Durham Birding (37 Viewers)

[Stewart J.]

Nice to see you back JBee

ATB

Stewart

 

[JBee]

JBee, glad to hear you are on the mend. It will be a good time to go through your zillions of photos and find the hidden gems!
All the best, hope to see you soon.:t:

Do you do house calls?

Thanks all for the concern shown - 3 month recovery ahead of me but I doubt I'll be waiting that long to get out once the first critical month is over.
If scuzz was any sort of mate he would adapt his car so that I could prop my legs up on the dashboard and install some kind of roll bar cage I could hang my camera from :-O

 

[Ray.Scott]

Do you do house calls?

Thanks all for the concern shown - 3 month recovery ahead of me but I doubt I'll be waiting that long to get out once the first critical month is over.
If scuzz was any sort of mate he would adapt his car so that I could prop my legs up on the dashboard and install some kind of roll bar cage I could hang my camera from :-O

I think your missus will have to design a cage to keep you indoors:-O.

If you hadn't been so impatient, I was sorting you out with some transport.
You'll just have to make do with the unfinished vehicle :-O:-O.

Well!, I was going to fit an all weather canopy, antiroll cage & MP3 player :-O.

 

[degsy_safc]

I think your missus will have to design a cage to keep you indoors:-O.

If you hadn't been so impatient, I was sorting you out with some transport.
You'll just have to make do with the unfinished vehicle :-O:-O.

Well!, I was going to fit an all weather canopy, antiroll cage & MP3 player :-O.

Cracking idea Scuzz - :-O:-O:-O

 

[StevieEvans]

but I doubt I'll be waiting that long to get out once the first critical month is over....

Bit of light reading i can heartily recommend for you John :- 'The Breeding Birds of Cleveland' is available now from TBC.
A very well put together book, full of info - although easy to read & digest, good photos & maps. - a testament to many hours of fieldwork by their local bird watchers.

Seemingly very few birds seen today....
Female Merlin again in the Houghton area & a flock of @350 Linnet in the Stanley area.

Steve

 

[JBee]

Well!, I was going to fit an all weather canopy, antiroll cage & MP3 player :-O.

Looks ideal scuzz - does it run on L.P.P? (Liquid Peas Pudding)

 

[craigthirlwell]

Thanks for the kind words - got home today though getting home is just the start of a 3 month battle to full recovery.
1 month basically with legs up and constantly bandaged with more high powered antibiotics four times a day. Then two months of bandages and support stockings.
My temperature when I got into hospital was 40.1 so I was quite delirious - apparently the infection was so bad it could very easily have killed me.
A word of warning - the infection could have been caused (though not proven) by either an insect bite or by kneeling in something unpleasant when taking photos.
All in all I've been pretty lucky.

2 months in stockings!!! It's not all bad then :-O
All the best John.

 

[IanF]

Bird-spotters to count starlings

Nature lovers are being asked to help count the number of starlings roosting in the North East this winter.
Since the 1970s numbers have fallen by 66% and conservation projects are needed to tackle the problem.
Durham Wildlife Trust is asking people to take part in Starling Watch and let them know via the website or a postcard when they spot 10 or more birds.
The Durham Biodiversity Partnership is also organising the watch and is interested in where the birds roost.
A spokesman for Durham Wildlife Trust said: "These roosts can be in a variety of places including buildings, trees or reed beds, and will also occur within urban areas including villages, towns and cities. "At the end of the day, as the starlings return to their roost, they can often be seen darkening the skies as they flock before settling down for the night, this is one of nature's greatest spectacles."
Durham Wildlife Trust

Durham Biodiversity Project

A heads up fom the BF BBC NewsCaster threads - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7782346.stm


We got several hundreds roosting each night on the lamp posts at the north end of Marsh House Avenue. On top of that several thousands around on Cowpen Marsh and Greenabella Marsh and alongside Seal Sands Road.

Asking for ten or more they'll be inundated. We get around 30 each day just in the garden

 

[Shaggy2070]

Asking for ten or more they'll be inundated. We get around 30 each day just in the garden

If they want 10 or more,we get between 20 and 50 everyday in our garden too, do they want me to report them everytime:-O.

 

[JBee]

If they want 10 or more,we get between 20 and 50 everyday in our garden too, do they want me to report them everytime:-O.

Ditto that with upwards of 100 on a Sunday when Jane feeds them their weekly yorkshire puddings. :eat:

 

[DenBee]

Dalton Moor

Decided to pop over for an hour or two as it is a while since last visit, it seems as though some of the precautions the landowner installed to prevent Quad access has finally been breached.
As for bird activity not really much from the norm, although did note a large group of mixed Bullfinch male/female x 7 feeding on the few remaining Hawthorn berries, also present Tree Sparrow x 4, Common Gull x 4, Grey Partridge x 5, also Kestrel x 4 hunting the entire Moor. Noticeable reduction in Reed Bunting numbers.
Decided to also do an Owl Prowl at 16;30hrs while in the area, not much owl activity around Stotfold Farm area, however on the return route past Dalton Moor Farm definite Ke-wick calls of Tawny Owl from the edge of wooded area of Dalton Farm, also Little Owl heard then flitting view as it flew from the old garage area to trees in the corner of Stackyard field

 

[DenBee]

Best Wishes JBee

Glad to have you back on forum, hope you have a quick recovery and soon back on your travels, especially if you take that gift of the adapted scooter, although I think it might be a tight sqeeze for some of the hides.
Take care and have a good "YULE TIDE" thats posh for Xmas 8-P

 

[Ray.Scott]

Clara Vale today:

Nice meeting Joanne again :t:.

Blue, great, coal & willow tit, at least 2 GS woodpecker, heron, coot, moorehen, pheasant, greenfinch, bulfinch, chaffinch, nuthatch, siskin, magpie, blackbird and sphawk.

 

[deansmith]

A heads up fom the BF BBC NewsCaster threads - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7782346.stm


We got several hundreds roosting each night on the lamp posts at the north end of Marsh House Avenue. On top of that several thousands around on Cowpen Marsh and Greenabella Marsh and alongside Seal Sands Road.

Asking for ten or more they'll be inundated. We get around 30 each day just in the garden

at least 50 top of king oswy drive / ocean road in hartlepool wehn i go catch the bus to work in the morning and see them again if im lucky enough to get home from work before its dark

DS

 

[IanF]

Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park - 1:00pm - a short visit to the feeding station. Treecreeper and LTT flock plus the usual birds. Nice to see around 20 Tree Sparrow present, numbers seem to be increasing. Finch flock c.250 still present.

A little quiet starting off at Greenabella Marsh at 2:00pm but things soon picked up. Bright and sunny with a bit of frost still on the ground.

Singles of RB Merganser and Little Egret on the first pool down from the road bridge. Twite x44 were on the first patch of glasswort with Redshank x2 and Teal x5 on the pool itself.

Next pool down Grey Plover x1, Teal c.10 with Wigeon c.12 and several Redshank.

By the end of the next bridge a Short-eared Owl was already out hunting and was quickly joined by another. They ended scrapping continuously as they flew along side the embankment away from me. During a brief break one dived on a Kestrel sat on a post chasing it off before catching the other SEO. Menwhile they flew past another SEO sat on a post near the hide. Then the Twite arrived in front of the hide with a Merlin following behind - until it saw me and veered away.

As I began walking back towards the Creek a Kingfisher flew north to south towrds the Creek passing in front of the hide carrying a fish but was lost from view against the strong sunlight.

By then quite a few Teal, Shoveler, Shelduck, Wigeon, Curlew and Redshank were up in the air as were the waders above the road bridge though I couldn't see the cause.

Walking back alongside the Creek the only new bird was a Sparrowhawk flying north-south over the marsh and Creek. One of the SEO's was sat on a pile of rocks beside the embankment.

Photos : 1. Goldfinch - 2. Tree Sparrow - 3. & 4. Short-eared Owl - 5. Sparrowhawk

 

[StevieEvans]

A heads up fom the BF BBC NewsCaster threads - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7782346.stm


We got several hundreds roosting each night on the lamp posts at the north end of Marsh House Avenue. On top of that several thousands around on Cowpen Marsh and Greenabella Marsh and alongside Seal Sands Road.

Asking for ten or more they'll be inundated. We get around 30 each day just in the garden

Ian et al
Im slightly puzzled.
The survey form is titled:-

Starling Winter Roost Sites Survey Form

But on reading the info, its worded to suggest they are looking for all groups of 10+, whether roosting or otherwise ????:-

This winter we need your help to identify winter starling sites. Starling numbers have fallen by 66% in Britain since the mid-1970s, and starlings are now on the red list as a bird of high conservation concern. Reasons for this decline include changes in farming practices, changes in grassland management, loss of invertebrate food through the use of pesticides, and fewer nesting sites in urban areas owing to household improvements.

In order to help these birds, we need to find out more information on the numbers and locations of groups of starlings in Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

In the wintertime, both resident and immigrant starlings come together to form large roosts, often numbering thousands of birds. These roosts can be in a variety of places including buildings, trees or reed beds, and will also occur within urban areas including villages, towns and cities. At the end of the day, as the starlings return to their roost, they can often be seen darkening the skies as they flock before settling down for the night, this is one of nature's greatest spectacles.

We would like to gather information where groups of ten or more starlings are roosting and flocking. Please keep a look out in the winter sky for large groups of starlings. The information you send will allow us to start to develop a plan to help conserve the starling across Durham.

Please use the survey form to tell us if you have seen a group of ten or more starlings.

Yestday late aftnoon there was a group 56 or so Starling circling a large Leyland Cypress which we had cut in half. The branches were thick with bird muck, but after circling for 4-5 mins they headed off to roost elsewhere.....

---------------------------------
Ho'ton patch
8Tree Sparrows & a roadside fem Kestrel taking earthworms
SE

 

[Ray.Scott]

A few from Clara Vale today:

Much the same birds as the other day + small flock LT Tits, sphawk through twice and Heron came out of the reeds with a frog dinner before flying off.

 

[IanF]

Greenabella Marsh - pm - sunny but cold and windy. No sign of any Twite or any Owls early afternoon.

Loads of Teal and Redshank with several Wigeon, Heron, Little Egret and RB Merganser on pools alongside the Creek. A Kingfisher was seen several times on the same pools ending up on the very last one where it caught several fish before disappearing inside/through the culvet pipe!

Treecreeper still showing well in feeding station at Cowpen Bewley and finch flock c.250 still present along cycleway. Redpoll x9 yesterday but no sign today.

 

[will@bill]

Greenabella Marsh - pm - sunny but cold and windy. No sign of any Twite or any Owls early afternoon.

Loads of Teal and Redshank with several Wigeon, Heron, Little Egret and RB Merganser on pools alongside the Creek. A Kingfisher was seen several times on the same pools ending up on the very last one where it caught several fish before disappearing inside/through the culvet pipe!

Treecreeper still showing well in feeding station at Cowpen Bewley and finch flock c.250 still present along cycleway. Redpoll x9 yesterday but no sign today.

Ian how long is that culvet pipe? we were wondering how far these kingfishers go through tunnels/pipes
cheers

 

[IanF]

Ian how long is that culvet pipe? we were wondering how far these kingfishers go through tunnels/pipes
cheers

This one's only about 10-12m long under a track but not very wide. It seemed odd it should choose the culvet when it could have flown over the top instead. Yesterday it did the same thing at the next track along that's around 20m long.