Durham Birding (1 Viewer)

[One Man and His Dog]

west pastures

west pastures seo's still about!
3 seo
80 fieldfare
30 golden plover
4 reed bunting
2 stonechat
1 sparrowhawk
1 kestrel
skylark

 

[Mark Newsome]

Nothing Special
Hooded Crow is a Lifer for me..lol
Great Pics Ian....

The Hooded Crow here is a hybrid and has been around for probably 4 years. Genuine birds now seem to be extremely scarce in the county. In South Tyneside, there was just 1 record in each of 2004 and 2005, whereas 20 years ago, there were small parties wintering. Shame, as they're smart birds.

 

[StevieEvans]

The Hooded Crow here is a hybrid and has been around for probably 4 years. Genuine birds now seem to be extremely scarce in the county. In South Tyneside, there was just 1 record in each of 2004 and 2005, whereas 20 years ago, there were small parties wintering. Shame, as they're smart birds.

There are several hybrids in that general area. I saw a pure Hoodie nr Low Barns last summer.
The first time i saw the Witton-le-Wear Hooded Crow was at least 12 year ago, it was with its Carrion Crow mate & with its family of 4 (maybe5) hybrid young drinking at Marston Lake.
SE

 

[StevieEvans]

Willow Tit singing on Coalfield Way, nr Houghton today

A Barn Owl was found floundering on the trackway here last week & taken in with the view to rehabilitating & releasing it.

10 Pied Wagtails around Houghton, where none seen for months
SE

 

[StevieEvans]

Hi Stevie
Will try and get over with more feed soon,

Hi Dennis
Your Club Grant should be approved this evening at meeting.

nice to see that we are starting to attract Corning Bunting as well as Tree sparrows back into the area.

Yes, after a few in New Year they vanished, but feeding at the very end of winter is vital as fat stores are depleted & the pick of natural foodstuffs are gone.
Pity we havnt managed to lure in the numbers of Corn Bunts that were about last year.... still the project is already a success & theres time left yet.
(incidentally, the winter flock of CBunts here last March was the highest in the County all year)

I am starting to find that the wooded area between Times Inn and East Moor is begining to produce

Yes, an evening visit may pay dividends here.....

Keep up your good work.
SE

DBC Conservation grants scheme is available to all members, for any ammount up to £299 for your wild bird projects.
We are hoping to simplify the whole procedure, especially for smaller spends eg wood for boxes, saplings, shrubs for hedging etc.

 

[level seven]

hi level seven
clara vale reserve at the new hide for lesser spotted ! when heading into clara take first left along dirt track, park at pravilion and follow hedge line on right, theres a gap in hedge which leads to hide. Its not very big so just look at peanut feeders!, You need a key for hide which costs £3 from thornley woodland centre, the key gives you access to shibdon, far pasture, thornley wood and clara!
thanx

Thanks for that Steven. I've already got a key, so will add Clara Vale reserve to my regular visits to the other three locations.

 

[DaveB]

Barn Owl hunting on the outskirts of West Auckland for its second night.

I will check again tomorrow. Hopefully the light will be better and I will have more time to enjoy watching the bird (if its there). Hopefully get some pics.

250+ Woodpigeons still at Etherley Moor. Also the first Song Thrush of the year in our garden list. Looking forward to seeing if the Corn Buntings return this year.

 

[StevieEvans]

Barn Owl hunting on the outskirts of West Auckland for its second night. . . .

Thats good news
More BO boxes going up this coming weekend.

Looking forward to seeing if the Corn Buntings return this year.

Hope they do return .......
just been talking to the person who's compiled the Durham C.Bunt species account for 2005 ........ very depressing.
There doesnt appear to be any core populations except the Bishop Middleham area :-(

SE.

 

[DaveB]

Didn't manage to see if the Barn Owl was there tonight.

I did get 10 Waxwings at Bishop Auckland College (briefly). A work colleague told me that she had 22 earlier in the day.

 

[russkie]

sedgeletch today

teal 7
mallard 6
coot 4
moorhen 3
grey wagtail 3
kingfisher
kestrel -pair
reed bunting - 2 single male + 1 pair
grey heron
lapwing
long tailed tit 2
wren - singing

great close up views of stoat - came to investigate me and the dog


cheers
nigel

 

[Mark Newsome]

Just had a call from RokerMartin - 8 Common (Mealy) Redpolls showing very well by the car park at Rainton Meadows, along with big numbers of Siskin and a few Lesser Redpolls.
Also another Iceland Gull in South Tyneside this morning - an adult at Boldon Flats at 08.15. There's also been a 1st winter dropping in to bathe for last 3 days (but not today yet).

 

[rayl]

River Team, Beamish, Riding Lane

6xGreylag, 2xCanada, Cormorant, Kingfisher, Dipper, Goldcrest, GSW, Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer, flock of 500 Woodies.
Reed Bunting and Wren singing.
12 lapwing, and 2 Curlew displaying.
All residents in song.
First sighting of Cormorant on this pond.
Unproductive river watch due to loads of very vocal pairs of Mallard.

First time for ages on local patch without seeing a raptor.


Ray

 

[StevieEvans]

Leo

picture taken nr Durham by a DBC member.


Durham Bird Clubs Long-eared Owl Survey continues this year....

We are surveying untill August.

Details are on DBC website under Projects & Surveys

Survey info & bird calls resource are on Downloads section of the same site.

Last year 3 of our volunteers saw Long-eareds for the very first time, during the survey......

Non members are more than welcome to participate

NB. birds are now calling & displaying at dusk.

Steve E. Co-ordinator Owl Study Group.

 

[June Atkinson]

Up-date Red Kites and Kite Safaris (Science Festival)

Latest up-date Northern Kites 09.03.06

Thanks to Jules Burnett, Administrator, here is the latest news:
Bird News
On 6th March, one of the 2004 females, WT16 was on foraging by herself in a field below Fellside, Whickham, on the opposite side of the Derwent valley to Winlaton Mill. A couple of hundred metres away WT53 was flying around and later that afternoon, both birds were detected together a little way away! Once again this week, some birds could not be detected during routine tracking on 6th (including WT39, WT54 & WT59), but these birds were probably foraging outside the ‘core area’, as they have all been detected at some time during the last week.

On Monday, fourteen kites were foraging in the Barlow Burn. Over in the Derwent valley, kites were taking advantage of the fine weather to explore. Four were located at Lintz Hall Farm, nr. Hamsterley Mill, whilst WT3 and WT52 did a tour of the lower valley - setting off from Gibside in the morning and ‘picking up’ three other birds on the way. Further a-field, three birds were noted at Blanchland on 6th with others at Lanchester and, of course, Teesdale during the last week.

Since Christmas, Sherburn Towers has been the best place to watch kites coming in to roost but some birds have recently been detected going over to the Gibside Estate and elsewhere. A record number of 34 birds at roost at Sherburn Towers on the 19th January but this had dwindled to six by Friday 3rd March; although there were a few more kites there the following evening. Elsewhere in the country, WT2 (Scarlet) remains in Yorkshire and WT1 (Speedy) is apparently still in the Chilterns! Please keep a watchful eye for ‘pairs’ of kites that might be displaying on fine days at present and if you see anything that you think might be of interest, please contact the office with the details as soon as possible.

Where to See BirdsThe Barlow Burn continues to be a good place to see kites during the day, with birds still showing well behind the Black Horse pub at Barlow. Many birds have been seen over the Gibside Estate in the last week or so and also along Fellside Road, Whickham (up to 19 birds here!), with others still seen on a daily basis at Lockhaugh (try the Far Pasture hide). The main roost remains in Rowlands Gill, at Sherburn Towers Farm, from late afternoon (remain until dark for the full spectacle), though smaller numbers seem to be using this site at present.

All next week there are the Kite Safaris, starting from the Centre for Life. These are being offered as part of the Newcastle Science Festival. Twice-daily, groups are being taken to the most advantageous viewing places. There are places on Monday, Wed and Friday 10am and 2pm. To book people can contact the Life centre on 0191 2438292.

 

[Boldon Buzzard]

Boldon Flats, like the rest of the region, is in the grip of winter and the wildfowl and waders remain accordingly. However they are in for a shock later this week when the plug is pulled by South Tyneside Council and the water may drain off within 24 hours. Last winter assurances were given by a council officer the flood would remain until the end of March after the licence with the Church Commissioners was changed. This has now been found to be untrue, infact a lie. The original agreement from c20 years ago was to keep the flood until the months end but was changed on the whim of another council officer! Birders please be aware.

 

[IanF]

17:00 hrs last night bang on the dot a single Little Egret at Rossmere Park, Hartlepool coming into roost.

16:00 hrs today Sheraton Street, Oxbridge, Stockton-on-Tees 22x Waxwing. They'd been coming and going all day but looked like they'd settle dto roost for the night next to the berry bush they'd been feeding on.

 

[Mark Newsome]

For rarity enthusiasts, an excellent article has just been added to the DBC website about future predictations to the Durham county list.
See http://www.durhambirdclub.org/notes.htm

 

[StevieEvans]

Boldon Flats, like the rest of the region, is in the grip of winter and the wildfowl and waders remain accordingly. However they are in for a shock later this week when the plug is pulled by South Tyneside Council and the water may drain off within 24 hours. Last winter assurances were given by a council officer the flood would remain until the end of March after the licence with the Church Commissioners was changed. This has now been found to be untrue, infact a lie. The original agreement from c20 years ago was to keep the flood until the months end but was changed on the whim of another council officer! Birders please be aware.

Hi
Frustrating that the potential of the site isn't being optimised...
SE

 

[StevieEvans]

Dbc

Indoor meeting

Date: This Thursday March 16, 2006

Time: 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Location: Sunderland Uni, St Peters Reg Vardy Centre Room 404

Mike Carrier will be giving a talk on the birds of the Solway.
(Mike will be ringing birds at Souter / Whitburn this Spring)

Afterwards there will be a get together at a local pub to meet folk & catch up with whats going on.

(University site map on DBC website - free safe parking)

ALL WELCOME TO ATTEND - FREE ENTRY

SE

 

[Bonsaibirder]

Article

Hi Mark,

Enjoyed reading the new 'predictions' article - nice one Ross :clap:
Some good target birds! I was interested that there are more Black eared Wheatear records than Isabellines in the UK - I wonder if that is true in the last 20 years. Isabelline seems to be more regular than before and BEW doesn't seem to turn up much at all any more. Just the impression of someone who doesn't really keep up to date with the twitching scene at the moment!

Saddinall

For rarity enthusiasts, an excellent article has just been added to the DBC website about future predictations to the Durham county list.
See http://www.durhambirdclub.org/notes.htm