Durham Birding (4 Viewers)

[IanF]

I only got as far as Hartlepool today with a visit to see the Black-throated Diver reported this morning in Jacksons Landing. A shame it was such a grey day as at times it was giving views down to 3-4 yds. It could be watched swimming along the quay wall beneath the surface as it fed. Last year a pair remained here for a week or so, though I believe they were later found dead. Hopefully this one will remain a while as well. A Great Northern Diver was around yesterday in the fish quay nearby though not seen today.

 

[great bustard]

Rainton Meadows

Called in after a "flyer" from work.

4 Kestrels before id parked car flying arond RHS field on drive up.
3 Willow or Marsh Tits in trees adjacent DWT building
2 Long tailed Tits as above
100ish Goldfinch "flock" flying around before dropping into roost past far pond
2 jay same area
Snipe, Pochard, Mallard, Teal, Peewit, LBB Gull, on main pond.
Saw my first ever lesser spooted OWL MAN in the hide which i followed as i felt this creature may lead me to the Long Eared's. 1 Long Eared officially spotted for a 2 second glimpse!! Also on that journey clocked 3 short eareds, 20+ flying Curlew, Woodcock, Sparrahawk, kestral x 3, and a load of fieldfares.

The OWL MAN birder will remain anonymous but thanks for your time and ill take you up on your offer to DO Brasside sometime!!!

Cheerio
Met a lesser spotted owl man lurking

 

[echo24]

Which tripod??

Hi Folks,
I'm relatively new to bird photography. I own a canon eos 400d & 100 - 400mm lens and was wondering if anyone could recommend a decent tripod which is sturdy, lightweight & practicle in the field?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Dougie

 

[IanF]

Hi Folks,
I'm relatively new to bird photography. I own a canon eos 400d & 100 - 400mm lens and was wondering if anyone could recommend a decent tripod which is sturdy, lightweight & practicle in the field?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Dougie

The question is - do you really want/need a tripod?

The 100-400mm is an ideal walk about lens as it's compact and with IS you gain around 2 f-stops. It isn't advisable to use an IS lens on a tripod in any case unless you disable it as Canon say it may damage the mechanism. It may be worth considering use of a sturdy monopod instead which is all I use with mine if conditions are really dull. Other times I find a tree or fence or hide ledge to brace myself against if it's dull, but mostly hand held works just fine.

If you want to add a 1.4x teleconverter then using a tripod may be more suitable - with the IS disabled. Generally though 'lightweight' and 'sturdy' don't go hand in hand. The nearest you'll get is a carbon fibre tripod such as the Manfrotto 055 Carbon One - they're not cheap and you'll need a tripod head to go with it such as the 128RC or 701/702. You could use a ball head instead, personally I'm not struck on them but I use my tripod mostly for mounting a spotting scope so a pan-tilt is more practical.

 

[DEREK.C.]

Had a look to Croxdale Today, eventually found a Hawfinch, behind the Chapel , possibly 3 but 2 flew away virtually as soon as i saw them ,so only one for certain, managed a few crappy pics.

 

[harrier olley]

Had a look to Croxdale Today, eventually found a Hawfinch, behind the Chapel , possibly 3 but 2 flew away virtually as soon as i saw them ,so only one for certain, managed a few crappy pics.

They are hawfinch Derek excellent find. Derek could you send me a list of species you had today in the croxdale area as Salvin Estate is going into Higher Level Stewardship and to support habitat creation we can give them data to target this better for birds.

John.

 

[StevieEvans]

Way out West

from the spacious Derwent Res hide (deep breath...foreign soil :eek!: )

imm fem Peregrine sat close to Cormorants & GBBs before scattering them & putting on an excellent flying show - finally landing on a fence to preen.
Saw the same individual (innermost LHS primary feather missing) a mile or so to the SW later on.
Also Kestrels, Sparhawks & Buzzards. Not much on the water singles of Goldeneye & Goosander, 3 Pink feet over, 50 each of Mallard & Wigeon, 20 odd Teal.
GSW, Bullfinch, Coal Tit etc on the feeders. Siskins & Jays in the wood on way down.
Iceland Gull seen here recently. (GT)

Nice to see a Red Squirrel pass in front of us & into roadside Scots Pines close to road bridge.

Back in Co.Durham. Flock of 60+ Brambling a bit further up valley nr Baybridge & others at close range on the roadside at Hunstanworth (where DC recently had large flock, although we didnt check the village area itself)
A pair of Stonechat in a moorland gill nearby.

It was the birds of prey which took centre stage throughout the day...& it helps to have a regional expert showing you about !
Harrier Olley was picking out stuff with ease, with Buzzards just about every time he lifted his bins (certainly in excess of 30 seen today, with 8 together at Rookhope - several calling noisily & several interactions with Peregrine & Ravens.
Despite all the Buzzards, sadly no sign of the long-winged beast of Bollihope).......
The Ruffside "raptor watchpoint" was dead, then a pair of Ravens came by - amazingly tailed by a Carrion crow which had the cheek to (albeit briefly) have a go at its larger cousins. A distant hawk split through the pigeons & corvids....Several Kestrels were on the wing, with a fem Peregrine & Buzzard all in the same field of view. A female Sparrowhawk got up to look down on more noisy Buzzards.
Next stop was a seemingly empty moorside, but Raptor man pointed to a prominant ridge - straight off a pair of Buzzard jocking for airspace with another pair of Ravens.
Next a screech of brakes (well not quite) in western Weardale & an instant decamp to see a Hen Harrier slip like quicksilver over the horizon........ a several hundred yard run into the wind, but the bird melted into the undulating heathery mosiac..... very frustrating... but like the beast of Bollihope - its still out there somewhere......
Dropping down through to Teesdale we picked up numerous bits & bobs include a Common Buzzard hanging motionless in the wind - it dropped & lifted up with prey. Next a pair of Red Kites floating & twisted effortlessly in the strong breeze while around us Buzzards continued to mew. We'd just about switched off, when another quick application of the brakes just saw us catch the tail end of a female Goshawk & Buzzard slide away behind a curtain of conifers....

I dont know how i would have faired had i been by myself, but i know i'll have to refresh my memory with Johns Raptor watching guide from The LEK.
Theres certainly a lot more up in the hills than you'd imagine......

Cheers
SE / JO

 

[StevieEvans]

Hawfinch info

Had a look to Croxdale Today, eventually found a Hawfinch, behind the Chapel , possibly 3 but 2 flew away virtually as soon as i saw them ,so only one for certain, managed a few crappy pics.

Derek, nice. & thanks for 3 more mystery photos

heres the link back to DBC "Hawfinch" site guide with map :-
http://www.durhambirdclub.org/siteguide/croxdale/index.html

cheers

 

[JBee]

Steve can I just congratulate you on your reports - always an immense pleasure to read even for a non birder.

 

[rokermartin]

Rainton Meadows this pm 9+ SE Owls,three of them flying high up being mobbed by Crows,100+Siskin, 5 Lesser Redpoll, 50+FieldfareAlso saw 2 birders flushing the SEOs along the railway enbankment.Whitburn 1 ad Med Gull, 1 Little Auk and 2 Snow Bunting flew north.

 

[harrier olley]

The next adventure for myself and Steve hopefully next week will be the Weardale to Upper Teesdale sites normally just as rewarding, if any hearty person would like to join us please feel free to get in touch, should have two seats available if Stevie doesent bring too much grub. We hope to organise another local raptor field trip into the hills next spring.

 

[echo24]

The question is - do you really want/need a tripod?

The 100-400mm is an ideal walk about lens as it's compact and with IS you gain around 2 f-stops. It isn't advisable to use an IS lens on a tripod in any case unless you disable it as Canon say it may damage the mechanism. It may be worth considering use of a sturdy monopod instead which is all I use with mine if conditions are really dull. Other times I find a tree or fence or hide ledge to brace myself against if it's dull, but mostly hand held works just fine.

If you want to add a 1.4x teleconverter then using a tripod may be more suitable - with the IS disabled. Generally though 'lightweight' and 'sturdy' don't go hand in hand. The nearest you'll get is a carbon fibre tripod such as the Manfrotto 055 Carbon One - they're not cheap and you'll need a tripod head to go with it such as the 128RC or 701/702. You could use a ball head instead, personally I'm not struck on them but I use my tripod mostly for mounting a spotting scope so a pan-tilt is more practical.

Thanks for that Ian, I hadn't realised that a tripod & IS weren't compatible, but I do now ) think I'll switch my sights to a monopod instead...
Cheers!

 

[JBee]

Thanks for that Ian, I hadn't realised that a tripod & IS weren't compatible, but I do now ) think I'll switch my sights to a monopod instead...
Cheers!

Lets see these water rail shots you got then dougie

 

[DEREK.C.]

also saw 2 birders flushing the SEOs along the railway enbankment.

With idiots like these visiting, its only a matter of time before they are chased off somewhere else. You can get good views anyway, so why disturb them. :brains:

 

[IanF]

I spent the morning on my local patch wandering around Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park - report posted here

In the afternoon I had a ride up to Hartlepool where I found the Black-throated Diver from yesterday still in Jacksons Landing. Also present were RB Merganser x4 (2f2m) and a Cormorant.

ps - The RB Merganser in flight is just to show JBee it's not only him that S**s Law catches up with occasionally!

 

[echo24]

Hetton Bogs

Made my fist visit to Hetton Bogs this morning - what a great place - highly recommended.

Arrived about 9am and was there till 12.30, I spent the first hour or so with Colin ( great bloke ) - we got a Sparrowhawk & 3 Fieldfare over in the first five minutes, seen my first ever Water rail (superb) & got some good photos of it, also photographed - close up, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Willow Tit, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Robin,Reed Bunting, Moorhen, Coot & Pheasant.......also got Bullfinch, grey wagtail, great spotted woodpecker & Redwing in surrounding woodland......
Popped over to Rainton Meadows about 1ish, seen a Stoat as soon as I arrived there but I hadn't even got my camera out of the car and it disappeared back in the bushes - so no photos :-(
Got a couple of distant shots of SEO on fenceposts over by the railway tunnel & also bumped into Steve (Quacker) & his Dad who I haven't seen since WWT Avocet watch 18 months ago - great to catch up mate

All in all, it's been a grand day out - and congratulations to John & Colin for setting up the hide at Hetton - excellent work lads!
Cheers,
Dougie.

 

[echo24]

Lets see these water rail shots you got then dougie

How do I upload them, John - I struggle like hell with computers lol )

 

[StevieEvans]

Common sense

With idiots like these visiting, its only a matter of time before they are chased off somewhere else. You can get good views anyway, so why disturb them. :brains:

I think a few people who claim to be birdwatchers should familiarize themselves with this:-

http://www.durhambirdclub.org/code.htm


The Birdwatcher's Code

Following the birdwatcher's code is good practice, common sense and should enable us all to enjoy seeing birds.
Some three million adults go birdwatching every year in the UK*. The code puts the interests of birds first and respects other people, whether or not they are interested in birds. It applies not just when you are at a nature reserve, but whenever you are watching birds in the UK or abroad. It has been produced by the leading bird organisations, magazines and websites.
It will be most effective if we lead by example and sensitively challenge the minority of birdwatchers who behave inappropriately.

Four things to remember:
ü Avoid disturbing birds and their habitats - the birds' interests should always come first
ü Be an ambassador for birdwatching
ü Know the law and the rules for visiting the countryside, and follow them
ü Send your sightings to the County Bird Recorder and the Birdtrack website

 

[JBee]

How do I upload them, John - I struggle like hell with computers lol )

Underneath where you type your post you should see a Manage Attachments link - follow your nose from there.

 

[JBee]

I think a few people who claim to be birdwatchers should familiarize themselves with this:-

Having spent many hours now photographing the SEOs there really isnt any need for anyone to wander from the regular pathways.
Walking into the middle of fields and too close to the embankment just isnt necessary as great views can be had from any of the paths and lanes if you are patient.
On top of that Malcolm (local farmer) is getting a bit fed up of people wandering here there and everywhere as he has numerous feeders around for the pheasants which he has a commercial interest in. He has no problem with people sticking to the designated pathways.
As far as photography goes you really dont have to approach the owls - find a spot on one of the lanes and the birds will come to you.