Gateshead birding (1 Viewer)

[Mouldy]

Close encounters of the bird kind

Aye Salty, that was me a few years back when I lived in the real world. I got out when I never saw the light of day for about 6 months.

A bit different now though....

...despite the good weather today I found myself stuck at home working on the PC which is handily placed by the front window. Just after 10.30 this morning I saw a Red Kite coming very low beyond the rooftops opposite, I picked up my bins and went out into the back garden, the Kite came over, very very low, just about skimming the rooftop, and we live in a bungalow!
It looked directly at me as it did so and must have got a bigger surprise than I did as it reared up in mid-air, directly overhead, almost hovering on the spot for a split second, before gaining height, then circling round a couple of times still quite low, looking down into the garden before swooping down once again to about rooftop height before finally spiralling slowly upwards and away.
I think it was eying up the discarded Rusks we’d put out on the lawn that the Magpies seem to like. Whatever, it was the closest encounter with a Kite I’ve ever had and the sunshine was strong this morning making the colours of the plumage outstanding. And in my back garden as well. Fantastic!
Back to the PC then, and around mid-day a flash of colour caught my eye out close to the front window, I looked out to catch a Jay hopping about, digging and planting what turned out to be peanuts in the lawn just outside the window. It was there a while so I took some pics. Great mornings birding without even leaving the house. :flyaway:

 

[salty]

nice pics mouldy!

im looking forward to some kite pics this winter, i watched them flying in snow strorms last year, i thought theyd be put off - but they acted like they were having fun!

 

[ukjesters]

Made a visit to the new Thornley hide this morning and what a difference, excellant job by all involved. Windows are nice and secure with safety hinges etc and appear to be just the right height as well.
Oh and of course loadsa birds out and about including Jays feeding off the bird tables which is something that i have never seen before.
Once again Thanks and a big well done to all concerned.
Rick

 

[salty]

Made a visit to the new Thornley hide this morning and what a difference, excellant job by all involved. Windows are nice and secure with safety hinges etc and appear to be just the right height as well.
Oh and of course loadsa birds out and about including Jays feeding off the bird tables which is something that i have never seen before.
Once again Thanks and a big well done to all concerned.
Rick

brilliant.

just in time for the colder weather too, plus the mini-meet is only on the 17th dec, so at least we will have a nice new hide to bird from.......

 

[salty]

quick note.

can people start posting waxwing sightings please.

we are blessed with a few good sites here in the borough, blaydon etc, so lets get those sightings up and running.

 

[Mouldy]

Took the bairn for a walk up Thornley and had a brief look in the new hide this afternoon, big improvement on the old wind tunnel. The inside has still to be panelled and the information boards to be put up but that should be quite soon so I was told.
Not a lot of food out so birds were a bit sparse, Nuthatch showed well and small flock of Bullfinches came in just before I left to brighten up the afternoon.

Walking up from Rowlands Gill I flushed a flock of eight Waxwings by the farm off the A694 which circled once then flew off towards the Derwent Walk, on the way back down had single Redwing roadside, Red Kite quite low over road heading towards Far pasture, no sign of Waxwings though. :flyaway:

 

[June Atkinson]

Whereabouts of the kites 1st December 2005

:hi: More news from the Northern Kites Office. Some interesting notes:

Bird News
WT15, it is possible that the radio transmitter on this kite is not working! We believed it to have ‘gone missing’ last week, when no signals were received from it on Monday of last week. Mike Henry, however, had read its wing tags on the same afternoon when it was in the Barlow Burn. He had another sighting of the bird on Wednesday afternoon. Is this the second NK transmitter to go “down” (WT9’s being the other)?

WT54’s roosting behaviour is interesting. Over recent weeks, she has roosted by herself on a number of occasions, sometimes in the Thornley Kennels area. Last Friday she roosted to the west of Sherburn Towers, away from the main communal roost. However, on Monday evening, she was recorded roosting with 13 other kites at Sherburn Towers Farm. Contrary? On Friday evening, WT56 roosted all on his lonesome in the Gibside Estate.

In Teesdale, WT5 and WT57, appear to be becoming an “item”. Ever more, they are foraging together, and when resting through the day they will often be perched very close to each other. WT57 used to go on her own to visit WT23 at Blackton but she is now accompanied by WT5. On one occasion, he was observed inspecting an old crow’s nest, with WT57 perched only a couple of metres away.

Seven of the kites that were in the Gateshead area last week were not detected during the day on the 28th November. Five of these birds returned to roost in the Lower Derwent Valley on that evening, these were WT28, WT36, WT46, WT47 and WT52. Of the two that did not return WT31 was not located but WT24 was found to be roosting in the Delves/Iveston area, to the southeast of Consett. On the evening of 28th, 14 kites roosted at Sherburn Towers Farm; seven roosted in Spen Banks Wood and 15 birds in the Barlow Burn (3 below the Black Horse and 12 below the SITA landfill site).
Once again, we have, had a report of two birds together in Northumberland, just inland from Druridge Bay. Is this a wandering pair or a number of birds that we have not been able to ‘get to grips with’ using the tracking equipment?

Where to See Birds
The Barlow Burn is still the best place to see kites. Kite sightings have been reported regularly from there over the last week. On Monday afternoon, there were seventeen birds there with good views once again being had from the Black Horse car park. The roost at Sherburn Towers is still excellent for observing kites – try the bus turning circle at the top of the Sherburn Tower Estate, in Rowlands Gill.


Posted also in Red Kites

 

[Mouldy]

Laughing Gull (2nd Winter) at Shibdon Pond late morning/early afternoon (not that I could identify it at the time) and it flew off about 2pm apparently.
Kingfisher and Goosander by Swalwell bridge, 2 pairs little grebe on the river close by. A few Redwings also in the area.

 

[salty]

i was at shibdon yesterday, and never hears/seen anything about a laughing gull.

couldnt find any waxwings either.........

 

[russkie]

never mind salty mate

i usually have that sort of luck - spent a morning last week at blaydon and dipped on the waxwings but got some at hartlepool today - see my pics on Durham birding thread

 

[Mouldy]

i was at shibdon yesterday, and never hears/seen anything about a laughing gull.

By yesterday you must mean Saturday, laughing gull was present Sunday.

Theres a couple of photos on www.gatesheadbirders.co.uk, lucky me was only there 'cos I was doing the WeBS bird count otherwise I would have been none the wiser. :flyaway:

 

[StevieEvans]

Late Owl News
Unfortunately a dead Long-eared Owl was picked up at Follingsby, Gateshead Borough, after flying into a window on the Industrial Estate.
This was a young bird & was found at the end of the summer....... raising the possibility of it having been locally bred.......?
Steve.

 

[salty]

Late Owl News
Unfortunately a dead Long-eared Owl was picked up at Follingsby, Gateshead Borough, after flying into a window on the Industrial Estate.
This was a young bird & was found at the end of the summer....... raising the possibility of it having been locally bred.......?
Steve.

interesting stevie.

i know there are a couple of SEOs in the area, i watch them from the lane. didnt know about LEOs in the same area.

 

[john gardiner]

Buzzard this morning near Silverhills Nursery also Kestrel & Teal at Lamesley water meadows.

 

[StevieEvans]

interesting stevie.

i know there are a couple of SEOs in the area, i watch them from the lane. didnt know about LEOs in the same area.

Hi Salty
i did one evening check last summer at Follingsby Lane, mainly the South Tyneside section but drew a blank.
Confirmed breeding for one pair elsewhere in G'head borough, but surely excellent potential at Follingsby for Leo & Barn owls....?
We're continuing our DBC surveying from January '06
Steve

 

[Skelly]

Thornley Woods on Saturday

2 Nuthatch
3 GS Woodpecker
5 Jay
Sparrowhawk
Bullfinch
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Blackbird
Greenfinch
Pheasant

Far Pasture

5 Red Kites over Gibside, viewed from car park.
30 Teal
2 Jay
Bullfinch
Moorhen
Coot
Grey Heron
Mute Swan

Greenside

5 Red Kites, mainly on fenceposts.

B

 

[salty]

nice one skelly, hopefully i will get good birds this saturday at the mini-meet.

with me busy at work, i aint been able to work my patch as often as id like.........

 

[June Atkinson]

Kite news-update for Saturday

nice one skelly, hopefully i will get good birds this saturday at the mini-meet.

with me busy at work, i aint been able to work my patch as often as id like.........

Here is the most recent news of our kites: :news:

Bird News
Week beginning 5/12/05: WT24, the kite that roosted in the Delves/Iveston area last week was back ‘home’ in the Barlow Burn. Of last year’s birds WT3, WT6, WT9, WT15, WT16, WT18 and WT19 were all still in the Gateshead area. A record number of twenty-nine kites roosted in the Barlow Burn during the week beginning 5th December, and up to 17 were seen together in one tree (up to 13 birds’ wing tags being read at this location).

After another series of recent reports of kites in Northumberland (two near Druridge Bay, two in the Breamish valley and one near Belsay), ‘an expedition’ was mounted to search for these elusive birds. Once again, the search proved fruitless.

Monitoring in the Lamesley area of the Team Valley on Monday morning (12th December) was equally fruitless. ‘Missing kites’ from 2005’s releases are: WT25, WT26 (this bird was in the Browney valley, a few weeks ago), WT30, WT31 and WT49. WT18 was recorded roosting locally last week but was not recorded at all this week.

On Monday of this week, up to thirty-five birds were in the Barlow Burn. From the Black Horse car park good views were obtained of six kites foraging together in fields immediately to the east, and several kites were noted flying in the valley bottom and around the perimeter of the SITA site. Moving into the lane that takes you over to Greenside (Barlow Lane), excellent views were had of birds perched in the trees at the pre-roost gathering with identification being made of at least ten kites from wing tags. A roost count in the Lower Derwent valley on 12th, recorded thirteen birds at Sherburn Towers Farm (apparently roosting in the trees close to the Farm!) and two kites in Spen Banks wood. We are assuming that the radio transmitters on WT9 & WT15 are not working and that the birds are still around locally. WT15 has certainly been seen recently in the Barlow Burn (please keep an eye open for WT9), so there are close to 40 birds still present in the Gateshead area.

Elsewhere, the three kites in ‘Teesdale’ (WT5, WT57 & WT23) are all still present and they roosted together in Langleydale, near Kinninvie on the nights of the 11th and 12th of December.

Where to See Birds
The Barlow Burn is still the best place to see kites. The best place for watching pre-roost gatherings is along the track, close to the Riding School, 75 metres down the lane that runs from Barlow to Greenside. The roost at Sherburn Towers is still excellent for observing kites – try the bus turning circle at the top of the Sherburn Tower Estate, in Rowlands Gill.

So, hopefully, we should get some good sightings.......however we only saw two yesterday. Wrap up warm; the wind was perishingly cold! :flyaway:

 

[Mouldy]

Had a brief look over Sherburn Towers about 3.30pm today from the bus turning circle, two Kites came in as I scanned and (like in June's latest report) a total of 13 birds showed very well perched in the bare trees around the farm (8 in one tree), unfortunately didn't have my 'scope as was just passing on the way to the shops so couldn't make out any numbers though the tags were clearly visible.

Could be a good place to finish the kite bash off tomorrow though if you read this, Salty!

 

[rayl]

Yesterday, first time out for ages. Riding Lane and Bows Valley N.R. Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Redwing, Fieldfare, Tree Sparrow, C. 200 Goldfinch, Greylag, Teal, Kestrel, and Buzzard over Riding Farm.

Ray
Thanks Alan for the update, we'll probably make our way back down from Barlow.