Rude birds and Chance photos

I finally accepted the challenge of a possible twitch.

A firecrest in summer in the south of England or as a passing autumn migrant on the East coast is no big deal but I couldn’t resist tales of an overwintering firecrest near Low Hauxley and duly set off there on Sunday morning.

Immediately on heading past some wasteland I spotted a few curlew and, perhaps overexcited by the prospects of a rarity, took a look at what I thought might be a flock of redpolls. The binoculars showed they were in fact goldfinches but I took a snap anyway.

Shortly afterwards I came across some twitchers and had no problem finding the relevant hot spot near the Nature Reserve.  During the next hour I got several sightings of the firecrest darting around very much in the manner of a goldcrest but, frustratingly without getting it in the lense of either camera or binoculars.

It was only when I looked at the earlier photo that I realised that two of the birds in it were certainly not goldfinches and may indeed have been firecrests!

 Firecrests and Goldfinch 

It was a bit rude of them to turn their backs on me but the head pattern would appear decisive.

While I was waiting for the firecrest to turn up I noticed a number of tree sparrows nearby, who also managed to present a rear view to the camera. No matter, I clearly saw the markings anyway. 

Rude Tree Sparrows 

One of the twitchers had reckoned that there was another firecrest at Druridge (so clearly there have been two in the area) so I decided to take a walk there. It turned out he meant Druridge Pools, which was too far for me so I baled out for a coffee at Druridge Visitor Centre.

Setting off to return I took a look at the bird feeders and fortuitously noticed a marsh/willow tit approaching them.

This time I managed to got the camera out before it turned its back on me.

Marsh Tit

Of course it is a bit of a toss up between marsh and willow tit and the habitat could have suited either. On balance I plumped for marsh tit, noting the pale neck and hint of a mark on the beak. 

Back at Hauxley I caught a quick glimpse of the firecrest at the hot spot before the sun left the trees and I waited 40 minutes in vain for it to turn up again, not knowing what was already in the camera. 

Festive Famine

Not much to report over the Christmas period…

Having told someone I don’t see any chaffinches in my garden, one typically turned up two days later and another, a female was in the plum tree on New Year’s Day.

I spent Christmas at my son’s, where a damaged fence has been caused by a badger breaking into their garden to get at the bird food, exciting much interest from their cats. We did a short walk up Galahill where I briefly spotted a flock of bullfinches, otherwise there were several woodpigeons. 

Last Wednesday, I did a seasonal self-guided walk at Weetslade Country Park, which was quite interesting as it covers a far larger area than you see from the cycle track. We got a good view of a kestrel hovering but a visit to the bird feeder area was disappointing as the feeders were all virtually empty. You’d have thought they’d have filled them especially.

However we did get a nice view of a little egret on one of the wee ponds.

Little Egret

Later it proved there was a pair of them. There is now a nature conservation area and it is apparently possible to find otters and water voles.

The garden has continued to be a haven for tits of all four main varieties when the jackdaws aren’t around, with occasional robins, blackbirds and dunnocks.

Tits

In fact I’ve now run out of bird nuts, so quickly have they been disappearing.