in and around south tyneside (1 Viewer)

[rokermartin]

Just had another look at the fly catcher pic i took at trow today and noticed a slight white second wingbar and wondered if it was possible it could be collared flycatcher/semi, long shot i know.Also white on the outer tail feathers looks like it reaches round the tip. Any ideas?

It's a Pied fly at this time of year all the black and white flycatchers are extremely difficult to id. You have to have very good views indeed to id them.Even birds trapped are sometimes left unid.Also you have the added problem of hybrids.They are a lot easier to id in the spring.

 

[nellieberta]

Quick visit of trow today, managed to see two pied flycatchers although pics were hard to get as they stayed deep into the trees. Also tree pipit and couple blackbirds. Very strong south easterly on the leas and nothing seen on the hedge, two reed bunt juvs on the mound.

Hhmmm, I may have to downgrade Derek as the jammiest of jammy gits and start following you round instead!

 

[IanMc]

Hhmmm, I may have to downgrade Derek as the jammiest of jammy gits and start following you round instead!

The more i go out the jammier i get:king:

 

[seggs]

Nee luck again in Trow today despite the tip off from Ian about the Pied flys..(cheers:t. Spent about a hour in the main bowl area on 2 visits with next to nowt showing for me, might have moved on or seen my ugly mug and kept hidden, which seems often the case at times..:-O...same story along the Leas hedge.
Had to make do with two Med gulls ...the same one Keith photographed today(canny day for you again:t and the carpark bird.
Thats 3 different ones so far for me since the breeding season along the local patch.
Its great the birds have different bill patterns so we can seperate them from each other and also slight differences in head markings.

 

[keithmc]

The more i go out the jammier i get:king:

dont think you are jammy kid if you put the time in you get results well done and keep those calls coming.

 

[seggs]

Cracking link here to the last two Pelagics reports out of the Tyne and more...

http://www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk/blog/index.php/birdwatching/life-begins-at-40

 

[Scribbly Jack]

Hi Mark
I agree that weather systems are a very complex but there are a couple points in your explanation which don’t add up.
Firstly, if birds in Russia etc are going to ride the high pressure then they will surely be naturally driven east, then south, as air flow circulates clockwise around an anticyclone.
Secondly, for Britain to encounter a true easterly wind an area of low pressure would have to pass the British Isles (moving, as is the norm, west to east) to the south. The current depression is forecast to slowly track north of us, thus initially producing south easterly winds which will swing round to a westerly. The direction of movement of the cold front and the isobars on your synoptic chart clearly depict the wind running parallel to the east coast from south to north.
Sorry to bang on but bearing in mind all of the above, any migrants that arrive on the east coast as a result of wind direction in the next few days will have had to have flown pretty much south of the UK to be carried northwest by the air flow. I’m sure this is possible, especially when gale force winds are forecast but surely a north easterly wind would be a far more exiting and better prospect at this time of year?

 

[degsy_safc]

Hhmmm, I may have to downgrade Derek as the jammiest of jammy gits and start following you round instead!

:-O:-O Don't be too quick, that Kingfisher came in and landed on the near stump this afternoon, unfortunately only for approx 3 seconds, both Iain and i didn't get a shot. Not long after that a male Sparrowhawk slowly flew past the hawthorn tree, taking a tit and landing in the tree LHS of hide out of view - again no shots unfortunately.. Will post a couple of the other shots i managed from today a bit later.

 

[nellieberta]

:-O:-O Don't be too quick, that Kingfisher came in and landed on the near stump this afternoon, unfortunately only for approx 3 seconds, both Iain and i didn't get a shot. Not long after that a male Sparrowhawk slowly flew past the hawthorn tree, taking a tit and landing in the tree LHS of hide out of view - again no shots unfortunately.. Will post a couple of the other shots i managed from today a bit later.

I knew they'd turn up when I left! In that case, you have retained your title :-O:-O:t:

 

[degsy_safc]

I knew they'd turn up when I left! In that case, you have retained your title :-O:-O:t:

:-O:-O:-O

 

[degsy_safc]

Couple of pictures from Clara Vale from today (plus the Kingfisher from Saturday gone - but this is the view we had of it for approx 3 seconds this afternoon, about 30 mins after Joanne left)..

Small Copper, Peacock, Male Southern Hawker, Willow Tit and one of my Gateshead mates :-O:-O:-O

 

[IanMc]

Couple of pictures from Clara Vale from today (plus the Kingfisher from Saturday gone - but this is the view we had of it for approx 3 seconds this afternoon, about 30 mins after Joanne left)..

Small Copper, Peacock, Male Southern Hawker, Willow Tit and one of my Gateshead mates :-O:-O:-O

Some great pics derek, especially like the willow tit and kingfisher:t: jammy git:-O

 

[degsy_safc]

Some great pics derek, especially like the willow tit and kingfisher:t: jammy git:-O

Thanks Ian, seems like i have maintained my 'jammier than a giant jammy dodger' title then :-O:-O

 

[rokermartin]

To add to Andys good directions June, the carpark is pay by the minute as most are in ST now, not far south of the New Crown pub, the only left hand turn off on the Leas when heading south along the coast road .sign posted Mangos.
Its maybe a 5 minute walk from the carpark on a pretty stable path to the south bay..but to view this bay properly you have to cross a low level barrier...just a step over really. Any more help just ask.:t:

Hi Steve if you want to know who Andy is i have known him for years.He lives
5 mins away from me.You might have met him before around Whitburn and Marsden.He hasn't been around much birding in the last 3 years or so because he's been at Newcastle Uni.He certainly knows this bird id.

 

[seggs]

Hi Steve if you want to know who Andy is i have known him for years.He lives
5 mins away from me.You might have met him before around Whitburn and Marsden.He hasn't been around much birding in the last 3 years or so because he's been at Newcastle Uni.He certainly knows this bird id.

Nice of you to elaberate Martin on Andy.
Always great to have someone elses "eyes" reporting on the threads.:t:

 

[rokermartin]

Nice of you to elaberate Martin on Andy.
Always great to have someone elses "eyes" reporting on the threads.:t:

Andy and i used to go twitching a lot years ago.Seen some good birds in my twitching days with Andy.

 

[DEREK.C.]

A bit info for Dougie, Steve, Jason et al. There is a bit news about next years club trip to Norfolk on the DBC forum.:t:

 

[Mark Newsome]

Hi Mark
I agree that weather systems are a very complex but there are a couple points in your explanation which don’t add up.
Firstly, if birds in Russia etc are going to ride the high pressure then they will surely be naturally driven east, then south, as air flow circulates clockwise around an anticyclone.

Depends which side of the high pressure you're looking at! On the top of the high (northern Finland/Lapland), the winds would be circulating west > east. On the bottom (eastern Europe and Russia to the north of the Black Sea), winds would be generally running east > west.

Secondly, for Britain to encounter a true easterly wind an area of low pressure would have to pass the British Isles (moving, as is the norm, west to east) to the south. The current depression is forecast to slowly track north of us, thus initially producing south easterly winds which will swing round to a westerly. The direction of movement of the cold front and the isobars on your synoptic chart clearly depict the wind running parallel to the east coast from south to north.
Sorry to bang on but bearing in mind all of the above, any migrants that arrive on the east coast as a result of wind direction in the next few days will have had to have flown pretty much south of the UK to be carried northwest by the air flow. I’m sure this is possible, especially when gale force winds are forecast but surely a north easterly wind would be a far more exiting and better prospect at this time of year?

The winds hitting our coast over the next couple of days are generally east/south-east.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/ne/sunderland_forecast_weather.html

The Met Office chart for Wednesday shows a low sat off south-east England and this would produce winds running basically from Germany to eastern England. Migrants moving southwest with the high pressure may well have come as far south as this before being blown north-west over the North Sea. Who knows for sure, its just theory and guess-work.

Maybe a north-easterly wind would have been better, but if it came from a low centred over Scandinavia, passerines would probably be reluctant to start migrating during poor weather.

Like I said, I'm no expert and don't claim to be. All I know is that weather like the current pattern has produced interesting falls in the past. There have been large numbers of common migrants, plus a few more interesting birds, arriving on the east coast in the last 18-24 hours, so something in the weather/migration patterns must be lining up correctly. I'm happy to remain optimistic and get out in the field to give it max this afternoon/tomorrow.

Mark

 

[Scribbly Jack]

Hi Mark

Any birds at the southern end of the anticyclone would surely follow their natural instinct and fly directly south, not being unduly hampered by the light winds associated with high pressure.
Assuming the met office synoptic (24+) is correct (there is a strong possibility that the small depression forecast over northern France will amalgamate with the larger depression in the Atlantic) we will in fact be almost in the centre of the depression and should experience light prevailing winds. Would winds of 8 to10 mph be enough to blow passage passerines hundreds of miles of course? I honestly don’t know, I do hope so but wouldn’t put my mortgage on it.
No one would be happier than me if there were a huge influx of migrants over the next few days, however I still feel that a light south easterly, or even east south easterly wind will not generate the most favourable set of circumstances for this. I would love to be proven (proved?) wrong.
It does appear that a few birds are turning up, though I dare say there’d be a whole lot more if the prevailing wind was polar continental.

I would have had this discussion privately if you accepted PMs

Mick

 

[Mark Newsome]

Hi Mark

Any birds at the southern end of the anticyclone would surely follow their natural instinct and fly directly south, not being unduly hampered by the light winds associated with high pressure.
Assuming the met office synoptic (24+) is correct (there is a strong possibility that the small depression forecast over northern France will amalgamate with the larger depression in the Atlantic) we will in fact be almost in the centre of the depression and should experience light prevailing winds. Would winds of 8 to10 mph be enough to blow passage passerines hundreds of miles of course? I honestly don’t know, I do hope so but wouldn’t put my mortgage on it.
No one would be happier than me if there were a huge influx of migrants over the next few days, however I still feel that a light south easterly, or even east south easterly wind will not generate the most favourable set of circumstances for this. I would love to be proven (proved?) wrong.
It does appear that a few birds are turning up, though I dare say there’d be a whole lot more if the prevailing wind was polar continental.

I would have had this discussion privately if you accepted PMs

Mick

I certainly wouldn't say that there'll be a huge influx of migrants over the next few days or that its a 'classic' weather system. It'll just be a lot more interesting for passerines than it has been and there is the potential for some more interesting birds. The rain has cleared from East Yorks and there are a few Rosefinches, Barred Warblers, Ortolans, Wrynecks etc appearing along with commoner migrants, so the weather systems must be having some positive effect, regardless of how you interpret the charts. I guess the birds themselves prove the weathermen amongst us right or wrong.

PMs - my choice. It's stops the abusive personal messages.

Mark