the 3 Days. There are at least 3 frequenting the Feeding Station, 2 of which are now ringed and one that isn't. An unringed one was seen after the bird shown in the last pic was ringed. I have only seen 2 at the same time but others have seen 3, although this is anecdotal evidence, as most of the visitors that come to the hide can spot birds but haven't spotted where the sightings book is. When discussions are taking place and someone says "haven't seen a Little Egret this year" and then 2 people proffer their cameras with pics of Little Egrets (taken at different times) and show one pottering about only 10m from the hide, the 15 seconds that is needed to write it down would not make you miss a shot of a Kingfisher or a Sparrowhawk for example. If these people read the book then they would see remarks made by others telling them where other birds are on the reserve, goldcrests, treecreepers or even a Whitethroat (someone said they have never seen a Whitethroat although they have been coming to Big Waters well before I got hooked). A few of my "friends/acquaintances/fellow birders and photographers/people who are just polite for politeness sake/those who look down on me (I'm only 5ft 4) " may recognise yourselves but dont worry I wont stop taking the ~~piss~~

mickey out of you as long as you dont stop taking it out of me.

Big Waters Osprey

2011-08-30T06:08:00.000+01:00

Mid Afternoon yesterday this beauty was over Big Waters for about 5 Minutes circling as though looking for fish but unfortunately it was not tempted but a new patch tick for me although Alan J said its OK its my 2nd of the year over Big Waters. Will send him this picture to see if it looks like the one he saw earlier which he didn't get a pic of

Carole And Her Sparrowhawks.

2011-08-25T21:20:00.000+01:00

Since the middle of last week Carole has regaled me with stories of the Sparrowhawks that have been terrorising her beloved garden. She has now watched them take 2 Sparrows and at least 1 Pigeon although I did find remnants of another one 2 nights ago but slipped it into the bin without telling her. She has been merrily snapping away through windows and each night this week as I return from work she has handed me a camera and said "theres quite a few pics on there". Well there has been but unfortunately not the best quality in the world but then again neither are mine. Well heres a few she has taken in the last few days.

I am sure that there are at least 3 different ones using the garden as a Take Away and all of these pics were taken at different times and according to Carole none of the forays were successful. She says they just wait for me to go to work then come in and out then dissappear just before I get home although the last pic is the only Sparrowhawk I have seen in the garden in the last 2 months and that actually appeared as I was walking up the stairs to change as soon as I returned from work when Carole shouted from the Kitchen "theres another Sparrowhawk here" I grabbed my camera and got off 3 shots from upstairs as she walked around in the garden. When I arrived home from work today she once again handed me a camera and said that it had let her down as it had run out of electricity or space or something and she had to resort to getting another camera out of the bag. I said that it might have something to do with the amount of pictures she took as the word FULL was flashing. For the umpteenth time she explained to me in firm tones that she just points and presses the button and its my job to see what she has managed to get. She had taken 277 pics all of a Sparrowhawks. The first couple were of a one very early morning then the rest were of a successful attack which commenced when she was refilling the feeders. She said she was just cleaning out a water bowl when there was a loud thump and a couple of screams. She turned around and there was a Sparrowhawk with a Pigeon not 6ft away. She headed into the house and went upstairs to get a camera and started taking pics out of the window then when "the electricity" ran out she grabbed the "little" camera and went downstairs and took a few pics from behind the shed. As usual the standard was not brilliant but she explained it away saying she was nearly crying for the poor pigeon. The Sparrowhawk eventually departed after our 2 OAP cats (they are 18 and 19) wandered in. Carole then had to cover the pigeon with a big plant pot to stop the cats getting at it and when I arrived home I was ordered to dispose of it. Well heres a couple more pics of hers from today.

God, I hope they dont come tomorrow, 4 nights in a row now going through pics with her but she makes a cracking dinner.

She said "Why do they keep coming to our garden", "No idea" says I

The Pond Over There

2011-08-24T05:54:00.000+01:00

Didn't do a great lot at the weekend apart from treading round the patch, enjoying the peace and quiet. This was broken occasionally by a few cyclists, now I dont mind cyclists, was one myself for quite a while, until knocked off twice in a week by inconsiderate drivers, but the ones that dont bother to indicate their presence because they dont have a bell (buy one here for £1) and say something innocuous like "beep beep" when they are only a couple of feet from you are pillocks of the highest order. If you are a cyclist and see some prat staring into trees with an outsize pair of glasses just indicate your presence when you are a bit of a distance away to give the idiot on the path (note the word path : A way or track laid down for walking or made by continual treading) ample time to become aware of you.

Back now to some pretty pics. The first was taken near one of my favourite spots in the North East, Cresswell Ices. It was too early to Stop Me and Buy One but the Swallows were gathering and there was a handful short of about 150 gathering on the weird looking wires or are these standard wires and I am not being observant.

It was only a quick visit to Druridge with not a great lot to see so headed off to Big Waters. Spotted these mushrooms which were a bit unusual, had a whirl at identifying them but failed. Its the first time I can remember seeing slight spikes on mushrooms but then again I cant remember what I did yesterday at work so the first part of the sentence means nothing.

A Southern Hawker posed nicely for us on a Bullrush in the "Pond over there" as I call it whilst gesticulating with a pointed finger, although Alan mentioned it was called something like "The Outfall Pond to Little Waters" although I probably have that wrong.

There was quite a few birds around but nothing out of the normal apart from a pair of Great Crested Grebe which whilst were both on the pond never seemed to get together. Also on a walk down the public end a Goldcrest, possibly 2, was showing well. A Treecreeper also put in an appearance albeit briefly. Several Migrant Hawkers were spotted and a section of the path was full of Britains most common Ladybird, the 7 Spotted. Whilst further on a patch with several common 2 Spotted Ladybirds and a yellowish one in the centre of them but failed to get an ID on it before it flew off. A couple of Small Coppers also put in an appearance and its no wonder they rest for quite a while as when they fly they are certainly one of fastest around.

The next morning back to Big Waters for what I call the Big Walk Round which takes you up towards Dinnington then back around on the South side of the reserve. On the pond the 2 resident Mute Swans were chasing off a couple of intruders and were making hard work of it for a change as most intruders seem to leave quite quickly but they kept at it obviously didn't want to be shown up in front of their 9 young uns.

Managed to get a pic of the ring number and initial enquiries have it coming from Yorkshire so we await further information. In the "Pond Over There" came across a Moorhen with a couple of youngish looking chicks which I haven't spotted before. Whilst watching them I caught a bit of movement and after scouring the tree and bush line a Migrant Hawker was just hanging there and remained so for a good 10mins for its early morning sunbathe.

Other notable sightings on the walk were Kingfisher, 12 Pied Wagtail, 5 Linnet, male Blackcap, Buzzard, Kestrel and many others. Finally a pic of a Caterpillar which I have spent ages in trying to identify and thus delaying the publishing of this long awaited blog (LOL). Any clues ?

"The Horse (Darter) Whisperer" not starring Robert Redford

2011-08-21T21:29:00.000+01:00

With my recent interest in Dragon and Damselflies getting more and more an acquaintance invited me out on a balmy day to Big Waters, he stated that in 1998 he had watched the film "The Horse Whisperer" and that conjured up an idea which he had been working on in private with some success and now wanted to show someone the results. Without explaining his idea he took me to a spot and explained that here was quite a good spot for Common Darters so to be ready with the camera. He then took off his cap and just stood there and made a strange humming sort of sound that seemed a bit vibratory but within 30 seconds a Darter appeared and flew around his head (although I was unable to get a good focus on it) and eventually it landed on his forehead. I was going to take a pic but on our walk out to the spot he asked me not to take pics which would give away his identity.

He stopped his humming noise and commenced patting his right arm and the Darter dropped down to the exact spot. By now I was absolutely amazed but when he started drawing his left index finger up and down his sleeve and the Darter followed it I was more amazed than the committe who were listening to the "Murdochs" at the recent Parlimentary hearing.

He then indicated his right index figure with his left one and started the weird humming noise again.

The Darter after a few seconds took to the wing and flew around my colleague twice then landed on his pointing finger.

He then stroked it a couple of times and turned his hand around allowing me a few more shots. He then explained (in an exceptionally quiet voice for a change) that it was hard to hold their attention for more than about 40 seconds so in order not to stress them out he would now send it on its way.

He then made a clicking sound with his tongue and it immediately flew off although it hovered for a few seconds looking back then off it went. Alan then explained that he had only had success with Darters and Hawkers but found that he could only do it once a day and suspected it was the scent being left that put off others till he had bathed.

Once again I must stress that my colleague does not want to demonstrate this ability to others as he is quite a private and shy person and even asked me to not blog this until just after March next year so if somebody found out his identity then there would be no Hawkers or Darters around. I pleaded with him and said that if I could blog it now I would not pass his name onto Keith, even if begged me, so with that codicil he reluctantly agreed.

Just a note that all of these shots have only been cropped with a bit of sharpening (as even with my VR on the excitement of watching the above happening made my hands tremble) and the use of Photoshop as is as always banned in my house. No insects were harmed in the make of this blog.

Saturday Was A Good Day

2011-08-16T06:46:00.000+01:00

Friday morning and a quick run up to Prestwich Carrs to stretch my legs. First things I set eyes on were a bunch of Ruff in the flooded field at the front of Mayfair cottage. Stayed in the car, photographing through hedges, so as not to alarm them but found out later they were quite accommodating from speaking to someone and looking at someone else's pics. I then parked up and went for my wander which was not very successful apart from a few Lapwings, Golden Plover and Gulls but did feel a bit better when I got to work.

Saturday morning and off to Druridge arriving by 06.15. It was extremely quiet and only saw 1 car upon arrival and there were just 2 when I left some 2hrs later. A quick look from the Budge Screen produced nothing, you could hide an elephant in some of the grass so off to the pond and on the path I bumped into this inquisitive little fella. He was on the boardwalk when I first saw him and I was just turning onto the path by the seat so I just stopped and after 3-5mins he had worked his way down to just in front of me stopping and looking every 5m or so then he sat for 30 secs staring then just wandered off into the undergrown with what looked like a cheeky grin saying I've finished looking now you can be on your way

The screen at the end of the path produced exactly what the other did "nothing", could hear a few chirps, whistles and miscellaneous thing but all I could see was tall greenery. The pool hid was a bit more productive as I put my gear down ever so silently, set by bins up and put Mr Nikon close by then silently I opened the first shutter, I had peaked through a gap and could see quite a few Teal dozing by the side of the pool so I raised the shutter and fastened it looked out then the shutter decided to attack my head, luckily I had a hat on which softened the blow but still felt a bit shaken for a few minutes. The Teal had shot off and not a thing could be seen. After a few minutes a Common Sandpiper decided to come in for a bath and frolicked around in the water then perched on a couple of stones just preening but with very little bobbing.

The early morning sun then went behind the clouds giving crap light just in time for the arrival of a couple of Spotted Redshank who paraded back and forward for 10mins and whilst getting great view the photography leaves a lot to be desired. There are some decentish pics on a couple of the blogs, see Alan T's, but heres a few of mine anyway

Also saw a Greenshank but it landed behind the tall stuff and never really stuck its head out so after a couple of hours the pull of Big Waters had me going up the Spine Road and arriving at 09.15. Decided to have a look from the Public end but all that was on view was a couple of Cormorants on the dead tree at the island and the Otter dissappearing up the gully on the North side (was the Otter the cause of complete "nothingness" along with the 2ft rise of the water?). Wandering down to the Feeding Station there was very little to see apart from this little beauty as I was snapping away with my little Fuji

In the Feeding Station there was quite a lot of activity with the Sedge Warbler nipping from table to cage to wherever there is seed (unusual, but entertaining) and seeming to feed at each stop.

A couple of Juvenile Bullfinches with an Adult Male spent a short time checking the Feeding Station then off they went but did return an hour later for another 5minutes.

Also up to 5 Siskins (2 male, 2 female) were flitting around

Plenty of other birds around including a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Tree Sparrows, quite a few Greenfinches, at least 3 Wrens, Willow Warbler, Chiff Chaff which resulted in the pass through of a Sparrowhawk on a couple of occasions. Meanwhile out on the pond very little was happening apart from the Mute Swans with their band of 7 Sygnets, a few Mallard, Coots and Moorhens and the strange absence of Gulls made one wonder "Where the Hell are they". On the way out several Peacock and Whites were spotted along with this delectable Red Admiral

I then popped up to Gosforth where it was even quieter but had some outstanding views of a Sparrowhawk as I departed

A great day out was had by one and all (one)

p.s. couldn't be bothered to check for typos

Early Morning

2011-08-11T18:23:00.000+01:00

An early morning wander round St Marys on Sunday last was great, nary a soul to disturb anything so just sat in a couple of places and watched the world and the birds go by for a couple of hours. There always seems to be 1 Curlew feeding in the same place on the corner of the beach and several times I have seen it take what looks like a large mussell then fly out to one of the points and stay there until pushed off by the incoming tide, today was no exception

As I stood on the rocks watching the birds flying around a single Dunlin landed only 6-7m from me and just stood there stretching his neck and peering around before settling down for about 5mins in the same spot without moving.

Even when I moved away it just stayed hunched there. Moving back to the centre of the beach sitting on a rock as the tide pushed the birds up, especially the Sanderling. As the water got closer some of the birds, instead of running across in front of me, would take to the wing and do a 8-10m flight hop whilst others were happy to walk directly in front of me so it gave me a chance to improve my flight photography skills (NOT)

Sanderling

Ringed Plover

Turnstone

It stayed peaceful until the first dog walkers arrived and put the Golden Plover up which were absolutely stunning then shortly afterwards I headed for Big Waters

Get A Haircut

2011-08-10T18:05:00.000+01:00

Mam, Dad its great up here but those haircuts of yours are just soooo retro,
I want mine like Gordons, bit on the sides and smooth and shiny
on top

Bird Intimidation !!

2011-08-08T18:47:00.003+01:00

Hello, anyone up there can help me, theres a bloody big guy
threatening me with a black thing

Its OK, I've got 2 of my mates up here - We'll see the Bugger off

Water, Water Everywhere

2011-08-07T17:23:00.000+01:00

Last week I went into work via the quayside and under the Tyne Bridge and saw quite a lot of Kittiwakes still flying around. Yesterday morning I decided to go for a walk along the quayside and was suprised to find that the majority of Kittiwakes had departed. After about 20mins looking I could only account for 3 Nests that were still occupied with young ones and only managed 4 adults flying around. After all the hoohah about the smell and dirt earlier on in the year what will happen next. Here is a pic of one of the last 3 remaining chicks I could find from Friday morning. Think what you would be missing if some misguided council officials decide that pristine looking bridges and granite is better than co-existing with nature.

Saturday morning and off to Big Waters via Arcot, but alas nothing to see at Arcot apart from a few Mallards, couple of Lapwings and an Oystercatcher, not even a Gray Heron flying away as I walked in off the road. So on to Big Waters dipping pond with the clouds already thickening and not a dragon/damselfly in sight, 2 new Exuviae but nothing hatching. Down the track to the hide where I had my first sighting of something different, 14 Partridge darting back and forward across the path.

Spotted a couple of Siskins at the entrance to the reserve and further on a couple of Bullfinches and on arrival at the Feeding Station a couple more Siskins were happily eating away on the Niger (all 4 of them were not ringed so there must be a few about as I think Alan ringed a couple on Friday).

A couple of Wrens played hide and seek with me and John B as we tried to get our Lens pointing at them but eventually I got a couple of shots in the ever decreasing light.

At this point I decide to head home, pick the wife up and take her out to Lunch, but first a quick trip to Banks Pond and as I opened the gate to go into the pond the skies started emptying the Atlantic Ocean so back in and away home. It chucked it down for the rest of the day but Lunch in the Cube in The Gate was lovely. I asked the Beloved if we could go to the match but she wanted to get back home (poor thing was tired out from all the eating) so off we went home via Seaton Deleval (Ice Cream Time) as the lunch was just digesting enough to make space. Sat in Seaton Deleval and finished the Ice Cream then a quick nip back in for a big one for the freezer. On the way home we were listening to the match and just as we arrived home they called it a day. Saved you some money there my Beloved whispered into my ear (laughing hysterically).

A Pleasant 90 Minutes

2011-08-04T20:58:00.000+01:00

Thursday morning and I hadn't been out for a couple of days so off to Shibdon for 90mins before work. Got there about 5.45 and within a few mins was joined by George S. Within a short while, after exchanging pleasantries as we hadn't met for a few weeks a Green Sandpiper walked into view from the right hand side of the hide.

If you took any notice of the weather this morning you would have seen it was not the day for an early morning foray out with a camera as exhibits 1 thru 4 prove. There was plenty of activity around the pond with various Gulls, lots of Cormorants, a few Terns, a couple of broods of Mallards and when I arrived at the hide I had to wade my way through 30+ Canadas and a Greylag with a Barnacle off in the distance. A Kingfisher then appeared flying across the pond towards the perches but on espying the Green Sandpiper it made a beeline for it and attempted to chase it off.

A little while later the Kingfisher returned and headed for one of its normal perches.

Also resting on one of the nice mud banks were a family of Shelducks which slept from when I arrived till I left (I checked to make sure they were not Spoonbills in disguise before I left).

Just as I was departing a familiar call headed towards me and sure enough a Greenshank was dropping in, so even despite the bloody awful weather a pleasant hour and a half to prepare myself for the rigours of 8hrs office work was great.

What A Bargain

2011-08-02T21:30:00.000+01:00

Haven't had a chance to blog lately due to work and one of my sons visiting along with 2 of his children. Been sitting ouside at night playing with the little one he is 2 and feeding bottles of beer to his brother, he is 25. Anyway down to the important bit. Most of the weekend was spent at Big Waters with the early morning shift producing a lovely Southern Hawker which had just exited its Exuviae (No doubt your getting bored with pics of them, but guess what, I am not).

Into the feeding station and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was hanging on a peanut feeder for quite a while gorging itself stupid.

and then when he noticed I had Mr Nikon pointed at him he gave me a look that would have struck fear into mortal photographers but I hesitated for only a second and then carried on taking pics fearlessly

Also making glimpsing appearances were a couple of Sedge Warblers who face on are very attractive birds (I'm only saying that cos it was the only pic I managed to get)

During the ringing session which produced quite a number of birds early on but slackened off as the day got hotter and the birds where we should have been, resting, a Wood Pigeon decided to be the last bird of the day as he flew into a net just as we were about to pack up. Dont normally take a lot of notice of them but when seen close up they are a strange looking thing, especially the way the head seems flat, although this might not be the norm.

The complete opposite was the smallest bird of the day, a delectable Wren.

Finally, on Sunday after a nice Sunday Lunch, then a stroll around St Marys the Beloved and I headed for an Ice Cream at Seaton Deleval where we sat outside in the Landrover Discovery (disguised as a Fiat Panda) and lovingly consumed them. Upon finishing I was severely tempted to go for another one when Carole suggested getting one to take home, without hesitation I gave her a tenner to go and get one and when she returned with the following and handed me £6.10p change. WHAT A BARGAIN

As you can all see the ice cream is on the middle shelf on the right, just taking the freezer chill off it before serving. A brilliant bargain and it will save me having to detour to Seaton Deleval, apart from next Sunday when I go to get 3 for the freezer, so thats my puddings for the week sorted

Not much of a blog but will promise to try and do better at the weekend.

Bottle Art at Dinnington

2011-07-28T22:17:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I did a bit more than Southern Hawkers so here goes with a few more pics. First of all was a Swallow which really stayed put on a fence whilst we approached and only flew off when we were just 6ft (note the non metric measurements - now Im getting old I feel the need to rebel so changing from metric back to the 1824 imperial measurements is on the edge for me)

Next was a peculiar piece of "Urban Art" just outside of Dinnington. It consisted of quite a few bottle tops (lots of beer ones) hammered into the ground by a budding Tracey Emin/Damien Hirst or just some P****d Up Numpty.

I also think the Blue Flash fanatics better get some bigger lenses as its now twice I have seen it decline the pleasures of the green slime deposited by the wind under the most photographed stick in Northumberland and head over to the island.

On the magnificent Budleia Bush on the path to the reserve at Big Waters a myriad of butterflies fluttering then alighting were a spectacle to behold, there were at least 6 different species flying around including Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshell, Large White and the highlight was a Comma which is not regularly seen in Big Waters.

Also spotted was a moth which I think might be a Barred Umber but the bar across the wings looks slightly different (does that sound as I know what I might be talking about - not likely).

In the feeding station it was lovely to see young Tree Sparrows being fed by their parents. If you want to know about Tree Sparrows on Big Waters you could listen to Saving Species on the Iplayer where a "local chap" chats to a BBC Radio 4 researcher about them.

Also keeping the people in the hide with cameras on their toes was a very active Common Sandpiper who was all over the place but always returning to the same spot on the only bit of scrape viewable due to the influx of that wet liquid

Also in the feeding station were a few juvenile Willow Warbler. They stayed there quite a while until an adult came in and called then they all headed off down towards the other hide .

Time for home but couldn't resist a quick spin past Arcot and arrived just in time to see the 2 Little Egrets heading up to roost high in the trees.

A stunning end to a great day.

The Birth Of A Hawker

2011-07-27T09:13:00.000+01:00

On Sunday morning after a brief trip to Arcot where I observed 2 Little Egrets and 2 Grasshopper Warblers I headed up to Big Waters for a check of the Dipping Pond. To my delight there was a Southern Hawker just emerging from its Exuviae. It was now about 07.50 and I started taking pics, unfortunately it was a dark morning and they were in a dark (note to one's self, must stop using 2 adjectives, specially when they are the same, in one sentence) corner but with my amazing "photographic skills" I managed to produce the following record which I stopped at approx 09.30 to go for an amble round with Alan and Ian.

Just after this pic I realised my batteries were running low so ran (ambled) back to the car and then realised that I had dropped my keys somewhere so 10mins frantic searching later when I found them lying by the side of the pond within 2inches of the water I was slightly, to say the least, relieved. Top Tip No 1 - If you are taking pics lying, kneeling or in some other non natural posture then make sure you have zipped pockets. Anyway this little upset made me miss the Hawker getting out completely and flipping over (sob sob).

At this stage it hadnt done anything for about 10mins so we all set of on our walk with me expecting it to take about hour or just over which according to the book would be enough time for the wings to dry completely and for it to settle for a while. The walk got extended and we ended up doing the big circuit nearly up to Dinnington and with the stops to ooh and ahh at all the things we saw, and there were a couple, it was a tad over 3hrs before we returned to the pool. Unfortunately the Hawker had departed but I did see one flying about but not being a Hawker myself I couldn't confirm it was the same one.

I also took several short videos (saves me editing long ones) which I will bore all 2 of my readers with in my next post after I have looked at them myself to see if they up to my usual Conrad L. Hall standard (not a relation unfortunately).

ps. was out with John A (Sedgedunum Warbler) at St Marys last night seawatching (along with the rest of the Northumberland Birders going by the reports of Storm Petrels on Bird Guides) and saw 4 of these delightful creatures, 2 of which were very close in. Might even pop back tonight as conditions seem right also

Ringing Day

2011-07-24T21:17:00.000+01:00

Friday morning and off up to Newbiggin for another session of Sea Watching and after half an hour seeing only a few Common Scoter, a few Gannet and an Artic Skua Andy McC arrived and brought some birds with him. He spotted a Velvet Scoter (my first of the year) then later on we had 3 Artic Skuas also plus a couple of Black Tailed Godwits, a Red Throated Diver and a small flock of Golden Plover in addition to what was seen yesterday. Some of the Gannets came close and with a heavy crop were recognisable.

A trip up to Cresswell afterwards (hadn't had a decent ice cream for a few days) and the big bonus was a Pectoral Sandpiper on Lynemouth Flash. My first ever one in Northumberland. A half hour in Cresswell hide then headed off to Saltholme to see the White-rumped Sandpiper. Plenty of people around to point it out so 20mins later I was heading back home, dont normally go for a quick look but forgot I had promised to take the wife for a meal.

Next morning up to Arcot for a quick look round and sure enough the Little Egret was still around and the Grasshopper Warbler was still singing. A lone Oystercater flew in which it has done on the last 2 times I was there also.

Then off to assist Alan J at Big Waters as his "Bird Ringers Helper" due to John D being incapacitated. What you learn in 6hrs with Alan is unbelievable although there is so much I need to be told it 2 or 3 times before it sinks in. The birds ringed yesterday included Tree Sparrows, Wrens, Willow Warbler, Chiff Chaffs, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dunnock, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler and Grasshopper Warblers although we were hoping for a retrap of probably a day old one we ringed a couple of weeks to see how much it had grown as Alan reckoned it was one of the smallest bird he had ever netted and ringed. The following pic shows how small it was when ringed:

There is a pair of Moorhens who built a nest quite high in a tree in the Feeding Station and not unexpectedly one of the chicks fell out but bless their cotton socks one spends all of the time time shepherding it aroud. They then swop over and then the other one looks after the chicks high up in the tree although they sometimes stand at the bottom of the tree calling for the others to jump as they are spending a 100% of their time looking after them and have realised that if the one that fell out of the tree is existing then the others should be out as well thereby making it easier to look after them if they are together. No jumpers yet though

Wonderful Warblers and Harmed Hawkers

2011-07-22T21:07:00.000+01:00

The last of my long weekends for a while produced some nice birds withn a few Northumberland ticks. Thursday started brilliantly with an intended 10mins at Arcot which extended into 90 at least. Whilst crossing the road I could hear the distant song of a Grasshopper Warbler then a few steps further another one further on. It took me all, with my consumate search and find skills, of 30 secs to spot it sitting on top of a bush right next to the track I was walking on. Knowing they are quite a confiding bird I gradually got to the bush and by this time it had dropped slightly down to the other side. It carried on reeling then as I shifted my balance to bring up my camera it took off, damn I thought, I knew I should have not taken that extra step but I was completely amazed when it whirled round the bush and alighted on the closest branch to me and started reeling again. The following pic (uncropped), taken with my trusty 18-200mm lens shows the closest it came to me without me moving. Its definitely the closest I have ever been to taking a pic of a bird in the open since my previous Grasshopper Warbler taken at Arcot also last year.

Heres a couple more taken from different angles as it moved round.

Whilst I was watching the Grasshopper Warbler I was rudely interrupted by a Little Egret flying over my head and I resisted the temptation to turn suddently and take some pics so had to wait until its flight path crossed the direction my camera was pointing (resulting in crap pics). Anyway it settled down further down the pond where I managed to get a distant pic of it on the bank.

After Arcot I headed to Newbiggin where fortunately I bumped into Andy Mc who is an absolute wealth of information and had a pleasant couple of hours watching Common Scoter, Gannets, Sandwich Terns, Artic Skua, Guillemot, Razorbill, Manx Shearwater, Puffin, Fulmar with Andy contributing snippets of valuable information. On Newbiggin Beach I also saw 4 Med Gulls, a Turnstone in absolutely stunning Summer Plumage and a Black Tailed Godwit again an absolute beautiful bird.

I then took a trip up to Big Waters to check out the beastly flying things and found a Darter within a very short period of time of releasing itself from the Xuviae. I was about 5m away and watching it through the bins when an obviously "well trained" labrador came bounding down the steps ran across the boardwalk behind me then bounded into the outskirts of the pool and rand through the reeds. It then ran off with its owner shouting for it in one of those wimperish voices you know that every dog just disobeys. I went over to where the darter was hatching and after a minute or so looking I found it floating in the water so I got it out with a stick (it was still moving) and left it to dry off in the sun but I think it was a forlorn hope as its wings were in a big tangle (I didnt have my bug 1st Aid handbook ready) and as I moved it round still on the big stick to get the best rays of the sun I decided to just leave it as I was not sure whether I was helping it or hurting it. Anyway I returned about 4.30 and it had gone so I felt better (trying not to think that it had been served up as a starter for some passing bird) Nature is Cruel (Pity I couldn't do with it what Lesley did with her baby sparrow). The following is a pic of how I left it.

Then a trip up to Kibblesworth which apart from meeting Mike Eccles who I had a 25min chat with, was quite a dissappointment although I did spot my first Painted Lady of the year, a few Small Heath, a couple of Grayling and a Small Tortoiseshell.

Small Heath

Small Tortoiseshell

I then head back up to Big Waters (see sob story above) and did see a family of Blackcaps although only got this half hidden pic of Daddy.