Onshore and Inland

Having survived a cold snap over the past week, I decided on a trip to the coast on Thursday after dropping my ebike off for a service.  I'd thought about concentrating on birdwatching but decided to meet a friend instead, and actually saw a couple of things anyway.

Walking into Cullercoats there was a stonechat on the promenade railing and a woman drew my attention to a kestrel hovering for long periods over the foreshore.

Kestrel

I've never had the chance to capture a hovering kestrel with my wee camera before so it was a pleasing result.

Having collected my bike again, I saw what I initially thought was a woodpecker of some kind crossing my path at the top of the Byker Link track, where there is a bit of a flytipper's paradise.  It had a stripey appearance that put me in mind of illustrations I had seen of a three-toed woodpecker.  Knowing it couldn't really be that I stopped and approached with camera in hand.  The bird took fright at my high vis jacket and made itself scarce but I saw it long enough to note that it was a leucistic blackbird.

The day after I was on a Naturewatch walk to Letah Wood near Hexham.  The main idea was to see the wild daffodils that grow there, which should have been showing well.  However the cold weather over the previous few days has held them back and it was hard to find a decent batch.

Wild Daffodils

There were plenty of birds singing but high up in the canopy and I only actually saw a robin and some woodpigeons.  

However, there was a very healthy tree fungus, probably a shelf fungus and a healthy colony of wood ants.

Shelf Fungus

Wood Ants

The day after I was out again after visiting my son's new house in Crawford when we went along a nice track near Leadhills.  Before we got soaked in a sudden downpour we had managed to see all of curlew, lapwing, buzzard, red kite, meadow pipit, pied wagtail, and raven.

However most sightings were at distance above the horizon.  At one point a lapwing was mobbing a buzzard.  It must be because nesting time is near.

Today I briefly saw the first bumble bee of the year in the garden and at the tennis courts there were several honey bees struggling across the surface. They must have come out too early.

Saturday 22nd May

Some incidental sightings have been a recent feature.

On Tuesday Malcolm and I had decided on a trip to Dipton Woods as the weather was just about suitable to look for green hairstreaks.  There was a bit of time to spare beforehand so I sat out in the garden where the forget-me-nots at least are having a bumper spring.  As well as a stray speckled wood butterfly, I kept noticing some bees that I didn't immediately recognise and so was repeatedly jumping up to photograph them.

On further research my initial reaction seems to be correct as I reckon they were red mason bees - not a rarity but the first time I have spotted them and a change from the tree bumblebee workers that have again nested by the front door.  There were some much smaller bees too but I couldn't get a shot of them.

Red Mason Bee

I wasn't particularly optimistic about the green hairstreaks but we did manage to see three albeit briefly, one immediately on arrival in the main target area and two just before we finished in more or less the same place.  This was even less than last year.  I had been quite optimistic about seeing a bilberry bumblebee but no sign.  All the bumblebees were of commoner varieties.  About half a dozen speckled wood, an orange tip and a couple of green-veined white also turned up at different times.

The day after I did a long exercise bike ride to Hexham.  Yellowhammers were about on the way to Greenside and again north of Bywell but I couldn't get them or a suspected lesser whitethroat to pose.

On a break by the river after Prudhoe I decided to snap a small tortoiseshell just to have a photo of something  but in doing so it struck me it didn't quite look normal.

Small Tortoiseshell

The difference is that the four innermost markings on the upper edge of the wing are almost totally white rather than yellow and even the central ones are very pale yellow.  A bit of research suggests that the colouration of the small tortoiseshell can vary if the larva has been affected by cold spring weather, which certainly fits the bill this year!

At the same place there was a nice view of a pied wagtail, which was sharing a pontoon on the river with a female grey wagtail.  I keep looking at pied wagtails to see if any are white wagtails but this one certainly isn't.

Pied Wagtail

Back at home I had been thinking I hadn't seen a tree sparrow for a while.  Then curiously one briefly visited the feeders two days ago.  Then it was here again this morning and actually inspected the nesting box the tits never use.  A tree sparrow nesting in the garden would be a bit of a story.

Wednesday 5th May

Last Thursday I decided to brave the weather and take a fishing trip to Brenkley Pond, partly as I still had some usuable maggots from several weeks ago and was happy enough to catch a few smaller fish on waggler in view of the ongoing near-freezing temperatures at night.  That was exactly what I got - 6 small perch and 6 small roach, some of which rivalled the ones at Milkhope for minuteness.

Even on fine tackle bites were infrequent and finicky and had a knack of arriving at inconvenient moments when I was pouring a coffee or fiddling with gear, so I should probably have caught more.  At least the presence of perch is likely to weed out some of the smaller fish over time.

Covid travel restrictions having been relaxed I took the opportunity to meet up with Alex and Vicki at a certain Scottish moorland last Friday in search of birds of prey.  Maximum temperature forecast 9C, actual temperature on arrival 3C, enlivened by strongish wind and a squally shower.

Within half an hour of arrival, we spotted what we thought was a barn owl hunting and soon there were two or three on the go.  Then hen harriers started to appear, both male and female, overall about a dozen sightings though some may have been the same birds returning.  Some of the males were displaying by zigzagging up and down on the horizon.

Not really dressed for the  cold, I was more interested in fiddling with a flask of tea and a pork pie than the camera, so left it to Vicki to provide the photos.  

Male Hen Harrier

Short-Eared Owl

It transpired on closer inspection that the photos were of short-eared owls, though I suppose it's just about possible that both were present.  At one point two owls were together and there was a clear size difference and all sightings were at some distance.  However the habitat certainly makes short-eared owl a good deal more likely.  We had also hoped for peregrine falcon or merlin but neither showed up, not even on returning later in the day.  Still, having only ever seen one male hen harrier before, it was great to see several on the same day.

Meanwhile, on a brief walk up a nearby valley, we encountered numerous meadow pipits, the first two swallows I have seen this year, a few pied and and one grey wagtail.  I had a notion there might have been a white wagtail but it didn't hang about, neither did one larger pipit on the stream which I suppose was a rock pipit.  On the return walk, there were a number of willow warblers around and one reed bunting as well as a pair of stonechats back on the moor.

I suspect this Spring will turn out to have been a disaster for butterflies and there have been remarkably few on the wing these last ten days.  Today a white landed that was either a female orange tip or a green-veined white.  After it departed a male orange tip appeared.  Otherwise there has been nothing apart from a single speckled wood at the tennis club on Sunday.

Orange Tip

Thursday 4th November

 Having heard that there were crossbills and siskins in some numbers at East Cramlington Pond, I set off there a week ago.

The search was somewhat complicated by the fact there seems to be two locations answering to that name.  The one I found first was the Nirthumberland Wildlife Trust Reserve, which was pretty quiet but there were some honey bees around the artificial hives and some redwing in the trees on the western side, which was in sun.

I'd noticed there was an area of conifers to the North and headed towards them, thinking that they were more likely to attract crossbills and siskins.  Here there was another larger and less overgrown pond and a quite extensive area calling itself East Cramlington Nature Reserve.  I scouted around a good deal without seeing or hearing virtually anything but eventually did hear birds moving around the edge of one area.  Most of these proved to be long-tailed and other tits but I did briefly pick out one siskin among them.  No crossbills though.

With some time available, I moved on to Holywell Pond, where a spoonbill was reported about ten days earlier.  I missed the main path down to the pond after trouble parking and ended up approaching from the waggonway.

I found the area I took to be Holywell Pond, a wide area of shallow water set in ploughed farmland.  There were a few ducks at distance, which look to have been gadwall and in retrospect were a pleasing spot.

Gadwall

On setting off again, I could catch sight of another expanse of water which proved to be the real Holywell Pond, though in fact it produced less interesting sightings - just a few swans and gulls and some tufted ducks.

Yesterday, the spectacular sightings of a fortnight ago no longer much in evidence, I decided to take a coastal walk north from Newbiggin, watching out for any twite.

A very white gull with red legs landed briefly in front of me but eluded the camera and I had to puzzle
out what it might be afterwards.  The most likely explanation seems to be black-headed gull - without the black head of course.

Eider Duck

Down on the foreshore I got a good view of a rock pipit but on the whole there wasn't much about in the morning beyond gulls, cormorants and a good head of pied wagtails.

There were some smaller birds about but annoyingly they all seem to fly straight over me and into the sun, carried away quickly by a moderate breeze.  The only ones that landed took fright too quickly to be identified.

Further along I did see an eider duck diving repeatedly.

It was amazing to reflect that a hoopoe briefly turned up in the Lynemouth area, having first made land at Newbiggin.  I had no expectation that it would still be there, especially if it was as unimpressed by the scenery around the old aluminium smelter as I was.  Curiously though, there were a few stonechats in the bushes around th outflow from the mine contamination processing plan, which was about the same colour as them - rust red.

Things were a bit more lively as there were a good number of waders active as the tide moved in.  There were a few redshanks and some turnstone amongst others, and a lot more brown birds which were very quick to take flight when I approached.

On reflection, I suspect though that they were all rock pipits.

Rock Pipit

Thursday 2nd January 2020

A one-off New Year's Day trip to Prestwick Carr proved productive. In fact there were more birds in terms of numbers than I have seen there to date. We started off by almost immediately spotting a large brown bird on a distant gate which, when it took off hovered unmistakeably like a kestrel and reappeared a couple of times during the walk - a great, plump thing it was too.  Further along walking west we got a brief view of a woodpecker.

Near the platform feeders there were really large numbers of birds, especially tree sparrows and occasionally a willow tit as well great, blue and coal tits and the odd chaffinch.  One short-eared owl (presumably) put in an appearance in silhouette flying along above an adjacent hedgerow.

Willow Tit

Tree Sparrow

We knew there was a chance of a genuine rarity as an eastern yellow wagtail has repeatedly turned up on the Carr and we were lucky enough to get directions from two other birdwatchers.  Sure enough it was exactly where they said, in a horse's field scampering around to pick up bits of food from the mud. It had been showing right next to the road but had moved off somewhat by the time we got there, scurrying back and forth on more or less on the same line, with a group of pied wagtails and meadow pipits in the distance behind it.  Probably the rarest bird I've seen in the UK and a really simple sighting.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Treecreeper

We looked out for the short-eared owl as dusk fell on the way back but with no success.  There was a single dunnock and we stopped to watch the antics of a treecreeper working its way up and down a gnarly bush. It was the first time I've seen one here and I was a bit surprised to see it on what wasn't a large tree.

There hasn't been much activity on the garden feeders.  I've increased the number of fatballs but basically because I suspect that they are of poor quality and would like to get rid of them.  The case seems to have been proved.  One or two red kites have been sighted, one flying low over Rowlands Gill and another above the garden, being hotly pursued by a corbid.

Sunday 31st March

The magpies have continued their nest building efforts. Though at times I was thinking any of the three little pigs could have done a better job, it does now look reasonably stable though not fully visible through the bushes.  So far there is no sign of chicks.

Perhaps also looking for a nest site, two or three fat tree bumblebees have worked their way through the garden.  More amusing however have been the antics of some of the pigeons as they seek to feed on the ivy berries out the back.  One even looked like it was having an ivy bath.  A wren has also visited and I got a nice shot of it singing from the 'dreadlocks' bush, so called because I don't know its real name.

Pigeon

Wren

On a bike ride last Wednesday I heard my first chiffchaffs of the year as soon as I was out of High Spen and they are now around in the woods at the back of the garden.  Between Wylam and Matfen skylarks were about and on the River Pont in the village there was a dipper that was spending so much time underwater I started to wonder if it was a small duck.

On Friday there was a Nature Walk at Whittle Dene Reservoirs.  Quite a few birds were seen but mostly at very long distance, notably wigeon, teal, goldeneye, curlew, cormorant, grey heron and greylag goose.  

Towards the end of the afternoon the wind dropped and we did get a few better sightings near the Southern Reservoir.  There were a couple of feral pigeons at the farmhouse, a few pied wagtails and a good view of a meadow pipit on the fence.  I thought I'd seen a warbler but others disagreed. The best thing we did see was a quick flypast by a sand martin, the first hirondine of this summer.  From all that, the only decent photograph I got was this heron.

Thursday 6th April

We progress slowly into Spring though not with much warmth. A female siskin made a brief appearance at the bottom of next door's garden on Monday.  It's good to see they appear occasionally and it was a frequent occurrence when there were more conifers about.  Further west a lot of redpolls are being seen in gardens but I think that's a forlorn hope where I am.  I did hear a greenfinch today.

Swan and apple

Wednesday's bike ride was a little murky and windy, but there were one or two things about.  I stopped for a break on the observation platform at Lochfoot, where a couple of mute swans were feeding in shallow water. By way of a scientific experiment, I decided to see if they would like the remains of my apple.  The result was inconclusive but they did have a bit of a go at it.

The military road to Castle Douglas does tend to be a bit plain.  As usual there were a few wagtails knocking about on the stretch after Milton to Haugh of Urr.  I've often wondered if I could spot a white wagtail among them if one appeared.  Recently however I did a photo identification test on a birdwatching act and found the white wagtail much easier to identify than from book illustrations. There were a few buzzards around of course.

Better luck was to come.  Just before Ernespie there were some skylarks to be heard and I got a very good view of one flapping and singing like crazy right next to the roadside.

Stonechat

I had decided I would come back through the Glenkilns thinking there might be a chance of seeing an early whinchat or a wheatear.  As usual I stopped at the place on the road up where there is usually a good deal of bird and squirrel activity but today there was absolutely nothing. The same was true of the wheatear and the whinchat but I did get some good views of a meadow pipit and a couple of stonechats perching on old grass stalks.  The stonechats hung around for some time.

The other things I didn't see were any swallows or - unremarkably - butterflies.  Interestingly there wasn't a single red kite either.

Friday 17th June

Last Sunday, I went on a late trip up the Cairn Valley to the area I have indentified as being likely for redstarts.  It was a very dark evening, very little about - plus the path to Netheryett lead me through some lush meadow, which quickly brought on a hay fever attack.

I did manage to identify a couple of chimney sweeper moths in the aforementioned meadow.  There were some samll white ones drifting around as well but I'm not good enough on moths to know which of many species they could have been.  Otherwise a heron and a couple of wagtails were about all I saw. I spent some time wondering about the difference between white wagtail and pied wagtail.  I really think I'd need to be with an expert to be sure of it.

This week's bike ride was a bit more interesting.  For the first time, there was a really large number of sand martins on the River Nith and they made a fine spectacle swooping around (unfortunately no picture as was still awaiting new camera).  Then I stopped at Lochrutton to see if there were any birds moving in the reeds.  There were - sparrows and a couple of blackbirds.  But heading along the military road on a fast downhill section, a bird momentarily settled in the hedgerow and, from its profile showing a dark tail with white edging and a mottled breast, I was able to identify it as a female linnet. Not bad for a two second sighting at 20 m.p.h!

Approaching Kirkgunzeon, I heard - not for the first time here - some birdsong I could not recognise and, eyes streaming with hay fever again, the only indistinct sighting I got looked like a chaffinch with wing bar but chaffinches don't sing like that. Stopping at the stream there, oddly known as Kirkgunzeon Lane, I did momentarily think I'd seen a female redstart among the sparrows drinking at the water's edge.  It wasn't.

Sunday 3rd May

Quite a busy week but one interspersed with interesting sightings.

Had to take new bike for service at Castle Douglas on Thursday, so wasn't much focussed on checking the surroundings on the way there.  There were the usual goldfinches and the odd skylark and after appropriate research I was able to confirm that the wagtails along the military road were not white but pied - today anyway.

Nuthatch seeks Peanut

With a little more time on the way back, decided to break at the place on the way up to the Glenkilns where the birdboxes are.  I mentioned in a previous post that I thought them too low.  As you can see however, it transpires they were probably not for nesting at all.  Someone had filled one of them with peanuts and this nuthatch took full advantage by raiding it repeatedly (see photo).  Several other tits and a tree creeper were also lurking with intent, but only one great tit was bold enough to steal a nut while I was around.

Moving on over the moors, there were a number of meadow pipits playing around on the walls and fences, probably in mating mode, and a fleeting hare, but no wheatears.

A pleasant surprise was to see that the sand martins have returned to their nesting haunt on the Nith just south of the cycle path.  It was a surprise because there was no sign of them when I rode through at 8.00 a.m.  However there were far more on the Wear at Chester-le-Street on Friday when Hilary and I paused during a househunting trip on my behalf.  We also fitted in a quick walk round Seghill Nature Reserve on Saturday where there were a few swallows and big numbers of skylarks, some at quite close quarters.

Sunday 5th April

An early Easter.  Yesterday I took advantage of reasonable weather to do a longish bike ride via Ae, Lochmaben, Dalton, Clarencefield, Bankend.

Heard a chiffchaff before leaving the estate and a woodpecker on the Caledonian Cycleway.  I'd just begun to think it would be one of those "heard loads, saw nothing days" when I got a nice view of a male greenfinch just above my head.  Mybe they are staging a comeback. This was shortly followed by a chiffchaff sighting in the same stretch of trees, probably a first year bird as it hadn't quite learnt the words properly.

After a couple of thrushes, a long-tailed tit and a hare en route, there was quite a bit of life on Amisfield Moor.  Three of four young buzzards were confronting each other in a row of trees (pictured below) and then a pair of curlews flew over widely and, presumably mating, serenaded each other with various winsome calls.  Also sighted on the moor were meadow pipit (briefly), reed bunting and wagtails.  But in spite of at least half a dozen calling there and at different parts of the ride, I still did not managed to catch sight of a skylark.  Perhaps my long-range vision is failing.

Amisfield Moor

After Ae the sun more or less disappeared and there was generally less to see.  A pair of hares nearby decided not to pose for the camera and the feeders at Castle Loch are no longer being stocked.  But between Brow Well and Bankend, there was one kestrel hovering over the hedgerow for voles, just like they used to do.

I still haven't seen the first butterfly of the season, which has remained cool.  This was confirmed by a quick trip to Brooms today, where there was very little sign of fish activity beyond smaller stuff.

Sunday 31st March

Another trip out in this boring, freezing Easter holiday.

Visited Brooms to check the fishing prospects, which fully justified my decision not to try yet.  Small match on and though they claimed they'd taken a few fish, I saw no evidence of it in the 20 minutes I was watching.  Most were fishing the pole well out on F1 pond. All the waters looked dead and there was absolutely sign of fish near the surface.  If absolutely forced to fish, I would have gone for the

A Fishing Match on the Annan

deep swim om the oval as I thnk that's where they'll be hiding.

Spoke to one guy who made a mysterious comment about big fish in there but he seemed a bit of a beginner.  Main consolation was one curlew and one kestrel overhead.

Decided on brief walk by the Annan, possibly willow tit connected, and quickly saw two magpies on the way (hooray! Means NUFC must now beat Benfica).  Once there observed wagtails in large numbers - mainly pied south of A75 bridge and mainly grey north of it, goosander, two dippers, two herons, cormorant, suspected redwings that all departed nervously once they saw me and six jackdaws sharing a small tree right next to the “Blue Bell Inn”.

On the way back a couple of not highly coloured tits flew into a tree right by me, but did not stay long.  I sat around but they did not return.  I think they were coalies, the fading light diminishing the appearance of colour.  There was however something about their demeanour and the length of their tails that did not seem quite right...