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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Northumbrian Birding (3 Viewers)

Alan Seaton said:
The ducks are back at Cresswell, north of the causeway
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Showing incredibly well too :clap: Lifer No. 188 for Gilly :D

Watched them continuously diving for approx half hour then popped along to Druridge Pools. Nothing much happening at Budge Hide - Whooper still feeding, Ringed Plover, Mallard, Coot, Gadwall etc and Cuckoo calling but not seen today.

East Chevington - Spoonbill still there feeding on South Pool :t:

Good couple of hours before heading home to feed hubby - I'm like a drowned rat but absolutely bouncing at seeing those fabulous birds! :D Happy happy happy!!!!
 
Seaton Sluice

Just got back from a great hour watching the 70 or so male Eiders just offshore, a Rock Pipit on the shore and Sandwich Terns, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Puffins and Guillemots moving north. The highlight was 3 Arctic Skuas giving the gulls and terns a hard time well out to sea.
 
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Northern Kites - all systems go for Kitewatch!

Kite Watching in the Derwent Walk Country Park in Gateshead

Join Gateshead Council and Northern Kites in the beautiful Derwent Walk Country Park in Gateshead’s Derwent valley, to see breeding red kites.

Saturday 2nd June to Sunday 5th August 2007 - everyday between 10am and 4pm

A team of volunteers and staff from both Gateshead Council’s Countryside Team and Northern Kites will be on the Nine Arches Viaduct in the Derwent Walk Country Park between 10am and 4pm daily to show visitors the kites, and to talk about the Project and Gateshead’s wonderful countryside and wildlife.
Panoramic views from the viewpoint on Goodshields Haugh will give visitors the best possible chance to see kites – which have a wingspan of more than 5ft – soaring over the Derwent Valley. Binoculars and telescopes will be available for people to use.
Although the nest itself is not visible, the parents will be seen bringing food to the young and as the chicks grow, they will eventually move around the nest area, stretching their wings and building their strength for their first flights!

To reach the watch point, follow the marked trail from the car park at Winlaton Mill (opposite the garage at the traffic lights). It is a thirty-minute walk from the car park to the watch point, along a route, which is accessible for wheelchair users, mobility scooters and pushchairs.
How to get there:
By car – from the A1 follow the A694 to the car park at Winlaton Mill.
By bus –Catch the ‘Red Kite’ (number 45 or 46) bus from the Eldon Square bus station, Newcastle or the Metro Centre, Gateshead stopping at the Winlaton Mill car park. (Traveline telephone: 0870 6082608)
These buses have been named ‘The Red Kite’ and feature images of red kites both inside and out.
For further information telephone:
Thornley Woodland Centre on 01207 545212
Northern Kites Office on 0191 4961555
Northern Kites, the project that is bringing the red kite back to the northeast of England, is a partnership between the lead partners English Nature and the RSPB and Gateshead Council, Northumbrian Water, the National Trust and the Forestry Commission supported with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Sita Trust.


So, at last we have the news we've been waiting for.:clap: As soon as I know what the chick situation is, I'll post, but at present this is sensitive info.
 
LEO's Tea

Do LEOs eat at the point of the kill? Or do they carry the food off? If I see the latter, does that mean young to feed or simply a desire to eat elsewhere as opposed to the middle of a field?
 
mILLYg said:
Do LEOs eat at the point of the kill? Or do they carry the food off? If I see the latter, does that mean young to feed or simply a desire to eat elsewhere as opposed to the middle of a field?
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I've only ever seen them carry food off, whether with young to feed or not. Sometimes they land on fence posts or on the ground but usually it's taken under cover of vegetation - bushes or small trees.
 
Barn Owl(lifer) hunting in the field next to Linton Pond 8am this morning..also Little Grebe,Canada Geese,Tufties,Mallard,Coot,Willow Warbler,Mute Swan
 
I was at Linton Pond (west) from 1000am. Strange Chiffchaff in the first willow to the north of the path from the road to the hide. From the glimpses it was a Chiffchaff but the call was wrong.

Instead of the usual chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff etc. it had a double beat/stutter in the middle so it was chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiffchiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiffchiff etc.

Any ideas, learned colleagues?
 
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Who budged the Budge

Between 1100 yesterday and 0900 today, a significant part of the Budge Hide has gone. The internal 'shelves', the 'roof' trim and several other pieces have gone. The north facing wall is not too stable either.

Nice one!
 
Prestwick Carr

Good number of birds at Prestwick Carr early evening. I didn't do the place justice as I only walked from the crossroads to as far as the first century post, but seen in between these points were:

Carrion Crow, Magpie, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Skylark, Chaffinch, Willow Warbler, Meadow Pipit, Curlew, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Song Thrush, Starling, Blackbird, Sedge Warbler, Wren, Pied Wagtail (2x juv), Swallow, House Martin (c15-20 feeding overhead), Swift, Grasshopper Warbler (heard briefly), Stonechat, Curlew, Whitethroat (3), Goldfinch and also surprsingly a decent sized flock of Tree Sparrow by the sentry box (c8-10).

In contrast only a single Large White and Orange Tipped butterfly noted.

Could have stayed a bit later to add to the species count but had to go.

Keith
 
a nice return for me

after working away for 3 months and watching in somerset me and the other half decided to visit a few of our favorite spots
started off at east chevington
heard about the spoonbill from this site last night so had to look.
after viewing from the south hide on the north pool with no luck tryed the south pool... no luck again:-@ but we where treated to great views of a imm. male marsh harrier hunting around the reed beds for 20 seconds or so!!!8-P
after 2 hours of trying different views of the north pool finaly the spoonbill appeared...( to the joy of us and other birders who had waited as well)..
it flew in from the fields and roosted on one of the islands...a first for both of us8-P also one little gull here imm.
then to duridge
a male cuckoo seen and heard on the approach path
and a old whooper swan on the south pool area
cresswell last
8 little gulls here all imm. and a fulmar a bit unusal flying over the pond..
tree sparrows nesting where house sparrows usually do.
great afternoon..
 
I had some survey work to do this morning near Otterburn (just passerine transects), I wasn't overly happy, it being sunday, early and all, but had a great few hours. It was so warm even at 5.30, on the drive over we saw Lapwing with chicks. On the 1km walk to the first transect I heard a Blackcock lekking but couldn't get a visual on him, a pair of red grouse flushed but looked like they had no chicks as they flew away over the horizon,nearing the end of the first transect I was scanning for mipits and saw a male Merlin sat on a post. On the next section I flushed a fox from some rushes and it immaediately got mobbed by a pair of Curlew. At the start of the third transect, I'd just written the start time down, took a step and a Goldy flushed off a nest of 3 eggs 10 metres away. This transect ran through some young heather and it was a sea of geometrid moths flying a foot off the ground, they weren't very bonny things but together they were an impressive sight. On the walk back to the car I was wading through some long heather and a brood of recently fledged wrens were flying everywhere, they were great.

Walking the dogs back at home, I noticed a Wheatear flush from a stone wall, I took the dogs inside and then went back and had a look with the torch - 4 ickle chicks.

No real spectacular species, but a great morning nonetheless. The only downside is that I don't get paid overtime!!

Rob
 
mILLYg said:
Instead of the usual chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff etc. it had a double beat/stutter in the middle so it was chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiffchiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiffchiff etc.

Any ideas, learned colleagues?
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Yes. Chiffchaff. They don't necessarily follow the chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff pattern. We had one in the wood behind our house for a couple of years that sang chiff-chaff-chiffchiff-chaff-chiffchiff-chaff-chiff-chiff.

cheers
martin
 
Grateful. Thanks. Been fishing at Kielder all day today. Weather crackin', fishing OK, but the highlight was two Ospreys together on the shore, for 15 minutes, with excellent views before they flew off separately.
 
Linton 4pm....opened the flap of the hide to the sight of a fox fleeeing across the field behind the lake with a Canada Goose gosling in its mouth..the parents were going crazy..apart from that pretty quiet...Heron,tufties,moorhen,coots,mallard,willow warbler,green and goldfinch..and a male blackcap.(lifer)
 
Steve - apparently the Durham thread is to be renamed the Seggs DSLR Exhibition thread!!!!

Are you taking over from JBee who has not been on for a long time?
 
sorry milly
you are right i have gone ott!!!(boys with new toys!!)
will have to limit the output to some better shots and not the crap i have put on..sorry again..
p.s. will never get to the standard of some of these people i.e. jbee and ian f to name 2..
 
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