Durham Birding (2 Viewers)

[DEREK.C.]

3 Grasshopper Warblers reeling at Elemore this afternoon . You can get within feet of them at times and still not see them. Linnets have decided (at last) to return to the gorse.

 

[matthall]

Any ideas , Mr Evans ?

Name: W Robinson.
Date: 24/4/2008 10:28 PM
Marsh Harrier female at Cowpen Bewley CPK flying south.Seaton Common Cuckoo

From the TBC page.

 

[The Chairman]

TALK THEN WALK
Just a reminder to DBC members looking in that the last "indoor meeting" of the season takes place tomorrow morning at Bishop Middleham.

DBC Conservation Officer will give a short talk on the extensive conservation work carried out in that area and birds that might be seen followed up by a walk around the area to see if the practice fits the theory! There are bacon butties and tea available and full details as ever on the Durham Bird Club website.(field trips page).

 

[John Olley]

My apologies to anybody visiting tomorrow for the talk and walk at Farnless farm Stewart and Daphnie the farmers contacted me this evening to say that have had very little time due to calf activities that they will not be able to provide refreshments. So please bring your own if required.

John.

 

[Ray.Scott]

Called at Trow Quary, no sign of the little owl on the way through, plenty skylark, mipits, crows, jackdaws & kestrel hunting in the distance. Also a stoat or weasel ran accross the top of the quary and a young rabbit which seemed to be lost on a ledge high up was being attacked by a magpie and jackdaw, but managed to evade them.
Not much on the Leas appart from skylarks etc, no sign of SEOs.
Walked back through the quary and noticed that the Little Owl was pearched In It's usual place, managed a few shots before It flew off along the quary side and into a hole :t:.

 

[Ray.Scott]

From Trow quary, stopped at Souter to watch the gulls and cormorants nesting, plenty activity with the cormorants displaying, nest building, mating, and fighting etc, amazing what some of the nests are made from i.e. bits of plastic etc.
Also huge numbers of noisy gulls, three of which were battleing for a good 1/4 hour and kept falling from the ledge.
The only other birds which were out of the ordinary were 3 little auk which apeared from knowhere in the sea to the left of the rock. I took acouple of distant reference shots just to try and identify them as we didn't know what they were till I got home and checked the book.

 

[Ray.Scott]

A few more from Souter, shows the 3 gulls fighting and little auk. Also i think Image 1 is a young jackdaw, mybe someone can confirm this!

 

[seggs]

A few more from Souter, shows the 3 gulls fighting and little auk. Also i think Image 1 is a young jackdaw, mybe someone can confirm this!

hi scuzz
the auks are razorbills..they nest here
don,t know about the jackdaw?..but looks like a nice piece of canonball limestone in the background..

 

[StevieEvans]

Houghton area Green Local Patch

Houghton area Green Local Patch
Round up of last 48 hours.

Blackcaps have eventually arrived in numbers, literally overnight.
Eg's :- Morton Wood holding an unprecedented 20+ singing males with a handful of females for good measure. Nine singing at Sedgeletch is the most known for that site.
Garden is the odd man out at the moment..... all the other 8 of the areas breeding warblers are now back & holding territories :- Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Willow, Reed, Sedge, Grasshopper, Common & Lesser Whitethroats.

The Gate continues to frustrate & delight in equal measures - no two visits producing the same results! Whimbrel, Common Sand, Little ringed Plover & Teal amongst the non-breeders passing through.

Breeding bird news, after an excellent winter for our long-winged owls, its somewhat disappointing to report 2 Long-eared owl clutches with only 2 eggs a piece.......... after such a bountiful winter we were looking forward to fours & fives..... maybe laying late & those 2 clutches incomplete.
Positive activity at several secure Barn Owl sites.
One of our pairs of Tawnies continue to absolutely amaze & seem very determined to raise a brood !. Clutch one smashed by squirrels building drey, clutch two robbed by humans.....They are now on their third set of eggs ! - Hopefully its third time lucky
Detective work has resulted in confirmation of breeding for Little Ringed Plover, a bird incubating eggs at a brand new site.
Ending on a sadder note, the Mute Swans have lost their clutch at RM's.

 

[Ray.Scott]

hi scuzz
the auks are razorbills..they nest here
don,t know about the jackdaw?..but looks like a nice piece of canonball limestone in the background..

Thanks Steve :t::
Pleased someones there to keep me right.
It's bad enough trying to get the birds right, so I've got no chance trying to Identify rocks and fossils .

 

[DEREK.C.]

DBC Meeting

A decent turn out this morning for the Clubs first Talk and Walk meeting at Bishop Middleham. Around 20 members attended(more than attended most indoor meetings).
First a talk and slideshow by Conservation Officer ,Harrier Olley on the importance of the site . Also a look into the hard work put in by several members, to create the islands and plant phragmite reedbeds etc.
A walk to Castle Lake followed where members got year ticks with House Martins, Common Sandpipers, Swifts and Yellow Wagtails. Corn Buntings showed well on the return, with about 8 in total seen.
Another enjoyable Club get together . Hopefully meet up with a few of you again tomorrow for Leighton Moss .:t:

 

[DEREK.C.]

Houghton area Green Local Patch
Round up of last 48 hours.

Blackcaps have eventually arrived in numbers, literally overnight.
Eg's :- Morton Wood holding an unprecedented 20+ singing males with a handful of females for good measure. Nine singing at Sedgeletch is the most known for that site.

I hope thats the case Steve, numbers were really low at Elemore Hall last week . I wasnt going to send any records in for them yet, in the hope more were going to arrive. They had gone from the 7th most common breeding bird to 17th , almost relegated
PS The Tawnys still in the box by the looks of it , The males been keeping the farmer awake all night, hooting on his roof.:-O

 

[StevieEvans]

I hope thats the case Steve, numbers were really low at Elemore Hall last week . I wasnt going to send any records in for them yet, in the hope more were going to arrive. They had gone from the 7th most common breeding bird to 17th , almost relegated

Glad to see & hear them back in force down here, hopefully yours have come in too...:t: Still cant understand why one of our earliest arriving summer warblers should come back so very late, arriving alongside our first Sedge & Reeds.... ?

PS The Tawnys still in the box by the looks of it , The males been keeping the farmer awake all night, hooting on his roof.:-O

Glad its holding! Another Repair job needed on box in DenBee country - remind me on.
PS. Some clever b###### has been firing slugs into another T.alba box nearby :C

Pleased you got a decent show of support / interest at Bish Midd

 

[johnmichael]

Hamsterley

A single male Pied Flycatcher was well worth a 2 hour walk into Hamsterley yesterday

 

[matthall]

Male and female blackbirds staying out late atm collecting worms etc for chicks in the hedge . I don't look in so can't report any progress.

 

[echo24]

Trow Quarry This Pm

Spent a couple of enjoyable hours in Trow this afternoon, plenty of activity with a few migrants on the move, things started pretty quiet and not too much to speak of in the north end of the quarry other than the usual residents (no Little Owl)

Moving south towards frenchmans was much better though, Kestrel (pr), Sand Martin 6, Swallow 8, Sandwich Tern 13. Good numbers of Wheatear today - minimum 8, possibly as many as 12 birds including at least 2 males, most of their activity was centred around Target rock area although there was a pair of females on Trow rock behind the gun position - well worth checking out

Cheers, Dougie.

PS, good to have a bit natter again Steve:t:

 

[echo24]

Trow Quarry

Hi folks, just a few more from Trow today:t:
Cheers,
Dougie.

 

[echo24]

Called at Trow Quary, no sign of the little owl on the way through, plenty skylark, mipits, crows, jackdaws & kestrel hunting in the distance. Also a stoat or weasel ran accross the top of the quary and a young rabbit which seemed to be lost on a ledge high up was being attacked by a magpie and jackdaw, but managed to evade them.
Not much on the Leas appart from skylarks etc, no sign of SEOs.
Walked back through the quary and noticed that the Little Owl was pearched In It's usual place, managed a few shots before It flew off along the quary side and into a hole :t:.

Great shots Scuzz,:t: the quarry is full of rabbits at the moment hence the Weasel seen it/them many times but managed decent photos only once, they're like lightning across the paths, well done with the Little Owl as well, it's been a bit elusive of late..

Cheers, Dougie

 

[NeilF]

At least four singing Blackcap's early this morning just south of the Riverside cricket ground at Chester-le-Street, 1 Common Whitethroat on the west bank of the Wear & a singing but unseen Lesser Whitethroat on the east bank, also Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Swallow, Sand Martin, Long-tailed Tit, Bullfinch & GS Woodpecker.
This evening the eastern side of Waldridge Fell was swarming with Willow Warbler, also Chiffchaff, another 4-5 male Blackcap including two in the same small tree with their singing overlapping made me think I was listening to a garbled sorry Garden Warbler , also GS & Green Woodpecker, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer, Swallow etc..

 

[rokermartin]

Langdon Beck today 14 Black Grouse and excellent close views of a Red Kite over Blanchland Village.Good number of Wheatears up on the moors 2 Common Sandpiper at Bollihope.No luck with the Ring Ouzels there.