Gill Osborne
Well-known member
Had a hard choice to make this morning, especially as thunderstorms were forecast....do I do the big pile of ironing or do I go birding?
Decided to take the risk of being labelled a bad wife and chose the latter!
So set off for a couple of hours in the Ingram Valley.
Had a good start with plenty of Swallows and Sand Martin and a close up view of a Brown Hare grooming itself in the centre of a field, totally oblivious to the inquisitive group of lambs surrounding it!
A female Goosander was fishing in the River Breamish and two Common Sandpipers stood on the riverbank...first of the year for me.
Further on past Ingram Village I parked up next to a large clump of gorse which was covering the bank of the river and virtually the whole hillside...lovely bright flowers and that sublime coconut smell..delicious!
I was thrilled when a male Stonechat popped up just yards from me and obligingly perched on top of a gorse bush so I could admire his vivid colours.
At this point, as I got out of the car to set up my scope, I was 'mugged' by a chaffinch! He kept flying close to my feet and woefully cheeping at me to feed him! This last happened to me as I was sitting on the banks of Ullswater having my lunch...these chaffinch certainly know HOW to make you feel guilty! I ended up rifling through the boot and the glove compartment desperately hoping I could find a few crumbs to give him. No such luck..all I had was half a packet of polo mints! I felt AWFUL trying to explain to him that I didn't have anything on me!!! MUST start keeping some seed in the car...if only to stop me feeling heartless!!!
The only frustrating part of the morning came when I was scanning the skies for birds of prey. One did come into view but as I tried to focus my scope on it a couple of carrion crows decided to mob it and it soon disappeared over the top of the nearest hill! Luckily I was able to do a quick sketch so will hopefully be able to suss out what species it is once I get my Collins guide back from my father-in-law!
Then, as it was such a lovely morning with absolutely no sign of thunderclouds developing, I decided to go along to LInhope Spout to see if I could finally catch up with those annoying Red Grouse! I think I am the ONLY person in Northumberland who has NOT seen them!!! :C
As I drove along to the parking spot at Hartside Farm I saw the unmistakable outline of a gamebird outlined on a rock! Slammed the brakes on, quickly reversed to get a better view.....and it was a Red-legged Partridge!!! Lovely bird in itself but NOT a grouse. Drat!!!
So, I got myself parked up and set off on the one & a half miles to the waterfall.
Walking past a stand of trees I heard a Blackcap singing and soon picked him out as he perched in full view on top of an Elder shrub. Brilliant - first one of the year! o
Walking over the hilltops to Linhope Spout was very pleasant at this point as the sun was very hot and I was soon stripping off...jumper around my waist and coat carried over an arm. Yet if I had NOT brought the coat you can guarantee it would have rained!
Nothing spectacular seen as I walked over the hills - just the usual suspects...Song & Mistle Thrush, Great Tit, Swallow, Skylarks singing away, Lapwings displaying over the fields and a sweet little lamb that was adamant I was his mum!!! Had to shoo him away in case he got separated from the ewe.
Arrived at Linhope at 11.15am and I had the place to myself so I sat on a rock and just waited to see what would turn up. First of all was a female Grey Wagtail perched on a boulder midstream and she was closely followed by a Willow Warbler singing in a nearby tree.
And then, at 11.30, a Dipper whizzed by! Fantastic!!! I'd been hoping to get one of these at some point this week. It stood on a rock bobbing away before flying up to a mossy overhang just feet from the waterfall! Minutes later TWO dipper emerged and flew off downstream. And for the next twenty minutes or so I was able to watch them flying back and forth and see them swimming underwater o
Then a party of five walkers arrived so, as I'd told Neil I'd be back about 11am , I decided to head back. Stopped to talk to two farm workers building a fence after they asked me if I'd been twitching and had I seen anything good..and the older one told me he'd seen a cuckoo calling and being mobbed by other birds on Saturday. No sight or sound of it today though!
Further on I was again asked if I was a twitcher, had I seen anything blah de blah , by a lovely couple who were up here on holiday from Norfolk. They told me about Ring Ouzel and Red/Black Grouse which they'd seen earlier that week in the College Valley and showed me where to go on their map.....Mmmm,methinks a trip very soon is called for!
Driving back home *two hours late - whoops!* I saw another dipper on the river just as you approach Ingram Village.
In total I saw 38 bird species - not bad for ''just a quick look before it rains!''
And rather ironic that, for a change, we seem to have missed all the rain and hail and thunderstorms which the rest of the North-east seems to have had today...it has just started to rain in the past half hour up here this evening! Looks like I was in the right place for once....and I've even got a bit of colour in my cheeks from the hot sun! *but thankfully NOT my usual sunburnt nose! *
Complete list of birds is as follows...* denotes new year tick. :bounce:
GILL
Decided to take the risk of being labelled a bad wife and chose the latter!
So set off for a couple of hours in the Ingram Valley.
Had a good start with plenty of Swallows and Sand Martin and a close up view of a Brown Hare grooming itself in the centre of a field, totally oblivious to the inquisitive group of lambs surrounding it!
A female Goosander was fishing in the River Breamish and two Common Sandpipers stood on the riverbank...first of the year for me.
Further on past Ingram Village I parked up next to a large clump of gorse which was covering the bank of the river and virtually the whole hillside...lovely bright flowers and that sublime coconut smell..delicious!
I was thrilled when a male Stonechat popped up just yards from me and obligingly perched on top of a gorse bush so I could admire his vivid colours.
At this point, as I got out of the car to set up my scope, I was 'mugged' by a chaffinch! He kept flying close to my feet and woefully cheeping at me to feed him! This last happened to me as I was sitting on the banks of Ullswater having my lunch...these chaffinch certainly know HOW to make you feel guilty! I ended up rifling through the boot and the glove compartment desperately hoping I could find a few crumbs to give him. No such luck..all I had was half a packet of polo mints! I felt AWFUL trying to explain to him that I didn't have anything on me!!! MUST start keeping some seed in the car...if only to stop me feeling heartless!!!
The only frustrating part of the morning came when I was scanning the skies for birds of prey. One did come into view but as I tried to focus my scope on it a couple of carrion crows decided to mob it and it soon disappeared over the top of the nearest hill! Luckily I was able to do a quick sketch so will hopefully be able to suss out what species it is once I get my Collins guide back from my father-in-law!
Then, as it was such a lovely morning with absolutely no sign of thunderclouds developing, I decided to go along to LInhope Spout to see if I could finally catch up with those annoying Red Grouse! I think I am the ONLY person in Northumberland who has NOT seen them!!! :C
As I drove along to the parking spot at Hartside Farm I saw the unmistakable outline of a gamebird outlined on a rock! Slammed the brakes on, quickly reversed to get a better view.....and it was a Red-legged Partridge!!! Lovely bird in itself but NOT a grouse. Drat!!!
So, I got myself parked up and set off on the one & a half miles to the waterfall.
Walking past a stand of trees I heard a Blackcap singing and soon picked him out as he perched in full view on top of an Elder shrub. Brilliant - first one of the year! o
Walking over the hilltops to Linhope Spout was very pleasant at this point as the sun was very hot and I was soon stripping off...jumper around my waist and coat carried over an arm. Yet if I had NOT brought the coat you can guarantee it would have rained!
Nothing spectacular seen as I walked over the hills - just the usual suspects...Song & Mistle Thrush, Great Tit, Swallow, Skylarks singing away, Lapwings displaying over the fields and a sweet little lamb that was adamant I was his mum!!! Had to shoo him away in case he got separated from the ewe.
Arrived at Linhope at 11.15am and I had the place to myself so I sat on a rock and just waited to see what would turn up. First of all was a female Grey Wagtail perched on a boulder midstream and she was closely followed by a Willow Warbler singing in a nearby tree.
And then, at 11.30, a Dipper whizzed by! Fantastic!!! I'd been hoping to get one of these at some point this week. It stood on a rock bobbing away before flying up to a mossy overhang just feet from the waterfall! Minutes later TWO dipper emerged and flew off downstream. And for the next twenty minutes or so I was able to watch them flying back and forth and see them swimming underwater o
Then a party of five walkers arrived so, as I'd told Neil I'd be back about 11am
, I decided to head back. Stopped to talk to two farm workers building a fence after they asked me if I'd been twitching and had I seen anything good..and the older one told me he'd seen a cuckoo calling and being mobbed by other birds on Saturday. No sight or sound of it today though! Further on I was again asked if I was a twitcher, had I seen anything blah de blah
, by a lovely couple who were up here on holiday from Norfolk. They told me about Ring Ouzel and Red/Black Grouse which they'd seen earlier that week in the College Valley and showed me where to go on their map.....Mmmm,methinks a trip very soon is called for! Driving back home *two hours late - whoops!* I saw another dipper on the river just as you approach Ingram Village.
In total I saw 38 bird species - not bad for ''just a quick look before it rains!''
And rather ironic that, for a change, we seem to have missed all the rain and hail and thunderstorms which the rest of the North-east seems to have had today...it has just started to rain in the past half hour up here this evening! Looks like I was in the right place for once....and I've even got a bit of colour in my cheeks from the hot sun! *but thankfully NOT my usual sunburnt nose!
* Complete list of birds is as follows...* denotes new year tick. :bounce:
1.Blackbird
2.Greenfinch
3.Chaffinch
4.Pied Wagtail
5.Swallow
6.Goldfinch
7.Linnet
8.Pheasant
9.House Martin
10.Goosander
11.Willow Warbler
12.Wood Pigeon
13.Rook
14.Common Sandpiper *
15.Carrion Crow
16.Sand Martin
17.Jackdaw
18.Yellowhammer
19.Chiffchaff
20.Song Thrush
21.Black-headed Gull
22.Collared Dove
23.Wren
24.Stonechat
25.Meadow Pipit
26.Red-legged Partridge
27.Curlew
28.Blackcap *
29.Robin
30.Great Tit
31.Skylark
32.Lapwing
33.Grey Wagtail
34.Dipper *
35.Wheatear
36.Mistle Thrush
37.Kestrel
38.Starling
GILL
