[johnsulli]

Originally Posted by rokermartin

Hi John the best way to id Twites and Linnets in autumn and winter is by looking at the colour of the bill.Twites have a yellow bill and Linnets always have a grey bill.In summer Twites bill colour is brownish grey.

Thanx Martin i'll try to remember that when I am out, its the small details that i am lacking in, but i'm getting there.

[rokermartin]

Snow Bunting numbers are building up nicely at Shields i had excellent views of 8 this morning in the dunes.Hopefully they will overwinter in the area.Its seem have been a good autumn for Snow and Lapland Buntings just want some Shorelarks to turn up now they seem to be very scarce again not many getting reported.Also the Sab Gull was on the beach north of the pier with BH gulls.

[vivster]

Does anyone know where i can go to watch barn owl around south shields...P.M plz if you dont want to post information..thanks ...

[Scribbly Jack]

Originally Posted by vivster

Does anyone know where i can go to watch barn owl around south shields...P.M plz if you dont want to post information..thanks ...

Hi Vivien

If you find any let me know (PM may be best, you never know who reads these forums). Barn Owl is a bird I've not managed to see all year.
Last year I was tripping over them, sadly elusive this year however.

Mick

[johnsulli]

Begining to give up going out birding, just had a fem GSW in the garden feeding on fatballs.

[degsy_safc]

Originally Posted by johnsulli

Begining to give up going out birding, just had a fem GSW in the garden feeding on fatballs.

It looks like my lucky streak may have passed to you John - well done mate You get any pics of it??

[upstarts1979]

Originally Posted by johnsulli

Could be right there John, just been out and bought another cwt of the stuff.

..........Its sure to dissapear now.

Hi There
be careful with water rails in your garden - they eat other birds!!!!
At upton warren in worcestershire we set up a feeding station some 25 years ago. In that first year we had a large flock of Brambling feeding and to everyones surprise up to 4 water rails.
The water rail fed on the scraps but everytime they appeared the finches fled. It wasn't until a few days later we found out why the passerines were so scared of the water rail when one grabbed a Brambling and dragged it to a nearby ditch and drowned it. This behaviour continued with other victims added to the list including chaffinch and blue tit.

mind you saying that I would like one in my garden
cheers

[johnsulli]

Originally Posted by degsy_safc

It looks like my lucky streak may have passed to you John - well done mate You get any pics of it??

No I didn't Derek as it was way down the bottom of the garden and the light was fading.

[johnsulli]

Originally Posted by upstarts1979

Hi There
be careful with water rails in your garden - they eat other birds!!!!
At upton warren in worcestershire we set up a feeding station some 25 years ago. In that first year we had a large flock of Brambling feeding and to everyones surprise up to 4 water rails.
The water rail fed on the scraps but everytime they appeared the finches fled. It wasn't until a few days later we found out why the passerines were so scared of the water rail when one grabbed a Brambling and dragged it to a nearby ditch and drowned it. This behaviour continued with other victims added to the list including chaffinch and blue tit.

mind you saying that I would like one in my garden
cheers

Thanx for the advice, I had read about the Rails and there liking for anything thats smaller than itself and moves and must say upto now most of the garden birds are still around i.e Blackbirds and Dunnocks. It was around yesterday morning but not seen it since and having said that it may be next door which has a larger pond.

Thanx again

Regards

John

[Scuzz]

Back to Druridge Pond again today:

Arrived at the hide first light, plenty bird life present including:
Teal, wigeon, gadwall, goldeneye, shoveler, cormorant, little grebe, grey heron, mallard, moorehen, tufties, greenshank, redshank, mute swans and signet, (the signet didn't seem to be a very well bird, struggling to walk when out of the water and also looked as if its wings were damaged.

Also throughout the day, pink footed and greylag geese overhead, 3 whooper swans over, flying South, maybe the same three that ended up at Saltholme.
Distant sparrow hawk which sat on the fence post at the far end of the pond and kestrel seen in the distance.

Alas, no sign of the dreaded Otters ,( notter otter on the wotter ).
Talking to one guy, he said that he'd seen the otters on the coast side, possible going for salmon.

[Scuzz]

A huge crop of the sphawk and greedy little grebe .

[degsy_safc]

Originally Posted by Scuzz

notter otter on the wotter

Nice one Ray - that little ditty has been buggin me for ages now

Did you visit Cresswell by any chance, if so owt worth reporting ??

[seggs]

Originally Posted by vivster

Does anyone know where i can go to watch barn owl around south shields...P.M plz if you dont want to post information..thanks ...

The one/two we had around last year seem to have not returned to the area we were watching them in,ive visited the site a few times and found no signs,ie-splash and pellets so far this autumn/winter and the local friendly land owner last time i spoke to him had,nt either.
A bird was reported as road kill near Testoes roundabout a while ago, had hoped it was,nt one of the birds we were watching, but its looking likely it was now.

[Scuzz]

Originally Posted by degsy_safc

Nice one Ray - that little ditty has been buggin me for ages now

Did you visit Cresswell by any chance, if so owt worth reporting ??

Didn't get to Cresswell, but was reported that Water Rail was showing just ouside the hide.

Also forgot to mention that, the water level is very high at Druridge, i.e. no rocks etc to be seen outside the hide.

[seggs]

Originally Posted by rokermartin

Snow Bunting numbers are building up nicely at Shields i had excellent views of 8 this morning in the dunes.Hopefully they will overwinter in the area.Its seem have been a good autumn for Snow and Lapland Buntings just want some Shorelarks to turn up now they seem to be very scarce again not many getting reported.Also the Sab Gull was on the beach north of the pier with BH gulls.

Nice one Martin with the Sabs. ive checked the 2 carparks out here(Littlehaven) on my last couple of visits as they hold loads of gulls normally. No luck! with this one or White wingers..

[rokermartin]

Originally Posted by seggs

Nice one Martin with the Sabs. ive checked the 2 carparks out here(Littlehaven) on my last couple of visits as they hold loads of gulls normally. No luck! with this one or White wingers..

Hi Steve the Sab gull was'nt on the beach for long a dog walker flushed it.It does'nt seem to be staying in one place for long.It was at North Shields fish quay first thing this morning and round the harbour mouth.First time i have caught up with it on our side of the river.

[degsy_safc]

All,

Just looking through some of my pics from a couple of months ago and came across this Tern which i took on the south side of Shields Pier sometime in August..

Looks a bit different to the Common Terns i have and thinking about what Martin said ages ago, legs do look a bit shorter and are definitely a deeper red..

Anyway can someone ID for me please as i have not got a clue. To be honest they all still look the same to me other than a Sandwich Tern which i can ID myself

[yukonite]

there was a barn owl hunting opposite west boldon sub station A19 last year but have'nt
been there at dusk for awhile.
sounds like the road kill one tho.

[StevieEvans]

Originally Posted by seggs

The one/two we had around last year seem to have not returned to the area we were watching them in,ive visited the site a few times and found no signs,ie-splash and pellets so far this autumn/winter and the local friendly land owner last time i spoke to him had,nt either.
A bird was reported as road kill near Testoes roundabout a while ago, had hoped it was,nt one of the birds we were watching, but its looking likely it was now.

As you know Steve, our current knowledge of Barn Owl in South Tyneside area is restricted to a couple of breeding pairs in "the Boldon's area" - thats not to say that there wont be others out there . . .

Thats an interesting point about your location showing no signs of occupancy. Its documented, that birds will often drop off the radar like this after the breeding season - suddenly moving from a well known regular / traditional roost site to spend the winter roosting elsewhere, only to re-appear at winters end.

A keen group of owlers in our well studied home area, turn up surprises year on year. A specific example recently being a "new" pair of breeding BO's which fledged 3 this year, right under our noses.
Before this breeding confirmation, we had wrongly presumed the sporadic sightings must have referred to hunting birds from other known territories nearby . . .

It takes a lot of time & effort scouring areas searching for evidence of or indeed roosting BO's themselves - this sort of "nature detective work" is ideal when the weather is poor or during a slack time of year in the birding calendar.
As for finding out if the general area holds birds, then the best short cut is, as you mention, asking local landowners, dog walkers etc , otherwise, its a case of being at a likely hunting area at the optimum time of dawn or dusk . . .
Some people add lamping to their repertoire - although this may not be suitable in some areas of suburban areas Sth Tyneside.

Recent local fieldwork has confirmed a very strong link between the Barn owl & limestone cavities (seemingly quite often its natural home before barns were invented) - this niche can be found in Sth Tyneside area, with the coastal section between Sunderland & Shields quite possibly holding a bird or two . . .

If anyone does have any info regarding Barn Owl, then it would be helpful if it can be forwarded to a central database via Mark Newsome.

As a starting point for Vivien, a taxi driver tells me he had a BO over the road at the SAFC Academy a fortnight back - an excellent hunting area, & one where i think Jason.T has previously seen birds.

Cheers
Steve.

[rokermartin]

Originally Posted by degsy_safc

All,

Just looking through some of my pics from a couple of months ago and came across this Tern which i took on the south side of Shields Pier sometime in August..

Looks a bit different to the Common Terns i have and thinking about what Martin said ages ago, legs do look a bit shorter and are definitely a deeper red..

Anyway can someone ID for me please as i have not got a clue. To be honest they all still look the same to me other than a Sandwich Tern which i can ID myself

Hi Derek its a Common Tern as i said before some Common Terns dont have a black tip to the bill.Also the colour of the bill is orange-red.Arctic Terns have a dark red bill which is shorter and they have very short dark red legs.When Arctic Terns are standing there belly is very close to the ground compared to Common Terns which is well clear of the ground.Another good id feature for Arctic Tern is that they have darker grey wash to the breast and underparts than C Tern.

[DCJ]

Originally Posted by rokermartin

Snow Bunting numbers are building up nicely at Shields i had excellent views of 8 this morning in the dunes.Hopefully they will overwinter in the area.Its seem have been a good autumn for Snow and Lapland Buntings just want some Shorelarks to turn up now they seem to be very scarce again not many getting reported.Also the Sab Gull was on the beach north of the pier with BH gulls.

About a dozen there today Martin, loads of M/Pipits, and Sabine Gull very approachable, once again though, light pretty bad.

[rokermartin]

Originally Posted by DCJ

About a dozen there today Martin, loads of M/Pipits, and Sabine Gull very approachable, once again though, light pretty bad.

Hi there the Snow Bunting numbers are certainly going up we might have a sizable flock of them in the dunes the way things are going.I can remember there was a flock wintering at Whitburn CPK a few years ago and a Merlin kept picking them off.

[rokermartin]

Been having a look at my dragonfly and damselfly sightings and one place which i will be checking again next year is Testo's roundabout pool i saw 6 species of dragonfly,Brown Hawker,Migrant Hawker,Four-spotted Chaser,Black-tailed Skimmer,Common Darter and Emperor.3 species of Damselfy,Blue Damselfly,Emerald Damselfly and Blue-tailed Damselfly not bad for a small road side pool. Also this year is one of the best i can remember for butterflies there have been loads around especially Painted Ladies,Small Skippers,Ringlets and Speckled Woods.But having said that some butterfly species such as Large Skipper and Small Tort there numbers were well down. Also i dont know what has happened to the Holly Blues i usually see them in the garden but i have'nt seen any this year for some reason.Has anyone seen Holly Blue this year in South Tyneside or in the county.

[degsy_safc]

Originally Posted by rokermartin

Hi Derek its a Common Tern as i said before some Common Terns dont have a black tip to the bill.Also the colour of the bill is orange-red.Arctic Terns have a dark red bill which is shorter and they have very short dark red legs.When Arctic Terns are standing there belly is very close to the ground compared to Common Terns which is well clear of the ground.Another good id feature for Arctic Tern is that they have darker grey wash to the breast and underparts than C Tern.

Thanks Martin - i think i'll need a guided tour next time they are present.

[johnsulli]

Originally Posted by degsy_safc

Thanks Martin - i think i'll need a guided tour next time they are present.

I think I will come along to.