Durham Birding (7 Viewers)

rokermartin said:

Hi Ray those terns in pic 2 adult and juv are Sandwich Terns.Haven't seen any Little Terns for a while .

Click to expand...

Cheers Martin, my typo, mistake :eek!:, they were even mentioned in IanF's post.

Sparrowhawk back in the garden early afternoon. Looks like it grabbed a Goldfinch from the feeders.

Garden Hawk

I Don't often photograph birds in the garden, due to poor light conditions, but made an exception and a mad dash for the camera when this sparrowhawk flew in yesterday.

A Sparrowhawk back in the garden this morning in the rain. I didn't see any feathers but it looks like it's already fed from the bulging crop.


Video clip - http://www.birdforum.tv/action/viewvideo/2288/


.

RSPB Saltholme this morning -

East Pond - Black-necked Grebe, Greenshank, Ruff, Pintail. Little Grebe 12+

West Pond - Curlew Sandpiper x2, Little Stint x4, Yellow Wagtail 2-4, Little Egret x4, Black-tailed Godwit x1, Ringed Plover x2, Golden Plover x14, Grey Plover x1, Ruff 5-6, Snipe 8-10, Dunlin 20-30.

Wildlife Watchpoint - Ruff x1, Greenshank x2, Snipe x5.

Couple of sharp-tailed sandpiper record shots on my blog (sorry...) One for the digi-scopers I think!

Greatham Creek - am - Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. Distant views only by the time I got there but still nice to see. Only the fourth record for Cleveland the last being in 1997. Found by Dave Britton last night on Tidal Pool.

RSPB Saltholme - Saltholme Hide - Curlew Sandpiper x2, Little Stint, Ruff, Golden Plover, Pintail x3, Kingfisher, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Peregrine. Everything was pretty distant here as well. Several Common Darter and Migrant Hawker by the hide.

Wildlife Watchpoint - Ruff, Greenshank, Sparrowhawk.

I went for another look at the STS this afternoon but it was even more distant than this morning having moved well up the Creek as the tide came in and only viewable from the top of the steps at the mound.

Return of the garden Hawk

Unable to venture out today, so spent an hour watching the garden birds, when everything took off.
Sparrowhawk sat empty handed yet again.

Scuzz said:

Unable to venture out today, so spent an hour watching the garden birds, when everything took off.
Sparrowhawk sat empty handed yet again.

Click to expand...

Lovely shots ray :t:, i've still never managed to get a picture of a male:C

IanMc said:

Lovely shots ray :t:, i've still never managed to get a picture of a male:C

Click to expand...

Cheers Ian :t:,
If It becomes a regular, you're more than welcome to come and sit waiting for It, tea/coffee supplied, not sure about bacon butties though :eat::-O.
Just hope It dosn't eat the two Coal Tits that have recently came back.

Saltholme Ponds - am - BN Grebe, Little Stint, Greenshank, Ruff, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Golden Plover, Snipe, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk.

RSPB Saltholme - Wildlife Watchpoint - Greenshank, Ruff, Snipe, Little Egret.

Off on a trip to Saltholme tomorrow. Does the tide make much difference? looks like low tide is mid-morning

Ken,

Saltholme itself isnt tidal, it is not until you get down the road to Greatham Creek (where the seals are) that it is tidal.

regards

Ray

northernloon said:

Off on a trip to Saltholme tomorrow. Does the tide make much difference? looks like low tide is mid-morning

Click to expand...

Not really,mainly because its water bodies are not regulated by the tides. However if its high tide at Greatham Creek (where the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was) more waders might actualy come onto the reserve due to the space available for birds to feed. However I always find Saltholme good no matter what the tides. Also worth checking Saltholme East, this is the pool on the opposite side of the road to the entrance to the reserve. I have found its good for waders such as Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, and Spotted Redshank. OH! There is often a few Little Egrets around 17-20.

Hope this helps you some,:t:

Thanks Ray and Andy. Kinda thought that a high tide might push more birds in. Looking forward to it. My wader id is terribly rusty

RSPB Saltholme - pm - Saltholme Hide - Curlew Sandpiper x1, Spotted Redshank x2, Dunlin c.12, Snipe x2, Redshank x4, Ringed Plover x1, Golden Plover 30-40, Grey Plover x1, Little Egret x2, Barnacle Geese x7. A Black Tern and Marsh Harrier had been sighted by others earlier.

Bottom Tank - Ruff x4, Greenshank x1, Black-tailed Godwit x2, Little Stint x2, Dunlin x2. Plus Teal, Wigeon, Grey Heron and Little Egret.

Greenshank and Ruff on the main pool beside the visitor centre plus one of the Barn Owls was in view most of the afternoon.

All of the ponds had a lot more water in them today, probably due to all the rain we've had. Both sides of Bottom Tank now have water with a lot more birds on there today than of late. The north side of Saltholme Hide had quiet a bit of water in it as well.

northernloon said:

Off on a trip to Saltholme tomorrow. Does the tide make much difference? looks like low tide is mid-morning

Click to expand...

As Ray and Andy have said the tide level dosen't seem to affect Saltholme as much for wader numbers probably due to the extra distance from the sea. Having said that there were certainly more waders (mostly Dunlin) arriving as I left at 4.00pm today both on Saltholme Ponds and on the Bottom Tank which coincided with the rising tide.

The numbers at Greatham Creek/Seal Sands/Seaton Snook are much more variable with the tide height.

I generally find early morning and mid-afternoon onwards are better for waders coming closer to Saltholme hide and for the angle of the sun for viewing.

Things were pertty quiet this morning around Saltholme area.

I called at Dormans Pool where I sat in the hide for an hour whilst waiting for RSPB Satholme to open. Not that there was a lot to see. Just a few Herons and Little Egrets and lots of Lapwings dotted about. The odd Reed Bunting was along the path to the hide.

I then walked around to the laybys on the main road. A pair of Spotted Redshank were quite close but gradually moved towards Saltholme hide. Lapwing and Golden Plover were along the causeway.

East Pond - Ruff and Greenshank. I couldn't spot the BN Grebe though others did.

Bottom Tank - Black-tailed Godwit 3-4, Dunlin 3-4, Teal, Wigeon, Ruff x3. The two Little Stint had been seen by others first thing and they could have been among the waders on the far side but I didn't see them today.

Whilst walking to the visitor centre I met degsy_safc so we walked down to Saltholme Hide together. It was very quiet in there this morning. The weather proofing seems to have helped but there was still a lot of water on the floor this morning. We were the first ones in. There weren't many birds around at all. After about half an hour two Spotted Redshank arrived on the stones again but didn't stay long as they moved to the north side and stayed quite distant. The odd Dunlin and Ruff x4 were along the east edge of Back Saltholme. There were no birds on the grass starting off nor any geese - though there looked to be 100+ way down the south end of the pool towards Port Clarence. After a while 20-30 Lapwing flew in and then some Golden Plover gradually building up to around a dozen. Other than the Spotted Redshank only Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting and a pair of Little Grebe gave close views. Several Swallows were Back Saltholme. Long time no-see members Quacker and Seahawk turned up as well. It was good to see them again.

Before leaving I called at the Wildlife Watchpoint - also a little flooded in the hide - A single Redshank and Snipe x2 were the only waders. Mallard, Moorhen and Gadwall were giving close views.

A Woodchat Shrike was at the Bowling Green on Hartlepool Headland this morning.

On the way there and back a Tawny Owl was perched in a tree at Newton Bewley, the same tree where I saw one in January.