Durham Birding (3 Viewers)

[FoghornKinghorn]

I aint read any reports yet but are they pointing the finger at the pigeon fanciers in the area.

Yeah I am almost certain its the Pigeon Fanciers:C
Sick medieval attitude if you ask me.

 

[jason-t-71]

Had a terrific surprise when I took Maria to Hurwurth Burn this evening! While scanning the main pool for waders, I watched them all take off en masse. Looking up, expecting to see a Peregrine or Hobby etc, was delighted to see an OSPREY scanning the water below! It circled for a good ten minutes (while constantly being mobbed) then slowly flew off. Quite a nice little bonus bird!

 

[ted hilland]

Yeah I am almost certain its the Pigeon Fanciers:C
Sick medieval attitude if you ask me.

Well it is a crying shame , but you have to ask yourself will it ever get better when so much money is at stake. Now there is a sayin live and let live , we do our thing they the pigeon fanciers do theres , ofcourse i dont mean taking revenge on wild birds, but when people invest so much money on their hobby and see it flitter away into mid air you can see why they are so irate. Yes no one is allowed to take the law into their own hands and get away with it , but in reality can u see it ever changing . Looking at it from their point of view , which you have to if you want to at least make things better . Dont get me wrong now i am a wild bird lover but i can see the other side on this occassion and an answer doesent look to be easy. If these people who are guilty of this crime are brought to justice then so be it , but i dare bet no one is ever charged . An example of something similar, I am now retired from the fire service but am not old enough to sit on my arse so i now am a window cleaner , and recently i noticed that a Swallows nest had been removed from a window / guttering although it was not a complete nest and no eggs were involved it was never the less destroyed, the owner said she couldnt be dealing with bird sh1t on her windows all the time. Theres plenty of swallows around so was it such a hideous crime ?, well some people would say there are plenty of Perigrines around ( if u look at the bigger picture) and the general numbers of perigrines wont be in decline because of this event at Houghton , however there was young birds and adult birds killed in this instance so it cant really be likened to the swallow incident above , plus it was a rareish event for Durham and therefore tensions will rise and rightly so it is not a good situation. I bet there are no pigeon fanciers loosing sleep over this and that is the point , dont know if we can ever change things like this. Got to say though as a genuine birder it is a crying shame.

 

[Alan Tilmouth]

Well it is a crying shame , but you have to ask yourself will it ever get better when so much money is at stake.

Following this story it suddenly struck me that if I go out and buy something costing thousands of pounds I generally make sure it's covered by my existing insurance or I insure the item/object separately. Do those that keep Pigeons not bother with Insurance? Perhaps the answer lies here somewhere. If the relevant body in that hobby were to encourage or introduce insurance schemes there may be less incentive to target raptors?

 

[IanF]

Had a terrific surprise when I took Maria to Hurwurth Burn this evening! While scanning the main pool for waders, I watched them all take off en masse. Looking up, expecting to see a Peregrine or Hobby etc, was delighted to see an OSPREY scanning the water below! It circled for a good ten minutes (while constantly being mobbed) then slowly flew off. Quite a nice little bonus bird!

I was there as well this evening but missed the Osprey as I headed in the other direction. Lots of birds singing along the cycleway with Yellowhammer, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Robin, Wren, Chaffinch, Blackbird and Song Thrush. Lots of Wood Piegon, Crow, Swallow plus a few Swift. Over flights by Kestrel, Oystercatcher and Curlew.

Nice to see a few more Long-eared Owl around with one adult and two lots of at least two fledglings at different locations.

Not sure what the pair of wings were off. Looked strange with them laid like that and the body missing from what appeared to be a very recent kill.


Tees Barrage this morning - Yellow-legged Gull present briefly before heading off down river, Cormorant, Common Tern x4, Kestrel, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Whitethroat, Mallard.

 

[ted hilland]

Following this story it suddenly struck me that if I go out and buy something costing thousands of pounds I generally make sure it's covered by my existing insurance or I insure the item/object separately. Do those that keep Pigeons not bother with Insurance? Perhaps the answer lies here somewhere. If the relevant body in that hobby were to encourage or introduce insurance schemes there may be less incentive to target raptors?

I dont know for sure but i guess that pigeon people couldnt insure against this , probs classed as an act of god kinda thing , in any case its a perfectly natural event , the Perigrine doesent check for rings on the leg before it strikes , you win some you loose some its just a shame that revenge for a natural event is exacted in this way . Cant see it changing though , just like certain game keepers they have different motives to us birders, illegally so yes but we read about it every year and that wont change either... its all about £££££££££££££££££££££££££

 

[AndyMc]

A short time ago, during factory shutdown, a pair of Kestrels ousted the pidgeons to set up home in a quiet place, in a ready made nest, out of the weather - perfect8-P. Imagine their horror, whilst sitting on their eggs, when 100+ hairy arsed boilermakers turn up for work :eek!: making a right racket & stink.
Amazingly, they have managed to successfully fledge 5 young ones despite the noise & clatter of a steel fab shop with inevitable onlookers (parents appear to be very tolerant :smoke.
The oldest was the first out just over a week ago, together with the youngest, which was well before it's time being still downed up, probably knocked out by one of the others during exercise sessions. We were all pretty worried about this one getting ran over by a fork lift or artic', if not preyed upon by the local herring gull population which were constantly on the attack.
The parents have done a brilliant job feeding this mob & keeping them safe so close to an almost human population.

Today, the oldest is now out & about learning hunting skills, nos 2 3 & 4 are flying around the stockyard execising, whilst no.5 is hiding out on a forklift, more feathery these days & flying o.k. to a certain level - looking good o.
When all's clear there's a right mess to tidy up :-O.

Of course, I couldn't resist going in on my day off. Typically started to rain :-C, happilly, some of the familly also went indoors......
_________________________________
:t:Andy

 

[spuggy]

A quick trip to Weardale today and some great views of a female Ring Ouzel collecting food for its young.

 

[AndyMc]

A quick trip to Weardale today and some great views of a female Ring Ouzel collecting food for its young.

Your not wrong there, well done:t:
__________________
:t:Andy

 

[IanF]

Tilery Wood/A689 yesterday morning - a pretty dull morning but plenty of birds about with many singing/calling.

Lots of young birds in the trees between the car park and scout hut including c.12 Siskin along with very yellow (recently fledged) Great Tit, Blue Tit and Coal Tit. Also a young Spotted Flycatcher, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker adult with three young, juvenile Robin, Blackcap , Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. Two Crossbill in the trees above the pond by the scout hut. Oystercatcher and Curlew passing overhead.

 

[rokermartin]

Osprey showed well for 30mins at Hurworth Burn this afternoon.It attempted to catch a fish five times but failed to do so it give up in the end and few off north.Certainly my best views of a Osprey i have had in the county.Couple of local birders i was talking to said it has been in the area since Tuesday.Also they were saying that they were'nt happy about the news of the Osprey being put out by a DBC member.

 

[jason-t-71]

Nice couple of hours at Daisy Hill today. Must be doing something wrong cos in 3 hours didnt have a single squeek of a Green Woody! Highlight birdwise was a SEO out on the prowl, and a couple of Jays not giving a monkeys that I was within feet of them. Butterflies were everywhere, including Painted Lady, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Skipper etc. Also seen my first ever Brimstone Moth.

 

[FoghornKinghorn]

Way out West

On the way to Leighton Moss and on the way back from Leighton had some good birds in Durham. Red Grouse and Ring Ouzel where birds we had on the way back.

Just outside of County Durham I had a female Merlin dart infront on the car didn't get a very good view and it was foggy. However it immedietly made me think "MERLIN" due to habitat as it was out in open Moorland with very little if any trees near by. Plus I have never seen a Sparrowhawk on moorland before. Also when I think back it seemed quite small and I have seen plenty of sparrowhawks. For me the best bird of the day was that Merlin even though it was very breif.

 

[ian hamilton]

Timber Beach,0400-0505;
5 Grey Heron
pr Shelduck with 4 juvs
Lapwing
5 Curlew
9 Redshank
Black Headed Gull
Herring Gull
Common Tern
Woodpigeon
Wren
Robin
Blackbird
Song Thrush
m Blackcap
Whitethroat
Willow Warbler
Magpie
Jackdaw
Greenfinch
m Reed Bunting

 

[IanF]

Little Owl at Pudding Poke Farm sat out on dead tree at lunch time.

Juvenile Osprey at Hurworth Burn Reservoir at 3.10pm before moving to Crookfoot Reservoir where caught a decent sized fish.

At least a dozen Yellow Wagtail at Hurworth Burn and a dozen plus Great Crested Grebe. Also Lapwing c.50, Oystercatcher, Curlew c.20, Cormorant x9, Heron x8, Shelduck with chicks, Tufted Duck, Pochard, at least one pair of Common Tern on raft. Water levels very low with lots of mud showing. Linnet, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Chaffinch, Yellowhammer along the hedges.

 

[Ray.Scott]

A few from Hardwick Hall today:

Plenty of the regular coots, moorehen, mallards etc all with young at different stages, also pair of G.C. Grebe with 4 young, but keeping well out of camera range.
Others included chaffinch, goldfinch, chiffchaff, swallow, pied wagtail, housemartin and 1 swift,

Can anyone confirm If image 3 is a white wagtail, It looked pail compared to the bird in image 4.

Called at Hurworth Burn on the way back, managed a distant view and record shot of the Osprey as It was flying over towards crookfoot.

 

[Ray.Scott]

Record shot of the Osprey and a couple of others from Hurworth Burn.

 

[FoghornKinghorn]

Can anyone confirm If image 3 is a white wagtail, It looked pail compared to the bird in image 4.

It looks to me like a young Pied Wagtail but I could be wrong.

 

[IanF]

It looks to me like a young Pied Wagtail but I could be wrong.

I'm with you Andrew :t:

 

[Ray.Scott]

I'm with you Andrew :t:

Thanks Ian & Andrew :t:.
I was thinking the same way, just, the bird looked the size of an Adult.

One day I'll come accross one.