LEO at West chevington

It's nice to see birds that are not rare but are rarely seen. Last night on my way home from Amble a Long eared owl was sitting on a fence post on the edge of Northsteads plantation near West chevington farm. No photo equipment for night time photography but it just sat on the fence post unperturbed by our presence and it didn't even fly off. It's pose was almost identical to the pic on Newton stringers blog. A nice surprise as I was looking for Barn owl at the time.
Quiet around the meadows with one Fox sighting. Nuthatches and Tawny owls are very vocal at the moment and there are still two Goosanders on the Wansbeck in Morpeth town centre.

Tis the season to be silly

The silly season usually starts here in November with a couple of reports of Rough legged Buzzards but I have never found a one myself until today that is. I arrived at the former Widdrington tip, now an excellent Alder plantation with lots of damp and wet areas as well as some small pine plantations. The first bird I saw was the Buzzard, well actually it was a Meadow pipit but the Buzzard lifted off the ground and looked so heavy in flight that it didn't look like clearing the hedgerow. It then glided with it's wings held in a 'v' and as it banked against the pines I could clearly see a white rump and tail with a black terminal band. The bird landed in a tree and the overall ground colour was white with black scaly markings on the belly and black streaking down it's neck, contrasting with white on the forhead. However, being the cynic I am I couldn't convince myself and by the time I got back to the car I had convinced myself that I had seen a pale bulky looking female Common Buzzard. I cannot get back here until Friday at the earliest but it will be worth looking out for. This is good habitat for Buzzard and they are frequently seen here. I didn't have my scope with me today as there was an opportunity to digiscope the bird as I was close enough.

The target bird here was Jack Snipe and I flushed one next to the flooded pool in the middle of the site. Also here were 8 Snipe, 40 Chaffinch and a few Goldfinches.

The pics above are Widdrington tip and a nice bunch of Oyster mushrooms beside my Auntie's house in Amble.

Cresswell

Spent late morning and early afternoon at Cresswell today. Started off in the dunes and the beach to give Bennyboy a good run about. We had the whole beach to ourselves. A bit quiet on the bird front here with only a handful of Twite and Goldfinches in the dunes. A small flock of gulls caught my eye off shore feeding on the surface of the sea. When I was watching them a Dolphin leapt out of the water; not sure what species though.

At the pond there were plenty of birds. Good numbers of Redshank, Curlew and Dunlin as well as Lapwing and Golden plover. There were also a nice variety of wildfowl. Species of rapters seen were 2 Merlins; male and female, Peregrine flying north, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel. Only the female Merlin came close to taking a Lapwing but the waders were too alert. The Bitterns were showing as usual as well as a Water rail. One of the Bitterns flew into the reeds next to the other one but was soon chased back to where it came from; very territorial these birds are. These birds are not easy to get a decent photo of from the distance they were today but I've posted a couple. The Lapwings looked splendid in the winter sunshine.

Some wintery shots

Following our first significant fall of snow and with the kids being sent home from school at lunchtime I went out with the camera around the meadows. I had no choice but to take them sledging on the abbey hill. The above pics are looking west at Lowford bridge; the same view as the title picture, Lowford bridge, some hardy tups, along the footpath, the kids sledging and Amber with some snowy friends. Quiet on the bird front with Jays and Bullfinches the only birds of note.

Lyne and Wansbeck

My turn on the rota for keeping Ulgham woods and meadows tidy. Nothing much to report here. Looking very sparse at the moment. Plenty of birds in the bushes. Redwings on the berries, Willow tit and 2 Treecreepers in the scrub. Dungaits who own the farmland around here usually leave one or two vegetable fields fallow over the winter. This usually attracts good numbers of Yellowhammers and Linnets but this year the fields have been ploughed right up to the hedges.

On my way to work at lunchtime there were 2 Goosanders on the Wansbeck next to the stepping stones and a Grey wagtail on the gravel island.

The pics above are the stepping stones on the Lyne at Ulgham and a pic I took the other day from the abbey of a fine specimen of Harts toungue fern.

To tick or not to tick

That is the question. I suppose nobody is really that bothered but I must admit while I may not be the purest of the putists I like my new birds to have a wild origin if it is possible to prove. The bird is of course is the Holywell Snow goose. I only went because I was dropping Heather off in Newcastle and decided to take my gear and call in on the way home. It is the first Snow goose I have seen for many years and although it looks wild enough I will wait and see what other birders have to say but it will stay off my list for now. Despite this it is a nice bird that really stands out among other geese and the dark clouds when in flight. I wasn't able to get any shots but there are some on John Molloys blog; birdingsometimes.
Back to work tomorrow so I am not getting out much plus my first day off for a while I came down with man flu and had to go christmas shopping on the same day! Other birds seen recently is my first Barn owl of the autumn/winter at Chevinton moor on Sunday and a couple of Buzzards at West chevington and Blagdon. On the wansbeck Dipper/ Grey wagtail etc.

Linton Lane

Spent the afternoon at Linton pond. Romped around the north side of the nature reserve. This is an expansive area of open scrub and has the potential to hold some interesting species. The best I got today was a small flock of Goldfinches and a few partridges. The pool held a fine variety of wildfowl including the White fronted geese (2 adults and 3 immatures) as well as the Bean. Along the track was Fieldfares, redwings and a willow Tit. There was also 2 Jays. Hundreds of gulls on the pond but no white winged ones but of note were 3 Lesser black backed gulls. Five Snipe flew around the SW corner of the pond. I was joined in the hide by Trevor Blake and ST.

Above a view of the scrub, some cropped shots of Bean, White fronted geese, Pink footed geese and a preening Goldeneye.