Northumbrian Birding (1 Viewer)

[Gill Osborne]

:t: Good for you....shame you couldn't chuck the little parasites over too

 

[ospreyscotbird]

Hi all
I phoned the Sea Bird Centre in Amble just on Mon + know the lady was v frustrated as the boat she could book us on could only take childern of 32kg+ :eek!: So that ruled my 'surprise trip after school out', as no child care for the 2 light younger!! What a shame there are fewer + fewer places to take kids out when wee - so many restrictions. The web site seemed to be working fine still on Tues but had a look now + well + truely dead.
On a different note. I know there are Nightjars near to me between; Alnwick + Rothbury. So any hints, tips or tricks, or info on locations, as to how to achieve spotting them. Have been out loking a few times but no luck - yet!!
Only just finding my feet here in this area as I've a young family since we arrived. Have recently found the hides down from Amble - Cresswell, any other good places would be brilliant to hear about!!
Thanks.
o

 

[Ray.Scott]

Visit to Cresswell yesterday.

Nice to see little gulls, finally, a first for me and to see eight was a real bonus.
Lots of other bird life Including:
Curlew, little grebe, GC grebe juv, avocets, 3 bar headed geese, shell duck, teal, wigeon, grey heron, redshank, oyster catcher, sandwich, arctic and common tern, lapwing + the usual geese, ducks and gulls.

 

[Ray.Scott]

Few more from the day, as you can see, the weather was very changeable.

 

[_pauls]

Few more from the day, as you can see, the weather was very changeable.

Bar headed geese? An very unusual sight for Cresswell.

 

[woodhornbirder]

brief trip to castle island this morning.

i black tailed godwit, 2 greenshank, 12 common sandpiper. few common terns milling about.

 

[Gill Osborne]

Bar headed geese? An very unusual sight for Cresswell.

And not a twitcher in sight!!! :eek!: :-O

 

[vanellus]

Sheltering from the rain at Snab Point between 14:00 and 16:00. Three cetaceans - poor visibility, but could see that one had sides that were grey at the top, fading to almost white. Small dorsal fin. The other two seemed smaller, only showing their backs, with small dorsal fin that seemed slightly crescent shaped.

Three divers that looked like Black Throated. A few Gannets. Loads of terns, mainly Sandwich, catching lots of sand eels. A smettering of Razorbills and Guillemots. One shearwater far out, flying very flat and looked paler than Manx, but the rain was at it's worst, so hopeless for an I.D.

 

[Vipers]

Sheltering from the rain at Snab Point between 14:00 and 16:00. Three cetaceans - poor visibility, but could see that one had sides that were grey at the top, fading to almost white. Small dorsal fin. The other two seemed smaller, only showing their backs, with small dorsal fin that seemed slightly crescent shaped.

Could have been the White-Beaked Dolphins that were off Whitburn today.
As reported on Birdguides.

 

[martin kitching]

There's been a small pod of White-beaked Dolphins off Lynemouth/Newbiggin for the last couple of weeks, but I'm not certain it's that pod that has been ranging as far south as Whitburn.

Apart from the description of the dorsal fin as small, they seem likely to have been WBD.

cheers
martin

Could have been the White-Beaked Dolphins that were off Whitburn today.
As reported on Birdguides.

 

[Mark Newsome]

Could have been the White-Beaked Dolphins that were off Whitburn today.
As reported on Birdguides.

There's been up to 15 feeding off Whitburn since Saturday morning, so definitely not these. Like Martin indicated, one of the most obvious things about this species is the huge sickle shaped dorsal fin. Very impressive beasts!

Mark

 

[waddy]

I had been thinking of visiting Coquet Island this week. Are there any reliable sites for Roseates on the mainland?

 

[Barred Wobbler]

I had been thinking of visiting Coquet Island this week. Are there any reliable sites for Roseates on the mainland?

I think it's still a little early to expect them at any of the usual mainland sites - the last week of the month onward would be a better bet. That's not to say it's impossible that you might get one along the shore, but not easy.

They tend to turn up once they've fledged their chicks.

 

[xbill]

Seaton Sluice

There's been up to 15 feeding off Whitburn since Saturday morning, so definitely not these. Like Martin indicated, one of the most obvious things about this species is the huge sickle shaped dorsal fin. Very impressive beasts!

Mark

Was looking out to sea from near the old watch tower at 11am this morning when 6+ of these dolphins suddenly appeared and put on quite a display. Two of them decided to show off by turning on their backs and thrashing the sea with their tails. I was there for over an hour and they were still there when I left. The sickle shaped dorsal fin was indeed most impressive.

 

[Stewart J.]

Brilliant, nice to have some good news on the raptor scene in our county

http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/0...s-for-two-pairs-of-kielder-ospreys/#more-4780

Apologies if already posted, onboard ship at the mo and have only just caught up!

Good birding all

 

[vanellus]

Had a look at White Beaked on the net and the dorsal fin looks too long. Had another look yesterday, but nothing in view.

 

[martin kitching]

There are plenty of Rosies around the island at the moment, including fledglings. We had stunning views of some very obliging adults on Saturday. Sailing times are tide-dependent so I'd recommend 'phoning Dave Gray on O1665 711975 to check availability of sailings.

cheers
martin

I had been thinking of visiting Coquet Island this week. Are there any reliable sites for Roseates on the mainland?

 

[martin kitching]

Excellent sighting :t:

Can I make a request for anyone seeing White-beaked Dolphins, or any other cetacean species, off the northeast coast to submit their sightings online at http://www.northeastcetaceans.org.uk/ please? We've got a fairly comprehensive database of cetacean sightings going back to 2003, and all new sightings will contribute to the ongoing discussions about Marine Conservation Zones.

cheers
martin

Was looking out to sea from near the old watch tower at 11am this morning when 6+ of these dolphins suddenly appeared and put on quite a display. Two of them decided to show off by turning on their backs and thrashing the sea with their tails. I was there for over an hour and they were still there when I left. The sickle shaped dorsal fin was indeed most impressive.

 

[woodhornbirder]

quick flyby

Popped down to post office depot during lunch, walked back past castle island. DEcent amount of mud exposed today, more than at weekend.

Looks good atmo, might get time to chk it on friday.

 

[waddy]

Many thanks - may defer the trip for three weeks. Do you have any info on the best sites then?