Tick - 111

A Fieldfare has been spotted visiting my garden in Ashington, Christmas Tick and a real delight. After several days with the camera poised on the kitchen window sill and hours waiting patiently for a positive ID this lovely bird stayed long enough today for me to catch a quick photo. Not very good as it was taken through my window but still a delight and a thrill to have this beautiful bird visit us for a quick snack on the nuts and seeds we put out daily.

Bird List to date 111

Rare Garden Delight

With the snow really thick in our garden plenty of seed and apples have been put out daily to help our feathered friends.
To my astonishment and a garden tick some Reed Buntings popped in for lunch. I have never seen Reed Buntings in the garden before and they stayed quite a while. The resident Black Birds didn't quite know what to make of these strange visitors and let them have their fill of Christmas goodies.

Other birds hanging around for lunch this week have been Robin, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Sparrow, Starling, Song Thrush, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren and of course Black Birds.
The Buntings definately put a smile on my face today. I normally catch sight of them at Cresswell so a real delight to have them come to me for a change.
Merry Christmas

St Mary's Delight

Hubby and I popped down to St Mary's this afternoon...mad I know in the freezing weather we have had lately, but a cracking hour was spend scanning the fields and pond.

First thing we noticed on arrival were these poor birds sheltering behind tufts of grass I think they are Purple Sandpipers, but I may be wrong. There were everywhere in the field opposite the pond and they did look incredibly cold. Unfortunately they all had their backs to us so getting a clear shot for ID was quite a task. Groups of 3-4 birds were scattered through out the field but after a few minutes hoping they would turn around we headed to the pond.

At the first viewing point opposite the field we were delighted to spot what we first thought was a Siskin, but after downloading the photos this afternoon we discovered what we think is a Yellowhammer, a Tick for me. I came to this

conclussion by the colour of it's legs and the lack of black on it's head. If it is a Yellowhammer then Its a cracking feeling when you compare a couple of birds and Id it correctly. A cracking little bird a delight to watch. It hung around for quite a while feeding on some seeds and nuts someone had left on the fence.

Birds spotted from here were Robin, Lapwing, Wren, Goldfinch and an absolute delight Snipe. A few were spotted at the waters edge and 2 took flight and landed in the field beside some Curlew and some more Lapwing.

We were starting to feel cold at this point and headed to the small exposed beach which was in

the process of being engulfed by waves. Ringed Plover were spotted, Oystercatchers, Redshank, Turnstones and a little higher up on the bank Pipits were popping their heads up here and there. The tide was in and Hubby didn't hang around to get some photos for his Flickr site but an excellent afternoon birding. Cold and ready for a hot cuppa we headed for home.