IanF
Moderator
River Tees, Barnard Castle 22nd May - Part 1/3
I had a run through to Barnard Castle yesterday to do a little birding and ended up having a great day out.
The morning was spent walking up the east side of the river and started with watching the Dippers, Grey and Pied Wagtails feeding on the shingle banks by the bandstand with Swallows wheeling over the river itself and Swifts high above them. A couple of hundred yards up the river I sat and watched a pair of Kingfishers bringing food back to their nest hole. It was surprising just how large the fish were - actually small trout parr rather than just minnows and bullheads.
The woods were alive with the chatter of birds, mainly Willow Warblers, Robin, Blue Tits, Great Tits and Chaffinches with the odd peep-peep-peep from the Nuthatches. The Great Spotted Woodpeckers were active flying through the woods looking for grubs for their young. It looked odd seeing such solid birds perched on flimsy Hawthorne branches as they picked off caterpillars.
As I passed the Gents Swimming Pool, the Goosander female was on the river again, but no sign of her chicks. I have a feeling she had them hidden in the inlet at the bottom of Waterboatmans Island as you could here the chicks calling from out of sight.
A few hundred yards on and the Pied Flycatchers were actively bringing food to their nest hole. Whilst mother took in food, the male would patiently wait on a nearby branch until she came out again. It was evident though that she was making three times the effort that he was! The Mayfly are most numerous this year and that seemed to be the main food they were bringing in.
On the stones beneath the old viaduct buttresses there were the normal Heron and Common Sandpiper along with several Redshank and Grey Wagtails. A little further on and another Pied Wagtail nest seems to have either finished breeding or more likely been abandoned as for two weeks running there has been no activity at all. Another Kingfisher was about which looked as if it must be a separate one from those breeding a mile downstream.
I then had a gentle amble back downstream via the top path, which in Spring gives good views of the birds in the trees on the steep slopes down to the river. Today though the foliage was just too dense to see anything other than the Pheasants and rabbits in the field alongside.
Back at the Bandstand I settled down for a picnic lunch watching the Swallows and then headed up Deepdale - part 2 to follow !
I had a run through to Barnard Castle yesterday to do a little birding and ended up having a great day out.
The morning was spent walking up the east side of the river and started with watching the Dippers, Grey and Pied Wagtails feeding on the shingle banks by the bandstand with Swallows wheeling over the river itself and Swifts high above them. A couple of hundred yards up the river I sat and watched a pair of Kingfishers bringing food back to their nest hole. It was surprising just how large the fish were - actually small trout parr rather than just minnows and bullheads.
The woods were alive with the chatter of birds, mainly Willow Warblers, Robin, Blue Tits, Great Tits and Chaffinches with the odd peep-peep-peep from the Nuthatches. The Great Spotted Woodpeckers were active flying through the woods looking for grubs for their young. It looked odd seeing such solid birds perched on flimsy Hawthorne branches as they picked off caterpillars.
As I passed the Gents Swimming Pool, the Goosander female was on the river again, but no sign of her chicks. I have a feeling she had them hidden in the inlet at the bottom of Waterboatmans Island as you could here the chicks calling from out of sight.
A few hundred yards on and the Pied Flycatchers were actively bringing food to their nest hole. Whilst mother took in food, the male would patiently wait on a nearby branch until she came out again. It was evident though that she was making three times the effort that he was! The Mayfly are most numerous this year and that seemed to be the main food they were bringing in.
On the stones beneath the old viaduct buttresses there were the normal Heron and Common Sandpiper along with several Redshank and Grey Wagtails. A little further on and another Pied Wagtail nest seems to have either finished breeding or more likely been abandoned as for two weeks running there has been no activity at all. Another Kingfisher was about which looked as if it must be a separate one from those breeding a mile downstream.
I then had a gentle amble back downstream via the top path, which in Spring gives good views of the birds in the trees on the steep slopes down to the river. Today though the foliage was just too dense to see anything other than the Pheasants and rabbits in the field alongside.
Back at the Bandstand I settled down for a picnic lunch watching the Swallows and then headed up Deepdale - part 2 to follow !
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