Durham Birding (11 Viewers)

[barnstormer]

I've got between 5 and 20+ coming into my feeders,some young ones too, but they are mainly on the sunflower hearts and boy do they make a mess when eating.I've got all kinds growing in the turf.

 

[Auntystatic]

Ian,
With the two at WWT Washington that makes 9 this year for the county I believe.

Don't want to nit pick but neither Greatham Creek or wwt is in County Durham.

Greatham Creek is in Cleveland and the wwt is in Tyne and Wear, for info though, there are another 4 chicks at nosterfield LNR near Masham (north yorks), apparently ( I was told) its the furthest inland they have been recorded breeding. Saw them yesterday while I was there photographing the bee orchids.

And thanks to Jbee who let one of his new breed of racing rails out of the pen last Friday, I just managed to squeeze off a few frames as it sped across the pond, nearly knocking the kingfishers off their perches as it passed them.

 

[IanF]

Don't want to nit pick but neither Greatham Creek or wwt is in County Durham.

Greatham Creek is in Cleveland and the wwt is in Tyne and Wear, for info though, there are another 4 chicks at nosterfield LNR near Masham (north yorks), apparently ( I was told) its the furthest inland they have been recorded breeding. Saw them yesterday while I was there photographing the bee orchids.

Lol! Neither Tyne and Wear nor Cleveland exist any more as 'counties' - they were done away with several years ago!

For birding purposes County Durham area covers everywhere bewteen the Tyne and the Tees.

 

[The Chairman]

Thanks for that. At least two Avocet clutches went astray I'm afraid - cause unknown though I have my suspicions. The two successful nests were in slightly different positions to the ones that lost eggs. Regardless though the successful breeding is an excellent result for the region.

For camera equipment I mostly use a Canon 40D and Canon 400mm f5,6 lens.

For an update on Avocets in County Durham (and much much more) don't miss the next edition of The Lek due out in July. Its free to DBC members so don't delay and join today.:t:

PS Great Bustard - another copy of the spring edition sent out to you in post today.

 

[StevieEvans]

Don't want to nit pick but neither Greatham Creek or wwt is in County Durham.

Greatham Creek is in Cleveland and the wwt is in Tyne and Wear, for info though, there are another 4 chicks at nosterfield LNR near Masham (north yorks), apparently ( I was told) its the furthest inland they have been recorded breeding. Saw them yesterday while I was there photographing the bee orchids.

...<snip>....... the historic boundary between Northumberland and County Durham. This includes particularly wildlife and biological recording groups, for whom the stability of recording boundaries is important for the maintenance of long-term records (see Watsonian vice-counties).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watsonian_vice-counties#List_of_vice-counties

 

[StevieEvans]

Vc66

Lol! Neither Tyne and Wear nor Cleveland exist any more as 'counties' - they were done away with several years ago!

For birding purposes County Durham area covers everywhere bewteen the Tyne and the Tees.

Ian, Dont forget there are some bits south (west) of the Tees
Tyne & Wear council went in '86
Cleveland was abolished in '96

Auntystatic, the att'd map shows the extent of County Durham recording area, this is the area studied by the county bird club, ie - Durham Bird Club.
Hope this helps.

 

[Ram One]

RE : WHINCHATS

Whilst i'd love to bask in the glory of having found such a prize... i must point out i was in exalted company.... but it was one of our target species.

My mentor advised me along the way (being well acquainted with the species in the Cheviot valleys), and I now know to listen out for a Bullfinch-like contact call, coming from the Bracken followed by a tick tick tick.

pictures courtesy of DC, my guide on the day. (he's quite good, usually has chocolate in the jeep, is based in Dodge City & doesnt charge too much either )

There was still a singing male whinchat on Greenabella Marsh yesterday. I presume that it was the same bird that was present there last year as it was holding the same territory. We watched the bird for around half an hour in the hope of seeing a female, without any joy. It's sad to think that the bird might make its way over here each year, sing its head off for weeks on end and then fail to find a mate.

John Cooper

 

[JBee]

Went down to hetton bogs 8-10 am this morning, all was very quiet apart from 3 visits from the kingfishers and a dozen mallard.no food in feeders again, stocked up and left remainder in the bucket.

After forking out a lot of cash keeping the feeders full all through last summer when the station was so quiet Colin and I decided this year (had I still been supplying the food) that it was a waste of money.
Until around the end of August when the rails return it's makes more sense for people just to take enough food for the day - any food left on the tables or ground is simply scoffed by the magpies, crows and mallards.

 

[StevieEvans]

Chatting

RE : WHINCHATS
There was still a singing male whinchat on Greenabella Marsh yesterday. I presume that it was the same bird that was present there last year as it was holding the same territory. We watched the bird for around half an hour in the hope of seeing a female, without any joy. It's sad to think that the bird might make its way over here each year, sing its head off for weeks on end and then fail to find a mate.

John Cooper

John, the birds we saw on Monday, were on the Teesdale / Weardale border @ 360m/asl, at the lower end of a long gulley running west to east.
Surely theres a few more in these upland areas ?

Sounds like that Greenabella bird is struggling to locate a mate.... ? I can remember someone mentioning 16 males holding territory on the Greenabella / Tioxide site in early 90's. Surely that isnt the only Whinchat now on N.Tees marshes ?
I used to watch them (4+prs) on a large tract of rough ground on the south side of the Seal Sands access road, north of the Rec. Pond pipelines. I dont think there is any pedestrian access there nowadays (there used to be a bridge made of scaffholding over the pipes).
Theres been a suggestion that the huge increase in Co.Durham Stonechat population since the early 90's may have had a detrimental effect on summer visiting Whinchats...? - although i'm told they seem to live side by side in both North'd & North Yorkshire dales........:brains:

 

[Ray.Scott]

A few from Hetton Bogs today:
Pretty quiet at the station with a few of the regular Tits, reed buntings, mallards etc, also 4 x male bull finch and 1/2 dozen visits throughout the day from the kingfisher and jay.
Also grey heron overhead being mobbed by a single crow.

 

[Auntystatic]

Thanks to all for explaining the recording area boundries, it explains much and having clear defined boundries is very important.

After a little research I found out that Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county that continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference, even though the council was abolished and turned into a unitary Authority.

Cleveland on the other hand seems to be a mess, abolished and now split into 4 UA's, the area from hartlepool to the Tee's is called Teesside, Darlington towards Middlesborough is Tees Valley, only people living in the other 2 UA's know what they are called lol. Strange but the police, fire brigade etc are all retaining the county name. This is where my confusion over the county came about, I have a ticket from the police near the power station, to prove who I am and why I have been seen loitering with cameras and big lenses :t:

I'm just glad I now know the recording boundries, it makes things easier, maybe the polititians should take note here, when deciding on the next set of changes

 

[IanF]

.....................

Cleveland on the other hand seems to be a mess, abolished and now split into 4 UA's, the area from hartlepool to the Tee's is called Teesside, Darlington towards Middlesborough is Tees Valley, only people living in the other 2 UA's know what they are called lol. Strange but the police, fire brigade etc are all retaining the county name. This is where my confusion over the county came about...................

You're right there. We actually come under Borough of Stockton-on-Tees - not that it makes much difference - most people still say they live in 'Cleveland' for simplicity. Many from out of the area don't know where Cleveland is/was from my experience but most know Middlesbrough.

 

[IanF]

Greatham Creek this evening. Avocet x12 with five adults and seven chicks still. The three from the first nest are just about fully fledged. They were all flapping their wings and flying 8-10' to get around rather than just walking.

Also Common Sandpiper on the pools, Shelduck c.30, Oystercatcher c.12 and Little Ringed Plover x1.

Over Seal Sands - Red-breasted Merganser x3, Great Crested Grebe x5, Grey Plover c.9, Curlew 50+.

Dorman's Pool - Swifts c.50.

 

[StevieEvans]

Castle Lake

Castle Lake:
Returning / failed breeding waders starting to return....
1Green Sandpiper, 3Common Sandpiper, 1Redshank, 9Teal, 2Pochard, drake Wigeon, 6+Little Ringed Plover, several broods of Gadwall, singing Corn Bunting, 3+Yellow Wagtail inc 1 with a pale grey head.

 

[The Chairman]

Castle Lake:
Returning / failed breeding waders starting to return....
1Green Sandpiper, 3Common Sandpiper, 1Redshank, 9Teal, 2Pochard, drake Wigeon, 6+Little Ringed Plover, several broods of Gadwall, singing Corn Bunting, 3+Yellow Wagtail inc 1 with a pale grey head.

Early returning waders tend to be adult females which having gone to all the effort of laying the eggs leave husband No 1 to hatch them and raise the bairns. They are his offspring so he looks after them. The mrs obviously knows this as she frequently slinks off with another fella and does the same to him!

The males have 1 chance to pass on their genes the female has 2 - to coin the old adage she doesn't put all her eggs in one basket. Common sense really but seems like its not just human males who are lured in by the wiles of the female and then find themselves working their butts off:-O

 

[IanF]

I paid another visit this morning to the Brinefields at Greatham Creek. The dull skies didn't spoil the excellent close up views we had of the Avocet chicks.

Still seven chicks split into two family groups on the Tidal Pool separate from each other by a low grassy ridge. Whenever the young venture closer together the parents soon take action to keep the families apart with the adults battling amongst each other. A fifth adult still present all on it's own.

Photos : 1-3. First nest chicks now 24 days old. 4&5. Second nest chicks now 20 days old.

 

[IanF]

A trip around the rest of the ponds revealed little of interest.

Zinc Works Road was quite productive with several recently fledged Barn Swallow along the fence lines likewise Linnet. The south side migrant bushes still held an adult Cuckoo being harassed by 3-4 Meadow Pipit. It eventually settled in the north side bushes when the heavens opened again!

Photos : 1&2. Swallow - 3. Linnet - 4&5. Cuckoo

 

[Ram One]

The Great Whinchat Hunt

Decided to spend a day in the forgotten South (West) part of the County, across the Rio Tees, intending to check out some sites where I'd seen Whinchats in previous years. In the end I was beaten by the weather, which was mostly very wet and very windy, and was otherwise very windy.

In the end I still managed to see 45 species, mostly from the car window, the highlights of which were as follows :-

A pair of Kestrel at Holwick Scar, with one of the birds heard calling.
Good number of Lapwing, with plenty of juvs now getting their short crest.
A cuckoo still calling above the Holwick road.
Lots of Pied Wagtail family groups.
Feeding parties of 50+ each of Swift and Swallow.
2 families of Mistle Thrush.
Snipe, Oystercatcher, Redshank and Common Sandpiper at various reservoirs.
2 Great Crested Grebe on Grassholme Res.
A pair of Buzzard over Brownberry plantation.
Eventually ended up at High Pond, Lartington, where conditions had improved enough to bird on foot for an hour and a half. Bids seen there included Tree Creeper, Jay, several Willow Warbler, a group of 3 Pied Fly, with the male at one point sitting on a telephone wire over the rough track and at least 4 Redstart, including 2 males and what I took to be a juvenile begging for food, since the bird was sitting on a branch, shivering its wings.
At this point the rain began again, so I abandoned plans to explore the woodland around the beck and headed home to watch the football instead.

John Cooper

 

[woodhornbirder]

Durham ring ousels.

Friend is staying near sunderland over weekend and wants to see ring ousels, any suggestions plz?

 

[will@bill]

pm me

Durham ring ousels.

Friend is staying near sunderland over weekend and wants to see ring ousels, any suggestions plz?

seen one near waskerley today there is a pair of them:t:
pm me if you want the full SP