Wallington Hall

A few snap shots before I head off to Oban tomorrow morning, These were taken from Wallington Hall

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Hauxley Nature reserve was our port of call yesterday morning and was delighted to get a possible 2 ticks in one day. A cracking morning was spend scanning the pond from the hides and also the fields around the reserve where the warden was telling us 4 Heron were nesting with 12 chicks hatched.

My first Tick (I hope) is of this Partridge, I have seen Red Legged Partridge before but I think these 2 are Grey Partridge....I came to this conclusion by the lack of white on its neck and also the rusty colour on its head. A hare was seen running along the top of the field which was nice. We headed to the first hide spotted Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, Widgeon, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Shelduck, Mute Swan Redshank Mallard and hopefully Tick number 2.

I think these Geese are Pink Footed..... The bill isn't as bright as the Greylag and the necks seem a bit more stumpy. The only thing putting me off is that my book says that they are a winter visitor so if they are Pink Footed Geese then why are they here, Birds and books can be confusing hehe

Also on the ponds were what I think are Gadwell, These ducks have been pointed out to me before so it's not a tick but it will be a positive ID if I'm right. Scanning my bird book Gadwell and Pochard are the only ducks I could see with the Black rump, so fingers crossed I'm right.

On the way back to the car a beautiful Whitethroat was spotted in the trees lining the path and sat and sung it's little heart out. I have seen Common Whitethroat at Castle Island, Ashington and thought they were the Lesser variety but my gut feeling is that this one is a Common Whitethroat but still a cracking bird who was very obliging and photogenic.

Also spotted were Coot Moorhen Long Tailed Tit, Tree Sparrow (I think) ohh and not forgetting the family of Rats which apparently visit the bird feeders, ahhh I hate rats

A good morning out and as always comments and suggestions always welcome.

Grumpy Birders

My sister (complete birding novice) and I popped to Cresswell today to see if the Avocets were about and to our delight 2 were asleep on the sandbank. Also bobbing about were Teal, Coot, Lapwiong, several Cormorant, Shelduck, Tufted Duck, a few Widgeon, Oystercatchers and Greylag Geese all in plenty of numbers. A Ring Plover dropped by for a short while and a few Heron were dotted about.

There were a few experienced birders in the hide today and were having a good time discussing what they kept seeing popping up from the grass, when my sister and I popped over to see what all the fuss was about they shut up and didn't move so we couldn't see but hay ho some people are just grumpy. HAHA they missed a fab photo opportunity of this cracking (what I think is a ) Sedge Warbler

After pointing out a few birds we headed to Druridge bay where we had the right side hide to ourselves and no grumpy people to bother us. Pretty quite on the pond with Tuffted Ducks, Mallards, Coot, Moorhen and Geese dotted about. We came across this Grumpy Greylag Goose chasing away what I first thought were Red Breasted Mergansers but on closer inspection I beleive them to be Goosander. The bill has a hook at the end where as the Mergansers have what looks to be a longer bill and straight. I've only ID'd a Goosander once before so a cracking find although they are quite common.

We popped into the left hand side hide and immediately saw some type of wader on the far side of the flash, scanning my book as well as trying to keep them in view was no easy task, they were far away but I tried desperately to get a picture but all I got was a brown smudge. A guy popped in for 5 minutes and said he thought they were a couple of Ruff, but he wasnt sure, pitty would of been a tick if I could of gotten a possitive ID. Never mind might pop back at the weekend and see if they are still hanging about.

Cracking afternoon and my sister is hooked.

Cresswell Does it again

Its great to get out and about agin after a terrible virus and cresswell was my port of call today and boy was I not dissapointed. The Beautiful Avocets were feeding nicely and is a tick for me. I have tried on several occasions to catch a glimpse of these birds and failed but today I was lucky enough to spot 2 of the 4 which are hanging around the Cresswell pond. Great.

Also spotted were Black headed Gull, Lapwing, Teal, Coot, Swallow, Mallard, Tufted Duck Pied Wagtail, A lone Mute Swan, Magpie and Cormorant.

On the sand bank next to the hide a pair of

Sandwich Terns were doing a mating dance of sorts before getting down to business to an audience of several Shelduck, Lapwing and Redshank.

The warm weather is a welcome sign of more birds to come, Wheatear have been spotted at Hauxley along with some Common Tern and I'm sure I spotted a Stonechat on the way to the hide today.

Its good to see my first Swallow of the season and I can't wait till the House Martins are back in the street.

At leat 20 Shelduck were dotted about the pond today and they were showing their fabulous coulous really nicely in the sun. Absoloutly stunning. A good hours birding before tea and a fab way to end the day. Hoping to get out more at the weekend and maybe head up to Dunstanburugh Castle to see if the Fulmars and Kittiwakes have arrived.

Tick from the Archives

October 2009 brought a very rare bird to Druridge Bay, a Glossy Ibis dropped in for a few days and the tiny hide came a hive of activity for the birding community from far and wide. As it was local I popped down to see the little beauty and was amazed at how obliging it was and sat quite a while for photos.

With all the excitement lots of other more common birds didn't get a look in that day and as I was flicking through some photos this little cracker took my eye. On my all time bird list I have indicated a possible sighting of a Greenshank and I think I have one. Scanning my bird book I first thought it to be a Sandpiper but realised it was the wrong colour and the bill was to big, next on my list was a Greenshank and although the picture in my book indicates a more curved bill I think for once

I may be right. If I'm right my all time list will be 113

Other cracking finds of the day were this Grey Plover which dropped in for a photo and a Little Grebe was also bobbing about.

I'm still amazed at how excited I get when I see something and try to ID it, even if I'm wrong which is quite often its still a great pass time and although these two birds were over shadowed that day by the Glossy Ibis I am so pleased I have found them for this blog entry. I have come to realise it's not just about the rare birds, the more common ones are just as important to me.

A little help needed (again)

I've been off work for a while with a virus and I have had plenty of time to look through my old bird photo's and come across some smashing little blighters including this one taken at Cresswell in June 2009.

To many a trained eye it is a simple task to identify this little beauty, but as many of you know by now I am not as skilled in that department as I would like and more often get things muddled and wrong.

So here goes and yes you can laugh at my deductions if you so desire.....

The photo was taken at Creswell where there are lots of reeds....I don't think it's a female Reed Bunting because of the beak shape and the lack of streaks. My next guess would be a different sort of Reed dwelling bird so I looked up a Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler and came to the conclusion that because of the plain brown colouring it is most probably a Reed Warbler. If it is then its a Tick for me as it's not on my list.

Even if I am completely wrong it doesn't matter it's still a lovely little bird which has filled in an hour or so on what seems to be endless days of attempting to get better.

Any suggestions would be most welcome

Forgotten Tick

I haven't been able to use my lap top for a while due to a problem with the wireless connection but after receiving a new box last week I'm happy to report I'm up and running again.

Hunting through some old photos I came across this delightful bird which I had totally forgotten about. It was taken down near Castle Island on the River Wansbeck 23rd June 2009 and I believe it to be a Lesser White Throat which takes my all time list to 112.

Delighted to add this beauty to my list and all though I remember being hassled by the flies this little cracker didn't seem to mind.