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Gill Osborne's 2012 List (1 Viewer)

Gill Osborne

Gill Osborne

Well-known member
Sunday, 1st January
Alnwick

Rain overnight clearing to leave a sunny day with clear blue skies and strong SW wind. Very mild at 8C.

With Neil on dayshift instead of nights he has the car during daylight hours so, until next week, my birding will be restricted to On Foot :king:
At work first thing but escaped at midday and after a quick bite to eat at home ( I made some lovely sandwiches for work and left them at home!) was back out by 1pm.
The Year List started before first light though with a very confiding male blackbird on the cobbles outside our shop :t:

1: Blackbird 7.24am
2: Jackdaw
3: Rook
4: Black-headed Gull
5: Feral Pigeon
6: Herring Gull
7: Starling

12.30pm ~ 1pm
Back Garden

8: Wood Pigeon
9: Collared Dove
10: Blue Tit
11: Chaffinch

1pm ~ 3.25pm
Hulne Park

12: Great Tit
13: Pheasant
14: Goldcrest
15: Coal Tit
16: Yellowhammer

3.40 ~ 3.55pm
Canongate Bridge

17: Robin
18: Magpie
19: Grey Heron
20: Dipper
21: Mallard ~ 4 male displaying to 3 females
22: Moorhen

First day out birding for weeks.....feel like I could sleep for a month now :-O The joys of fresh air :t: Very surprised I managed 22 species as it felt a LOT quieter - whether that was down to very windy conditions or just the mild weather we've been having for a week or two, who knows?

Flowers in bloom: Common Daisy ~ Bellis perennis
 
Tuesday 3rd January
Alnwick Market Place

Heavy rain clearing by mid-morning to leave sunny afternoon with strong SSW wind. 7C.

23: Pied Wagtail ~ male in Market Place
 
Wednesday 4 January
Alnwick

Rain clearing overnight to leave grey overcast day. Wind picking up once more mid-afternoon, very strong after dark! 7C.

24: House Sparrow ~ finally! Loads usually in the rose bush outside bedroom window but completely absent since 1st!
 
Thursday 5th January
Alnwick

Sunny start with strong NW wind.

25: Greenfinch ~ female in ash tree outside living room.
 
Friday 6th January

Sunny spells, strong NW wind, 9C

27: Buzzard
28: Kestrel

Marden Quarry, Whitley Bay

29: Canada Goose
30: Carrion Crow
31: Coot
32: Goosander
33: Mute Swan
34: Wren
35: Dunnock

Flowers in bloom: Bramble
 
Friday 13th January
Boulmer

Sunny day with clear blue skies and barely a breath of WNW wind. 6C

36: Lapwing
37: Sanderling
38: Ringed Plover
39: Redshank
40: Eider
41: Great Black-backed Gull
42: Turnstone
43: Dunlin
44: Peregrine Falcon o:)
45: Oystercatcher
46: Cormorant

Flowers in bloom: Snowdrop, Winter Aconite @ Denwick Church. Wallflowers @ Longhoughton.
 
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Tuesday 17th January
Druridge Bay

Hard frost overnight, clear sunny day, no wind. 4C

47: Whooper Swan ~ 4 feeding with 13 mute in fields opposite Wooden turn-off.
48: Wigeon
49: Goldeneye
50: Grey Partridge
51: Curlew
52: Stonechat
53: Red-throated Diver
54: Great Spotted woodpecker
55: Pintail ~ stunning male on main pool!
56: Sparrowhawk
57: Snipe ~ outmanoeuvering sparrowhawk!!!
58: Long-tailed Tit ~ party of 8 at Budge Hide.

Mammal List: Brown Hare ~ 2 chasing each other in Budge Fields
 
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Sunday 29th January

Rain clearing overnight to leave a cold, overcast day. 3C

59: Goldfinch ~ male singing in ash tree.
 
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Tuesday 31st January

Overcast morning, clearer afternoon with strong east-south-easterly wind. Bloody cold!!!!! :eek!:

3 Roe Deer grazing in field next to A697 @ 11am. Also large flock c.50+ chaffinch, 6 blue tit and 2 goldfinch in layby.

Alnwick Moor ~ no sign of grouse: only birds present were three Common Buzzard and a male Kestrel :smoke:

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker in sycamore. Blackbirds being very territorial - at least two pairs arguing over food from nearby bird table. Coal Tits very vocal this past few days.

Boulmer in afternoon: 2pm - 4pm.

60: Common Gull ~ large flock c100+ sheltering on Howdiemont Sands.
61: Shelduck ~ 3 with gulls & eider on rock pools.
62: Rock Pipit ~ 2 on seaweed-covered rocks below car park.
 
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Thursday 2nd February
Alnwick

63: Tawny Owl ~ at last!!!!! They were as vocal as anything up until New Years' Eve and then fell silent :smoke:
 
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Friday 3rd February
Alnwick

Hard frost overnight clearing to leave sunny day with cloudless skies all day. 3C.

Greenfinch singing from ash tree behind flat :t:

A lot of the birds seem to be getting rather vocal now - woodpigeons, collared dove, starling, coal tit, blue tit. Yet to hear blackbird or song thrush though :smoke:
 
Friday 3rd February
Stag Rocks, Bamburgh

Frosty start clearing to leave a sunny, cloudless gorgeous day with a light W wind. 3C.

64: Bullfinch ~ stunning male in trees at Adderstone Mains o:)
65: Linnet ~ flock of c200+ in fields behind Stag Rocks
66: Common Scoter
67: Red-breasted Merganser
68: Purple Sandpiper
69: Shag
70: Guillemot
71: Short-eared Owl ~ one flying over field behind Stag rocks before landing on ground.
72: Knot
 
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Friday 10th February

The birds are starting to get a LOT more lively and chasing each other amongst the treetops. Chaffinch especially are very lively! Greenfinch starting to sing more from the sycamore tree and for one brief second I could have sworn I heard a blackbird beginning to tune up on my way to work at 5.55am. Didn't get a definite id so not counting it. Shall keep my ears peeled Sunday as I'm on early start once more.
 
Sunday 12th February
Maidens Hall Pool/Druridge Bay Country Park/East Chevington

Slight rain start, overcast for most of day but clearing to leave a cloudless sky by dusk. 7C. Light SW wind.

Fabulous couple of hours this afternoon ~ inbetween work and returning to housewife duties ie feeding hubby & cats :smoke:

Picked up Lifer No. 214 in the two Bewick's Swans grazing in a field approx quarter mile south of Maidens Hall Pool.
Also a mahoosive flock of White-fronted Geese and Pink-footed Geese on the actual Pool. Never seen so many white-front in one place before!!! :eek!:
Country Park next for reported scaup/smew etc......despite the lake being predominantly frozen with just a few stretches of open water (shouldn't be hard to find the two target species I thought...famous last words! :smoke: ) no sign of either
With time running short (ie had to be home by 4pm and it was now 3.45pm!!!) I popped along to East Chevington...thinking that perhaps the smew & scaup might have got fed up of the Unwashed Masses with their dogs and screaming kids at the Country Park and retreated to the quieter East Chev ;)
No such joy.....BUT I did pick up the gorgeous Slavonian Grebe, starting-to-display Red-breasted Merganser and THREE Short-eared Owl quartering the fields ~ one beside North Pool, the other two the South Pool
Sadly didn't have time to do Cresswell Pond for the Jackl Snipe or Amble Harbour for possible Med Gulls - those will have to wait until Tuesday's day off. But altogether a very enjoyable couple of hours that sneakily became three!

73: Bewick's Swan*Lifer No: 214*:loveme:
74: White-fronted Goose
75: Pink-footed Goose
76: Gadwall
77: Greylag Goose
78: Slavonian Grebe
79: Shoveler
 
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Sunday 19th February
Amble Harbour

80: Red-necked Grebe

East Chevington

81: Scaup

Also 2 weasel were heard and, by making high-pitched squeaks, I waas able to entice them closer to approx 10ft from me! :t: First I've seen for a few years...stoats tend to be the easier of the two to see.

Blackbird briefly heard singing in Alnwick Market Place at approx 8am this morning too - the first of the year! :king:
 
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Tuesday 28th February
Alnwick

Very mild day, approx 13C at 10.30am!

Birds VERY vocal and active - woodpigeon observed mating on sycamore tree and chaffinch/collared dove/robin/blue tit/starling/coal tit and wren all in full song :t:
 
Tuesday 28th February
Stag Rocks, Bamburgh

Gorgeous sunny afternoon and had my first Red-tailed Bumble Bee (three separate bees!), first Small Tortoiseshell butterfly and three Seven-spot Ladybirds.....oh, and my first Coltsfoot flowers of the year too :t:

Birds included plenty of Black-headed, Herring & Common Gull, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Curlew, 7 Purple Sandpiper and a few Cuddies out to sea :king: New additions to the Year List include....

82: Long-tailed Duck
83: Razorbill
 
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Thursday 15th March
Branton Pools

84: Mistle Thrush
85: Skylark
86: Little Grebe
87: Lesser Black-backed Gull
88: Reed Bunting
 
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