3rd Long Weekend, only 1 more left

Big Waters on Thursday morning, very quiet with a quick glimpse of a Common Sandpiper, the Kingfisher on a distant perch for a couple of minutes and a drop in of a trio of Oystercatchers and not a soul to talk to.  On the way out a few Meadow Browns were around the treeline where the 2 fields are split with this being the most well worn one I have ever seen.

Also in the same area on the other side of the track was a couple of Yellow Shells

Off to pick up the beloved and after a quick meal in Killingworth we went for a walk along the cliffs in Collywell and Old Hartley.    Quite a few birds seen but most of our attention was taken up these burks about 1000m of Collywell Bay in a dingy that looked more like something that would be used in a swimming pool.

They were paddling in for about 10mins and when they got to this pot marker the girl in the front clung onto it for a couple of minutes, then they started paddling again with the tide pulling them to the rocks.  People were standing on the beach and I could see them and others on the top of the cliffs on the phones.  They eventually managed to get to the beach (god knows how) and looked absolutely exhausted, just then the police arrived and spoke to them for less than a minute then they left and the Volunteer Coast Rescue arrived and spoke to them also (Why didnt they shout at scream at them but no doubt there is some rule somewhere that says just tell them in a nice soft voice that they are a pair of PRATS but do it in a nice diplomatic and soothing manners so as not to offend their already mixed up emotions, confusion, fright and stupidness),

Anyway just as this finished we bumped into Dick (City Birder), his lovely wife and daughter Linda (Kirkstall Creatures) who writes a great flora and fauna based blog for near Leeds.   After a bit of a chat and a walk further down the cliffs we headed off for an ice cream, unfortunately it was a bit late by then so we nipped to B&Qs for a new bird bath for the garden then headed off for a curry.

Friday morning a trip up to Church Point and a chance meeting with Gordon enhanced my Sea Watching skills (not much to improve on) until the clouds began to change to that "your gonna get wet look" so we headed for the car.  A list of what was seen is on Gordons blog but I can add 4 Med Gulls on the beach at Newbiggin.

Then up to Gosforth to wait out the terns hoping that they would push out the Bittern into plain view but  despite all the mobbing of what I presumed was the Bittern it did not appear althoughthe 2 brief appearances of the Kingfisher did put a smile on Keith's and my face.   We kept our trigger fingers flexible by trying to get mating Emperors in flight (failed miserably) but had more success with Sedge Warblers and partial success with Common Terns against a battleship grey sky

There is now 4 young Common Tern on the platform with 6 adults guarding them ferociously.

Well it looks like a crap weekend  so a big umbrella, flask of coffee and a telescope for a bit more seawatching could be the answer or possibly a few hours in a hide somewhere (I wonder where that could be)

The First Bit of the Weekend

Besides my trip out on Sunday I did manage to get around a bit on Friday and Saturday also.  A few hours at Gosforth Park produced a couple of glimpses of Kingfishers  working their way round the reeds.   The Common Terns spent a couple of hours mobbing something in the reeds nearly continously and all the time their angle of attack altered forcing what I thought was a Bittern, whilst others were going for Otter or Grey Heron, right to the edge of the reeds so all were waiting with lens poised when a flash of brown rose about 5m from where we were all aiming and a Bittern flew across a 8m space and plummeted into the reeds on the other side.  I managed to get 3 shots off the following being the best (you should have seen the others) and whilst it is laughable to say the least it does show its a Bittern.

With not a lot around at Gosforth several of us whiled away the time trying to get flight shots of an Emperor Dragonfly and once again the following was the best of a bad bunch



We did see several young Reed Warblers which were quite mobile

A quick trip to Far Pastures as I was visiting IKEA (not too far away) produced yet another glimpse of a Kingfisher and this lovely Little Grebe

On Saturday an unusual picture of a Common Sandpiper and Kingfisher quite close although this was about the closest they got and after a couple of minutes the Kingfisher charged at the Sandpiper a couple of times but it was completely unphased so the Kingfisher flew off.

Eventually the Kingfisher returned a couple of times posing beautifully for those with bigger ones than me.

Bugs and Beasties

A trip along the A69 with John A for the day had me delving into my first full day of  "Bug" hunting.  After a early morning foray on Friday looking at Exuvia which was absolutely fascinating I was well up for it.

Exuvia at Big Waters

Back to Sunday and we arrived at out destination although neither of us will pass our NVQ 1 Geography and it was fortunate that when we stopped to ask a 3rd person it turned out to be the local Gamekeeper who was a mine of information.  He did look at our "Walking Boots" (himself was adorned with yellow wellingtons) and said it was pretty wet and gave us directions.  About 90 mins later we arrived at what we thought was the location and after much perusing about the first thing we encountered was a Common Darter, well we both thought it was although looking at pretty pics elsewhere am sure it is a female Black Darter although we did spot Male Common Darters but didnt get any pics.  The following pics were not of that particular one but just ones of several we spotted that day.



Black Darter (I Think)





Black Darter (I Think)



The next one we encountered was the object of our visit, the White Faced Darter and after getting a couple of shots we were quite happy but during the rest of the visit (6hrs) we encountered many more or as some cynics would say "the same one many times" although at one stage we could see 4 and also several views of them coupling but alas that was very difficult to photograph so here is a small selection of an amazing looking darter which actually was a lot smaller than I expected.

White Faced Darter

White Faced Darter

White Faced Darter

White Faced Darter

One thing I did notice about these is that they nearly always returned to the same spot to sunbathe and also they had a penchant for deadish looking perches.

By far the most populous dragonfly was the 4 Spot Chaser which was unbelievably accommodating in posing for Mr Nikon (although a lot of the shots would have been better had I not left my Fuji Finepix with the much better macro facility on in the car).

4 Spotted Chaser

4 Spotted Chaser

4 Spotted Chaser

The pools were alive with Damselflys

Emerald Damselfly

Emerald Damselfly

A Bit of "Coupling"

There was quite a few Moths and Butterflies around but this will require another visit to try and see what there actually is although we did see Skippers, Heaths, Meadow Browns, Ringlets, Green Veined, Whites and several others.  The Moths were impossible to recognise as I would only be able to recognise 2.  The following Moth (I think its one) was seen several times and is quite pretty but can anybody out there identify it for me.

Unidentifed "Moth"

 There was a few birds around the most prolific being Swallows and Martins although the day count ended up at 29.  We had several sightings of Buzzards, normally pairs, not sure how many but did notice at least one pair with quite a difference in size and another the same size.  I did spot an unidentified Warbler though

Warbler, possibly of the Sedgedunum variety

p.s.  havent had time to check the typing for errors as I must depart for work :(

Coquet Island

Sunday and we shot of early (well earlyish as the beloved has her cuppa, toast, biccy and banana) although we were at Castle Island by 06.40 and within 1 min had eventually had some great views of the Male Ruff, 8 Common Sandpipers but no Spoonbills.  We then moved on to Amble for a bacon buttie and a cuppa and to get a pair of tickets for the RSPB boat to Coquet Island.  Back to Hauxley for a wander round and a stoat nearly running over Caroles feet as we were scanning the lake from the viewing point on the East side of the main lake.  Carole spotted a Little Egret but didn't bother to mention it till the chap next to me mentioned it and Carole said yes its over in the corner, been there for about 5mins.   After another 5 mins it changed position so we went into the hide to try and see it from another angle when it took off and several of us watched it fly for a couple of minutes directly towards Coquet Island.  We then headed back to Amble for Sunday Dinner and found a nice hostely just on the outskirts where the "Trio Of Meat" Sunday Dinner went down a treat, then a walk through the harbour whilst waiting for the boat to Coquet.  Got a nice few shots of Swallows of which the following were the best.



Over to Coquet but didn't take a lot of pics as I was too busy watching the birds.  Will have to go back another day and get some proper pics as I only pointed and clicked the shutter about 50 times and the following were the best of a bad bunch

Return of the Blue and Orange Streak

Just a quick bit of info for Keith, Jeff, Maria and all those fond of a bit of the blue flash.  On Saturday I was passing a place over the river and decided to drop in and see what was around - well Stuart was as usual and when I asked had he seen anything his reply was not since last year although he had been there a few times for his normal 8hr + sessions.  I then started to put my gear down and the familiar peep peep was heard in the distance but when I asked none of the others had heard it so I looked out over the lake and there speeding towards us was a Kingfisher, it landed on the stick and stayed there for a great 5 Seconds and all I managed to get was a fleeting shot completely blurred but still proof of its existence.

It flew round for about 45secs staying in view all the time and then flew high into a tree in between the lake and the path down to the car park and stayed there for 5 mins before flying off across the front of the hide and away towards the river.

ps. someone there had forgotten to switch his camera to autofocus and therefore didn't get any pics and shouted something about people working in pubs which I couldn't quite comprehend (think it was bar steward or something like that) I hadn't changed my settings and was trying to grab camera from bag and the 3rd chap there (very nice guy called Stephen) who was in the same steep learning curve as me a few years ago (still steep now actually) pointed his Mr Nikon and got 2 superb photos which he was absolutely elated about.   Went there this morning before work and as I walked into the hide it took of and didnt come back but was consoled by some great views of a Little Grebe and a couple of Tufted Ducks and some great Swallow and Martin watching.

Thursday and Friday

Thursday off to Castle Island where 3 Spoonbills were actually awake and feeding.  Also a Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper were both seen although they were quite mobile flitting from the island up to the bridge and back again.  No sign of the Ruff though it was reported later in the day.  Lots of Butterflies around including Ringlets, Meadow Brown (male), Large White and Small White.   On up to Cresswell where several Little Gulls were spotted and a quick drop into Druridge where a Common Sandpiper and several Linnets paraded up and down right outside the North facing hide.  A quick look at Killingworth Lake turned into a good 30mins as the Great Crested Grebe were out and about taking their youngsters for a "walk"

On return to the house the garden seemed to be absolutely chocker full of Sparrows and Starlings

Friday up to Big Waters and although we only walked round the Public End watching the Common Terns fishing it was exceptionally entertaining especially with the water so still providing some really good opportunities for reflection shooting

This shot is a bit weird as it shows the Tern in normal flight mode but the head is twisted through 180 degrees looking skywards.

Tyne Bridge Kittiwakes

Wednesday morning went down to the Tyne Bridge to see how the Kittiwakes are getting on.  This chap was on the stone wall on the bridge not hissing at anyone in particular but just generally letting off steam.

An adult with 2 youngsters who were both up and flapping their wings about trying to get some strength in them before the end of July when they are due to take that "flight of faith".

Heres a couple of younger ones although checking around the many nests most of the chicks seem to be between the same size as the 2 lots in these pictures

The sound of these birds is is all around you on the bridge and its like standing inside a ring of speakers with the pervading smell just adding to the atmosphere you find yourself in.