Once again I only managed to get out on Sunday for a half hearted attempt at a walk round Big Waters but had to head for the hide as I was just too full of little germs running around inside me like lunatics. Had a few minutes with Alan, Ian and Keith and they then headed around for the walk whilst I staggered back to the hide. Graeme and Mick were there so managed a bit of a chinwag and I spent about 90 minutes there then headed home bumping into the others on their way back. Here are a few pics from the day.
Went for the normal Sunday walk around Big Waters on Sunday, nice day for a change with plenty of sunshine but just a tad on the cold side. Now I am sitting here with a bloody awful cold sweating and sneezing profusely. The highlight of the day was a Green Sandpiper taking off from a small copse we were passing although couldn't get a picture. Lots of ice on the lake meant that a lot of the ducks were down near the public end and gave quite a good photo opportunity. 3 Song Thrushes (Thanks Alan) were feeding down the public end and also spotted a Song Thrush on the walk round. A couple of Jays were also heard, 8 Snipe seen with pockets of Siskin scattered around and a couple of single Redpolls. Long distance view of a possible couple of Pintail (see picture). In the Feeding station a couple of Brambling were seen and the usual Willow Tits were in and out. Here are a few pictures from the day.
One of the 3 Song Thrushes
A lady decided to feed the birds at the public end which brought
quite a lot down for a morsel of bread
Including this quite well hooded Black headed Gull
The Tufted seemed to be doing a bit of diving also
A nice looking male Goldeneye also came down for a bite
to eat but was soon off
Gulls and Wigeon stayed more in the centre on the ice
On the walk round we came across 3 lots of Siskin feeding
These 2 duck (possible pintail) were spotted at a distance by
Alan but changed course when an aeroplane came a bit
close to them whilst they were giving the pond the once over
A couple of Brambling in the feeding station
On the way home Ian and I spotted a Hare stretching its legs
Finally will the person who uses the hide and has a bit of a runny nose problem please cease throwing their used Kleenex out the hide window. The following picture is only about a third of the used tissues that were deposited immediately under the windows facing the scrape.
It was a tad cold at Big Waters on Sunday and Monday but thank god the forecast strong South Westerly Winds didn't materialise. There was enough time on Sunday for the Short Walk with Ian D, Alan J and Graeme and on Monday an hour in the hide with John D who was ringing and catching quite a few birds (albeit mainly Blue Tits). Too cold to sit so went for a walk round the public end which was curtailed after 10mins by a brief strong shower. So then headed off back home to clean out the shed (isn't life fun when your on holiday). So here are a few pictures from the 2 Days.
Collared Dove by the Football Car Park
Poor little Ducks with their tootsies freezing
Plenty of the small stuff around also
My Lumix FZ72 stopped working (well the viewing screen) so have sent it off for repair so had to resort to one of my older Bridge Cameras hence the following video, which is not of my usual standard, was taken on Sunday, as I always do just to keep a record of what was around. This week the Otters were out again spending a fair amount of time frollicking around near the island. Lots of Teal, plenty of other Ducks swimming around, plenty of Tree Sparrows and a couple of Willow Tits. Hopefully I will be getting out and about a bit more as the holiday period arrives Big Waters - 14 December 2014
Following on from the Otter video on my last blog I had firstly dropped into Little Waters where there was quite a decent representation of wildlife with at least double figures of Blue Tits, a couple of Wrens, Chaffinches, a few Redwing and Fieldfare moving through and 3 Swans on the water itself. The usual flock of "Doves" were being put through their early morning calisthenics for the whole 15mins I was there. Will have to go and have a walk around properly next week instead of just standing on the bridge.
Big Waters was very productive with some great views of a Grey Wagtail, lots of Geese but sadly no sign of the White-fronted seen earlier on in the week. The Swan count was in the mid 40s but still plenty of feathered life on the pond moving around constantly with the Otters passing through, low flying Buzzards and Sparrowhawks having a saunter or perching just in view which keeps everything on its tippy toes, much to the mild annoyance of AJ as he tries to do the counts. The feeding station was also very busy with the Tree Sparrows much in the fore, at least 4 Reed Buntings, Woodpeckers etc but the star of the show and my first viewing of the winter of a Brambling completed the day.
With reference to the mysterious yellow bird that flew through Big Waters airspace last weekend, it came a tad closer early Sunday morning and I managed a quick shot which shows a partial view of its Darvic Ring on its rear leg. Hope this will do Keith to back up another flythrough tick of your "other patch"
Great chat this week as we went round especially with a guest appearance of the
Manic Meanderer who regaled us with descriptions of his new abode, beers he has drank, beers he is drinking and beers he will drink (all with bird names, purely for ornithological interests).
Finally I haven't done a general video of Big Waters for a while despite being continually hassled by AJ so I eventually succumbed to his pleading so here it is (including Brambling)
in glorious technicolor (apart from a very small section of Tree Sparrows in B&W which I think looks rather nice)
Got out for a couple of hours yesterday to Big Waters where the sun was out for a while which made the walk even more enjoyable than usual. Quite a lot seen but I will put a few pictures up later on. On return to the hide the Mother Otter and her 2 Cubs were out playing but once again down near the island and at one stage all 3 were on the island so everything departed apart from a Swan which just looked at them with disdain and only seemed to get a bit concerned when they got close to her. I took a video of some of it but it was from the back of the hide as I couldn't get a front row seat because of all the youngsters sitting there getting all excited watching them. You will hear them in a section of the video but had to take out most of the sound due to ............ The youngsters in the hide included Alan J, Ian D, Keith, Graeme and Mick M who seems to split his time between home and hide equally. So here is the video:
Bit restricted at the moment due to the husbandly chores of looking after a poorly wife who is recovering from an operation and doesn't have any use of her hands. I know realise how hard it is for her to look after me, as she doesn't demand request a 10th of what I seem to do. Anyway I can now use the Washing Machine and the Tumble Dryer and have even washed floors. On Sunday she sent me for a couple of hours to Big Waters for the normal Sunday Walk which was really enjoyable as there was no wind, no rain and it was quite warm. I did miss my early Sunday morning jaunt to Howdon Wetlands though. Didn't do a lot of photography, just too busy looking at the scenery and listening to the chatter of the guys, nice to be out (happy grin on face). So here are a couple of things we saw and I managed to get a picture of.
First of all this picture was taken last weekend but I have just got round to looking at them as I was only at Big Waters for an hour and a half as I went to the Remembrance Day Ceremony. It is a snap of a Grey Heron, usually quite a graceful looking bird in flight but this time it was being hassled by Crows and wasn't its normal serene looking itself as it came into land
A Sparrowhawk on the North Scrape surveying its Killing Ground. During the week a Sparrowhawk made 13 passes through the Feeding Station during a few hours someone was there.
Big Waters looking fantastic
One of the 50+ Swans who are on a free transfer from Killingworth
The Cormorant numbers are building with (I think) up to a dozen being reported
A Buzzard being perpetually harassed as it goes about it's business
A flock of Long-tailed Tits gave us some delight as they made their way through the hedgerows when we were out walking. Also saw a small flock of Siskin along with Chaffinches and others at the same location.
Still on my hunt for a great Shoveller shot.
At last the return of Canada Geese which have been missing off the monthly lists for a while
As I said above last week I went to the Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Cenotaph in Newcastle so for those of you who missed it or have an interest here is a video which I took to show Carole as she was a bit incapacitated and couldn't attend
