Welcome to my birding blog - first launched 12th March 2012...
17-19.12.2018
Manavilins!
Bits and pieces - originally of food. Titbits. Odds and ends.
A word I learnt from my mother.
December 18th took me first to Skinningrove hoping to find the reported water pipit. I found it quite quickly but it was very shy and difficult to approach. Meadow and rock pipits also around.
Water pipit
Rock pipit
A couple more from Skinningrove
I tried for the tundra bean geese but no luck. However the taiga bean geese down the Zinc Works Road showed really nicely...
...as did a magpie on top of a telegraph pole!
December 19th: Back up the A19 but starting at Hardwick Hall country park near Sedgefield where a nice drake red-crested pochard had been reported. It was soon located. These dozing goosanders caught my eye. They were close to the pochard which seemed to be endlessly preening and splashing around.
I called at Seaton Carew beach near the water treatment works. The large car park there is toll free in winter and I just wanted a quick look. Lots of dog-walkers but some way from me I saw what must be a large group of resting waders. I walked north keeping to the land side of the sea wall. I was pleased to find a very large group of ringed plover [50+]. Here's just a small number of them.
From there I went to see the tundra bean geese for about the fourth attempt. No luck this trip either whilst the taiga bean geese [very smart birds in my opinion] seemed to be getting more used to the birders and were relatively close to the Zinc Works road.
The light was now very good and I decided to linger as I had heard that the short-eared owls often came to perch on the stockade at the old tip end of the ZWR. Cars line up there so people can photograph the birds from their car and not disturb the birds. I pulled in pointing down the road towards the far end. By pure chance I spotted movement on the 'wrong' side of the road about 100m further down the road. Owl! I jumped out of my car. By now the owl had perched on the fence. I told several people in their cars "There's an owl on the fence!" They looked at me as if I was stupid apart from two young men who seemed to understand. The rest never saw a thing. They never saw this...
Eventually a passing car disturbed it and off it went into the scrub.
The birders in their cars were still sitting and watching the stockade in case an owl might land!
Still, that's probably enough shorties for this year!
But I hope there's more next year...
262 UK 2018
10th December 2018
The Last Hurrah?
Before I start I need to mention a recent trip to Hartlepool when I saw very little worthy of mention and the day was rather wet and miserable. [26/11] So why mention it at all? Well, Tiggy occasionally gets a mention in my reports and I thought something that needed to be celebrated happened as I went over Graythorp Bridge travelling back towards Saltholme from Seaton Common... 200,000 miles at a rate of 26,064 [average] miles per year...
...and touch wood she's still ferrying me about the country.
Oh yes, I stopped on the bridge to record the moment!
December 10th: in and around Hartlepool
I started around the harbour and fish dock.
At first I could only find eiders - well into the fish dock area.
Soon saw guillemots and then various red-throated divers - at least 3 present in the outer harbour from the pilot pier.
Pals!
Rumours of a black-throated diver proved unfounded although a great northern diver just off the harbour showed nicely.
Returning to Tiggy, some herring gulls were on the Town Wall.
Hartlepool Headland had had snow buntings by the new houses beyond the old cemetery. I went up there to try my luck and admired the view of Steetley Pier in brilliant sunshine.
Guess what I found down on the beach! Sanderlings and oyks.
...and snow buntings!
Newburn Bridge was fairly quiet. The gulls were out at sea but there were lots of ringed plover on the rocks and a ringed oystercatcher on the coal-dust beach. Oh yes, and a turnstone.
I finished the day on Seaton Common. The owls were brief and distant. This kestrel was not bothered by my stealthy approach.
December 12th: an afternoon at Blacktoft Sands RSPB
It was a lovely but chilly afternoon although it clouded in later as the harriers began to show up. Nothing very close this time so just a couple of record shots of marsh harrier.
However [and a wonderful thrill for me] we were treated to a distant view of a grey male hen harrier over by what I've heard others refer to as the 'hag's cottage.' Otherwise pretty quiet: the only birds at Singleton were a few snipe, 13 shelduck, 2 redshank and a flyover blackwit. Here's one of the shelducks.
Nearly forgot: wren, tree sparrows and a little egret!
262 UK 2018
21st November ff
It isn't over the till the fat lady sings!
This apparently refers to an overweight soprano opera singer who sang the final song at the end of Wagner's Ring Cycle!
November 21st: Locke Park, Redcar
Confiding night bird!
A quick drive up the A19 to catch the black-crowned night heron before it disappeared again. I knew the light would be fading by the time I got there but I hoped I might get a decent view of this confiding bird and, maybe, some nice shots. It was on a weir at the west end of the park. It barely moved - just sat and watched us, occasionally closing its eyes. We were pretty close: it didn't mind us or the dog walkers.
November 24th: With Sheila around Hartlepool
Burning bright!
We arrived at Saltholme for a comfort break and a bit of shopping but a glance at the pager told me that there were bean geese down the Zinc Works Road. We shopped etc quickly and headed off. Lots of local birders present deep in discussion about taiga or tundra - or both. End result: 6 taiga bean geese rather distant but good scope views. Here's a couple of shots from my 500mm lens with 1.4 extender - and in poor light at 3200 ISO.
Tiger, tiger...
Next it was down the North Gare road to see if the owls would come out to play for Sheila. They did and she enjoyed a good long flight from one bird in particular...
We also fancied a decent walk as we hadn't been able to get out much in the recent poor weather so a trek down to see if the long-eared owls were around. No luck there, but we had good views of two pairs of stonechats and a group of reed buntings.
We saw lots of large flocks of birds wheeling around over Back Saltholme. Lapwings predominantly.
262 UK 2018 - but still heading to being my worst year list
since 2007 when I still worked full-time......
So I hope the fat lady doesn't burst into song just yet!!
12th November 2018 ff
12 Cliff Terrace, Hartlepool Headland
I was there by about 5.45am. Plenty of birders there already. I stood next to a couple from Hampshire and a man from Kent. It was that kind of twitch. The bird, by the way, was visible just to the right of a bay window. All you could see in the darkness was a patch of white. It looked for all the world like a piece of flaking white paint.
This photo was taken much later when it was reasonably light. The little swift took off moments later.
It's looking at us all!
The bird was soon relocated along the promenade north of the bowling greens and it showed magnificently for an hour or more. So fast a flyer that I struggled to get photos at all never mind sharp ones. This one will have to do!
I snapped a couple of species that fly in a nice straight, predictable trajectory...
Scoter...
Drake eiders...
Heading home I called at the Chevrons near Sleddale. No rough legs but I did see kestrel, red kite, lots of common buzzards, 2 peregrines and grouse.
5th November 2018
And now for something completely different!
If you're mystified, there are birds here: just skip the flowers...
Some of you may know that for over a dozen years we opened the garden in the Yellow Book. We no longer do that but we still maintain our large garden as well as we can. About 4 years ago I bought a small collection of nerines - wonderful South African bulbs. Some are hardy here in Britain but many aren't. It's taken some time to get them to flower so I though I'd celebrate that with some photos. They have flowered this year for the first time through October and some are still going well.
Nerine bowdenii - the standard hardy nerine often grown in the UK
A strong growing deep pink form of Nerine bowdenii
This one came to us labelled 'Elegance'
My favorite, nerine corusca major a sarniensis cultivar - tender and spends the summer dry in a greenhouse with a large label reminding us not to water it till September
Nerine flexuosa alba
Dwarf and late flowering 'Hera'
Back to normal service!
November 5th 2018: Fairburn
A great grey shrike was reported at Fairburn Ings down by Hickson's Flash so I decided to try my luck. Unfortunately there was no sign of the bird but I did see a peregrine, a great white egret and a cattle egret. Here's some photos of the two egrets...
It was quite misty when I arrived. The great white and the cattle egret were not very active...
Over at Hickson's a heron was a chilly sentinel on the canal bank...until a dog walker scared it off.
Returning to the Lin Dike area I saw that the great white had moved much nearer the road. I sensed an opportunity.
A heron was walking towards the great white and I felt the bird didn't like this approaching bird. When Mr. Grey came too close Mr. White flew off with Mr. Grey in pursuit!
November 8th: Meols near Hoylake on the Wirral
Set off reasonably early to see a pied wheatear that was performing on the promenade. I didn't have any trouble finding the twitch site! The bird's on the seawall somewhere...
You could get ridiculously close to the bird! Don't know why but I'm not sure this chap's lens is pointing quite the right way!
Here are my efforts - including some rather unconventional shots that I quite liked.
Later I called at Parkgate and saw 2 ringtail hen harriers, a raven, a great white egret, a peregrine and marsh harriers. Only photographed this little egret. I can still remember when sighting one of them got birders quite excited...
November 9th: Trip up to County Durham
Hoping to catch up with a hoopoe at Murton Park. Rather shy it stayed very much inside the scrub but I was content with this shot.
November 10th: Sheila asked if we could go see LEO!
Sheila knew they had been showing in Haverton Scrub at Saltholme and she loves to see owls especially long-eared owls. We were pleased with the new boardwalk but felt there was a design error of thinking. The boardwalk broadens out where the owls roost. However they can, of course, roost in slightly different places! On Saturday the LEO site was very busy and when the owls [2 of them] were located they were best seen from the narrow part of the boardwalk only intended for people to use approaching the site! Lots of bumping and good-natured manoeuvring with tripod legs threatening to topple people off into the mud at any moment!
However, the views were great.
To make Sheila's day we spent only 20 minutes down the North Gare road before heading home.
Magpie...
...and then 3 shorties seen. So Sheila saw 5 owls in one afternoon. Not bad going! Here, inevitably, are a few more shorties.
