Shibdon Waxwings & raptors

Sled Lane Pond - 2 Wigeon, 2 Goosander, 9 Tufted Duck,
Ravensworth Fell - 150+ Fieldfare at Kibblesworth Grange feeding in field.
Shibdon Pond - 12 Waxwings flew over from the north seemed to head into Axwell park but no sign later. Also single Kestrel and Red Kite.

Red Kite [George Simpson]

Kestrel [George Simpson]

A fourth owl

Shibdon Pond - 10 Shelduck, 1 Little Grebe , Kingfisher and Sparrowhawk
Ravensworth Fell -  Short eared Owl, 2 flocks of Fieldfare (150+ and 50+) and 1 Grey Partridge. Also a Stoat.
Gibside - 1 Brambling with a Dipper on the adjacent Derwent

 The Short eared Owl and Fieldfare, plus the Stoat new for the year. The bird list now stands at 87 for the year. 

Early birds

The first birds of the day
Westfield Pasture - Tawny Owl and Woodcock.

Later in the day -
Far Pasture NR - A Chiffchaff was found yesterday on the track by the sewage works. Today two were found, a nominate race bird and a northern (Scandinavian) abietinus bird. 100+ Pink-footed Geese flew West at 11:55. Also Great Spotted Woodpecker, Willow Tit , Common Buzzard, 6 Goldcrest
Bradley Fell- 26 Golden Plover present and 4 Crossbill flew over as did a skein of 150 Pink-footed Geese heading north at 12:12.

126 Pink-feet over [Steven Fryer]

Watergate Park - 2 Dipper in outlet stream.
Shibdon Pond - Kingfisher, 6 Shelduck
Winlaton Mill - 1 Jay
Clara Vale village - 2 Waxwing
Stargate landfill -  2 adult Lesser black backed Gulls and a Green Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker [Steven Fryer]

Tawny Owl, Woodcock, Dipper, Crossbill and Chiffchaff all new for the year putting the total on 85.

 

A little bit of tittle-tattle from further afield.
While at Saltholme RSPB Reserve at Teesmouth this morning one of the volunteer wardens walked up to us. The usual 'Seen anything?' we asked. 'Only something I couldn't identify' he replied. 'It flew towards you, you didn't see anything?'. 'No didn't see anything unusual, What did it look like?' we asked. 'It was black and white and thrush sized, Oh and it had some red on it'. We not only could not find the bird but even hazard a guess as to what it was. When we gave up he walked off saying 'if I was abroad I would have said it was a Pied Kingfisher'. The mind boggles sometimes.

One for sorrow, two for joy, but 75 what the ?

No news so far today but yesterday
Birtley reedbed pools - 4 or 5 Water Rail calling and a roost of Magpies at the adjacent sewage works consisted of 75 birds.
Shibdon Pond- A skein of Pink-footed Geese flew over.

Another Shibdon gull

Lamesley-Team valley - 7 Waxwing by Horse's World

Shibdon Pond - 1 Mediterranean Gull.

Mediterranean Gull on Shibdon [Rob Stonehouse]

Clara Vale LNR  - Things pretty quiet at first due to a male Sparrowhawk sitting in the trees. Once he departed and took out a Blackbird - things picked up. Nothing out of the ordinary but highlights were: Willow Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Stock Dove, Tree Creeper, Wren and this male Sparrowhawk.

[Derek Bilton]

2nd January and what about this Little Gull?

A few more birds added to the year list  though nobody seems to know about the reported Little Gull at Shibdon which came on the pager at 1:30 pm .  One local observer was standing there at that time but he saw nothing resembling it.

What was seen in the borough today was -

Birtley - 15 Waxwing by the Avenue
Shibdon Pond- Lesser Black-backed Gull
Ravensworth Fell - Little Owl and Red-legged Partridge.
Ryton - 1 Tree-creeper
and 2 Long-eared Owl roosting at one site.

The yearlist now stands at 79 (perhaps more if anyone has seen Fieldfare, Meadow Pipit, Skylark or Linnet this year)?

Also a small bat, probably a Pipistrelle sp. over Tyneside GC, Clara Vale late afternoon

 

New Year's Day

The lists were off to a below average start  by the sounds of things  with a grand total of 71 species reported by end of play).

The best birds so far reported seems to be -

Watergate Park - 2 Water Rail, 1 Green Woodpecker and 20 Lesser Redpoll.
Pennyfine Road - 1 Little Owl.
Sled Lane Pond -  1 Water Rail, 2 Pink-footed Geese, 17 Wigeon, 1 Goldeneye and 6 Tufted Duck
Bradley Fell - 15+ Tree Sparrow
Far Pasture NR - Willow Tit, Red Kite, Goldcrest, 2 Nuthatch, Snipe and 5 Long Tailed Tit .
Swalwell Cricket Club - 1 Common Buzzard
Shibdon Pond- 1 Kingfisher
Low Greenside - Brambling on garden feeders. Also 1-2 Willow Tit and 5+ Bullfinch.

A few sightings of Roe Deer in the Derwent valley area were also reported.

Derwenthaugh meadows - 50 + Curlew , 20 Teal , 6 Grey Herons , 5 Snipe  1 Kestrel  with Lapwing, Redshank  and Dunlin on the adjacent Tyne muddy banks.

Derwenthaugh Meadows

Plants in flower today - Gorse, Common Mullein, White Deadnettle, Annual Meadow-grass and Hogweed

Common Mullien