Gill Osborne's 2014 List (1 Viewer)

[Gill Osborne]

Wednesday 1st January
Alnwick

Quiet day compared to usual January 1st's :smoke:

1: Black-headed Gull
2: Woodpigeon
3: Common Gull
4: Jackdaw
5: Feral Pigeon
6: Starling
7: Collared Dove
8: Wren
9: Blackbird
10: House Sparrow

 

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday 2nd January
Alnwick

11: Goldfinch

 

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday 5th January
Stag Rocks, Bamburgh

12: Rook
13: Buzzard
14: Chaffinch
15: Pheasant
16: Herring Gull
17: Carrion Crow
18: Oystercatcher
19: Dunlin
20: Turnstone
21: Cormorant
22: Lapwing
23: Redshank
24: Grey Heron
25: Curlew
26: Great Black-backed Gull
27: Eider
28: Kittiwake ~ 2 young birds flying south
29: Guillemot
30: Common Scoter
31: Shag
32: Twite
33: Long-tailed Duck
34: Red-throated Diver
35: Slavonian Grebe
36: Gannet
37: Kestrel

 

[Gill Osborne]

Tuesday 7th January
Alnwick

38: Blue Tit



Wednesday 8th January
Alnwick

39: Robin

 

[Gill Osborne]

Tuesday 14th January
Alnwick

40: Dunnock
41: Coal Tit
42: Great Tit


River Coquet, Amble

43: Mallard
44: Wigeon
45: Shelduck
46: Teal
47: Goldeneye ~ 2 males; 1 female
48: Moorhen
49: Red-breasted Merganser ~ male & female flying upriver


Ratten Row, Alnwick

50: Magpie
51: Greenfinch ~ 7 in top branches of beech tree.

Also, in market Street above Turnbull's Butchers, a male Blackbird was heard singing at approx. 3pm. Full flutey song too, not just a few tentative warming-up practice notes....earliest I've ever heard the species singing!

 

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday 16th January
Ratten Row, Alnwick

52: Nuthatch ~ in top branches of beech tree in garden of Swiss Cottage
53: Sparrowhawk ~ female swooping low over wall into grounds of Rainbow Nursery....AWESOME! :t:

Snowdrops starting to flower in grounds of St Michael's Church and Alder bush catkins getting quite long now. A few birds in song including Blackbird, Great Tit, Dunnock and Blue Tit.

 

[Gill Osborne]

Friday 17th January
Alnwick Moor

54: Red Grouse

Only having a short window available I decided to pop up to Alnwick Moor on the off chance the rich hobnobs might have left some grouse alive :smoke: At first the whole area was silent with not a bird to be seen or heard nor even, for once, a breath of wind. After ten minutes a single gnat/midge was seen :smoke:

Then at 2.13pm SUCCESS!!!! o A single bird was heard to call, closely followed by another. At least the grouse WERE still here! Then a brief glimpse of a bird flying low over the heather :t: This was followed by two birds calling and then another bird seen flying further uphill. I rounded my brief hour's birding with lovely clear views of one bird standing in the open :t: Fantastic! :t:

I often have trouble connecting with red grouse.....which is even more embarrassing because I live in an area where they are widespread on the moors and hills :smoke: Obviously I don't get out enough...something I need to concentrate on more this year.

Back home for 2.40pm to my other life as a dutiful wife chained to the cooker :-O

 

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday 19th January
Alnwick

55: Tawny Owl ~ ke-wicking outside living room window at 10.30pm

 

[Gill Osborne]

Monday 20th January
Lynemouth

56: Glossy Ibis ~ corker of a bird feeding calmly in horse field at distance of approx. 40yds :t:


Druridge Pools, Budge Hide

57: Stonechat ~ male in superb breeding plumage
58: Shoveler
59: Pintail
60: Coot

No sign of reported male Green-winged Teal despite over an hour of constantly scouring the flocks on the Budge field. A pair of Mallard seen mating and a few groups of Teal displaying with their characteristic head & tail flick :king:

 

[Gill Osborne]

Thursday 23rd January
North Shields

61: Pied Wagtail ~ female outside Greggs: kept nipping in and going under tables to feed on dropped crumbs :t:

 

[Gill Osborne]

Monday, 17th February
Alnwick

62: Song Thrush


Maidens Hall Lake

63: Skylark
64: Grey Partridge


East Chevington

65: Tufted Duck
66: Greylag Goose
67: Canada Goose
68: Mute Swan
69: Gadwall
70: Pochard

Druridge Bay Country Park

71: Bullfinch

Amble Harbour

72: Mediterranean Gull

 

[Gill Osborne]

Wednesday 12th March
East Chevington

73: Great Crested Grebe ~ a pair seen displaying
74: Red-necked Grebe
75: Reed Bunting

 

[Gill Osborne]

Friday 14th March
Stag Rocks

76: Linnet ~ 3 on rocks


Budle Bay


77: Bar-tailed Godwit


Alnwick

78: Yellowhammer ~ male in breeding plumage on top of hedge @ Heiferlaw

 

[Gill Osborne]

Friday 21st March
Alnmouth

79: Chiffchaff ~ two males singing on Alnmouth Marsh
80: Water Rail ~ one feeding on mud at side of Marsh: my first since the 1990's!!! :t:
81: Treecreeper ~ on tree above Water Rail!
82: Long-tailed Tit
83: Little Grebe


Boulmer

84: Ringed Plover
85: Whooper Swan ~ flock of c56 flying north: glorious sight! o


A very nice 3.5hrs out and certainly blew away the black cloud of depression that has had me very low these past few weeks :smoke: Perhaps the cure IS to just think bollocks to all the stresses and aggravation in my day to day life and just go birding every day!!! I certainly feel a LOT more alive and chilled out today after that walk in the sun.....and I doubt I'll have any problems falling asleep tonight! :-O

 

[Gill Osborne]

Wednesday 26th March
Wooler

86: Sand Martin ~ 6 flying north up river.

 

[Gill Osborne]

Wednesday 2nd April
Pastures, Alnwick

Just a short walk today over Alnwick Bog....aka The Pastures :smoke: VERY wet underfoot despite the relatively dry winter.

Two/three Chiffchaff singing and constant sounds of male Pheasant displaying. Quite a few pairs of Mallard on the river and a single Moorhen.

87: Jay ~ single bird flew over the river and towards tall trees on edge of the Gardens. My first ever jay on this site :t:

88: Goosander ~ male and female on river.

 

[Gill Osborne]

Wednesday 16th April
Cramlington Shopping Centre

89: Lesser Black-backed Gull ~ adult swooped down in front of me in car park to grab some dropped bread on ground. Had left foot missing!

 

[Gill Osborne]

Friday 18th April
Low Newton

It's Good Friday, it's the brats' Easter Holidays AND it's sunny....which all adds up to the inbred plebs day out :smoke: The beach was heaving!!!! Thankfully not so many inland next to the Scrapes and the Pool itself.....tho' I did have one patronising idiot trying to 'impress' me with tales of how he once watched a Golden Eagle feeding it's youngster at Yeavering Bell :-O Apparently he was up above it and was only about 30ft away :eek!: Gosh, I must be a TERRIBLE birdwatcher because I never see sights like that! :smoke:

90: Blackcap ~ male singing loudly as I got out of car at High Newton
91: Swallow ~ two flying overhead as I walked down the bank into Low Newton :t:
92: Meadow Pipit ~ two/three singing & flight displaying at Stringer's Scrapes
93: Ruff ~ single bird on Scrapes
94: Willow Warbler ~ male singing behind Newton Pool Hide

A pair of Greylag also had six newly-hatched Cygnets.

Very nice few hours despite the idiots day out Saw my first Hedge Garlic of the year, Bluebells just coming into bloom, some sort of 'vetch' species in flower (photo taken) and, closer to home, Wood Anemone carpeting a nearby wood on outskirts of Alnwick. Lovely views of a Peacock butterfly at Low Newton.

 

[Gill Osborne]

Sunday 27th April
Wagonway Road, Alnwick

95: House Martin ~ two flying overhead as I left work at 12.45pm :t:


Also Ransoms coming into bloom.

 

[Gill Osborne]

Gosh, what a year!!!!! How can it be August - and late August at that - already? May & June were a right-off with looking after a dog but I managed a few trips out July but August....not quite sure what happened? :smoke: Had fun and games sorting through my notes as well so that I could update this Year List!!! Note to self: update same evening as outing!!!!!! :-O

Wednesday April 30th
Alnwick

96: Swifts :t: