Oot and Aboot

Haven't had time to do my usual diatribe so here

is a few pretty pictures from the last few days

in no particular order

A first for me at Big Waters - 4 Grey Herons in view at the same time

Plenty of stuff on the pond at Big Waters but the only bird missing was the White-fronted Goose which we saw in the North field when doing our Sunday walk.  Graeme B was in the hide when we arrived and had seen it from the top hide but when he moved for a better look it had taken off and headed elsewhere.  Anyway a good tick for the patch

The Mandarin at Wallsend Burn taken with a dinky little camera

(which allows the bird to come right up to me and can still focus)

My first Bramblings of the year in Northumberland

Siskin and Greenfinch sharing a feeder

Bullfinch were constantly ground feeding

Finally for those of you who actually read this Blog instead of just looking at the pretty pictures you might remember me talking about "cold hands".  Well at last I have obtained permission to publish the following picture

"The Blue Hand of Death"

This is what it looks like after it has been in a glove for at least 15mins so imagine how cold it is when he only wears one of his many 1 handed sets of gloves (he tells us he always buys them in pairs but keeps losing the right one but we think it walks away, would you want to be touching that hand) although he does wear 2 lefties on lots of occasions.  As he sometimes touches our bare skin (ooohhaaaa) we have all clubbed together and rescued a pair of heavy duty ones from a charity shop bag and presented them to him in a small ceremony in the Car Park on Sunday.

Bloody Photographers (or so I wrongly thought)

Heading out for lunch today with Carole and popped down to Wallsend Burn to show her the Mandarin that has been there for a while.  On arrival I knew it was close to the car park because I could see a Big Lens pointing at the poor little Mandarin from a very short distance.  Typical bloody photographer I thought no thought for the bird then I recognised him and thought to myself now he is a canny lad so whats going on.  I started to talk to him from about 10m away but he kept moving away from the Mandarin as it kept going towards the camera and in some instances was down to less than a metre away.  Moral of the story is don't jump to conclusions when it looks as if man with big lens is harassing small bird when its actually a smart bird  harassing a guy with a "big lens" (I know cos I once was that man with the big lens).

15 Mins on the Tyne

Quick wander on the Tyne between the Copthorne and the Business Park after work late afternoon on Thursday was quite pleasant for a change, dry and the wind had dropped considerably.  The mud was chokker (just saw a snippet on the news saying that we should not use local dialect in text as it stops the offspring (North East Folk) laarning how to tak propurly) with various sorts of Gulls most of the way down to the Business Park then they just fizzled out.

There was several Curlews and Redshanks,both feeding continuously with the odd Cormorant just hanging out with the lads but not seeming to do much.

There was also c40 Teal about  in small pockets of 5/6 feeding for a few minutes then off to another spot 10m further up river (they all seemed to head that way)

Finally, just to pad the blog out and its hard to write a lot about 15mins birding, at work today I sliced up an apple and a bit of melon, mixed them with a very small handful of peanuts and put them outside my window at work hoping to attract thrushes.  The Gulls (30ish) came first then left, but one stayed and stood there for about 15mins.  I call the following picture:

CONTEMPLATION

I could see it thinking shall I move and let that funny looking guy

looking out of the window, with his camera, try to get a shot of

some other birds or shall I just stand here and P**s him and the 

other birds off.  Sure enough it did and nothing came, even the 

Magpies, Woodies, Blackbirds and Robin didn't make an appearance.

Back to Big Waters.

Sunday morning and off round Big Waters with Alan J and Ian D.  The very strong wind kept most of the birds hidden away at home (where we should have been).  We did catch views of a Deer and a Fox on our wander round though.

The pond was quite full again although a lot of the duck were hidden in the Reeds, that is until a couple of Otters decided to put in an appearance and Alan managed to get counts of 61 Teal, 89 Mallard and 390 Wigeon.  Other vistors included 11 Cormorant, a few Goldeneye, a couple of Gadwall and a Kingfisher.

The Feeding Station was quite busy with the normal visitors and also a small flock of Long-tailed Tits stayed for a short while instead of a quick visit of 30 seconds then on their way.  They did a lot of feeding on the peanuts with up to a dozen for a period of  nearly 10mins

Back to work on Monday with the wind even worse on the Campus and only an assortment of Gulls, Wood Pigeons, Blackbirds, a couple of Robins and Magpies making an appearance in front of my window which has a very limited view but then on Tuesday this gorgeous beauty sat outside on the tree off and on for nearly an hour although no song or even a call was heard.

Most of the office had a slow walk over and peeked out the window to look.  Since I started putting the feeders out birds are mentioned much more frequently and I get shown little bits in the papers about bird related stories and one of the girls who runs around the Rising Sun with her dog for exercise tells me about the "Twitchers" who look at her while she is passing (wonder if she means you John or possibly Joe or Simon  LOL)

Patch Watching

The weekend at last, time for a bit of birding so off to Big Waters after 15mins de-icing the car, which I wasn't expecting and when I got to Big Waters I looked for Torvill and Dean before the birds, the road in and tracks were like a skating rink.  First birds I managed to see were 16 Canada Geese circling around and 3 Greylag who then headed off towards the North Fields.  I was then ran at and barked at by a dog well under control by his owner who imparted the usual information that he wouldn't harm a soul was just extraordinarily friendly in a strangled voice as he had been shouting for over 2 mins trying to get the dog to come to heel.  My reply was somewhat discourteous so I wont repeat it.  I then had to hang around as it ran into the fields then into the reserve where some knobhead had left the gate open.  Eventually the nice dog (most dogs are nice, its some of the bloody owners that are first class prats) walked off along the track so into the reserve just as a flock of at least 22 Long-tailed Tits traversed the trees on the side of the track.  Spent 10mins watching them then off they went, they are such an enchanting bird, then into the 1st Hide which was already occupied by Paul the Driving Instructor (hope I remembered the name right as I had forgotten by notebook and pen) and we spent a good hour there watching the usual suspect but also had the pleasure of 2 Otters circumnavigating the lake and giving us a great spectacle of all the birds coming out of the reeds and flying over in our direction.  This went on for over 10mins before things settled down and Paul spotted an unusual bird for the pond on the far side and sure enough it was a Male Pintail.

I was on the phone like a shot to tell Alan J, then he informed me that there had been 3 there yesterday.  I then mentioned all the Goldeneye, 7 of them, the reply was there had been a few more the day before yesterday.  

I then headed up to the main hide and met Alan J on the way.  Alan did a few counts but I cant remember what they were but we did spot a couple of Gadwall, a female Tufted which I had forgotten to mention earlier, a Kingfisher on a fly through which was another patch first for the year and a Kestrel which did a bit of "hovering" but then departed.  By this time I was beginning to feel the chill so god knows what Alan's infamous "Blue Hands" were like so we headed off for a walk round the public end.  We spent 30 mins there but didn't see a lot as we were too busy dodging dogs or dog owners joining us for a chat (at least there dogs were under control).  We saw a Grey Heron then once again I had to inform Alan that we had seen 3 earlier in the day (NOTE - Dont forget Book) .  

I mentioned that I still hadn't to see Grey Partridge so Alan took me to the spot that they had moved to and sure enough I spotted them within 30 Seconds.  More Long-tailed Tits were spotted and a possible Goldcrest was heard although it couldn't be found but a Coal Tit did appear a few more metres down the track..  So quite a decent day with 3 year ticks which now puts me up to 63 on the Patch.  

Finally, I passed Killingworth on the way home and I was drawn to this little beauty which had a ring on and took several pics from a bit of a distance and managed to piece together a bit of a number which is probably not the right one but wonder if any of the details give an indication of which country it was ringed in.  

From several different angles I managed to piece together the following:

         MUSEUM

PRAM

ES081271

The M on the 2nd line could be a K.  On the ring the MR0 were in that line - the top 2 lines were the same font which was smaller than the number

Thats all I could see as it kept going back into the water and wouldn't go with the others when people were putting Bread and such out.

Saturday headed up to Big Waters.  I was slightly later than usual due to a bit of beer watching on the previous evening.  There was no problem getting to the car park but once there I couldn't get out but 2 kind visitors from Surrey gave me a bit of a push and I took the car back onto the main road, met them later and took them into the hide, really nice couple, became even nicer when I found out the husband was a Squaddie.  The birds on the pond were restricted to the 15% in the North West part of the lake that was not frozen with quite a few venturing onto the ice.  

Another shot with a deer bounding through the snow 

The Feeding Station was alive with small birds feeding and even more popped in when Alan J arrived and replenished the feeders and tables.   At least 5 Robins seemed to feed close without any animosity.  Up to 5 Reed Buntings, uncountable numbers of Blue and Great Tits with the Tree Sparrows all coming in together then vanishing  for a while then returning.  A few Yellowhammers put in an appearance and the 2 Willow Tits were once again in and out in a flash on numerous occasions.

The best bird of the day was without doubt the Peregrine which zoomed in at the Ducks and we got some great views, unfortunately my camera was still in the bag.  4 People in the hide saw a Brambling but it was gone by the time I got round there.  A good day which ended badly when I reached the car (which if you have read any of this drivel further up the page, I parked on the main road) I realised I had left my bag in the hide and had to walk all the way back.

On Saturday I woke early at 4 and was all sorted and ready by 6 so what the hell, off I went to Holy Island.  

The Cattle Egret was eventually spotted in the Garden of the White House just off the Crooked Lonnen but only bits at a time as every time it moved you saw a bit more but a bit vanished.  Eventually it took to the air but flew further away although was viewable fully in the scope.  A Long-eared Owl also took to the sky at the same time and that also dropped onto a fence and was viewable through a scope also.  Now I did manage a few snatches of some of the worst video I have ever taken (I feel like I have typed that sentence before) but at least its a record.  You must watch it all the way through (45 secs) cos I put on another bird that I videoed from the Causeway, a Long-tailed Duck which when I pulled up to see if anything was there a lady kindly pointed out that there was an Eider with its baby swimming around.  She was so nice that I thanked her profusely and then she left.  I have been known on many the odd occasion to misidentify birds but what the hell she looked so happy to see them I just couldn't say anything (now let me think, who do I know who would have put her straight immediately......nobody, cos there all such nice people)  Anyway Warner Brother Pathe Hall Productions

PRESENT

The Black and White Show

New List - On Backside From The Office

My new miniature Feeding Station at work (Newcastle College) is now operational.  I finally sorted it out over the last couple of days.  Its just a peanut and seed feeder, a couple of fat balls and a cat bird watering dish.  Yesterday I only saw a Dunnock and a Bluetit with lots of Gulls and Magpies flitting around.  This morning though about 11 as I was discussing the merits of setting a spreadsheet up so you could just put in a DOB and find out how old the student is when a movement out of the corner of my eye made me stop the conversation.  The tree with the feeders on is only 10ft from the window (which I dont think has ever been washed on the outside) but I recognised a Goldcrest straight away then lo and behold another 2 hove into view.  They just pecked away at the branches with the feeders on but obviously not sampling their delights.  I scrambled for my camera and eventually focussing through the dirt I managed 2 shots.  I was over the moon, even though I have seen plenty obviously, I never expected to see one let alone 3 in 

The Toon.

Later in the afternoon some nice kind students decided to lob a huge hot dog bun onto the grass and within seconds a bunch of Gulls were tossing it around and one eventually swallowed it whole then stood for over a minute in this position gulping every few seconds

Meanwhile back in the Garden, Carole reports 5 (3 Male and 2 Female) Blackbirds, a couple of Coal Tits and the normal crowd with the exception of Collared Doves, not one seen for a few days.  Also not a Siskin in sight

Not Much Birding This Weekend

I had a non birding weekend planned as Carole wanted to make a couple of visits but the best laid plans as usual go to pot.  Do something off the cuff and it normally works out well but our trip on Saturday was cancelled due to a few minor problems but even then I still only managed an hour on the coast and 2hrs at Big Waters.  The same happened on Sunday, didn't get out of the house until 09.05 and was back by 13.00 but Carole couldn't be bothered to cook so we headed out for a meal.  Most places were full so we hit the Fish Quay and a massive fish and chips each in the car at the Middens Car Park was much better than sitting in a restaurant acting proper.  We had 45mins of hilarity, listening to Radio 4, watching the public walking by, observing the birds swooping down for discarded food and the couple in the next car to us have the same worldly fare as us but using proper trays with the spongy bottoms, proper cutlery, a salt, pepper and vinegar set, napkins, tea in a flask and milk in a bottle, then washing and drying their cutlery (I thought we were bad keeping salt, vinegar and placcy forks in the boot).  When we were leaving Carole did mention that maybe I should take our picnic hamper next time so Sedgy Warbler and I could eat our MacDonalds and them flat square things that Sedgy eats in style.  We did do a scour round the Fish Quay, Low Lights etc but no sign of the White Seagulls.

Here is a few pics I took whilst out on Saturday and Sunday in no particular order.

Big Waters - I actually took this last weekend but the colour is so

nice I just wanted to post it, also we probably wont see scenes like

this for a while if you believe the BBC Weather Forecasts

A couple of the 13 Cormorants we saw yesterday at 

Big Waters.   A very high count for January

At last I managed to get a glimpse of a Willow Tit outside of the Feeding 

Station at Big Waters.  It doesn't hang around for photographers though.

About midday a lot of the birds in the area started moving around.  This is not

a common occurence but to see 3 male Pheasants take to the top of

the trees was not something I can recollect seeing.

At the Boating Lake in Tynemouth a Barnacle Goose is 

still meandering around with the Tufted Ducks

At Killingworth a Whooper Swan waddled over for a chat 

as I was dishing out a bit of sustenance

Then as a few Mute Swans came over a familiar one stopped in front of me - TBX - the female of the pair that has been breeding for quite a few years at Big Waters (must be on its holidays or probably a City Pond Break).  There was a male with her which had the same attributes (bolshy and aggressive) as her partner.  We presume they must be doing the same as last year when the pond was over-run with Swans and they vanished for a while but where the only ones to successfully breed on their return

Finally a collage from January 2012 showing some of the Wildlife we

observed last year.  Note the 3 weird species of Wildlife in the top left corner

RSPB Saltholme and Hartlepool

On Saturday John and I headed down to Teeside for our first outing of the year.  Whilst not having any specific target there was quite a few birds to be on the lookout for although the highlight of the day turned out  to be none of them.  As we were sitting in the main hide at RSPB Saltholme the majority of the birds took to the air and scattered and then a small raptor landed on a post about 60m away.  My god it was a Merlin and whilst I had seen a few 1 or 2 sec glimpses of a few in the past with the words "Its a Merlin" normally only being spoken as something vanished out of view this one sat on the post, albeit a bit distant, for some 11mins 11secs.  I already had my video out so it only took a couple of secs to start filming from start to finish whilst I viewed it through a scope.

An exceptionally good day was had with the Fishcake and Chips as good as ever from Seaton Carew and the leftovers being used to attract the odd bird or two.

We had a couple of minutes viewing the Black-throated Diver in Hartlepool Marina

Finally a shot from the start and the end of the day

Sorry, Only Got 4 and a Half Minutes

New Years Day and a visit to Big Waters where I got off to a decent start with some quite nice sightings.  Check the Sightings Book in the hide where all sightings are written down by the visitors to enable anyone visiting to see what is happening on the reserve (Noted there was no visitors to the reserve for quite a few days over the holiday period as nothing had been written in the book!!).  Thanks to the people who do write something in.  

I then headed off to Leazes Park, to see the Slavonian Grebe, which is a place where I do drop in a lot but normally during the spring and summer when there is light and free parking before 8am but even when you are willing to pay after 8am finding a space is like trying to find a bloody Hen Harrier in Tyne and Wear.  Managed to keep standing up in the bloody awful wind and get a couple of record shots.

All done in 4 and halfish minutes