Durham Birding (5 Viewers)

[harrier olley]

Castle lake over the last three days

Lapwing 1000+
Golden Plover 100
Redshank 38
Wigeon 500
Teal 300
Gadwall 30
Tufted Duck 50
Shoveler 12
Mallard 40
Coot 80
Canada Goose 60
Greylag Goose 100
Mute Swan 12
Grey heron 3
Little Grebe 4
Yellowhammer 40
Goldeneye 2

Large numbers of wildfowl on A1 Flashes

Teal 400+
Shelduck 10
Mallard 30
Wigeon 100
Shoveler 20
Lapwing 200
Snipe 10
Curlew 30
Black Headed Gull 300

Stoney Beck

Grey heron 1
Coot 24
Greylag Goose 130
Mallard 40
Snipe 1
Moorhen 2

 

[Mark Newsome]

Yellow-browed Warbler still in Jarrow Cem. this morning, but quite elusive and mobile. The first ever winter record in the county. Good numbers of common stuff there, with 2 Lsr Redpoll, 120+ Redwing, 2 Treecreeper, 50-60 Goldfinch and plenty of Long-tailed Tits.

Excellent numbers of Black Grouse in the south-west of the county yesterday with 50+ at one site. Birds are lekking already and were easy to find in the snowy conditions. Few thrushes in the uplands though, the only large flocks of Fieldfares were east of the A68.

 

[seggs]

jarrow this morn...
was,nt lucky enough to see the star bird.
but still enjoyed what the cem. had to offer,as mark has said.
the whole place was alive(excuse the pun) with bird song and courtship behaviour
also the amount of redwing...and being very vocal.
also had a pair of g.s.woodpeckers..
slake next..
only 2 redshanks and 4 curlew along the don..big difference from a few weeks ago.
also 10+ teal..
5 bullfinchs,20+siskins,10+l.t.tits and 1 redpoll along the road
10 shelduck on the tyne,15 herons across the other side and 30+ dunlin..
boldon flats...
wigeon no.s getting bigger as are the teal numbers..
the usual greylag flock and 4 canadas..the drake pintail was on show..
2 snipe and 30+ curlew.

 

[seggs]

the leas and trow.
this afternoon.
just approaching the rough area of leas when the 3 s.e.owls went up..
they flew around for a minute or so before dropping.
and i finaly got to see the 2 grey partridge on the ground.
both the little owls were out..(pic is of l.owl not the usually one seen..lighter coloured bird and different shaped eyes).
3 stonechats,4 skylarks,5 purple sand and 30+ dunlin..
great day..
5 owls in a half mile stretch of well walked area..can`t be bad.:t:

 

[rokermartin]

Sunderland,Harbour ad Iceland Gull,Whitburn ad Med Gull, Peregrine this pm

 

[IanF]

Another attempt for the SEO's down my way and another dip :-C

Seaton Common was pretty quiet due to two guys wandering around the Common. Loads of birds on the field at the end of Zinc Works Road though. Curlew 250+, Wigeon 200+, Greylag Goose c.20 and a couple thousand Starlings. Three Stonechats were along the fence line (2m & 1f) and two Kestrel on the transmitter.

Roadside Pond at Greatham Creek c.3.30pm held Red-breasted Merganser x3 and a single Little Egret.

 

[Binocularface]

Yellow-browed Warbler still in Jarrow Cem. this morning, but quite elusive and mobile. The first ever winter record in the county. Good numbers of common stuff there, with 2 Lsr Redpoll, 120+ Redwing, 2 Treecreeper, 50-60 Goldfinch and plenty of Long-tailed Tits.

I failed to find the Yellow-browed Warbler mid-afternoon today. Good numbers of commoner species. In addition to birds listed by you, I had 1 Meally Redpoll and 8 Siskin!

 

[StevieEvans]

Yellow-browed Warbler still in Jarrow Cem. this morning, but quite elusive and mobile. The first ever winter record in the county. Good numbers of common stuff there, with 2 Lsr Redpoll, 120+ Redwing, 2 Treecreeper, 50-60 Goldfinch and plenty of Long-tailed Tits.

Excellent numbers of Black Grouse in the south-west of the county yesterday with 50+ at one site. Birds are lekking already and were easy to find in the snowy conditions. Few thrushes in the uplands though, the only large flocks of Fieldfares were east of the A68.

Firecrest last week, YBWarb this...... wonder whats next....?
Great to read that the Black grouse are doing so well - wonder what else is happening out that way......?

 

[dampflippers]

Hi everyone,
I have put a request for info on toads in the north east on the amphibian and reptile message board.
Please take a look and help if you can. (replies on that thread or emailed to me rather than this thread)
Thanks
http://birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=105931

 

[jason-t-71]

So there I was with my new copy of Birdwatch magazine. Opened the first page and wouldnt you know it a familiar face was staring right back at me!!!

 

[The Chairman]

Nothing unusual about YB Warblers wintering in the UK,there are always a few that are found especially on the south coast and Cornwall and Devon.But it is rare to find one wintering in North of the UK.

[B]"Nothing unusual" rather suggests by definition that it is usual to find Yellow browed Warblers wintering in the UK. In actual fact there have been none that I have heard of reported in the UK this winter. Now that is not unusual for a species that winters fron central Nepal, Sikkim, and Bangladesh east to eastern China, Hainan, and Taiwan, and south to the Malay peninsula.

Unless of course the wintering grounds of the species have changed dramatically since BWP was produced!:eek!:

 

[rokermartin]

[B]"Nothing unusual" rather suggests by definition that it is usual to find Yellow browed Warblers wintering in the UK. In actual fact there have been none that I have heard of reported in the UK this winter. Now that is not unusual for a species that winters fron central Nepal, Sikkim, and Bangladesh east to eastern China, Hainan, and Taiwan, and south to the Malay peninsula.

Unless of course the wintering grounds of the species have changed dramatically since BWP was produced!:eek!:[/QUOTE Well the average number of YB Warblers found in the UK wintering is normally 3 or 4 usually on the south coast or Devon and Cornwall.There was YB Warbler on Orkney 7.1.08,so there has been 2 so far this month.Strange both have been found away from the south of the UK. Still time for more to be found wintering.

 

[Ross Ahmed]

1w Glaucous Gull past Whitburn Obs this am at 9am.

Good count of 16 Shelducks at Jarrow Slake.

 

[IanF]

We get Sparrowhawks in the garden most days but today is the first time we've seen one with anything other than a bird. Looks like it caught the Wood Mouse we sometimes see below the feeders.

A ride up to Hartlepool this afternoon wasn't very fruitful. No birds in the marina and even on the coast there wasn't that much to see. The strong winds seem to have driven the Scoter well offshore but brought the Eider closer with around 100 by the Heugh Pier. Along the pier were Turnstone c.30, Pied Wagtail x1 and Purple Sandpiper x3.

North Gare road and Zinc Works Road - Kestrel x2, Stonechat x3, Lapwing c.1000, Golden Plover c.1000, Curlew c.250, Heron x1, Mistle Thrush x2, Pheasant x6, Greylag Goose c.30, Pink-footed Goose x3.

 

[StevieEvans]

Houghton area Local Patch

RMs
10 Shortie
1 Stncht

Bogs
1 Jack
1 Kngfshr

 

[barnstormer]

where abouts in rm are the seo ? i was there on tuesday and hadn't a clue where to go.

 

[Mark Newsome]

Nothing unusual about YB Warblers wintering in the UK,there are always a few that are found especially on the south coast and Cornwall and Devon.But it is rare to find one wintering in North of the UK.

The Jarrow Yellow-browed is the first winter record (Dec-Feb) in NE England since at least year 2000, as well as being the first ever in Durham. Not sure about when the last winter bird was in the north-east. Almost unprecedented then, and at least Durham is beating both Shetland and Scilly for Sibes this year.

 

[rokermartin]

According to the id article in the December birdwatch 2007 on YB Warbler,Pallas'sWarbler by Keith Vinicombe he states that YB Warblers now winter regularly in the UK and Pallas's is showing signs of following suit.This trend is no doubt due to milder winters.But we have had YB Warblers wintering in the UK before we started getting milder winters for eg winter 1991 there were two found Efforth Marsh,Plymouth ,Devon 27 Nov 1990 to the 26th Jan 1991 and Stoneleigh 17th Jan,Surrey 17th Jan to 2nd March. I would'nt be surprised if a few more are found this winter.

 

[Wig131]

SEO's at RM

where abouts in rm are the seo ? i was there on tuesday and hadn't a clue where to go.

Hi I have seen SEO's twice now at RM's and both times it was near the bridge that passes under the old railway line. The first time we were given a map and directions from staff in the visitors centre. Hope this helps?
Steve Clarke

 

[barnstormer]

Cheers mate i'll have to do the same,not sure where the railway line is in relation to the rest of the reserve.