New Year Bonuses

The pattern over the rest of the festive period has been for restricted sightings but with the occasional bonus prize.

I did a quickish walk around the QEII with a friend when there was very little to see in the way of ducks or waders but a single herring gull turned up among the swans at the hotel end.

Herring Gull

For a while I did wonder whether it might be a different gull but the expert opinion was 'third winter herring gull.'  So there!

I spent New Year with V&A in Crawford, driving there in pelting rain.  We didn't get out the next day but Alex got a great shot of the Northern Lights!

Aurora Borealis

I hasn't to add I didn't get a thing and it wasn't even visible to the naked eye.  But pretty good considering we weren't further North.

On the 2nd we managed a trip to Airds Moss, which looked very promising but seeing anything following the sudden temperature drop and in an almost total lack of wind was hard going.

A heron flew along the valley at one point and, thanks to Alex's supreme spotting skills, we picked out a flock of goldfinches feeding in some distant trees, although getting a decent shot of them was a different story as they hid behind the withering catkins.

He then managed to spot a good number of distant fieldfares feeding near a large collection of molehills. Again, getting at a decent view was difficult, this time as they were at considerable distance.

Goldfinch

Fieldfare

Just to prove there were more than one each:

Goldfinches

Fieldfares

This was however the first time I have seen any fieldfares for a very long time, so worthy of note. As far as I could detect, no redwing were present.

A couple of days ago I made a visit to Whittle Dene to check for a little owl but it looks to me that some of the cracks in the wall where it supposedly nests have been filled in.  

The fishing lakes were pretty clear apart from a couple of mallard, gulls and a couple of tufted ducks a very long way off.  

A little investigation up the back of the nature reserve proved fruitless.

Yesterday the snow came down heavily and there was a frenzy of birds at the feeders.  At last the long-tailed tits participated fully and there were five of them at one point attacking a nearly empty suet ball feeder.

It wasn't the best photo, but the little things don't stay still for long!

Wednesday 13th February

Blue Tit house hunting

A bit of a landmark moment occurred last weekend when the first blue tit (that I have seen anyway) undertook a fairly detailed viewing of the nesting box on the side of the summer house. So far there hasn't been a second viewing but it's a step in the right direction. Robins are starting to become tuneful as another sign of the approach of Spring. A red kite flew straight over the garden yesterday as well just after I had got of the bus around 4.20 pm. I've also seen goldfinches when walking to the bus stop.

Last Wednesday I was out on a bike ride and saw three or four bullfinches along the cycle track just west of Rowland's Gill and as good a view as I've had of a jay, plus a couple of grey squirrels and a buzzard and a kestrel later on.  The kestrel was actually hovering low over the left-hand side of the road as I was approaching Whittonstall.  For a moment, I thought it was going to let me ride straight underneath it.

This was all largely eclipsed by an excellent trip to the Big Waters reserve with the Nature Watchers group

Iceland Gull

this Monday.  There were a number of bullfinches on the way to the first hide, where a number of ducks and geese were quickly identified, including wigeon, teal, tufted duck, canada and greylag geese.

Gulls aren't really my thing but it was interesting to see a herring gull on a well-frequented island straight in front of us.  One of our more expert members also pointed out an iceland gull that clearly dominated the others. Later a number of lapwing landed there too, giving an excellent display of iridescent plumage in the bright sunlight.

The second hide was even more productive.  A number of reed buntings were passing through the reeds and eating the heads, as were incidentally a couple of blue tits.  A wren also passed through, low down into the reeds.

There was also an area of cut grass with a large number of bird tables and feeders to the rear of the hide, which attracted a very wide variety of visitors after a time, including bullfinch, great tit, blue tit, reed bunting, tree sparrow and yellowhammer.  This was not however where I would have expected to see a water rail, which strutted over the lawn on a couple of occasions and appeared to be relatively tame.

Reed Bunting

Water Rail

Yellowhammer

Both the water rail and the iceland gull were first sightings for me.               

Wednesday 11th January

A rather windy bike ride to Castle Douglas a week ago did not produce much.  The most interesting sighting was two red kites playing around right above the town garden centre just as all the cyclists arrived.  Otherwise, the predominant bird was the robin.  Also wrens, a few goldfinches, and a couple of young buzzards sitting close to the road.

Redshank Steps Out

Malcolm in Northumberland is getting more interested in birdwatching, so there were more interesting results on my latest visit last weekend.  A dog walking trip to Alnmouth Beach on Sunday soon produced redshank, turnstone, sanderling, pied wagtail and rock pipit.  A visit to Warkworth a couple of days later also provided a brief sighting of a seal.

Later on Sunday we visited the pond at Low Newton in somewhat fading light and quickly managed to sight a pair of tufted ducks away from the coots and mallard.  A number of ducks on the far side looked like wigeon to me but an experienced bird watcher from Yorkshire thought they were teal. The photographic evidence isn't conclusive.  Just before the onset of dusk there was a single litle grebe (a first sighting for me) and some whooper swans feeding on the farmland opposite.

The Monday found us trying new pastures at Stag Rock just North of Bamburgh.  This time it was the

Purple Sandpipers - I hope!

brightness that caused some confusion and we spent some time trying to identify a group of birds that we eventually decided were just some unusually quiet and rather plump oystercatchers.

My identification skills with ducks and waders are still somewhat uncertain but I'm fairly confident I managed further first sightings of common scoter and purple sandpiper.  Also apparent were turnstone, sanderling, curlew, herring gull and a couple of stonechat on the edge of the beach.

There wasn't much more swimming further out in the sea apart from a small number of eider and one slight disappointment was the non-appearance of any long-tailed duck. Nevertheless, a rewarding visit to the area for both of us.

Later we briefly went to Fenham Flats opposite Lindisfarne around twilight, just as the geese moved off en masse to roost. They were probably pink-footed geese but far to far off to allow any identification.  So the only new thing we saw was several groups of shelduck, but always a favourite of mine