Durham Birding (6 Viewers)

[StevieEvans]

Houghton Local Patch 09

The honour of first Hobby of the year fell to Mick.H, who had a bird go through north, early this evening at Houghton Gate, also pair of passage LRP there. - Some folks have all the luck, i called in passing at 3:30 & saw nothing out of the ordinary.

I called in at a windy Rainton M's, hoping for Cuckoo; no such luck, but 2Common Sandpiper & pair of LRP (non-breeding site) were on the main pond.
Heard a singing Sedge Warbler, but very little else, 4Fieldfare, 2Kestrel etc
The female Shelduck has vanished, though hopefully she''ll re-appear in a couple of weeks with a few small followers . . .

An even windier Seaton Pond area, saw Barn Owl hunting at dusk, also fly overs from non-displaying Snipe & Woodcock. At least six reeling Grasshopper Warblers, also several Noctule bats & 2 Roe Deer.
The north pond now looking very wader friendly . . . .

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An interesting report was a White Stork on a rooftop close to the river at Durham City yesterday evening

 

[IanF]

Without giving any location specifics are many of the Avocets showing signs of settling down or pairing off or are they grouping together?

Yep! Despite Steve's concerns - they were featured on the local news again last week and in the local paper. Several pairs have settled around the area now.

 

[will@bill]

having a blast

Down blast beach this morning 7 till 10
4 whitethroats, 4 grasshopper warblers reeling
1 ring ouzel on far side of stubble field and 2 more in hawthorn quarry
Sparrowhawk and green woodpecker over our heads
3 hares in the quarry

I was well pleased with yet another grasshopper warbler shot without a branch or leaf in front of IT:t: That warbler taming course i took over the winter from the durham bird club came in handy

 

[FoghornKinghorn]

Salthome Pools: 2 Little Gull, Yellow Wagtail, Gadwall, 2 Turnstone, 1 LRP, Redhshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Candada Geese, Greaylag Geese, Little Grebe, Woodpigeon, BHG, Herring Gull, Lapwing, Common Tern, Shelduck.

Seal Sands Area: 14c Avocet, Shelduck.

Waldridge Fell: Load of Willow Warbler, 2c Chiffchaff, Lapwing.

2 lifers with: Little Gull and Yellow Wagtail but no Spoonbill! Oh well, I'm sure I shall see one some time.

 

[Mark Newsome]

Castle Lake DBC reserve

A brief visit to do some work on the hide at Castle Lake this afternoon produced Corn Bunting singing from right in front of the hide, 2 pairs of Little Ringed Plovers, 4 Pink-footed Geese, Common Sandpiper, 20+ Gadwall, 100+ Sand Martins and several Yellow Wagtails.

Photos of the hide attached - looking superb! Several hundred trees and bushes have been planted as screening along the fence lines too. In fact the whole area is looking great and should be a real draw for birders and birds alike. A real credit to the DBC and the work of the volunteers involved.

 

[DEREK.C.]

A real credit to the DBC and the work of the volunteers involved.

Yes its looking good . Amazing what a handful of volunteers can achieve.
Nice to know that a percentage of subscriptions paid by DBC members is going directly into conservation work like this.:t:

Managed a few pics this last week or two , mostly from Weardale..

 

[great bustard]

A brief visit to do some work on the hide at Castle Lake this afternoon produced Corn Bunting singing from right in front of the hide, 2 pairs of Little Ringed Plovers, 4 Pink-footed Geese, Common Sandpiper, 20+ Gadwall, 100+ Sand Martins and several Yellow Wagtails.

Photos of the hide attached - looking superb! Several hundred trees and bushes have been planted as screening along the fence lines too. In fact the whole area is looking great and should be a real draw for birders and birds alike. A real credit to the DBC and the work of the volunteers involved.

Nice Carpet too!!

 

[Ray.Scott]

South Hetton old Railway Line

Good numbers of linnets-some collecting nesting material.
Chiffchaff, willow warbler, great & LT tits, swallows, blackbirds, starlings, crows etc.

 

[ian hamilton]

Lesser Whitethroat singing along wessington way,southwick,at timber beach
were 5 Canada Geese,2 prs Shelduck,2 Curlew,Swallow flew south,Blackcap,
Common Whitethroat singing and 4 Willow Warbler and from pallion were
a party of 14 Turnstone feeding and a Common Tern flew west.

 

[IanF]

Seaton Common - 8.30am - Wheatear c.30.

Zinc Works Road - Lesser Whitethroat x1, Linnet x6, Stonechat pair, Swallow x7

Seal Sands roundabout - Short-eared Owl

Dormans Pool - Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Grasshopper Warbler. Weasel.

RSPB Saltholme - on Back Saltholme - Spoonbill, Common Tern x2, Turnstone x2, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Gadwall, Shelduck. BH Gull c.10, Yellow Wagtail c.20, Wheatear x4, Little Ringed Plover x2, Little Grebe x4, Great Crested Grebe x6. Hare.

Photos: 1. Yellow Wagtail - 2. Little Grebe - 3. Great Crested Grebe - 4. Hare - 5. Weasel

 

[jason-t-71]

Theres a pair of WHISKERED TERNS at Saltholme this evening. I've just come in from seeing them, they were flitting between the two ponds either side of the main road then came to land on posts on the main reserve pond. The road was starting to get packed with birders as I was leaving. Reminds me of when the Glaucous Wing was there!

 

[Shaggy2070]

Tunstall Reservoir

Had a ride up to Tunstall Reservoir to see if the Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers had started to arrive yet.
Stating at the car park and walking round the reservoir in an anti clockwise direction, there was a few Graylags in the fields with Pheasants and crows. At the reserve bit Moorhen, Mallards with 3 ducklings and Pair of Greylags with 5 Gosling's and a few Willow Warblers fliting and singing in the bushes.

Started walking through the woods hoping to get better sightings of Redstarts (all I got last year were high up covered by leaves) and my first ever Pied Flycatcher. Didn't have to wait too long before I spotted one. It only stayed still about 4 seconds but it was enough to tick it off my book:t:. Continued through the woods and managed some great views of both Male and Female Redstarts in the leafless trees||.

By far the best surprise for the day was something big being chased by a Crow just above the canopy, I managed to get my bins on to see an Osprey.
After that I wasn't too bothered about only getting a four second glimpse of the Pied FlycatcherB B

 

[AndyMc]

Looks like I missed out on the some Whiskered Terns then :-C. Mind you, I wouldn't know one If it tugged on me beard . I was looking for terns anall. Anyone got a white stick they don't need?|8)|.
:smoke:I blame the road closure at Greatham, if it wasn't for that, I would have seen the crowd on my way back home from Seaton.

The boring news then is that the Spoony was feeding well at 4.00 in the pond South of the ''Triangle'' drainage ditch - Back Saltholme?? (not yet closed off for vehicles).
_______________________
:t:Andy

 

[jason-t-71]

Thats not boring at all, Spoonbills are great birds! :t:

 

[IanF]

A few photos of the two Whiskered Terns.

Spoonbill still present at 7.00pm plus quite a few Swifts, Swallow and Martins over Back Saltholme.

 

[Alan Tilmouth]

Some cracking birds across the region today including Black-headed Wagtail on Holy Island, those Whiskered Tern look superb. It'll be interesting to see if they keep coming North, their might be one or two birders 'fall ill' tomorrow.

 

[FoghornKinghorn]

A few photos of the two Whiskered Terns.

Those are great shots of the Whiskered terns Ian!:t:
They are a day to late, where were they yesterday! ha ha Learning to drive now so I should be able to get down Teeside and start getting these fantastic birds I keep reading about, bide your time Kinghorn, bide your time:smoke:3
Had a good day out today with the club. Only missed the Egyptian Goose, but had some great views of a Bearded Tit couldn't ask for a better view!

 

[rokermartin]

The Whiskered Terns are the first ones for Co Durham a well overdue addition for the Durham bird list.

 

[Jamie D]

Wiskered Terns at Saltholme

 

[Jamie D]

Last few for today