Northumbrian Birding (3 Viewers)

[margpuss]

Not all of Prestwick carr is Nature reserve. The area where the Pheasant Shooting takes place is private land, unfortunately.

Hi,
Imagine standing at the crossroads facing towards the sentry box, then walk up the road on your right. There are notice boards up this road depicting the various wildlife that can be seen, and a map of the reserve. About half way along this road, on the same side as the notice boards I actually saw someone shooting rabbits. Not in a sneaky poaching manner but slowly working a spaniel through the grass, his 4x4 was parked in the field nearby. It wasn't till a few weeks later when I really studied the notice boards and saw the words Prestwick Carr Nature Reserve, and to me the map seemed to include these fields, that I wondered about the legality of what I had seen.

cheers Clen

 

[Chop5]

Hi there, the dippers were upstream near where the dene crosses what i used to call the backtrack, thats the track that leads from beaumont park housing estate through to that road that leads from seaton delaval to seaton sluice, if you came from the backtrack they were just before you reached the first bridge you come too as you travel downstream, my brother had seen one further down nearer the second bridge a few weeks back so i went to have a look and was surprised to see a pair, a breeding possibility? Im sure i read they breed early, i managed to get pretty close, maybes 10m away and werent bothered by me at all, my brother said the same thing when he saw one so mebbes next time i will take a camera! All in all i had a canny little walk!
Cheers
Anth

 

[Brian Bullough]

I also often hear shooting in the woods, I gather this is the "private land"?, I often thought it might be illegal poaching but it's so obvious I guess not?

There is a clay pigeon shooting ground just to the EAST of the woods, the sound will easily carry !
brian

 

[Keith Reeder]

Many thanks Anthony - I think I'll get over there soon.

 

[martin kitching]

I'm not too knowledgable about the laws of the land but I do know that by rights the military personnel have to stop shooting to let any member of the public continue to proceed along the public bridleway (there are signs posted near the sentry box(es) advising this). I suspect that this was not adhered to in the recent past hence the notifications being made public.

If you wish to pass along the bridleway then the guard at the first sentry box will ensure that shooting stops, until you reach the sentry box at the other end of the bridleway at which point the guard there will give the OK for shooting to recommence.

You have the right of transit along the bridleway, but not the right to stop/linger so you couldn't insist on being allowed to hang around birding while military exercises were ongoing.

martin

 

[Keith Reeder]

It's a small world

I spent a few hours today dipping on the Holywell Dene dippers (not surprising really - I forgot how busy the place gets at weekends).

Plenty of the Usual Suspects around like treecreeper, GS woodpecker, nuthatch, coal tit and whatnot, and a particularly determined little male sparrowhawk who was blasting up and down all day - determined, but not, apparently, very good at catching stuff!



When I reached the Holywell Waggonway (the "backtrack" referred to by Anthony), I decided to have a wander along it and take a look at Holywell pond, but I was stopped in my tracks by the little fella in the picture - my first ermine too!

Not a great shot, but you don't get much time with these fellas...

There were a couple of common redpoll near the pond, but nothing of note on it.

So that was that.

It was a beautiful day though, and the critters and plants clearly think Spring is on its way.

 

[cuddy]

Headed up to Kielder today a bit quite with no raptors and negative on the Mandarins it was probably a bit early but the scenery was brilliant, did manage good views of dippers at Redesmouth though,

Took my time journeying back and eventually ended up at Prestwick Carr, met Bill a local patch birder and after a while we spotted 2 SE owls one very pale.

We were soon joined by a couple of birders conversation as follows.

Are you watching them ,yes Ive seen 2 , oh we have seen 24, what SE Owls, no waxwings,where , in that tree, bl**dy h**L how did we miss those. Lesson don't get too focused.

Soon after following Bills advice i had good views of barn owl bang on schedule.

canny day

 

[Brian Bullough]

Green-winged teal at Woodhorn Flash today,Barnowl showed well at Cresswell
plus one as road casualty on spine road Three Horse Shoes slip road South, I wonder how many end up dead at the roadside,no rings on this one.
Brian

 

[stew the smew]

Cheers for the info Keith, I'll give it a whirl tomorrow.

Spent the afternoon being thoroughly unentertained by 11 magpies.

 

[Keith Reeder]

I spent a few hours at Prestwick Carr today, from about 2pm to dusk.

Starting at the Dinnington end, I'd only been there a minute or two when a buzzard took off from the far end of the field north of the track.

A few minutes later, the very pale SEO appeared in much the same spot - I almost thought it was a barn owl until I got a proper look at it.

There wasn't much in the hedgerows (no sign of the waxwings, unfortunately), but there were hundreds of golden plover high overhead - they were up there for ages, but none came down.

Apart from a couple of SEOs in the fields west of the sentry box, and the odd kestrel or two, it was pretty quiet really, but nice to be out anyway.

 

[level seven]

I had a quick visit to Big Waters just after lunch and it turned out to be one of my best ones there. Nothing rare, but there were plenty of birds round the feeding station. Male and female Siskins were feeding, giving very good views. I noticed they were the last birds to scatter when others were disturbed, sometimes being the only ones to remain on the feeders. Other birds around there were a Yellowhammer, Dunnock, Robin, the usual Tree Sparrows, one or two Reed Buntings, and Great Tits, as well as Greenfinches and Chaffinches. Plenty of Wigeon and Teals on the lake.

The female Kingfisher was preening itself a few feet from the hide for at least ten minutes. It was still there when I left. On the way out, there was a Treecreeper not far from the hide, always a nice bird to see I think

Watch out for the seat used for looking at the feeders though. The roof still leaks a bit and I went away with a wet bottom!

 

[Keith Bradley]

Good day today, in fact no, change that - It was a fantastic day!! :clap:

Big Waters [08.00-09.00] Feeding Station:
2 GS Woodpecker (Fem]; Siskin; Reed Bunting; Chaffinch; Blue Tit; Great Tit; Moorhen; Blackbird; Robin; Wren; Robin; Dunnock; Tree Sparrow; Greenfinch; Stock Dove; Rabbit
Also in and around the reserve: GS Woodpecker - drumming in trees next to car park; Mistle Thrush; Long Tailed Tit (102); Redwing; Meadow Pipit (103); Goldfinch
Pond: 5 Snipe; 80+ Teal; 2 Mute Swan; Common Gull; BH Gull; Cormorant; Kingfisher (female - very close up again); 2 Canada Geese; 2 Grey Heron;

Was able to get back out in the afternoon and drove straight to Bothal Pond but only a single Ruff was noteworthy. Next was Woodhorn Flash for the drake GW Teal (104) - said bird was sleeping on North side of North flash, with other Teal and nearby Wigeon.

Next was Cresswell where just the usual suspects were around and a few sweeps of the PF Geese flock in the South fields didn't produce any White Fronted - not that I could see anyway. On the pond were: Smew (Fem); Cormorant; Lapwing; Golden Plover; GBB Gull; Herring Gull; BH Gull; Wigeon; Teal; Coot; Little Grebe; Tufted Duck. A sparrowhawk spooked all on the West side as it was pursued by a crow whilst a Kestrel looked on nearby - but best of all was the display by the Barn Owl (105) :t: around the vicinity of the small pond. Also Yellowhammer and Pied Wagtail at the farm in addition to the usual corvids.

A fruitless seacrh for a Med Gull at Newbiggin was followed by the journey home via Prestwick Carr, where a SE Owl (106) was displaying well :t: - I think this might have been the pale bird that Cuddy was mentioning for yesterday. A pair of Bullfinch (1M 1F) rounded the day off nicely.

So that's another ten birds in the bag for the year this weekend, although I can't mention the Green Sandpipers that I had yesterday as they were "over the border", but they were the fourth lifer for me this year!

Is it Friday yet??

Keith

 

[cuddy]

Blyth South Beach...4 Snow bunting

Cresswell Pond Red-Head Smew, Peregrine, Yellowhammer flock.

Pegswood Moor 2 Whitefront geese in with Canadas also a Barnacle, info courtesy of Andy McClevey.

 

[salty]

Headed up to Kielder today a bit quite with no raptors and negative on the Mandarins it was probably a bit early but the scenery was brilliant, did manage good views of dippers at Redesmouth though,

Took my time journeying back and eventually ended up at Prestwick Carr, met Bill a local patch birder and after a while we spotted 2 SE owls one very pale.

We were soon joined by a couple of birders conversation as follows.

Are you watching them ,yes Ive seen 2 , oh we have seen 24, what SE Owls, no waxwings,where , in that tree, bl**dy h**L how did we miss those. Lesson don't get too focused.

Soon after following Bills advice i had good views of barn owl bang on schedule.

canny day

SEOs and barn owl - jammy you, i aint able to get out at the moment!

get some pics up brian mate.

 

[Stewart J.]

Yo Richie dare I ask "why you can't get out at the moment"? Just home tonight and hoping to go for the RLB at Brampton tomorrow, good lady dosent know about the extended shopping trip yet?

I'll sneak the wellie's in the boot!

Stewart

 

[ukjesters]

First visit to the hide at big waters today and it didn't disappoint. All the usual suspects were there in numbers at the feeding station (usual suspects based on what other members have seen) and a juv male sparrowhawk buzzed by but didn't see if he caught anything. There was a male and three female goosanders and the kingfisher sat on her perch for ages and didn't even flinch at the local paparazzi - thats me, gary (viper) and kit (hectorprotector) snapping away in an effort to make the late edition of the chron!!!

Thoroughly enjoyed the visit and cheers for the ongoing ornothological advice gary.

Regards
Rick

Posted my two fave pics of the kingfisher, i have also placed them in my gallery link as they are not as compressed and do look slightly better.

 

[Keith Reeder]

Oh I've got to get over there for some of that red hot kingfisher action..!

Bet there's no keys left now!



Great pictures, Rick.

 

[June Atkinson]

Bigwaters

First visit to the hide at big waters today and it didn't disappoint. All the usual suspects were there in numbers at the feeding station (usual suspects based on what other members have seen) and a juv male sparrowhawk buzzed by but didn't see if he caught anything. There was a male and three female goosanders and the kingfisher sat on her perch for ages and didn't even flinch at the local paparazzi - thats me, gary (viper) and kit (hectorprotector) snapping away in an effort to make the late edition of the chron!!!

Thoroughly enjoyed the visit and cheers for the ongoing ornothological advice gary.

Regards
Rick

Posted my two fave pics of the kingfisher, i have also placed them in my gallery link as they are not as compressed and do look slightly better.

...and your images are stunning Rick! Thanks for posting them.

Now, it's years since we have been to the reserve. We used to take our son fishing when he was young, so I guess it will have changed quite a lot.

Do we need a key? If so, do we have to go the NWT Office in Gosforth to buy one?

What time of day do you reckon is the best for seeing the kingfisher?
Did you see any otters?

TIA
June

 

[Vipers]

Spent a few hours at Big Waters today, watching the amazingly obliging Kingfisher. As I got out of the car a flock of about fifteen Crossbill landed on top of the tall trees in the carpark before flying off south. As I walked around to the hide, I saw the family of three Otters swimming across the lake being dive bombed by Black-headed Gulls. When I got to the hide there was no sign of the Kingfisher, but a female Goosander was on the lake. The feeding station was quite busy with good numbers of Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer, Siskin, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blue and Great Tit and Moorhen.
Before long the Kingfisher appeared on her regular perch caught a couple of fish then flew off and sat in a tree to the right of the hide.

BF members ukjesters and hectorprotector arrived just before the Kingfisher returned to its snapped bullrush perch and proceeded to catch fish for the best part of two hours. Even a male Sparrowhawk flying right passed it to buzz the feeding station didn't bother it at all.

On the way back to the car I went to try an get photos of four Goosander that Rick (ukjesters) had seen at the public end of the lake. Unfortunately they were at the very narrow part of the lake and as I approached they flew down to the other end of the lake. Can't win them all.

Here's todays Kingfisher shots.

 

[Vipers]

Nice shots Rick. Were just waiting for Kit to post his shots now.

Hi June

You do need to buy a key from the NWT Office in Gosforth. The Kingfisher is never far from the hide and I've seen the Otters between 11:00 and 12:00 the last couple of times I've been there.