Birds Of Tyne And Wear 2007

[mark ridsdale]

A few birds were noted as i went about my daily chores -
1.Cormorant
2.Eider
3.Sparrowhawk
4.Turnstone
5.Black headed gull
6.Greater black back gull
7.Herring gull
8.Collared dove
9.Woodpigeon
10.Feral pigeon
11.Great spotted woodpecker (Northumberland Park)
12.Pied wagtail
13.Dunnock
14.Blackbird
15.Blue tit
16.Long tailed tit (Northumberland Park)
17.Great tit
18.Magpie
19.Carrion crow
20.Jackdaw
21.Rook
22.House sparrow
23.Starling
24.Greenfinch
25.Goldfinch
26.Linnet

9th January. St. Marys Is.
A quiet start to the year but a few hours in rather windy conditions added to my meagre start
27.Little grebe
28.Teal
29.Gadwall (5)
30.Pintail (1 male)
31.Ring plover
32.Lapwing
33.Oystercatcher
34.Gannet (3-4 distantly off the island little else off the sea)
35.Curlew
36.Redshank
37.Dunlin
38.Sanderling
39.Common gull
40.Rock pipit
41.Robin
42.Black redstart (1 found easily at the base of the northern cliffs)

Bigwaters NR
43.Mute swan
44.Mallard
45.Goldeneye
46.Pheasant
47.Coot
48.Wren
49.Tree sparrow (aprox. 15+)
50.Chaffinch
51.Siskin (6+ feeding near bird feeding station)
52.(Lesser)Redpoll (1+ with Siskin)

A total of 48 species seen was'nt bad for a couple of hours birding.At the end of the month i hope to keep a total of all species recorded in Tyne and Wear (including birds not seen by me) to compare with last years 229 end of year total.

[mark ridsdale]

10th January North Shields Fish quay
A little walk produced a few new year ticks
53.Kestrel
54.Purple Sandpiper (1)
56.Song Thrush
57.Mistle thrush

[mark ridsdale]

17th January North Shields Fish quay
Just a quick visit just checking to see if any "white winged" gulls have sneakerly popped in...answer was No!
58.Kittiwake 1 (solitary individual flying round the "Gut")

[mark ridsdale]

22nd February Rabbit Bank woods, Durham
Not included in county totals as outside on Tyne and Wear but an attempt to see Lesser spotted woodpecker (my 9th attempt to see this species!!!) ended in failure,didnt even hear the blighter!!.Birds that were seen were rewlatively few? for such a rich little wood 3+ Marsh tit and 2+Buzzard were the highlights

Thornley wood centre
59.Nuthatch 3+
60.Willow tit 1
61.Yellowhammer 8+
62.Coal tit
63.Stock dove
64.Bullfinch 3+
Long tailed tit 5+
G.s. woodpecker 1

Blaydon pond
rather quite but a few easy year ticks seen
65.Pochard 1
66.Tufted duck 10+
67.Redwing 10+
68.Canada goose 12+
Goldeneye 17

[mark ridsdale]

Its been eons since i put bins to eye :stuck: and the last two days have been no different.But two suprising year ticks did happen to pop in front of my car yesterday (14/3) county yeartick No.69 came in the form of a Woodcock flying over Heaton Rd at about 1-ish.Today (15/3) CYT No.70 suprised me even more when aprox. 10+ Waxwings :D landed in a tree NE of Peter Barrats garden centre in Gosforth.Golden plover No.71 embarassingly wasnt seen this year by me until (16/3)when a flock was seen along the A19 on the way back from work...I REALLY NEED TO GET OUT MORE!