Brasside Ponds, Durham City (1 Viewer)

[StevieEvans]

Brasside Ponds Area
Grid Ref- NZ292 453

Situated 1.5miles north of Durham City centre
Flooded clay pits, with scrubby / wooded margins, in area of mixed agriculture, with adjacent woodlands & R. Wear Valley.

Site list of approx 180 species

Resident/Breeding species
Green woodpecker, G.S.woodpecker, Nuthatch, Willow tit, Long tailed tit, Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Redpoll
Jay, Magpie, Stock dove, Grey partridge
Woodcock, Curlew, Lapwing, Grey wagtail, Heron, Kingfisher
Great crested grebe, Dabchick, Ruddy duck, Goosander, Tufted duck, Mute swan, Canada goose, Greylag goose
Tree sparrow, Linnet, Reed bunting, Yellowhammer
Little owl, Tawny owl, Long eared owl, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel

Summer Visitors
Grasshopper warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Cuckoo, Sedge warbler, Garden warbler, Whinchat, Swift, Sand martin, House martin, Swallow. Yellow wagtail

Winter Visitors
Short eared owl, Long eared owl, Golden plover, Jack Snipe, Water Rail, Goldeneye, Goosander, Fieldfare, Brambling, Redwing, Siskin

Unusual/Sporadic/Rare Visitors
Eider, Long tailed duck, Common Scoter, Shag,
Fulmar, Kittiwake, Black tern, Yellow leg gull, Med. gull, Little gull
Osprey, Red Kite, Honey buzzard, Hobby, Goshawk,
Waxwing, Dipper, Wood warbler, Quail, Black tail godwit, Ruff, Dunlin, Greenshank
Stonechat, Twite, Turtle dove
Garganey, Shelduck, Red crested Pochard, Merganser, Scaup, Slavonian, Red necked & Black necked grebes
Bewick & Whooper swan, Bittern, Reed warbler

Other wildlife
Red Squirrel have not been seen for a year now, although Otters have recently started to re-occupy the Wear nearby, Hare & Roe Deer are both common, with Badger being occassional visitors.

 

[smeltmill]

Dear Steve,

Thank you for the interesting post.
I occasionally attend a meeting in Durham and usually manage to look in at Brasside.
On one beautiful day I watched a private dick photographing an assignation there.
When he walked past I enquired as to whether we were both working for the same client.
Flustered he said, “I thought you were the real thing.”
“I am” I replied.
Then a wonderful cat and mouse game followed as he tried to discover whom my employer was or whether I was just a bird-watcher.

Regards.
Gordon Boreham-Styffe.

 

[Gill Osborne]

Have to look this site up next time i'm in Durham...some nice looking stuff on your list! Very rarely get down to Durham but since it's so close to the town centre i'll have to hop on a bus or the train and pay a visit!!!

 

[cuddy]

Thanks for bringing this site to our notice, i will check it out as it is a new site for me

 

[IanF]

Yes thanks from me too. Whilst I have heard the name before, I have never visited this location. Looks like an excellent venue that I´ll have to call at some time soon.

 

[StevieEvans]

NB. Pond is used by a shooting syndicate, on alternate weekends, during shooting season.
So occassionaly holds little wildfowl. (Despite this the wintering duck often return within a few days. A Slavonian grebe stayed a few weeks, circling the ponds at low level, while the shooting went on. Amazing close views in flight!)
When water-bodies of limited interest, then the public footpaths in area, & other pathways adjacent to ponds have wide range of species.

Anyone parking in Durham centre can reach the ponds in an easy 30 min walk with birds all the way, including Little Owl, Tree Spar, Willow Tit, 3 Wagtail ssp, Kingfisher, Dabchick, Goosander, Sparhawk, Grasshopper warbler, Cuckoo, etc


The ponds are part of a larger SSSi , the smaller pond being Home Office land managed by D Wildlife Trust. The larger pond is privately owned, there does not appear to be an access problem for the local residents or bona fide birders, both of which are few in number.

 

[StevieEvans]

Birds seen...

Birds seen on 1st & 2nd Oct 03 (Total of 3hours)

1Kingfisher 2Heron 7Cormorant Grey Wagtail Pied Wagtail Curlew Lapwing 1Snipe
5Swallow 15House Martin 2Chiffchaff
5GCGrebe 10+Little Grebe 1Goldeneye 2Gadwell 1Wigeon Mallard 75Coot Moorhen 5Pochard 25Tufted Duck 2Ruddy Duck 7Mute Swan
Little Owl(3) (4+H)Tawny Owl 1Long eared Owl Kestrel Sparrowhawk
Jay(10+) Magpie Pheasant Grey Partridge Crow Wood Pigeon Stock Dove Jackdaw & Rook(1000+)
Siskin 2Lesser Redpoll 12Linnet Yellowhammer Tree Sparrow(1!)
12Bullfinch Goldfinch Chaffinch Song Thrush Blackbird Mistle Thrush Starling
Yaffle(H) GSWpkr Nuthatch Willow tit(4), Goldcrest

S

 

[StevieEvans]

Twitch....

Fri 3rd Oct '03 17:30

A visit to see 2 Scaup reported on Birdguides drew a blank.
The only diving ducks present were 2 Ruddy, 27 Tufted & 3 Pochard.

Willow tits, Chiffchaff, Jays, Stock Dove & Bullfinch were the only birds of note.

We inadvertantly disturbed a Kingfisher, which flew off calling to land on a Hawthorn bough 50m away.
After settling down, the bird made a single successfull dive, flying back toward us with its catch.
The bird then sat in a sheltered spot on the lower branches of a large Crack Willow, where it appeared to settle down to roost for the evening, only 20M away from us.

The Scaup never got another thought after this.

Moving away from the pond 2 Little owls sat in full view, the closest (25m away) was positioned on top of a swaying plastic electric-fence-post.

We left for home happy, despite not seeing what we had gone for.

(many toadstools seen, including several bright red & white ones)

S

 

[StevieEvans]

Another visit today 14:30-17:30

2 Waxwing were a nice start, others seen on the pond included:-

51 Pochard, 53 Tufted
8 Greylag, 1Canada, 8Mute Swan
28 Cormorant (roosting in trees)
150+ Mallard, 3Teal, 146Coot
3 GCGrebe, 3+ Dabchick
50+ Goosander (dusk roost-much displaying) (site max = 107)

1 Heron, 1LBBGull, 1seen & 3calling Water Rail, 2PWagtail, 30Lapwing, 1+Kingfisher(on both ponds-still active at 16:17dusk)

3+Treecreeper, 6Coal tit, 12+LTTit, 5+Goldcrest, 1GSW
2 Jays were flushed from a small waterside Oak at approx 5PM (dark), from their roost on a branch with retained leaves, only about 1metre above the water.
50+Magpie, 500Rook/Jackdaw, 13GreyPartridge
1 LittleOwl, 1 TawnyOwl, 1Kestrel.

S

 

[duncan fraser]

Things seem to be picking up at Brasside. The shooting season is over and from Feb to April, numbers and species tend to improve. Had Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Teal and Pochard this morning plus Grey Heron and Cormorants. Typically 2 or 3 other duck species will turn up over the next couple of months. Still not too late for a decent gull to float in.

Oystercatchers are back for yet another year -doing their courtship thing this morning.

Unfortunately, 4 lads took the boat out to the large island and disturbed many of the birds. Not sure what they were doing, but they looked well-prepared; lifejackets and multi-pocket bodywarmers etc.

Good numbers of passerines - 55 Redwing, 2 Fieldfare, several Yellowhammer, 5 Reed Bunting, 13 Brambling, Goldfinches, various tits, 2 Willow Tit, 2 Grey Partridge, 5 Jays, 20 Pied Wagtails.

Lots of LT Tits, the weather obviously has not caused them undue problems - including a bird with no tail. It had me guessing at first, looked a bit like a chubby Goldcrest, until I got the bins on it.

Looks like numbers are building back up, after the cold weather.