Mainly the Carrs with a hint of Gosforth

Tuesday late afternoon dropped into Gosforth for a quick walk round and saw at least 3 treecreepers at different points throughout my walk round.  Very quite otherwise.

I then went for a wander round Prestwick Carrs and just over the road from the White House on the way in was the Ring-Necked Parakeet which nibbled away at the growing buds for over 10mins before flying back to sit on the window sill of his adopted home.

On Wednesday afternoon, up the bumpy track I honed in on the Tawny Owl which has become a bit of a fascination to me.  A further session with my new toy (digiscoping) produced the following:

In the Horse Fields the Wheatears, 4 of them, were conspicous even from quite a distance although they were at the very limit of my equipment as the following pic will verify.

Once again approx 2-300 Golden Plover dropped in but again at quite a distance away, amazing plumage through the scope but not through the camera lens.

Other birds of note were several Willow Warblers, only 1 Chiff Chaff heard and seen and a Grasshopper Warbler reeling (only a couple of times), maybe its the weather as it was coldish with an occassional spit of rain.  A couple of deer were spotted over towards the woods

Babies and Bullys

Sunday afternoon and off to a well known birding haunt in Durham.  Spotted a couple of GSWoodpeckers, ChiffChaff then into main hide where Sedgedunumwarbler and friend were sitting down to a Wallsend 3 course meal (3 different kinds of sandwich).  After being talked to death by him (you all know what he is like) which I think was a ploy to allow Carole control of the camera enabling her to take most of the following pics.  The first chicks (6 of them) we have seen this year paraded around with the beloved tut tutting that the mother wasn't paying them enough attention.

Note the size of the feet already



There were several butterflies swirling around including Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Whites and a few Orange Tip (unless it was a single which flew around in front of the hide for about 90mins).  The Bullys were in fine form and put on a good show for all of us although getting them together for a happy couple shot (off feeders) was impossible.

 

Bits and Pieces from Saturday

At Creswell very early I espied this Pied Wagtail sitting watching the Avocets and thought it might be thinking " they are black and white like me so will I grow up to be like them"

A pair of Grey Partridge hiding near the Budge Screen which were continually being harassed by a pair of Lapwings

Shovellers flexing their wings with a couple of circuits of the field before plonking themselves down in the same spot they took off from.

One of the many Meadow Pipits on the open area north of Druridge entrance.   There was plenty of Skylark, twite and Linnet around also

Finally up at Prestwick Carrs this (to me) exceptionally big Buzzard soared around for a good 10mins and in various positions seemed very light coloured

Tawny Owl

After a morning up at Cresswell and Druridge looking at the delightful Avocets, Yellow and White Wagtails, Twite, Linnet, Grey Partridge and Wheatear to name but a few (dipped on the Shorelark unfortunately) off I went to Prestwick Carrs to look for the Tawny which Peter had reported.  Like Dick I was also well armed but also took my Digiscoping kit and my No 1 Spotter (the wife).   After having a look round we also spotted Mistle Thrush, Wheatear, Curlew, a bloody huge Buzzard and Golden Plover (note to self, must check what I wrote as after the post being up 12hrs I noticed I had typed Golden Partridge instead of Plover).  Then off to seek the Tawny.  It wasn't as hard as I thought as it was in exactly the same place as last year.  We spent an hour watching it, and with the aid of my Mr Nikon new scope and digiscoping kit the following pics and video were produced.  Pictures not as good as last year but it was delightful to watch it.

Gorgeous Garganey in Gosforth

Sunday morning and off to Gosforth Park.  Walking to the hide the woods were alive with bird calls/song.  Noteworthy views were several Long Tailed Tits, a Treecreeper and a Nuthatch.   At the Lake Hide there were quite a few ducks showing including the 2 I had really come to see, the Garganey.

The pair eventually dozed off in the morning sun between the showers which brought quite a lot of Sand Martins feeding on the waters

30 Seconds of Gorgeous Garganey



Not far from the hide I spotted (been there about 2hrs) a Snipe which was obviously sitting its final NVQ 2 Camouflage exam which I gave it a pass for

This shot was taken with my Nikon DSLR and heavily cropped

This following was one I tried out my new digiscoping skill (dont laugh) but think I need a few more lessons before I can even upgrade my skill level from bloody useless to incompetent

Now some Posing Pochard which are just stunning (the bird that is, not the pictures)

A couple of Little Grebes squawked their way round the lake the whole of the time I was there so it would be a shame not to include a picture of one of them

Finally on the way out some 5hrs later I bumped into this little beaut and we just stared at each other for a few minutes before it wandered away.  At last Im now learning to stand still for a while before grabbing for the camera and scaring things away

Back Home

Big Waters on Saturday was quite full, the hide that is with half a dozen there when I arrived at 0730 and quite a few popping in and out right up to 1300.  The lake was not exactly full but quite a selection of  "ducks" was around.  The Swans as usual sallied right up the hide and hopefully the product from the shot below will be showing in a few weeks.

A Mealy/Lesser (delete as appropriate) was flitting around with 2 definite Lessers.  This is not the same bird as the one in the video in my previous post.

Also hiding in the reeds was another courting couple and one again hopefully we will see their beautiful (a term I use loosely) offspring soon.

Final pic shows a trio of lovlies on a rather sorry looking Nijer Feeder.

As stated above there was plenty around including 3 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Cormorant, 21 Coot, 3 Goldeneye, at least 6 Gadwall, 8 Tufties, 3 Shelduck, 2 Sparrowhawks, 8 Pochard, several Snipe and Oystercatchers, Canada Geese, Oystercatcher dotted around.  Immediately after a heavy shower several Sand Martins appeared.  There were others including Mallard, Teal and Wigeon which I didnt get round to counting as I was trying to get decent pics of Yellowhammers which kept popping in when I was popping to the other side of the hide.  I know North Wales was amazing (thanks Gary and Jo) but its great to be on the home Patch. 

Lesser or Mealy ???

Been away to Wales for a few days and it will take more than that to sort out the pics I took.  In the meanwhile any takers for Lesser or Mealy for the following videos from Big Waters this afternoon?

Answers on a Fiver

Punch Up On The Quayside

Really misty morning and high tide so decided to have a walk along the quayside to see how the Kittiwakes are getting on.  As soon as I got out of the car there was squawking and squealing going on literally just over my head.  Looked up and started snapping straight away.  Once again I had failed to change the settings to suit the conditions.  The dispute went on for several minutes with the birds going up and down the side of the Guild Hall never less than a metre apart as the victor kept flapping back to the nest only to be dragged of it within a couple of seconds.

At first I thought it was a bit of foreplay but the viciousness of it soon made me change my mind.  Look at the beak of the right hand bird gripping the cheek of the other one.

They seemed to go directly for the face each time.

They bounced off 2 windows/sills

Eventually they got so entangled that instead of them flying back to the nest they both hit the ground together just next to me with the camera desperately trying to focus.  When they hit the ground I stopped clicking away and they lay there for about 2 seconds then the right hand bird got up took a couple of steps and flew away up the river.  The other lay there for a couple more seconds got up stood for another few seconds then flew back to the nest.

I have seen a few birds "fights" but this was by far the most vicious and in vocalness was only outdone by 2 male Pheasants. 

Early Morning At Big Waters

At last the Great Crested Grebes have returned to Big Waters and they looked amazing in the early morning sunlight

There was also 15 Goldeneye on the Pond.  They look stunning when swimming around but are definitely  dont look as elegant whey they are coming into land.

The way these Cormorant are looking at the Goldeneye I reckon they agree with me.

End Of An Era (Well 18 Months Actually)

This week shot by, lots of work and no play is enabling me to take a week off starting next Saturday.  Went for a walk earlier on in the week down Whitley after work and my beloved saved me from becoming a "Murderer" by bellowing, thus enabling my Size 9 not becoming an instrument of death for this, "cute" and I use the word very loosely, little fellow

On Tuesday morning the day started off well with what I think was my first ever garden tick (only started keeping records halfway through last year) of a Song Thrush which started singing as I was clearing the ice off the car window so grabbing the camera I clicked away and it flew away.  Had to muck around with the pic later on that night to get this.

Then down to the Quayside and a quick look  at the Kittiwakes which are increasing in numbers

Up to work and refilled my 2 remaining feeders, as a couple more vanished over the weekend, and hung a couple of fat balls out then upstairs for tea and toast before work.  A couple of colleagues came in and told me to go downstairs quickly.  I shot down and aarrgghhh the "Tree Surgeons" where there getting their gear out.  After chatting to them the bad news was they were cutting everything down in preparation for the new building going up (sob sob) so took the feeders and fat balls down and transferred them to a tree in the car park only to be informed that the car park and trees and bushes were going also.  They got to work quite quickly and the larger trees were dispatched first although a couple of the "young ladies" who work with me were upset it was not a bit warmer so they could ogle the sweat laden bodies as they swung from the trees with their chainsaws and toolbelts.  It still took 6 of them the rest of the week to nearly finish (reckon they will need another day).  So I took a few more pics during the week as the birds did not want to leave as they kept going back to stumps that were left and just sitting on the fence or just standing on the bit of manicured lawn.

Not much left now

Normal (whining) service will be resumed shortly once I have wiped the tears away