A Good Decision

While writing up my sightings in Spain, I had a couple of sightings South of the Derwent.

On my way to the Metrocentre, about half a dozen roe deer crossed the Derwent Walk a hundred yards ahead of me, including two fawns perhaps suggesting that they are becoming more numerous, as I suppose tends to happen with deer.

I couldn't believe my ears after collecting my first hearing aid at Shotley Bridge on Friday, but then I couldn't believe my eyes either when I saw this heron above the road on the way home:

Grey Heron

Now I'd heard of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire" but a heron on a wire was total news to me.  I gather the fishing on the B6310 isn't much good these days unfortunately.

Lapwing

My plan on Sunday was to do a long cycle ride to the coast given the forecast of long hours of sunshine.  When the latter had not materialised by 10.30 am I decided to do a few jobs in the garden then spend a couple of hours at Shotton Pools near Northumberlandia, where there have been a few sightings recently.

The whole area was alive with skylarks singing their heads off and there were a good few lapwings around. 

A couple of cheps told me a tundra bean goose had been sighted with some pink-footed geese in the fields.  

I reckoned I managed to see it.  They'd all disappeared briefly and I was quite surprised when they showed up again that I could pick them out at distance with the naked eye, so I had a go at getting a group shot, with the impromptu intervention of a couple of hares. 

Tundra Bean Goose(l), Pink-footed Goose with hares

My bird handbook points out the elongated neck on the bean goose.  It should really show a black tip to the beak but maybe it's not apparent at several hundred yards range.

Avocets have been turning up in Northumberland for a fair while but today I counted six and there were probably a few more, so that was new.

Avocet

A very graceful bird...

On the way back to Northumberlandia, one or two of the lapwings were starting to rehearse their display flight and call.  I didn't manage to capture this example very well, but it was easier than trying to keep up with all the skylarks.

Lapwing rehearsal

One that I didn't catch up with was the white-fronted goose but I saw them once before at Loch Ken.  

All in all I had taken a good decision. 

Saturday 10th April

 I noted some while back that spottings in my garden are a bit upside down in that birds that are normally common appear seldom - and vice versa.  A recent surprise was to spot two 'rarities' at the same time last week, a male garden sparrow and a siskin.  A female sparrow also turned up a couple of days later, as did briefly a goldfinch.  Both birds can be seen close at hand but don't usually visit the garden.  You'd really expect more siskins, given the amount of nearby woodland.

Siskin

To cap that I also got the best view I have ever had of a jay, which hung around for a couple of minutes just behind the bottom fence.  This happened while I was getting dressed upstairs, hence alas no photo.

The weather has done a major u-turn putting an end to butterfly sightings but Spring has now sprung and other species are abundant.  

A week ago on Friday Frances and I did a very scenic walk along the Blyth at Humford Mill near Bedlington.  There was wild garlic and other woodland flowers starting to come out all over the place, plus one plant I knew I recognised but needed to check - alternate leaf golden saxifrage.  There was less in the way of birdlife apart from a grey wagtail and a quick flash of a dipper flying downstream.

Grey Wagtail

Alternate Leaf Golden Saxifrage

Although the weather was already starting to cool there were a good few bumblebee queens on the move, one of which seemed to me on the basis of video evidence seemed to be a buff-tailed bumblebee.

One week later it was quite chilly when Malcolm and I set out from Low Newton to the outskirts of Beadnell against a northerly wind.

There were skylarks all over the place with a good number of meadow pipits, one of which posed nicely on a stretch of cut grass near a holiday park.

Meadow Pipit

It was one of those days when the further we walked, the more we saw.  By the time we got back we had also seen kestrels, stonechats, a flock of geese in flight that eventually landed at distance and looked to contain a mixture of greylag and pink-footed geese. there were a good few shelduck around, a couple of which were just about near enough to catch in the camera, though I never even spotted the curlew that was next to them.  A shallow pond produced a couple of gadwall and lapwing as well. however I was most pleased with a quick but unmistakeable view of a golden plover through the binoculars.

Shelduck - and curlew

Afterwards we stopped for a coffee back at Low Newton.  The tide was in and there was a proliferation of sanderling, redshank and oystercatchers on the crowded shoreline and a fleet of eider duck further out.

I reckoned there were some other small birds running around with the sanderling and took a few casual shots thinking to identify them later.  In fact I totally missed the foreshore and got instead a couple of blurred shots of birds in flight above the waves.  One had an upwardly curved beak but wasn't an avocet so I suppose possibly a godwit.  The other was a small wader but from what little I had looked more like illustrations of Temminck's Stint than the dunlin or knot I anticipated.  That however seems rather more unlikely.

If we had visited the foreshore at the beginning rather than the end of the day, I might have paid it more attention.

Saturday 17th February

A wren appeared in the garden one morning as I was getting up.  Perhaps it is coming regularly.

The weather put paid to even a short bike ride on Wednesday, so the day after I took a trip to Threave Castle as I've seen hen harriers there at this time of year.

On the path to the castle there were two great tits obviously hanging around for any titbits of food, just like the robin on one of my previous visits.  I had really meant to keep my eyes open for willow tits on the way to Stepping Stones Hide but sort of forgot.  I visited the hide briefly as a large flock of geese gradually circled in to land on the other side of the river, just mear enough to see through binoculars that they were pink-footed geese.  I've seen a lot of them this year.

Leaving the hide I noticed a single goldeneye being propelled downriver by a flood tide but still managing to dive for food.

There wasn't much going on as I made my way up the river, having stopped for a brief look at the new and old osprey nest sites.  But there was a small flock of long-tailed tits passing through the trees on the way up to the other hides.  I would like to get a snap of one some day but, as usual, they moved on fairly smartly.

The slim pickings continued during three-quarters of an hour spent in the lower hide.  As I half suspected, the nearest part of the marshy grassland was extensively flooded, which I think decreased the likelihood of harriers passing by.

A buzzard or two flew past and a red kite wheeled around for a bit a good way off.  In the far distance it was just about possible to distinguish some wigeon on the deeper water, but otherwise all was quiet.

All quiet from the hide - apart from a single swan

A nice little foray nonethless.  On the way back to the car, there were a couple of roe deer hanging around the edge of a field for quite some time.

Sunday 11th February

Some nasty weather and other concerns meant that I didn't venture out on the bike for a couple of weeks, so I decided on a bit of self-discipline and set off for a round trip to Bankend and Torthorwald last Sunday.

Just past weekend I saw the pink-footed geese in exactly the same field where I saw them last month and another skein on the other side of the road proved to be barnacles.  The rest of the ride didn't produce much but there were quite a few snowdrops around, though these I took a couple of weeks ago at Ken Dee Marshes.

Snowdrops

Part of the reasoning for the trip was to get ready for a longer ride on to Dalbeattie on Wednesday. I started up The Glen and immediately saw a huge powder puff heading into the undergrowth next to the road, evidence of a disappearing roe dear.  Then there was a male bullfinch flying into the hedgerow, after which I saw a female in the hedgerow on the other side of the cycle track.  I hope I wasn't disturbing anything.

Crossing the road after Kirkgunzeon there was a sole magpie, still not a common sighting west of Dumfries.

The weather was bitter and my hands were freezing under two pairs of gloves so the ride took on more the aspect of a survival challenge.  A frequent sight was loan buzzards perched on telegraph poles, perhaps hoping for enough wind to get airborne without undue effort. Most looked like immature birds.

Then today, after flogging round Mersehead before Christmas and several times keeping my eye out for them, I finally saw a single brambling on the way back from the shops with the Sunday paper.  It was a definite sighting, confirmed by another nature lover who passed by.

Of course I didn't have my camera in my pocket.  I returned with it a few minutes later but the brambling made off and I was left with just a couple of poor distance shots of a bullfinch and a goldfinch near to where it had been.

Bullfinch

Goldfinch

Thursday 25th January

Thankfully househunting activity has ceased now but has again seriously impeded my nature activities over the past month - as will doubtless the actual move once it comes about.

I got out on the bike on New Year's Day, more for my health than anything else but did encounter a field full of geese that I stopped to observe through the binoculars.  I swithered over whether they were pink-footed geese or greylags but the resulting photo decided in favour of the former, betraying the decisive 'heads dipped in chocolate' appearance.

Heads dipped in Chocolate? Pink-footed Geese

A couple of weeks ago, I started another bike ride from Ken Dee Marshes and encountered a group from the South who were looking for the Greenland White-fronted Geese there. On a cold morning, I wondered briefly whether to join them.  The reward for not doing so was a close up of the rear end of a roe dear but there wasn't anything else that day apart from hearing a woodpecker.  Service was slow in the pub and I had to do a Tour de France effort to get back in time for other commitments.

There have been one or two other minor compensations.  A wren has visited the garden twice and there was definitely a now rare kestrel resting by the A75 on a cold househunting day.

On a break from house hunting in Chopwell Woods, a woodpecker could readily be sighted and there was a goldcrest feeding on the ground near the path.  This was interesting as a lady has posted on Dumfries and Galloway Wildlife and Birding that a goldcrest has regularly been feeding on her lawn. I surmise that they are struggling to find the small insects they eat in the trees just now.

Saturday 11th February

How time is slipping by and there's not much to report really. Spottings over the last week have mainly related to waterfowl.

Last weekend I discovered that my sister is living but three hundred yards from a carp fishing venue - Burradon Pond, which may help to restimulate my lapsed interest in fishing.  A couple of people were actually fishing for them on a relatively mild day but the main wildlife activity for me was some minor aggression from this mute swan.  Judging by the muck on its breast, it may already have a nest on the go.

Mute Swan

I selected this week's bike ride down the Nith as a possible chance to see an egret but the weather was cold and the banks more or less deserted except for a small group of barnacle geese at reasonably close range.  It struck me that I haven't really noticed that barnacles have quite a pronounced eye stripe.  I wondered how much longer they will be hanging round before heading back to Svalbard. This one looked very well-feathered.

Barnacle Goose

The other side of Bankend there was another field full of pink-footed geese, now readily identifiable for me and also at reasonable range, so I took advantage of the opportunity of a photo in which, interestingly, the one on the left does seem to have strikingly pink feet.

Pink-footed Geese

After that I'd had enough of braving the chill wind, put the camera away and enjoyed a speedy run home from Ruthwell with it blowing from behind.

Sunday 22nd January

I had to put my car into the garage in Locharbriggs on Monday. Having arrived ridiculously early, I took a little walk along the cycle track, spotting several tits clearly that were clearly unperturbed by passers-by. They must be used to all the dog walkers. I thought it would be possible to see a bullfinch at this time of year, and sure enough, just after I turned back to return to the main road, one turned up quite close by in the trees. It would have made a good photograph, if only I'd taken the camera!

On Wednesday's bike ride to Loch Arthur, I went via Beeswing and, again with time in hand, decided to take it really slowly and keep my eyes open for wildlife. Typically, there was very little to see beyond a couple of jays in the distance and some swans on the loch itself.

After lunch I cycled back along the road North of Kirkgunzeon with a couple of the others to come across a field full of hundreds of geese.  My guess was that they would be greylags but I wasn't totally sure.  This time I did have the camera and, on observing the photos this morning, started to have more doubts.  In fact others more knowledgeable than myself confirmed that they were pink-footed geese.

Pink-footed geese

Apparently one good tip is that, if the head and neck are noticeably darker than the body, the bird is likely to be a pink-footed goose. What started me wondering was the beaks.  If you look closely, you'll see there is some grey on them.

The conversation on cycling onwards turned to the subject of birds that are seen less these days,and as usual I mentioned the kestrel.

Later I stopped at Lochrutton Loch, disturbing a number of ducks that I couldn't identify as a result, and saw a couple of cormorants and a heron in flight.  Then, heading to the A75 roundabout, what should I come upon but a kestrel, flapping and hovering around the trees.

On the train to Carlisle on Friday, I noticed another flock of geese in a field, behaving in a similar manner to those pictured.  I wonder if they were pink-footed geese too. 

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

Sunday 30th October

Took my first nature walk for a long time and chose to go around the Threave Castle area.

On the way to the Stepping Stones hide I saw the first goldcrest for a very long time.  It hung around obligingly but I could not get a camera shot that showed it up amongst the tree foliage.  At the hide there was a score of corbids sitting on an island in the middle of the river, presumably rooks.  One or two were stockier than the others and I wondered if they could be ravens.  In any case I have never seen either bird behave in this fashion before.

Whooper Swans

Then three whooper swans flew up the river, not quite fully mature as they still had bits of grey on them.

In the trees just before the castle on the far side, there was a flock of birds foraging.  I had a quick check to see if they were all blackbirds and indeed thought I saw several redwing, though the

Fieldfares and a couple of blackbirds

photo I took shows clearly they were fieldfares.

There were a lot of them in the woodland near the other two hides, but they weren't offering more than the most cursory sighting.  From the upper hide, I saw a tree creeper but not much else and from the lower just a couple of roe deer and a pair of birds in the reed grasses I could not identify. They were behaving like whinchats and flicking their tails but surely it was too late in the season for them.

The weather was still very mild and lots of flies on the wing. Ducks and geese were not to be seen but apparently there have been some pink-footed geese very recently.

Tuesday 8th May

Conntinued easterly winds and very cool weather have meant all thoughts of fishing have been postponed.  Managed morning trip to Ken Dee Marshes as a first attempt at spotting wood warbler, green woodpecker and willow tit.  Never sure about this place.  The area noted for wood warblers seemed decidedly quiet again although I did hear some trilling from a distance and saw the bird but too far away to identify.  No sign either of pied flycatcher.  Did however see treecreeper and female wheatear (never seen either here before) as well as pink footed geese.  There was a moment of excitement when I caught sight of a bird with dark head markings at the edge of the main woodland - but it turned out to be a fluffy looking male blackcap.

Also three red squirrels on brief walk to Lockerbie Wildlife Reserve some time before this.