Low Newton, 24th March 2008

Why are pheasants so fuggin stupid ?!!!

I was driving down the A1 today and 2 female pheasants were in the central reservation..... the first one runs out and headbuts the bumper of the car in front of me .... the result , a big puff of feathers and instant death for the mental gamebird.....

The second bird has just stood there witnessing its mate get killed, so what does it decide to do ? Yep you guessed it.... exactly the same..... it runs out in front of me !! Luckily I've taken my foot off the pedal anticipating the suicidal tendencies of the average dumb pheasant.... so.... it makes it across my lane and into the inside lane where it wedges itself into the grill of Eddie Stobart..... stupid bastard !! Releasing these things into the wild should be illegal.....

I got to Newton today and I didn't want to get out of my car ! feezing cold, blowing a gale and heavy snow showers..... Luverly !!

I decided to make it short, so off down to Low Newton and the pool....

At the flood pool the 6 whooper swans were still present, on the pool itself were 14 wigeon, 4 shoveler, 1 gadwall and 50 odd teal. Around the edge of the pool was a large flock of pied wagtails, with 2 meadow pipits and 3 rock pipits, one of which was littoralis.....

Snow storm at the flood pool !!

I took shelter from the blizzard like conditions in the hide.... within a few minutes the sun came out and things felt a bit more spring like...... Not a lot to report here tho... 2 tufted ducks, 1 grey heron, a couple of teal and 6 goldeneye..... sounds crap, but I was captivated by the antics of a male goldeneye trying his hardest to impress the birds.....

From the pool I headed back along the beach at Low Newton, on the shore were a group of small birds, these comprised of mainly rock pipits and pied wagtails, but also 3 reed buntings, 2 stonechats and 3 littoralis rock pipits including one bright lookin individual....

On the shore were still a large number of purple sandpipers, and offshore were 4 common scoters. In Newton Haven a group of eiders were sheltering from the strong winds.....

Top birds......

This weekend I was hoping for a wheatear or something else to mark the start of the spring.... As I reflected on this thought yet another freezing snow shower came in and I decided I'd had enough for today......

Long Nanny & Low Newton, 22nd March 2008

After being a big girl about the weather yesterday I decided that I was heading out no matter what today....

So there I was in a blizzard, closely followed by a hailstorm, then some rain, then snow again..... the joys of local patching eh..... well actually it was just good to get out birding and despite the weather I managed to see some nice stuff.....

Snow in the dunes.....

I started off by heading down to the Nanny...... first stop was the cattle feeding area in the dunes that often has chaffinches and the odd reed bunting.... I've been grilling this area religiously hoping for a lapland bunting.... today there were about 16 chaffinches, 2 stonechats and one skylark.... oh.... and a serious hailstorm..... Those hailstones are bleedin hard, like someone shooting ball bearings at you !!

Down at the Long Nanny there were 19 wigeon, 3 teal and 4 shelducks, then on the seaward side of the bridge a quick scan of the gulls produced a 1st winter med.... the first med I've seen here for a few months.

Aren't med gulls BRILLIANT !!!

Around the sand flats were the usual groups of dunlin and ringed plover, but with them were 3 grey plovers and 1 knot. A scan of the Nanny itself produced 1 eider and 3 red-breasted mergansers....

Mergs....

A quick scan of the sea was quickly abandoned, the waves were huge and I couldn't see a thing, even gannets went missing in massive troughs... seawatching totals.... 12 gannets and 2 fulmars in 2 minutes !!

Walking back along the beach I nearly got washed away.... this tide was high and starting to erode the dunes in places.... global warming ?....... or just a high tide with onshore winds ?..... or both ?

Wet feet.....

Next I headed down to Low Newton where a large group of waders on the beach was made up of mainly purple sandpipers.... 76 purple sandpipers in fact !! There were also a handful of sanderling and turnstone here, but this was the largest flock of purps I've seen for a long time....

The tide was really high and people were walking all over what was left of the beach so the usual pipits and wagtails seemed absent, but then I found quite a few in the boat yard at the back of the square......

Rock pipits in the boatyard....

Amongst the rock pipits and wagtails were at least 3 scandanavian jobs, although the really bright birds from last week weren't here, these were more subtle looking.....


There was also a a large group of pied wagtails here.....

A nice male

Female....

When I first saw this bird alba "white wagtail" crossed my mind, but these thoughts were soon binned as I watched it...... It did show paler mantle colour (not quite pale enough for my liking tho !!)...... but it also showed extensive grey flanks and mottled black and grey patterns in the nape/cap area, and when I looked more closely it had one or two subtly darker mottled bits on the mantle too ..... Just to confirm my thoughts, it drooped its wings to show a black rump (alba wagtails show grey rumps uniform with their mantles).

Next I headed to the flood pool.... here there were 3 shoveler, 10 wigeon, 2 gadwall and a handful of teal, less than normal for sure...... A scan of the gulls here produced a suprise, 14 bar-tailed godwits were roosting with them..... but not for long, a peregrine came dashing across and within seconds the pool was empty and the sky was full !!

In the field at the back of the pool were 6 whooper swans, these are the first I've seen here for ages.....

Whoopers

By the time I reached Newton Pool I was bleedin frozen and could hardly feel my fingers !! So a quick scan produced 13 goldeneye and probably the same 2 gadwall off the flood pool.... then off home to warm up..... There's something satisfying about coming into a warm house when you've been out birding in the freezin cold all day.... A hot bath, a big hot meal and a few beers........ ahhhhhh...... in the words of jazz club......... "nice....."

Shite weather !! ...21st March 2008

I've been looking forward to getting out birding all week, but its blowing a gale and the rain was beating off the window this morning, so I couldn't be arsed to get myself out to Newton.

So.... instead I thought I'd drop some pics on here of some recent good work by a great smallholder at Newton.... Mr P

This guy has 2 large fields and a small copse at Newton (the area where I've been seeing tree sparrows recently). His land is next to a great patch of scrub which is important for breeding and migrant birds as well as other wildlife...

Mr P and his wife have lived at Newton for a long time, they love the area and wanted to put something back for wildlife, so we came up with a plan.....

As time goes on Mr P has less and less livestock to graze his fields, so we are going to try to expand the existing scrub habitat here over his fields, and include some ponds in there too. In the more open area of his largest field he has dug a shallow scrape, and alongside the copse he is creating a wide strip of seed rich cover for wintering birds. He is also planting a new hedgerow around the scrub area, erecting nestboxes in the hope of the tree sparrows colonising, and creating an access route through the new scrub so that when it is developed birders will be able to walk through and get to a point to view the larger scrape pool.....

This field is where its all happening ! Note the nice scrub habitat on the right hand side, and those brown patches in the field are new ponds.....errr.... sort of !!

This all dead exciting stuff and not without its challenges.... The land is free draining so any wet areas will have to be clay lined. We have sourced a large amount of free clay and in the next few weeks we hope to have the pools well lined and filled. Clay lining is a tried and tested method and I'm fairly confident it'll work for the smaller ponds, but I must admit to feeling a bit nervous about the larger shallow scrape area..... but a lot of this sort of stuff is trial and error I guess, and if you don't try then you don't get anywhere !!

Here's some more pics.... it looks a bit of a mess right now, but it won't take long for mother nature to take over and things to look more natural....hopefully in a few years time we'll have some nice open scrub habitat developing with some established wet areas amongst it...... and maybe a bigger tree sparrow population too, that would be nice !!

The beginnings of a shallow scrape pool, I hope that in a couple of years time there might be a baird's sand ploddin about on this...... errrrr........ if it holds water !!

Luxury apartments for tree sparrows....

Open spaced planting of low scrub stuff, a lot of hawthorns, but also blackthorn, dog rose, and elder. We also planted a couple of small clumps of alders and few wild cherry, field maple and willows to give a bit of extra species and structural diversity when its developed..... I hope that in ten years time there may be a barred warbler or wryneck lurking in here !!

Planting....

The new hedgerow that will border the scrub area....

This is one of four ponds now waiting to be clay lined. The bank on the right hand side of this pic has rocks and logs in it to provide hibernating areas for amphibians and invertebrates...

I am really impressed with the Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club and the Northumberland Coast AONB who have both contributed funding towards this project, a big thank you goes out to them.

I am also seriously SERIOUSLY impressed with the commitment of the small holder in question (who is very modest and will remain nameless !). He has spent a lot of time and a substantial amount of his own money to make this project happen too..... what a star !!

Low Newton, 14th March 2008

Well I said I hated twitching recently.... and so what do I go and do ???...........

Yep the twitch was on !!

This time it was more meaningful tho.... I had a call from TRD this morning who had found a black redstart at Newton (thanks for the call Tim)... It got to lunchtime and I couldn't resist it..... well it was Friday after all......

OK, so I know black redstart isn't exactly a crippler by many peoples standards, but I think they're top birds and its always nice to see unusual stuff on the patch...... much better than proper twitching I reckon !!

So, off I trot to Newton....... I've twitched the patch a number of times but only on two occasions have I actually been successful,... with a yellow brow, and a pec sand..... was this to be my third successfully twitched bird at Newton ??

Nah of course not !! The black redstart had vanished despite being here ...."10 minutes ago.... " !!

Bummer !!

Was worth going tho because there was a large gathering of pipits and wagtails on the beach, including 3 grey wags and 2 stunningly bright looking littoralis rock pipits... nothing like your UK jobs, they look more like sum plum water pipits... also 1 more subtle looking littoralis here too....

petrosus pipit

littoralis pipit

Around at the flood pool there was a lone barnacle goose with the greylags and smart looking drake pintail..... also 9 wigeon that I watched lift from the pool and fly out to sea in a north easterly direction, right over the horizon !!

Barnie...

Smart lookin....

Long Nanny, 8th March 2008

I'm ill !!

Felt like crap for the last two days, but lying on the sofa feeling sorry for myself and watching daytime TV like some sort of zombie has pushed me over the edge....

I was determined to beat this manflu and get some fresh air, so I headed out today with good intentions...

A nice walk along the beach would sort me out........................

......................................WRONG !!

When I got to Newton it was blowing a gale and my head was pounding.... I took a walk down to the Nanny, but there was naff all there and I just felt like shit...

200+ curlew, 4 shelducks and just 1 redshank on the saltmarsh, and a flock of around 25 wigeon and 1 goldeneye on the Nanny.

On the seaward side of the wooden bridge was a small flock of dunlin and ringed plover..... the ringies were getting blown all over the place...

Windswept and interesting....

The dunlin here showed some variation in bill length... but size doesn't matter apparently...

Short...

Bit longer....

It started raining so I tucked myself into the dunes here for shelter.... trouble is marram grass doesn't really offer any shelter.... and as a result, I got soaked....... just what I needed !!

Fuggin rain !!!

On the squelchy walk back along the beach towards Newton I noticed a steady northwards movement of gulls, mainly herring gulls but a few GBBGs and a couple of kitts.... On the sea there were 27 common scoter, 4 goldeneye, 2 red-breasted mergansers, and 4 red-throated divers 2 of which showed well diving in the surf.....

Newton Surfer...

By now I was feeling dreadful and all my good intentions of visiting the pool went out the window. When I returned to my car I just necked some pills and fell asleep for an hour....

........Tomorrow I am definitely staying in bed......

Before I left for home, I dropped off those nestboxes with my favourite smallholders, and checked on the progress of their conservation project....

This ploughed strip will soon be a sacrificial seed bearing crop for birds.....We hope that next winter this will have a few trees sparrows and buntings in it !!

In my garage......, 2nd March 2008

I FEEEEEEL GOOD !

The reason I feel good is because I've spent the day in my garage making 15 nestboxes for Newton....

They are mainly tree sparrow boxes, but I guess other stuff will use them too...

Halfway through the assembly line....

It feels really nice to give something back towards conservation on your local patch.... The boxes are going to a small holder who has a copse where I have been seeing tree sparrows recently.

These nestboxes are part of a larger plan which should help to create some really good habitat, and also 6 years worth of sacrificial wild bird crop, with a special mix designed for the tree sparrows and buntings at Newton.....

All exciting stuff... watch this space for more info....

In fact no....... don't bother watching this space, go and make a nestbox or two instead. Spring is still not here, so you've got time........ and it makes you feel good !!

Newton Pool & Newton Point, 1st March 2008

Its the 1st of March and Spring is here !!

A lovely sunny day, bit breezy tho.....

The frogs were busy in the pools this morning....

Down at the pool the catkins were on budding willows......

By the hide the hawthorns were in leaf....

At the wardens cottage the daffodils were coming through.....

Yep its all starting to happen...... so what about the birds ?....... NAFF ALL !!

The first signs of spring were here, but the birds are still well and truly in winter.... well..... I saw one skyark starting to sing today...... excellent, a sign of spring I thought..... but then it was promptly chased out over the sea by a female merlin and nailed !! Mmmmm.... There goes the spring........

.....A shame, but thats nature for you, and it was pretty spectacular to watch.

So I had a walk down to the hide today.... The flood pool is going down a bit, I think the Environment Agency have been out flushing drains to encourage it to reduce in size... Nothing out of the ordinary to report here, but a count of 9 gadwall wasn't bad... also 6 wigeon on the flood, but no waders and only 50 odd black-headed gulls.....

On Newton Pool I counted 15 goldeneye, and not a lot else..... couple of mute swans and few teal.... pretty shite really....

A walk along to Newton Point produced the bird of the day.... a flyby great northern diver (flying south), suprising how in bright sunlight they can look a bit paler and pale billed !!

Along the shoreline there were at least 23 purple sandpipers, and a supporting cast of the usual waders here, including 7 Barwits and a grey plover....

Barwit....

Curlew....

As I wondered around the NT compound at Newton Point I started thinking about wheatears..... not too long now..... or maybe a black redstart..... that would be very nice, classic spot for them too !!

Off the point were 3 red-throated divers, 4 gannets flying north and a handful of guillemots, flippin breezy tho....

In football hole there were 22 goldeneye and 4 rb mergansers (3 males), all looking stunning surfing the waves in bright sunlight. Also a small flock of 13 teal on the sea here.....

At the Tin Church it was windy and dead. Just 1 redwing and couple of song thrushes here..... I heard a goldcrest but it was blowing a gale so I couldn't be bothered to look for it.... As I walked back to the car the woodpigeons all lifted from the field and a stunning peregrine flew right over my head. It had a half hearted attempt at chasing a pigeon, then gave up and carried on flying south....

Finally, I dropped into my ringing site at Newton on my way home too, I was suprised (and a bit annoyed) to find someone has stolen my strings I use as guy ropes ! Why would someone go to the trouble of untying a load of strings that are firmly tied up around trees ?? Some very strange people out there.......

I wish the spring would hurry up..... need some summer migrants to liven me up a bit....