salty
geordie birder
despite the bad forecast, myself Rayl and Brianfm set off on a raptor hunt across popular parts of northumberlnd today.
not expecting too much, with rain expected throughout the day, we set off towards simonside to see what species we could pick out.
true to good form, when we were all in the car, the heavens opened, not good. we carried on regardless in the pouring rain, untill a break in the clouds some 10 miles or so from out first destination, meant we could finally see some birds.
the lay-by was a good stop, not only to stretch our legs and grab a bite to eat, i also noticed my brand new 4X4 was hissing like a snake! - yep, a nail in the tyre, i couldnt believe it!!!
so after a sandwich and tyre change, we carried on towards simonside, taking the main route that leads you to the summit, with cracking views, the sun was now shining high in the sky - our luck was changing for the better.
parking up near a dead sheep (no, it wasnt a raptor kill!), we set up our scopes and began scanning everything, moorland, treetops, farmland etc.
first raptor was a sparrowhawk, chasing a woodpidgeon, then eventually getting mobbed by the same bird it was trying to kill, it had outsmarted the hawk, and quickly turned the table, chasing the hawk to the safety of a nearby tree!
next up, 3 buzzards, but they were way into the distance, too far to watch propaly. another sparrowhawk was on the hunt again too, this time in the field behind us, it must of sensed the rain however, as it went to cover just as a huge burst of rain began to fall.
with the weather not getting any better, it was time to move on, earlier than expected. we decided to head for the brighter sky, kielder forest area, to try and continue as best we could.
a nearby peregrine sight failed to produce anything better than a hunting kestrel.
once in kielder, we stopped to scan the treetops, this was done frequently after every downpoor, as we were getting more and more birds braving the weather to feed - including raptors.
at one spot, we had a hunting kestrel, followed above by 3 buzzards, then another kestrel. fantastic, the raptors were not going to be put off by the showers, and we were not going to leave aslong as there were still willing to fly/feed whatever!
moving on we were getting more and more buzzards, not best sightings, some often very far/high in the sky, only watchable by scope. we also had a pair of wild goat in kielder, the first time i have seen these shaggy looking beasts!
with more rain falling, we continued further afield, untill we found another break in the clouds, close to the borders this time, a very good raptor viewpoint, one that has gave me some impresive birds this year.
we decided this would be our spot untill last light, with a good hour to kill we set our scopes up once more.
first off, more kestrels, loads more infact, there was a family of at least 3 birds. the adult, we presume, was busy hunting while the youngsters dive bombed and chased each other across the moors, very entertaining to watch.
more and more buzzards were coming out too, with some good mid air scraps, wing tipping and talon showing going on, this was good action.
the buzzards were having a good time defending themselves from the local crows too, one buzzard even got chase into some nearby trees, giving us time to get a few snap shots of it, although still quite a way off to get high quality images.
some behaviour i witnessed, from the 2 juvenile kestrels this time, was when a fox was busy making it's way across the heather, when the 2 young guns, suddenly began dive bombing it!!! - crazy, but exellent to watch.
all in all a good day regardless, even though out raptors never went beyond 3 species, buzzard, kestrel and sparrowhawk, the numbers more than made up for it - a good 30+ raptors in all.
heres a few snaps, although im not sure they are good enough for the gallery, you can have a look at what i managed to take.
not expecting too much, with rain expected throughout the day, we set off towards simonside to see what species we could pick out.
true to good form, when we were all in the car, the heavens opened, not good. we carried on regardless in the pouring rain, untill a break in the clouds some 10 miles or so from out first destination, meant we could finally see some birds.
the lay-by was a good stop, not only to stretch our legs and grab a bite to eat, i also noticed my brand new 4X4 was hissing like a snake! - yep, a nail in the tyre, i couldnt believe it!!!
so after a sandwich and tyre change, we carried on towards simonside, taking the main route that leads you to the summit, with cracking views, the sun was now shining high in the sky - our luck was changing for the better.
parking up near a dead sheep (no, it wasnt a raptor kill!), we set up our scopes and began scanning everything, moorland, treetops, farmland etc.
first raptor was a sparrowhawk, chasing a woodpidgeon, then eventually getting mobbed by the same bird it was trying to kill, it had outsmarted the hawk, and quickly turned the table, chasing the hawk to the safety of a nearby tree!
next up, 3 buzzards, but they were way into the distance, too far to watch propaly. another sparrowhawk was on the hunt again too, this time in the field behind us, it must of sensed the rain however, as it went to cover just as a huge burst of rain began to fall.
with the weather not getting any better, it was time to move on, earlier than expected. we decided to head for the brighter sky, kielder forest area, to try and continue as best we could.
a nearby peregrine sight failed to produce anything better than a hunting kestrel.
once in kielder, we stopped to scan the treetops, this was done frequently after every downpoor, as we were getting more and more birds braving the weather to feed - including raptors.
at one spot, we had a hunting kestrel, followed above by 3 buzzards, then another kestrel. fantastic, the raptors were not going to be put off by the showers, and we were not going to leave aslong as there were still willing to fly/feed whatever!
moving on we were getting more and more buzzards, not best sightings, some often very far/high in the sky, only watchable by scope. we also had a pair of wild goat in kielder, the first time i have seen these shaggy looking beasts!
with more rain falling, we continued further afield, untill we found another break in the clouds, close to the borders this time, a very good raptor viewpoint, one that has gave me some impresive birds this year.
we decided this would be our spot untill last light, with a good hour to kill we set our scopes up once more.
first off, more kestrels, loads more infact, there was a family of at least 3 birds. the adult, we presume, was busy hunting while the youngsters dive bombed and chased each other across the moors, very entertaining to watch.
more and more buzzards were coming out too, with some good mid air scraps, wing tipping and talon showing going on, this was good action.
the buzzards were having a good time defending themselves from the local crows too, one buzzard even got chase into some nearby trees, giving us time to get a few snap shots of it, although still quite a way off to get high quality images.
some behaviour i witnessed, from the 2 juvenile kestrels this time, was when a fox was busy making it's way across the heather, when the 2 young guns, suddenly began dive bombing it!!! - crazy, but exellent to watch.
all in all a good day regardless, even though out raptors never went beyond 3 species, buzzard, kestrel and sparrowhawk, the numbers more than made up for it - a good 30+ raptors in all.
heres a few snaps, although im not sure they are good enough for the gallery, you can have a look at what i managed to take.
Been wanting to see them for yonks...I will one day! 
