Durham Birding (1 Viewer)

[JBee]

still cannot beat the Hobby tho. :t:

I wish the hobby had come this close.

 

[NeilF]

Pair of juvenile Ruff on Wader Lake, WWT Washington this morning along with Shoveler, Teal and a Snipe. All the Tern's appear to have left.
Also had a single Swift overhead with some Swallow's.

 

[IanF]

Not a great deal doing at Seaton Snook this evening - could be just that it was a lovely sunny evening and loads of people about.

Over the marsh between the huts and golf course were 150-200 Swallow with a few House Martin thrown in, either feeding or sat along the fences. I can't recall ever seeing so many in one place before. c.30 Linnet as well.

On the beach a few Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Curlew and Oystercatcher. Very few Terns left now - I saw around 20 Common and 1 Sandwich. A few Cormorant, Redshank and Guillemot in the Creek.

Zinc Works Road itself I only saw Kestrel, Redshank, Lapwing and Swallow.

 

[ColinSev]

Blackhall Beach to Castle Eden

Had a short walk up the beach this afternoon - saw the usual Stonechat at the bottom of the ramp along with flocks of Linnet and Goldfinch.
On the sea were large numbers of Great Crested Grebe 27 counted. And the highlight for me was 2 Red Throated Divers with full summer plumage. As I was walking back down to Crimdon Dene I spotted another Red Throated Diver of the northern point of Crimdon Beach.

 

[jason-t-71]

Unfortunately today was a shopping day with the girlfriend, but we still managed a leisurely stroll around Silksworth Lakes. Quite pleased we did cos I got a lovely Kingfisher! Its the first one I've seen here, probably cos its not very often I go there. Which is a crime seeing as though I literally only live 5 minutes away. I wouldnt care, the odd time I have gone I've seen some good birds like Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Water Rail etc. Which got me thinking, does anybody have any past records of whats been seen there over the years? I dont seem to see any reports of the place in any mags or on the forum and it seems to be a bit underwatched. Rokermartin seems to think its been quite good for rare Gulls in the past but nobody seems to go there. Is this because its generally not very good or because no birders live in the immediate area? Once Ive got the wedding and honeymoon out of the way (in 2 weeks time I'll be a married man!!!) I'll be turning it into my local patch. I hope its a rewarding experience!

 

[rokermartin]

Whitburn this pm 1 ad Med Gull,2 ad Roseate Tern,1Wheatear,2 Yellow Wagtail,Silksworth Lakes had a 1stw Laughing Gull a few years ago also Med Gulls have been seen there ,also Slav Grebe and Scaup .

 

[IanF]

I headed north this morning to call in at Hetton Bogs. Loads birds when I arrived but after an hour they tailed off to absolutely nothing!

Around LTT x6 were around with Willow Tit x3, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Willow Warbler, Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler, Wren, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Moorhen and Coot. A Kestrel Flew over. I saw a Water Rail about a dozen times but only tantalising glimpses always either lurking around the fringes or flying through being chased by a Moorhen! A Jay was in the Sycamore behind the bog.

 

[seggs]

castle lake and b.m.quarry

had a nice few hours here this pm..sat at the sewage works view point and had our picnic(always take our lass to the classic places to dine! ) and watched the ruff(9) and greenshanks(3) contanst movement..
11 mute swans here now...the only geese whilst we were here were 2 canadas..2 yellow,2grey and loads of pied wagtails..large flocks of linnets and goldfinchs feeding on the seed heads.. 1 ringed plover and 1 l.r.plover..to note..
tried the quarry next
quiet except for 15+ yellowhammer....lots of butterflies proved interesting thro-
a nice few hours..

 

[Ross Ahmed]

Unfortunately today was a shopping day with the girlfriend, but we still managed a leisurely stroll around Silksworth Lakes. Quite pleased we did cos I got a lovely Kingfisher! Its the first one I've seen here, probably cos its not very often I go there. Which is a crime seeing as though I literally only live 5 minutes away. I wouldnt care, the odd time I have gone I've seen some good birds like Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Water Rail etc. Which got me thinking, does anybody have any past records of whats been seen there over the years? I dont seem to see any reports of the place in any mags or on the forum and it seems to be a bit underwatched. Rokermartin seems to think its been quite good for rare Gulls in the past but nobody seems to go there. Is this because its generally not very good or because no birders live in the immediate area? Once Ive got the wedding and honeymoon out of the way (in 2 weeks time I'll be a married man!!!) I'll be turning it into my local patch. I hope its a rewarding experience!

A Slavonian Grebe turned up in Feb 1996 which led to a bit of a purple patch over the next couple of months. I was twitching the grebe with a couple of others and found the Laughing Gull, and I remember seeing a Scaup and a Water Rail on the same day. Not made for a few small man-made lakes! I saw Iceland Gull and Blackcap there a few days after, and reports from visiting birders included Arctic Redpoll (big national influx at time) and a fly-over White Stork. Since then, I think it's had a Long-tailed Duck but not much else as far as I know as it won't have been birded. No doubt regular checking will turn up surprises -good luck!

 

[allan rowell]

This Weekend.

Sat Morning FROSTERLEY
CHAFFINCH, 2 LAPWING, 3
BLUE TIT, 3 CROW, 2
MOORHEN, 1 GOLDFINCH,40+
DIPPER, 1 PIED WAGTAIL,2
HERON, 1 MAGPIE, 4
ROBIN, 1 LITTLE GREBE, 3
WREN, 4
JACKDAW,10+

Sat Evening EGGLESTONE COMMON
PEREGRINE, 1

Sun Morning McNEIL BOTTOMS
Bit of a disaster, following Bridleway from S/W brings you to a river crossing ( did you know horses don't need bridges ? ) crossed it anyway, only to find the birds far out in the distance, and the sun in my eyes, ( needless to say didn't bring scope ).
SWANS, ( yes they were white ones ) 7

Sun Evening NEWBIGGIN COMMON
GOLDFINCH, 14
LAPWING, 18
MERLIN, 1 m.

Mon Morning HAMSTERLEY FOREST
HOUSE MARTIN, 10+ COAL TIT, 5
NUTHATCH, 1 DUNNOCK, 3
JAY, 2 ROBIN, 1
HERON, 1 CHAFFINCH, 1
WOOD PIGEON, 7 GREENFINCH, 2
BLUE TIT, 3 WILLOW WARBLER, 1
GREAT TIT, 4 CHIFFCHAFF, 1
CROSSBILL, 5
BLACKBIRD, 1
CROW, 1
WREN, 4
SPOTTED FLYCATCHER, 2
LTT, 2

 

[JBee]

A few more shots of the visiting sparrowhawk

 

[Mark Newsome]

Excellent sea passage at Whitburn this morning (as expected with high pressure and an overnight northerly). A Great Shearwater was the highlight, along with 198 Sooty Shearwaters by 11.30, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, adult Sabine's Gull, 9 adult Pomarine Skuas, 25+ Arctic Skuas, 480 Common Terns, plus the usual backup. Also to make the seawatch memorable, 2 Risso's Dolphins lingered for nearly an hour and a Minke Whale surfaced 3-4 times. Not bad for a few hours before work!

 

[Mark Newsome]

... Silksworth Lakes....does anybody have any past records of whats been seen there over the years?...

Silksworth hasn't featured much in recent DBC annual reports/The Lek as few birders in the Sunderland area send any records in for there. It'd be great to get regular coverage and records submitted to the County database, so anyone else with an interest in that area could read about what's been seen. Plenty of potential there, I'm sure.

 

[Marcus Conway - ebirder]

What are the prospects for seawatching tomorrow? Will ther embe mch good stuff left or am I a day late?

 

[Mark Newsome]

What are the prospects for seawatching tomorrow? Will ther embe mch good stuff left or am I a day late?

This afternoon is reported to be rather quiet (just 6 Sootys in 2 hours, first party of Brent Geese for the autumn and a handful of Arctic and Great Skuas), but it may pick up this evening. However, the overnight forecast is for a very light westerly and a bright sunny morning - there may be some early movement but it's unlikely to be as good as this morning (and the light will be poor). The wind is moving more northerly, then NE through Wednesday daytime, so there may still be a few birds passing, but the high pressure system which has moved the shearwaters into the North Sea is getting a bit squished and will lose its effect. I think it could be a matter of putting the hours in and hoping for the odd decent bird. Good luck if you try!

 

[Marcus Conway - ebirder]

This afternoon is reported to be rather quiet (just 6 Sootys in 2 hours, first party of Brent Geese for the autumn and a handful of Arctic and Great Skuas), but it may pick up this evening. However, the overnight forecast is for a very light westerly and a bright sunny morning - there may be some early movement but it's unlikely to be as good as this morning (and the light will be poor). The wind is moving more northerly, then NE through Wednesday daytime, so there may still be a few birds passing, but the high pressure system which has moved the shearwaters into the North Sea is getting a bit squished and will lose its effect. I think it could be a matter of putting the hours in and hoping for the odd decent bird. Good luck if you try!

Thanks, will have to chance my arm and see what happens. There could be some passerines moving down the coast so you neven know :t:

 

[Ross Ahmed]

I missed the best of it but still a few birds moving past Whitburn Obs this pm incl Pomarine Skua, Storm Petrel, 25 Sooties and a juv Mediterranean Gull.

Hopefully a few things will be stirred up tomorrow again.

 

[IanF]

I spent a couple of hours with JBee this afternoon at Hetton Bogs. A little more successful with the Water Rail this time.

Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Willow Tit, Dunnock, Wren and a dozen plus Long Tailed Tit were on the feeders. Even a Pheasant hopped onto one of the tables.

On the way home I picked up Little Owl sat atop a lampost where the A813 joins the A19.

 

[DEREK.C.]

Castle Lake

Quick look in this morning, Egyptian Geese still there in amongst 400 Greylags,they have been joined by a single Barnacle Goose. Only 2 Ruff and 2 Greenshank seen today , and the juvenile Whinchat still near the sewage works.

 

[The Chairman]

Quick look in this morning, Egyptian Geese still there in amongst 400 Greylags,they have been joined by a single Barnacle Goose. Only 2 Ruff and 2 Greenshank seen today , and the juvenile Whinchat still near the sewage works.

Hi mate. Birdguides report of 2 Little Egrets there today Derek. They are very very white and have long legs! Don't walk like Egyptians. Ha ha!

Sorry mate but couldn't resist it!