in and around south tyneside (13 Viewers)

[echo24]

started the day off on my old stamping ground..station burn..
quieter than my previous visit
no willow warbler or whitethroats along this stretch of the don..but 4 male blackcaps. 2 chiffs, pair of bullies, 10+ swifts, fem. spuggyhawk..1 heron..3 pair of l.t.tits.
moved over to biddick farm area thro- the new plantations..and along the don into boldon..
10+willow warblers..1 l.whitethroat..3 c.whitethroats(had a great time pishing one of them)..3 pair of linnets..2 young herons on the edge of a cropped field(wonder if these are from washington?)..
moved back along the don from the farm to the old rail bridge..60+ carroin crows in the field here with mags and jackdaws..and only one pair of mallards on this full stretch of the don...and no yellowhammer
a preditor had been busy over the boldon side of the don..3 wood pigeon kills and what was left of a black bird(i think) just the legs..and 2 moorhens eggs taken, most of the shell intact..
tadpolls in the small pond at station burn

Great report as always, Steve.

Keep them coming mate, I'm sure they're appreciated by 99% of readers of the NE forums

Cheers,
Dougie.:t:

 

[gogsy]

after yum yums..
trow....waste of time..very poor.
so went along the leas hedge..superb male stonechat still here..and a few linnets..
has anyone seen a female stonechat here lately?

Went on the usual long march this morn and took video of the male and female Stonechats at the hedge on the Leas,I saw a male at the mound but never saw female there.
Watched the Sand Martins flitting about at the top of Marsden Bay trying to video them is a art in itself!
Keep up the good work Steve, Don't be put off by negative comments,you do a great job on these boards!.............Laurence

PS went to Trow,still never caught sight of the Little Owls,just a lot of Rabbits

 

[johnsulli]

Had an hour at Mount Pleasant this morning and 5 Yellowhammer, 4 Whitethroat, Kestrel, Great Tits (lots of), Chiff Chaff, Willow Warbler,

A brief walk around Trow this afternoon saw several Whitethroats in the area and plenty of Linnet c15, a Magpie was bombing a Jackdaw on the ground for 5 minutes before it flew off. Other than that it was pretty quiet down there.

 

[nellieberta]

Local dog walk this eve ( Wardley Country Park) 2 very gawkey looking juvenile Grey Herons on the flash in the quarry, at least 9 Whitethroats (evenly distributed between G/head and S/Tside), 2 really funny looking Coot chicks ot the Cock Crow fishing pond,Blackcap(heard not seen) Bullfinches,Wobbs n Chiffs,linnets and a lot of the more common stuff. I've not seen either the Whaetears or the Grasshopper Warbler for some time now, which is a little disappointing.
Another worrying thing is that I've not seen one Yellowhammer in this area this year. They're usually quite common all year round, but it must be 7 or 8 months since Ilast saw one.

Regards

MICK

 

[seggs]

thanks to all for your support on the uncalled for attack on me..
nice to have some good people who understand its about the birds/wildlife reports and not how good you are at grammer.

 

[craigthirlwell]

thanks to all for your support on the uncalled for attack on me..
nice to have some good people who understand its about the birds/wildlife reports and not how you good you are at grammer.

When you start a sentence can you please use a capital letter.

C- Must try harder.

 

[seggs]

When you start a sentence can you please use a capital letter.

C- Must try harder.

Nice one craig!..:t:
Will try harder my teacher friend,do i not get a A for effort?

 

[Mary Evelyn]

Reading your posts is always enjoyable seggs :t:

 

[johnsulli]

Usual walk up the Leas i saw the pair of Stonechat at the Marsden end of the shrubs. A male Reed Bunting was also in the area and another male on the mound, no females to be seen though !.

Down into Marsden Bay and plenty of Fulmars and Kittiwakes sitting on nests. Also seen were a pair of Rock Pippits toward Camel Island.

Plenty of Sand/House Martins about the top of the cliffs but the usual Sand Martin nests don't appear to be occupied this year !.

 

[DaveB]

Quiz

I've had these photo's for a while now. Who is it and what was he taking a photo of?

 

[nellieberta]

I've had these photo's for a while now. Who is it and what was he taking a photo of?

Dont know who (seggs may be?) but the photo is titled "photographer@ trow quarry" could this be a clue?

MICK

 

[seggs]

I've had these photo's for a while now. Who is it and what was he taking a photo of?

Nice to see you here Dave and welcome
the pics not me...it looks a little like me from behind, but ive never owned a pair of combat pants and the lens looks like a 100-400mm canon.
my bet would be its Dougie on Trow point and maybe taking a pic of eiders?

 

[nellieberta]

Nice to see you here Dave and welcome
the pics not me...it looks a little like me from behind, but ive never owned a pair of combat pants and the lens looks like a 100-400mm canon.
my bet would be its Dougie on Trow point and maybe taking a pic of eiders?

I deserve at least half a mark for my Miss Marples style detective work:t:. Who knows Seggs if you get the other half mark it may raise your grade to a B-. Before you know it you'll be up there with the intelligentsia, looking down on us from your ivory tower

Regards

MICK

 

[nellieberta]

Nice one craig!..:t:
Will try harder my teacher friend,do i not get a A for effort?

Effort begins with "E"

(sorry, couldn't resist )

Joanneo

Still waiting to get a good pic of the Blue Tits in the box, mealworm on for delivery tomorrow!

 

[echo24]

I've had these photo's for a while now. Who is it and what was he taking a photo of?

That would be me, Dave.

Probably photographing Eiders & Wheatears, i've just checked my archive and the date matches yours.

Cheers,
Dougie.

 

[seggs]

I deserve at least half a mark for my Miss Marples style detective work:t:. Who knows Seggs if you get the other half mark it may raise your grade to a B-. Before you know it you'll be up there with the intelligentsia, looking down on us from your ivory tower

Regards

MICK

Don,t think i will ever look at people from that level mick..
:t:

 

[gogsy]

Out for walk this morning,first to Old Marsden Quarry where I saw three Whitethroats singing their hearts out,Chiff Chaff also.
Then along to the beach,on my way down saw a Redstart on fence at Lizard Lane Caravan park a first for me this year!Then to beach and I obseved the Sand Martins,they seem to have three areas for nest holes and the middle group look occupied with little heads popping out now and again.
Down the Leas hedge I watched male Stonechat doing display flights and the female next to him when he landed.Then down to mound where the Reed Bunting male was calling still.
Trow had a few Whitethroats and not much else,back home for a lie down after that!

 

[The gaffer]

Cleadon Hills

4 House martins flying around Sunniside Farm.

Watched out of my window at work, this afternoon, as a herring gull killed and ate a starling fledgling.

Brian

 

[shark attack]

Hi folks, a great five hours out today…..

Cleadon hills this morning, nice & sunny ) – the missus dropped me off in whitburn and I walked back home….. single mistle thrush amongst a flock of c60 fieldfare, also great, blue & lt tits, yellowhammer, wren, blackbird, kestrel, chiffchaff (heard near water tower) and plenty of wood pigeons & corvids……..

Marsden quarry – cloud thickening ;-) …… dunnock & wren both singing beautifully, cock pheasant, kestrel, little owl, great & blue tits…..

Visited the lime kilns at souter, had a bit neb around and found evidence of foxes being in residence – plenty fur, bones & feathers knocking around – but most bizarrely there’s loads of peacock feathers at the north end of the site – maybe the fox has taken a local domestic bird?? Any ideas anyone??

Marsden bay – everything as normal (still waiting for sand martin) but one or two Kittiwakes have now started to occupy nest sites on the cliffs as well as c200 birds in the water north of the rock…..

The leas… skylark, stonechats, mipits, oystercatcher - no shorties though

Trow quarry – raining heavily now :-( …. Turnstones, redshanks, male kestrel, jackdaws & little owl…..also for those who are interested, there’s colts foot, scurvy grass & lesser celandine in flower now – great stuff!....

Good birding everyone…
Cheers, Dougie.

Funny you should mention Peacock feathers.

Local report in last nights Shields Gazzete about a Peacock visiting someone's back garden in South Tyneside will find thre paper and clarify the address.

Will provide info ASAP if I can find anything

 

[shark attack]

Ok more news with regard to the Peacock.

The full story is in the Shields Gazette last night.

Apparantely the bird which is a male has been visiting a garden in Whitburn Road and displaying its plumage all day to the owners little dog.

No one know where it has come from.

to read the full story and watch the video log onto www.shieldsgazette.com