salty
geordie birder
after yesterdays big raptor feast, today it was time to go birding yet again, put with 2 other members this time - Brianfm and Rayl.
again, the weather was not as it should of been for the time of year, but we set off regardless, tough up north
driving through a mixture of cloud and drizzle one minute to brilliant sunshine the next, we could sense it was going to be one of those unpredictable days. on the menu today: goshawk and hen harrier, both or either would do us very nicely.
at the first site, the sun was out for the time being. a scan of the tree tops produced loads of chaffinch, the odd siskin flying between trees, and the best view i have had yet of goldcrest. superb little birds, and there was a few about, trying there best to attract a mate - showing off that stunning crest at the same time. hard to find, but a pair did show themselves to us, and what a site it was.
good start. next spot further on we scanned for crossbills, but they were not showing today. just the odd sand martin, common sandpiper, grey wagtail etc hanging around the stream. cuckoo were heard in the distance as was a green woodpecker, the cuckoo showed itself briefly but the woody stayed in the wood. a passing sparrowhawk circled over head giving a great close-up.
we carried onto a good site for the goshawk, but sadly the weather had turned for the worse, with low cloud and drizzle starting again. we did however manage a great display from a pair of buzzards and another sparrowhawk was getting mobbed by crows.
next up was the hen harriers. pulling up to the viewpoint, brian soon spotted the male in the far distance, good start, we were put off by gulls in the area, so we had to get a closer view to confirm. moving further on to the spot where the bird was seen, we waited patiently for our next sighting. and what a sighting it was! - the male bird was doing a mixture of hunting and displaying, and put on a great show for the 3 of us.
heres a brief list of what the 3 of us saw, cheers for a great day guys!
hen harrier
buzzard
sparrowhawk
kestrel
merlin (pretty sure)
grey wagtail
pied wagtail
curlew
lapwing
goldcrest
siskin
winchat
stonechat
cuckoo
common sandpiper
red grouse
sand martin
swallow
skylark
plus a host of other common garden birds and crows etc.
wow, i have done around 800 miles since last sunday and saw some amazing birds. including some favourites such as: peregrine falcon, little owl, golden eagle, buzzard, merlin, osprey, kestrel and sparrowhawk. not to mention the goldcrest and cuckoo today - time for a relaxing weekend i think, hmmm....where to go next?
again, the weather was not as it should of been for the time of year, but we set off regardless, tough up north
driving through a mixture of cloud and drizzle one minute to brilliant sunshine the next, we could sense it was going to be one of those unpredictable days. on the menu today: goshawk and hen harrier, both or either would do us very nicely.
at the first site, the sun was out for the time being. a scan of the tree tops produced loads of chaffinch, the odd siskin flying between trees, and the best view i have had yet of goldcrest. superb little birds, and there was a few about, trying there best to attract a mate - showing off that stunning crest at the same time. hard to find, but a pair did show themselves to us, and what a site it was.
good start. next spot further on we scanned for crossbills, but they were not showing today. just the odd sand martin, common sandpiper, grey wagtail etc hanging around the stream. cuckoo were heard in the distance as was a green woodpecker, the cuckoo showed itself briefly but the woody stayed in the wood. a passing sparrowhawk circled over head giving a great close-up.
we carried onto a good site for the goshawk, but sadly the weather had turned for the worse, with low cloud and drizzle starting again. we did however manage a great display from a pair of buzzards and another sparrowhawk was getting mobbed by crows.
next up was the hen harriers. pulling up to the viewpoint, brian soon spotted the male in the far distance, good start, we were put off by gulls in the area, so we had to get a closer view to confirm. moving further on to the spot where the bird was seen, we waited patiently for our next sighting. and what a sighting it was! - the male bird was doing a mixture of hunting and displaying, and put on a great show for the 3 of us.
heres a brief list of what the 3 of us saw, cheers for a great day guys!
hen harrier
buzzard
sparrowhawk
kestrel
merlin (pretty sure)
grey wagtail
pied wagtail
curlew
lapwing
goldcrest
siskin
winchat
stonechat
cuckoo
common sandpiper
red grouse
sand martin
swallow
skylark
plus a host of other common garden birds and crows etc.
wow, i have done around 800 miles since last sunday and saw some amazing birds. including some favourites such as: peregrine falcon, little owl, golden eagle, buzzard, merlin, osprey, kestrel and sparrowhawk. not to mention the goldcrest and cuckoo today - time for a relaxing weekend i think, hmmm....where to go next?
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