& again...

Great views of the 1s hobby this afternoon ~ this time spending prolonged periods perched in the tall dead trees that split the two flash pools at West Hartford. Fantastic through the scope, too far for the camera.

A later visit was less successful, maybe next time...

Sub-alba

It was a sunny evening tonight, so I took the opportunity to spend an hour or so at West Hartford pre-beer / pre-earlyish night / pre-overtime shift on Saturday!

The visit started off at quite a slow pace, with reed bunting, meadow pipit, linnet and goldfinch being the only sightings.

At 19:10 the barn owl appeared, hunting over the fields behind the diminished pool. So, with camera at the ready I was set to wait. And wait. typically the barn owl remained distant for most of it's appearance, only coming within range once, but at the wrong angle (flying away!)... so no images were obtained. How come visits without a camera yield fantastic close views??!!

As the barn owl headed back over to the fields near to the River Blyth a few barn swallow flew overhead, alarm calling. I didn't think much of this as a kestrel had been loafing around the old brick building, and conceivably their distress could have been in reaction to the barn owl.

As I scanned for the barn owl I picked up some more distant barn swallow, and remarkably they were being pursued by a hobby. ......HOBBY!!!! My first in Cramlington (though not the first recorded from the West Hartford area). Amazing how a split second can turn a quiet patch visit into a blinder!! The bird almost caught a barn swallow, but very quickly moved through. Texts were issued to the mobile-carrying Cramlington birders, and a wave of degrading responses were sent back. (Thanks lads!!)

So no barn owl pics, but a patch tick. That'll do nicely.

Sun setting at WH...

Morning Pic(us)

A jay was a nice bonus en-route to West Hartford a couple of evenings ago - with a single bird on the A192 central reservation near Crowhall Lane. I normally only see birds flitting around trees aligning the River Blyth. Maybe they're spreading out? West Hartford was extremely quiet!

The drive to work at 05:25 this morning produced a more significant (in Cramlington terms) sighting - on the central reservation opposite Shaw garden centre was a juv green woodpecker. I've only ever seen green woodpecker once in Cramlington before (it shared a tree with a great grey shrike - see the image below!). Normally I've just heard them "yaffling"- and they have all been at Arcot.

Left - the incredible Cramlington pairing, April 2005!

Could this be the first confirmed breeding in the town? or maybe its a juv from nearby Blagdon / Plessey?

A little more

Little Tern, Crimdon Dene

Another image from yesterdays' enjoyable trip south. In the rush to upload images before the world cup final the photoshop processing of the little tern was not really up to scratch, so here is an alternative. In hindsight I should have taken more (and used a tripod)... the self inflicted dark cloud of a "dotterel dip" had distracted me somewhat from what of would been great photo opportunities as birds returned to the cordoned off nesting area. 

honey_b.king_e.little_t.

I spent a pleasant day with STH, ADMc and Phil south of the region today. First stop was Wykeham, North Yorkshire where we had very prompt views of honey buzzard - albeit distant, but prolonged and some amazing butterfly-clapping display. A good start! A further hour produced no more hb sightings, but tree pipit, bullfinch etc added to the day tally.

Further east we took the long walk to Filey Brigg, where reasonable views were had of the 1st summer king eider. Loafing with a female norther eider, the bird had been closer prior to our arrival, but given that it was a sunny day, there was a lot of disturbance from beach-trippers. Not to worry, its a rather grotty bird anyway!

Our journey home was paused with a brief look at the beach at Crimdon Dene -no sign of the colourful female dotterel that two of the party had seen the day previously, but there were plenty of little terns...

Right... time for the world cup final!

July 2005...

...was a very good month for terns, with trips to Cemlyn Bay (Anglesey) for the sooty tern, Leighton Moss (Lancashire) for caspian tern, and more locally, Whitley Bay (Northumberland) for roseate tern and black tern. If I remember correct, Norfolk had lesser crested tern in July 2005 too! All photographs presented here were taken with the trusty Canon 10D ~ wouldn't mind another pop at a UK sooty with the 1D...

Sooty Tern - great bird seen on a very hot July afternoon - heat haze was a real problem! Twitched with Tom, who had dipped the previous day!

Caspian Tern - seen one week after the Cemlyn sooty... twitched after an overtime shift at work, so arrived in the afternoon when the light was unfavourable. Pre-Mull Bryan was there too!

Adult Roseate Tern - St Mary's (Whitley Bay) enjoyed a few years of good mid summer roseate tern gatherings, numbers have since dropped off.

Fluke photo of immature black tern and immature roseate tern.

Still here!

Working lots. Birding little.

Dipped the East Chevington bridled tern along with everyone else inbetween shifts at work.
Short trip up the coast this morning looking at pools without green sandpiper: Cresswell (quiet) Hauxley (quiet) Amble (chips).

Birding pace should pick up in a few weeks...

It's going a bit quiet now...

It's been a quite week for me, with night shift curtailing any real birding opportunities. Thankfully (?) the drift migrants are starting to dry up, with only a single male red-backed shrike being of note in Northumberland... so nothing too good missed. The quail did not linger at West Hartford.

This afternoon the garden has been a hive of activity, with the female blackbird clearly having to tend to a second brood, while the family of dunnock are fledged and being fed in the shade of the garden border...

Hopefully I'll get out over the weekend.

Pit pil-it...

This evenings visit to West Hartford was enlightened by the presence of a new Cramlington bird species...


Quail!


A single bird was initially heard singing from the A192 near the West Hartford farm buildings... then Gordon called to say he could hear one, if not two from the road end to the east of the pools!

A Cramlington birders "semi-twitch" ensued, resulting in a count of 2 to 4 birds singing.

All the birds can easily be heard from the roadside / business park road. There is no need to walk into the fields. If you walk in the field you will not see them, so don't bother!!!! (Please, there is enough hassle for the breeding reed bunting, sky lark, meadow pipit, grey partridge etc from the fox and dog walkers that frequent the area... size 10 boots need not venture on a fruitless mission......)

A great result for the patch.

A great start to the weekend.

Saturday morning update: Already the infamous mp3 player has been and failed. Why bother????

Marsh acro...

I really struggled to get anything decent on the Druridge marsh warbler this afternoon - a combination of dull light and a very tricky and elusive bird, so a record shot it is... While I was there he mimicked chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch and an alarm calling blackbird!

First time I've seen one in reeds, although in fairness it was commuting between the reeds and the willows, often associating with a single reed warbler.

(Image updated on 11 June...)

Neat Neat Neat

Sunday 6th June: spent a quiet and relaxing evening with THE DAMNED!!!!!!

Captain Sensible: stole the show!!

Wait For The Blackout

Disco Man

I Just Can't Be Happy Today

Perfect Sunday

Thrill Kill

Love Song

Neverland

Gun Fury

Eloise

Limit Club

Song.com

New Rose

Fish

Bad Time For Bonzo

Shadow of Love

Neat Neat Neat

Stretcher Case

Fan Club

Melody Lee

Satisfy You

Thanks For The Night

Happy Talk

Smash It Up

BH@WH

Bank holiday Monday saw me at West Hartford a few times.

The morning visit was dominated by the return of the immature marsh harrier, albeit very briefly at 08:15, putting all the gulls up off the flash and being chased off by the carrion crows. The harrier drifted north-east and appeared to follow the River Blyth. I guess it may stick around.

Three ringed plover  increased to four by the evening, a number that I was happy with until I saw an email off LMcD this afternoon - he had 14 (site record, probably) later on Monday evening. Two grasshopper warbler continue to "reel" and the Crowhall Lane roundabout is holding at least one singing garden warbler. The evening visit included a fly-over common buzzard, but no sign of the barn owl.

Tuesday afternoon included a brief visit after work, shelduck numbered 4, lapwing 28, ringed plover 2 and a few lbbg, hg, bhg and a single common gull.

***

As I write this I receive a few text message from my mate Sacha in Norfolk, he's just dipped the East Bank trumpeter finch after a long convoluted trip on public transport. (And its come back after he has left.....) Bit of a pain that, though he'll not be too disappointed as he found the Blakeney Point bird a couple of years back! If this bird does remain, it will be tempting to take a trip down at the weekend, especially if other drift migrants are available.

The bird in the photograph here is that of the June 2005 individual at Dungeness, Kent - seen after a long overnight drive south with Tom, photographed early morning under a garden feed station. 

Update from the patch...

After missing the West Hartford temmincks stint earlier during the week (it had chosen to be found just as I was leaving for nightshift..., flying off that night, no sign on Thursday but one common sandpiper to compensate etc...) I've realised I need to keep a closer eye on the patch.

It has been an early start on both Saturday and Sunday, and the birding has been ok to very good by Cramlington standards.

Three visits to West Hartford on Saturday gleaned the following: two ringed plover, four shelduck, grasshopper warbler, two grey-lag geese and one obliging barn owl (no camera!!!).

Early morning Saturday at Arcot Pond produced 2 grey-lag geese (probably the birds at West Hartford later that evening), a family of Canada Geese (four goslings survive), lesser whitethroat, common tern, sedge warbler and curlew. Great-spotted woodpecker continues to be conspicuous.

A tip off from Phil earlier in the week led me to the fields near the Plessy windmill, where after a bit of scanning, my first red-legged partridge in Cramlington was picked up. What a delight!... (a temmincks stint would have been better though...). Yellowhammer were also singing in the area.

Sunday birding has commenced as early as that on Saturday, with two trips to West Hartford by 09:00. Undoubted highlight was the text from Gordon, just as I was pulling up onto the roadside verge for vist number two: Marsh Harrier at West Hartford!!!!!

I jumped out the car and within a few seconds, thanks directions from Gordon, I was watching my third marsh harrier on the West Hartford patch and my 4th in Cramlington. By the looks of it its' an immature, probably on a summer wander... And wander it did, having lifted from the field it attracted unwanted attention from the carrion crows and gradually increased height, being lost to view north of the River Blyth.

As the harrier departed a cracking fox arrived...

Followed closely by a single roe deer...

Lindsay McD arrived a little later (probably best not to post a picture here ;-), as did a single ringed plover, three oystercatcher and a pair of mallard.

Inbetween the two early morning vists to West Hartford I had been back to Arcot - which was quieter than on Saturday, though a non singing grasshopper warbler was on view briefly and stock dove were kicking about.

More later?...