Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park, Billingham. UK (2 Viewers)

First one is a young Robin, second a Young Dunnock and third a Female Chaffinch.

You did well to get any birds on the car park tables as little food is put out in the summer.

Cheers Shaggy, just started bird watching and there are so many similar birds/markings I thought No2 might be a tree pippit because of the red mark on its beak.

And my first guess for 3 was a juv goldfinch but then chaffinch so I learn more each time I go out.

The Rat also does'nt help, as it had quite a few goes on the table.

A couple more photos from yesterday.

Friday 23rd July

Quick visit today just to catch up on any changes, (been away for 3 weeks).

Fairly quiet all round, there were groups of council workfolk dotted around the park doing some work, persumably in preparation for the gala on sunday.

Lots of insect in the meadow areas though a bit flighty to get close to, not many dragon/damselflies though.

No sign of the sparrowhawks while I was there.

Sat and watched the kingfisher for half an hour, it took fish into the nest on 4 occasions in that 1/2hr. I looked again when I got to the old hide and it was still there.

I was there this morning. It was bright and sunny for the most part though not that warm depsite the light winds having swung back to the south.

A Common Hawker was on the end car park ponds when I arrived and several damsleflies and Common Darter. A Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat and Reed Bunting were in the reeds between the ponds.

I saw little else heading over to the lake.

As you say Ray things are pretty quiet. The Kingfishers are the main feathered interest now. Between 8.30-9.00am they took in six fish which is very promising for numbers. They had a break for a while and then afterwards were regularly taking them in. I think they've have about another two weeks before they fledge.

It was also nice to see a Tufted Duck female with seven very small and fluffy looking young. Hopefully they'll survive a little better than the other ducklings though a LBB Gull was eyeing them up and dived on them at least once but missed. There were 3-4 Little Grebe about but I could see only one juvenile.

The bushes by the hide held a few birds including - Blackcap, LTT, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Whitethroat, Goldfinch and Wren plus 3-4 Bullfinch.

There was virutally no activity on the dragonfly scrapes though a little later I saw several Common Darter and one Common Hawker.

Where the becks meet on Claxton Beck there were several young Sedge Warblers flitting about in the reeds plus atleast two Reed Warblers. Several tits were in the willow trees.

Between the weir and Cloff Bridge I came across a 35-40 strong flock of young birds feeding in the young trees over the path and beck comprising - Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit (c.20-25), Great Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Wren and Sedge Warbler - quiet spectacle. Several Bullfinch were calling and flitting about the trees but only ever giving glimpses.

I then crossed Cloff Bridge had a walk along the cycleway as far as the farm - lots of Linnet, Whietthroat, Yellowhammer and Treesparrows in the hedges though not as obliging as usual for photos. There were a fwe Swallows about but not that many. A Pied Wagtail was on the manure heap which was proving popular with feeding birds.

There were quite a few flowers out on the verges which had brought out good numbers of butterflies. Mainly white ones with Large White, Small White and Green-veined White. I don't think I've ever seen so many Large White together in one place before. Other included Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Small Skipper, Small Heath, Large Heath, and Ringlet plus a few Speckled Wood near the bridge. There seems to have been another hatching of Speckled Wood as there were quite a few fresh ones spread all over the Park.

I then headed back to the lake and car park ponds seeing nothing fresh. The terrapin was backing in the sun and on the same pond were several Common Darter and a single Four-spot Chaser.

A couple of insects from today.

A brief revisit yesterday morning as I had an hour or two to kill.

Reed Bunting and Whitethroat were flitting about in the reeds by the car park. one Reed Bnuting proved to be obliging for photos as it flitted about between various reeds as it fed and sang at the same time.

Video of Reed Bunting - http://www.birdforum.tv/action/viewvideo/2218/

The Kingfisher were very active again. After a wait of 15 mins they began bringing in fish every 5-10 mins for the next half hour.

I had a walk by the scapres but there were no large dragonflies at all around nor by the car park ponds this visit.

It was pretty dull for my visit this morning with heavily overcast skies but at least it just about remained fine.

There was very little to see today apart from one or two notable birds.

Just after arriving I bumped into one of the wardens. He was just leaving as I got there so he'd been out pretty early this morning. He told me he'd managed to trap one of the mink earlier in the week and that it's been removed from the Park. Also this morning he'd had very good views of an otter swimming around the lake - a first for him.

I more or less headed straight over to the lake as there was nothing at all on the car park pools. Even the lake was very quiet. It didn't take long though before a Kingfisher appeared and in fact over the next hour or so there was hardly a minute or two without either the male or female benig in view and several times they were both together. Whilst sat watching them several birds were moving through the bushes around me with lots of young Willow Warbler, a few Dunnock and Blackcap.

As I headed around to the hide I saw and heard a commotion in the wood from 3-4 Sparrowhawks flying around. The reason came clear when I saw a guy with a dog wandering through the nature reserve and was the obvious source of the disturbance.

No sign of any butterflies or dragonflies this visit.

A revisit this morning as the skies looked a lot brighter today - starting off anyway.

Not that many birds seen today though the Sparrowhawks were quite vociferous most of the time I was there. When I reached the lake four juveniles were perched together in the top of a larch tree and another was on the dead tree overhanging the lake.

The Kingfishers were about again but nothing like as often as they were yesterday. It was often 20-30 minutes between feeds though they were taking in some real whoppers today!

A quick look over this afternoon. I had planned on visiting this morning but ran short on time.

Pretty much the same birds as my last few visits. Most notable sighting was a mink in the lake by the hide. I'd been stood taking photos of a Little Grebe with a juvenile when the mink lunged out of the reeds trying to grab the juvenile dabchick. It missed and must have seen me watching as it disappeared back into the reeds.

The Tufted Duck family was around again but is down from seven to six chicks now. The Moorhen family is now down to two chicks.

The wardens are aware of the mink sighting and will be trying to catch this one as well.

The Kingfishers were still pretty active taking in food and the Sparrowhawks very active. The adults are still catching the prey but now soaring and then dropping it so the young have to fly up and catch it mid-air. Lots of sqawking calls going on.

Bright an sunny this morning starting off though a bit of a chilly wind from the west. By lunchtime the skies had clouded over again.

Very little bird wise away from the lake. The Sparrowhawks were still causing a racket when I arrived and the Kingfishers were still taking in fish though not very frequently until around lunchtime. One was making use of several different perches around and in the centre of the lake today which was certainly different behaviour from what I've seen previously.

Mid-morning a flock of Canada Goose x13 flew in and were still there when I left. It would be nice to think they may be the ones that bred there earlier in the year as several appeared to be young ones. 3-4 Sand Martin and Swllow were feeding low down over the water on and off.

Two Cormorant and a Heron dropped in for a short while and several Curlew and Whimbrel passed over heading west.

Two Little Grebe chicks with different parents and another two with no chicks. The Tufted Duck family still have six young and I saw only four Moorhen chicks though they were mostly in the reeds today.

No sign of any dragonflies at all today though there were a good few butterflies about with Meadow Brown and Ringlet the most numerous followed by Common Blue. Speckled Wood and Wall were along the wooded paths. A couple of Brown Argus were seen the last two days by others, one in the Faith Wood area according to the Warden.

Quite a spectacle on the lake this morning. The Kingfishers fledged today. I saw five come out of the nest hole but there were seven in total scattered around the lake plus the two adults and one from the first brood. It was quite a entertaining watching them especially when one landed in a small tree right beside where I was stood. It was no more than 2 m away. It preened for a couple of minutes before flying off. I didn't dare move let alone try to turn round to take a photo.

The first photos show a Kingfisher juvenile on the left having just emerged from the nest hole and flown to this perch tempted out by it's mother with a fish. The juvenile still has particles of white clay on it's bill from being in the nest.

Also of note were 4-5 Sparrowhawks flying much better now and in fact a couple of times they chased the young Kingfishers diving down at them when they were perched in the open. They soon learned though and they mostly remained under the overhanging hawthorn bushes until a food delivery was made.

At 10.15 am a juvenile Peregrine flew over the lake from west to east passing very low overhead - no more than 10m directly above my head. I was standing by the reeds at the time.

A few more photos from today plus a short video clip of what is probably a first brood juvenile come for a look-see and trying to beg a fish being chased off by it's father

- http://www.birdforum.tv/members/action/viewvideo/2232/


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A lovely sunny start to the day but it soon turned overcast and we had several heavy showers of rain.

Very disappointing for Kingfishers this morning - only three seen today on the lake and two heard calling along the beck.

Highlights were watching the Sparrowhawks still receiving food from the parents via food passes over the lake.

A fox cub that came wandering along the bank of the lake to within 2m of where I was sat where it bathed and had a drink before wandering off again.

In Faith Wood - LTT flock 20+, Blackcap c.12, Willow Wabler c.12, Chiffchaff x2, Goldfinch c.20, GSW x1.

A few more Common Darter around today with around a dozen by the scrapes and a Ruddy Darter near the hide. Several more Common Darter on the car parks ponds. No other large dragonflies but there were a few more Damselfles about again.

Butterflies seen today - Common Blue, Small Copper, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Wall, Speckled Wood, Small White, Large White.

It's a while since I updated this thread. I've been over to the Park several times a week still but there's not been much to see/report on. The Kingfishers have departed the lake with none seen at all since they fledged though I understand the odd adult can still be seen occasionally along Claxton Beck. Even the Sparrowhawks have moved on. The odd one can still be seen around the park but they've dispersed from the lake area.

Even this afternoon there was little to see bird wise. I heard the odd Robin calling and two Reed Bunting were in the bushes by the car park. Other than gulls the only birds seen in flight were a couple of House Martin and Swallow. The lake remains quiet as well. One adult Little Grebe seen today and at least four of the Tufted Duck juveniles remain but no other ducks were present other than Mallard, Coot and Moorhen.

The highlight of the visit were two Southern Hawker dragonflies on the scrapes by the hide. Several Common Darter and Ruddy Darter and Emerald Damselflies were present as well.

Several butterflies were about - Speckled Wood, Wall, lots of Common Blue, Red Admiral and a Peacock. Large White and Small White were still present as well.

A very brief visit today early afternoon on my way home for a late lunch. After a sunny morning I figured there maybe a few dragonflies around - of course I arrived just before the skies clouded over again so I only got as far as the car park pools.

Two Migrant Hawkers were on the first two ponds along with several Common Darter.

Whitethroat, Reed Bunting and a Sedge Warbler were in the bushes.

A visit early afternoon as it was such a warm sunny day and I figured there may be a few dragonflies around. There were!

A Common Hawker and a Migrant Hawker were on the second pool from the road by the car park but both remaining pretty distant. Best sighting of the day was on the weed covered pool when a Brown Hawker flew by in front of me as I approached the wooden platform. It flew off towards the visitor centre. The first one I've seen this year.

The path between the hedge and the hill held several Migrant Hawker.

The scrapes by the hide held both Common Hawker and Migrant Hawker plus Ruddy Darter, Common Darter and several damselflies including Emerald and Common Blue and the odd Blue-tailed. There were several hawkers over the reeds by the lake, porbably Migrant Hawker though at least one was Common Hawker in the NE corner.

Bird wise thigns were pretty quiet still with nothing of note seen.

A visit this afternoon mostly to look for dragonflies not that we saw many. Just a few Migrant Hawkers and Emerald Damselflies and a few Ruddy Darter and Common Darter on eith the car park pools or by the hide.

The highlight though was a Common Buzzard circling fairly low down over the hide as it moved west and a young Sparrowhawk by the lake.

Butterflies seen included - Small Tortoishell, Speckled Wood, Common Blue.

recent visit

images from a visit last tuesday, I too went for the insects as the few previous visits didnt reveal much in the bird life.

One thing that did stand out was that i spent 30 minutes watching 6-8 hawkers patrolling/fighting over the car park pool, a male and female were coupled too.