I rode to Newcastle by bike on Saturday for non-nature reasons but encountered a group of twitchers on the Tyne at Blaydon, one of whom amusingly said they were trying to change a chaffinch into a brambling. I understood - bramblings are like that.
On the way back I cycled up the hill from Rowland's Gill and saw a series of five low-flying red kites between the town centre and Highfield. In between there was a brief sighting of a seagull pursuing a much smaller finch-sized bird. Not something that normally occurs but I supposed it was a dispute over a garden titbit.
On Sunday morning I attempted to take part in the Great British Garden Birdwatch. Gale force winds meant that I spent most of my time twiddling my thumbs and produced a not particularly typical final count of six jackdaw, two magpies, one wood pigeon and one blue tit apart from four unidentifiable seagulls flying high above.
Typically of course a posse of long-tailed titis turned up towards dusk and this morning blue tit, great tit and coal tit all visited the bird table that yesterday had largely been ignored.
Today the red kites were back in evidence again at Rowland's Gill. I had a few minutes to spare at the viaduct when one hovered low overhead offering good views. The resulting mobile phone footage gives an impression of greater distance but it was pleasing when another bird joined in.
A male and a female perhaps?
There was another guy on the viaduct who told me that there were only 36 red kites in the area, but I think that would have been the original release number. Presumably they will have bred.
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