richardjackson
Active member
Is Billingham Beck park a good birding location? I'll be visiting Norton and on foot so that is a nearby location as is the barrage.
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Billingham Beck (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter richardjackson
- Start date
IanF
Moderator
In short - yes!
It's well within walking distance from Norton. It has a visitor centre but it's only open a few days a week. If you fall lucky the warden should be able to tell you what's around. The churchyard on Norton Green can be pretty good as well amongst the mature trees and yew trees.
At Billingham Beck Valley Winter and Spring are perhaps the best times for birds there. There's a stream, small reed beds, rough and grazed grassland with lots of scrub and mature woodland alongside the railway embankment. They have a pretty good winter feeding station in addition to tables by the car park. It's a real hot spot for Bullfinch which are otherwise low in numbers most areas around here. We usually get good numbers of Siskin and Redpoll here but not so far this year that I've seen/heard. Great Spotted Woodpecker and Sparrowhawk are pretty regular.
There's a good deal of construction work ongoing at the Barrage at present but it's worth checking the river for Kingfisher and the bushes below the car park. Portrack Marsh is right beside the Barrage as well which is a good birding location.
It's well within walking distance from Norton. It has a visitor centre but it's only open a few days a week. If you fall lucky the warden should be able to tell you what's around. The churchyard on Norton Green can be pretty good as well amongst the mature trees and yew trees.
At Billingham Beck Valley Winter and Spring are perhaps the best times for birds there. There's a stream, small reed beds, rough and grazed grassland with lots of scrub and mature woodland alongside the railway embankment. They have a pretty good winter feeding station in addition to tables by the car park. It's a real hot spot for Bullfinch which are otherwise low in numbers most areas around here. We usually get good numbers of Siskin and Redpoll here but not so far this year that I've seen/heard. Great Spotted Woodpecker and Sparrowhawk are pretty regular.
There's a good deal of construction work ongoing at the Barrage at present but it's worth checking the river for Kingfisher and the bushes below the car park. Portrack Marsh is right beside the Barrage as well which is a good birding location.
