Durham Birding (1 Viewer)

[Mark Newsome]

Hi
Can anyone tell me where I could see a rough-legged buzzard? I notice from my bird book that they are on the east coast of Britain, including the NE. I live near Durham.

Rough-legs are very scarce in Durham and certainly not seen every year. Like Skywatcher said, the North York moors is a tradional area (particularly Bransdale), as is Gouthwaite res. in N Yorks. There's the occasional bird over moorland between Teesdale and Weardale, but you've got to put a lot of time in and be lucky! There's no real favoured bit of moor, it's just a matter of driving the small roads and keeping checking.
We're due another decent autumn influx, it's been a good few years since the last. If it happens, birds can turn up anywhere on the coast-just keep an eye on the bird news in late October/early November.

 

[thembwoman]

Hi
Thanks to all for the rough-legged buzzard info. I'll keep an eye out this winter.

 

[StevieEvans]

Red Kite over freshly cut hay at Cornsay Colliery.

Pincic site nr Wolsingham chip shop -
juvvy Dipper, Grey Wag & 2 juvs, 1 Spotty Fly, family of 6+ Bullfinch, Jackdaws with juvs, adults going inside litterbins to feed.

Tunstall / Backstone Bank -
Oystercatcher on nest, Mallard & Moorhen both with young on water wks pits. Heron, pr Common Sand +1 small chick.
pr GSW with 3 fledged, 3 other GSW, 2 Green Wpkr flushed together but didnt age them, 4 Treecreeper, 6 Nuthatch including a fledged juv
2 Spotty Fly, 1 Wood Warbler carrying food, single female Pied Fly, 3 male Redstarts still singing,
Wood quiet as expected apart from numerous contact calls from all the juvvy Blue, Great & Coal tits & the following singing x1 Goldcrest, x1 Garden Warbler, x2 Blackcap, x1 Chiffchaff & several Willow Warbs.

juvvy Song Thrush in garden today & a Wood Pigeon started singing in neighbours Cherry tree (first time this year)

single Corn Bunting singing nr High Haswell this evening

Steve

 

[IanF]

I had intended checking out Crimdon Dene this afternoon but when I got there, it was packed out with people. I pitied the Tern colony with so many people wandering by and playing on the beach.

Instead I headed down the coast back to Seaton Snook to see if I could get a photo of the Whinchat. No sign today. Still plenty of Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting and Sky Lark behind the dunes along with a few Linnet.

The tide was well out - the lowest I've seen it for a good few years so I had a wander down to the water's edge. The only birds on the shoreline today were A few Oystercatcher. 40 yds offshore were Eider x22 with Tufted Duck x3 and a few Gulls. Flying over the water were Cormorant, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern (1st of the year for me), Several Little Tern, Kittiwake, LBB Gull, Curlew x2, Lapwing x7.

On the Greatham Creek side of Seaton Snook the Terns were all diving into the water a yard or so off the sand, occasionally catching a sandeel. There must have been good numbers of fish around as three Cormorants were feeding in the same place.

Whilst Terns were regularly passing over they were in great numbers, few carried food as they headed back up the Creek. Cormorant seem to have had a good year as there were plenty of them lined up on the opposite bank.

Looking up the Creek to the old slipway there were plenty of Oystercatcher and Dunlin on the mudflats. Today though I cut across the sands back to the sand extraction site. En-route I came across a few Little Tern preening on the sand and Ringed Plover x23 all in a group, many of them juveniles.

BTW the Little Tern photos show leg rings. I queried them with the BTO after I saw them on my last visit to Crimdon Dene. The blue ring shows it was ringed locally but as to when is contained on the grey metal ring on the other leg - impossible to read unless you trap the bird/find it dead.

 

[StevieEvans]

.............Crimdon Dene this afternoon but when I got there, it was packed out with people. I pitied the Tern colony with so many people wandering past and playing on the beach.......

Any sign of how they are doing Ian? last weekend someone told me there were 43 pairs but mid week someone else says they arent doing much & a rogue Crow is causing havoc too....
SE

 

[IanF]

I didn't get down to the beach today at Crimdon as it was manic. I just viewed from the cliff top but couldn't see any Terns.

43 pairs sounds hard to believe as it's only a couple of weeks since my last visit when there were 15 birds in total and no sign of any nesting at all. A crow was over the site that day as well but not one Little Tern challenged it which indicates no nesting at all.

If that's right then it's a very late breeding season this year. Finger's crossed though. The Teesside site held precisiely four Little Tern - again no sign of actual nesting.

Really an early morning visit is needed to see how many birds are about before they get disturbed by passersby. I think the Terns in general - whatever the species are having a poor year. Even Common Tern numbers are way down on last year - which wasn't brilliant.

 

[Daz]

undefined

Any sign of how they are doing Ian? last weekend someone told me there were 43 pairs but mid week someone else says they arent doing much & a rogue Crow is causing havoc too....
SE

I was talking to one of the wardens in the last few days. Apparantly there are only about 7 pairs. I was down last weekend and was watching a few Little Terns diving into the sea, they were few and far between. Even if there were more, I still think they would struggle as Crimdon is more popular than what it was a couple of years ago = more ignorance.

 

[IanF]

I was talking to one of the wardens in the last few days. Apparantly there are only about 7 pairs. I was down last weekend and was watching a few Little Terns diving into the sea, they were few and far between.

That sounds more like it. The day I last visited I spoke with the warden and the 15 I'd seen were a surprise to him as fewer had been reported prior to that. I saw 12 lift off the colony and another 3 were on the beach, one carrying a sand eel. When the other 12 flew over they all headed out to sea and I watched them fishing but few seemed to catch anything.

A very bad year like this likely means several bad years to follow.

 

[StevieEvans]

.........Really an early morning visit is needed to see how many birds are about before they get disturbed by passersby......

Sounds like the fenced off area isnt wide or large enough to prevent disturbance ?

I was talking to one of the wardens in the last few days. Apparantly there are only about 7 pairs............... I still think they would struggle as Crimdon is more popular than what it was a couple of years ago = more ignorance.

These birds are Schedule 1 species & their colony is part of an SSSI, this apparent increase in disturance should be being taken into account to make sure everyone using the denemouth can do so without a detrimental impact on its wildlife.

Sounds like all the partner organisations involved could do with having a serious re-think about this colony.... before its too late.

I will be asking our Conservation team to look into this.
Steve

 

[IanF]

Sounds like the fenced off area isnt wide or large enough to prevent disturbance ?

These birds are Schedule 1 species & their colony is part of an SSSI, this apparent increase in disturance should be being taken into account to make sure everyone using the denemouth can do so without a detrimental impact on its wildlife.

Sounds like all the partner organisations involved could do with having a serious re-think about this colony.... before its too late.

I will be asking our Conservation team to look into this.
Steve

I visited again this morning. I saw a maximum of 17 birds in the air with another five sitting in scrapes - viewed from the bench in the sand dunes.

I did notice that most of the outer perimeter boards are missing with just a few left along the beach side.

It's hard to see what else could be done - short of an outer barbed wire fence. It was high tide when I visited today, there's plenty of room for people to walk passed even at high tide. The Terns still land by the water's edge. I saw no one go near the shore side fence, but on the dune side most people walk right beside the fence - not such a problem as the birds aren't near that side.

All in all I think it's likely just been a poor year with not many making it back to the site and even they were pretty late arriving.


Other birds on the beach were Ringed Plover. A Red-throated Diver flew in from the south and began feeding c.150 yds off the beach which was a nice find.

In the dunes were Linnet, Reed Bunting, Whitethroat, Stonechat and Yellowhammer - all with young. Quite a few House Martin around as well. A Kestrel flew through the dunes.

The Peregrines seem to have had two chicks this year - both looking fit and healthy. I thought there was just one at the time but on revewing the photos there's two chicks. The second one is bottom left of the one on the ledge partially obscured by some vegetation.

 

[rokermartin]

Just read the DBC birdwatchers code of conduct on the website.You would think that ALL birders would know how to behave then birdwatching.It is just common sence taking care NOT to disturb birds when out birding.Especially when watching rare breedng birds like Black Grouse and even migrant birds on the coast.I hope some of our local birders take note and think what they are doing when out birding.Birds have enough problems as it is these days from egg collecters etc.Just read on the Northumberland bird forum that the ROSEATE TERNS on COQUET have been robbed by eggers.How on earth that has happened i dont know i thought Coquet had Wardens on protecting the birds.I hope these eggers are found and are fined and put in jail.Roseate Tens have been doing really well the last few years.This is a big blow for the Roseate Terns.

 

[Mark Newsome]

Female Marsh Harrier at Boldon Flats this afternoon. It had also been seen on Tuesday afternoon, so could be roosting somewhere in the area. Also good numbers of Swifts there, giving very close views battling into the wind.

 

[Mark Newsome]

Just read the DBC birdwatchers code of conduct on the website.You would think that ALL birders would know how to behave then birdwatching.It is just common sence...

It is common sense to most decent law abiding birders. The ones who make a mockery of it have no common sense. It's up to the birders who do care about the welfare of our birds to challenge anyone they see doing anything wrong.

Just read on the Northumberland bird forum that the ROSEATE TERNS on COQUET have been robbed by eggers...This is a big blow for the Roseate Terns.

'Luckily' it seems that just one clutch of eggs was taken, so no massive impact. See the BBC press release at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/5099258.stm. One clutch is still bad enough, but hopefully as it's early enough in the season, the affected pair of terns could lay again. Maybe it will act as a security alert for those in charge and things can be tightened up to stop it happening again.
There's further discussion of this subject on a separate thread at http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=61488

 

[StevieEvans]

Just read the DBC birdwatchers code of conduct on the website.You would think that ALL birders would know how to behave then birdwatching.It is just common sence taking care NOT to disturb birds when out birding.Especially when watching rare breedng birds like Black Grouse and even migrant birds on the coast.I hope some of our local birders take note and think what they are doing when out birding.Birds have enough problems as it is these days from egg collecters etc.Just read on the Northumberland bird forum that the ROSEATE TERNS on COQUET have been robbed by eggers.How on earth that has happened i dont know i thought Coquet had Wardens on protecting the birds.I hope these eggers are found and are fined and put in jail.Roseate Tens have been doing really well the last few years.This is a big blow for the Roseate Terns.

Yeah, yeah Martin....
That code has been on there for months.
A Specific Code advising DBC members will be on there soon.

PS. Dont forget how many YELLOW CARDS you've already had ....!!! :'D
Steve.

 

[StevieEvans]

Wots garn on... ?

Only FOUR posts in a whole week !

Maybe everyones on holiday, watching the world cup, stuffing themselves at the barbeque or sitting in the beer garden waiting for all those horrible green leaves to disappear........?

Quail & Corn Bunting singing nr Sherburn Village with 2 Tree Spar juvs there too.
4 Bullfinch & 2 GSW in lightly wooded suburban gardens at Schincliffe this week
Little Owl on our neighbours roof again last night & a fine male Sparhawk perched & waiting on our garden fence this morning.
House Martin pair repeatedly mobbing a Collared Dove pair everytime they came close to the Martins eave, a young birds head was visible at nest entrance.
Steve

 

[DaveB]

Etherley Moor

A single Corn Bunting visited the garden feeders early morning. Other visitors today included Yellowhammer (1) and Tree Sparrow (family party of 6).

Other birds that have continued to visit the garden during the past week include Sparrowhawk (1), Blackbird (family of five), Blue Tit (adults and juveniles), Great Tit (adults and juveniles), Greenfinch (adults and juveniles), Chaffinch (1), House Sparrow (adults and juveniles), Woodpigeon (adults and juveniles), Collared Dove (adults and juveniles), Starling and Carrion Crow (2) stealing fat balls.

 

[rayl]

3 hours entertainment today watching Avocets threatening Terns, Terns mobbing Herons, Herons chasing Shelduck, Shelduck picking on Lapwing. And kids and adults Ooooohing at the sight of Tern chicks.

Ray

 

[StevieEvans]

Cockfield Fell & surrounding areas last night

Loads of Grey Partridge & Curlew
Single hunting Barn & Long-eared Owls
Pr Little Owls with juvenile & 2pr Tawny with 2young.
2-3 drumming Snipe
cock Redstart still active after 22:00

Got caught out by a group of 5 BHeaded Gulls at 23:00 (!) - appeared to be hawking insects low over hay field......... initially thought it was a BO family.......!

Pr of Common Tern recently reported over R.Wear in Durham City centre & a Siskin on a garden feeder close by (a few lowland singles about at this time last year too)

SE

 

[Mark Newsome]

Despite a flat sea at Whitburn this morning, quite a bit moving. Up to 09.00, 198 Manx Shearwaters, 724 Common Scoter, 1 Red-throated Diver plus the first juvenile Black-headed Gull of the summer. Also 3 Bottlenose Dolphins headed north about 1.25 miles offshore.
Large numbers of Swifts were also in the Whitburn area, including c500 together over the Coastal Park.

At SAFC Academy Pools, a male Blue-headed Wagtail was feeding around the edge of the reservoir pool, and then gathering beakfuls of food and flying a field or two east. It's obviously feeding young, but there was no sign of any female wagtail, so I don't know whether it's a pure pair or not.

Wood Sandpiper reported from Washington WWT this morning.

 

[Robzando]

I spent a few days in the Durham area last week and was quite taken with the variety of birds at Low Barns