The birds & wildlife of Gateshead (1 Viewer)

[One Man and His Dog]

Derwent cp

bike ride in the derwent cp today produced:
buzzard x 2
red kite x 3
sparrowhawk x 2
kestrel x 1
chiffchaff x 6
sand martin x 4
gooseander x 4
dipper x 2
kingfisher x 2
grey wagtail x 4
lesser redpoll x 1
and the usual commener birds.
new to gateshead today blackcap & swallow
cheers
steven fryer :t:

 

[drexyl]

bike ride in the derwent cp today produced:
buzzard x 2
red kite x 3
sparrowhawk x 2
kestrel x 1
chiffchaff x 6
sand martin x 4
gooseander x 4
dipper x 2
kingfisher x 2
grey wagtail x 4
lesser redpoll x 1
and the usual commener birds.
new to gateshead today blackcap & swallow
cheers
steven fryer :t:

that's a canny bike ride........
i'll be over on saturday , hopefully i'll see a few off your list.......

 

[One Man and His Dog]

that's a canny bike ride........
i'll be over on saturday , hopefully i'll see a few off your list.......

hi paul
you should see a few of them, there a bit active now its spring!!!
have a good day!
cheers
steven fryer :t:

 

[One Man and His Dog]

Drum roll please!!!!!!

few hours out this am produced a lsw drumming and calling B , unfortunately the little fella didnt want to show for me!!! :-C not to worry though, theres always next time? other birds of interest this am: tawny owl, and little owl both on the day list list, butterflies out today were: comma and small tortoiseshell. Also had a day flying noctule bat, roe deer and a stoat, thats about it for today :-C next day out is sunday, keep you posted.
cheers
steven fryer

ps: recieved a text about gatesheads latest year tick! wheatear at ravensworth fell, birds had moved on when i got there!!!

 

[One Man and His Dog]

Two new year ticks?

Two new year ticks for me today, with wheatear and little ringed plover putting in an appearance. Was joined again by Mouldy as we notched up 57 species in the borough, highlights were: wheatear, lrp, little owl and lsw drumming again! 2 hares showed well at burdon moor. Out and about in morning again, fingers crossed for some new year ticks and some pics?
cheers
steven fryer :t:

 

[drexyl]

went down rainton meadows this morning for a stroll around the ponds, saw oyster catchers, various ducks, lapwings,grebes,swans & a variety of garden birds...packed up & we went home quite happy with our day....

jo then decided she wanted some bits & bobs from the garden centre so off we went.....

after a bit of shopping at clays garden centre in washington tyne & wear we returned to the car......

i noticed about six birds darting into a cotoneaster bush in the middle of the car park, they were so fast i didn't make out what they were, thinking they could've been sparrows we both waited & watched....they then flew out of the bush & up into the surrounding small trees....

looking straight into the sun i said to jo, they look like waxwings, we then walked around the side so we we didn't have to look straight into the sun...

ASTONISHED is not the word............about 40 were in the trees, a magnificent sight...

we watched them for a while & i said to jo lets go back home & get the camera, not really thinking they would be there when we got back she appeased me......

camera in hand we dashed back but they'd all gone :-(

wait a minute jo said i'm sure that's one in it's own up that tree.......

yep, one little waxwing had decided to hang back & make our day......

i took 260 pics, slowly getting closer, but to my amazement he didn't seem to mind me being there.....

he kept calling out so i presume he'd been left behind while he waited for us.........

hope he caught up with his pals & if i could i'd buy him a drink for making our day.......

thank you little waxwing.........

what a start to the week, we were both virtually speechless...........

here's a few pics

 

[One Man and His Dog]

Waxwings!!!

Waxwings!!! great find paul and some cracking shots, been a good year for these! is waxwing a first for you?

Been very slow in gateshead this monday, 58 species seen and all common! not much to report today, so resorted to a bit of photography at far pastures. Lets hope things hot up over the next few weeks?
cheers
steven fryer :t:

 

[One Man and His Dog]

Few more pics from today.

Local bike ride with tilly in morning taken in, river derwent, derwenthaugh staithes, derwenthaugh water meadows, shibdon pond and back along the river derwent. Should get at least one new migrant over the next week doing this route?
cheers
steven fryer :t:

 

[Ron Hindhaugh]

A few pictures

Had a walk around Ravensworth Fell and Beamish yesterday here are a few pictures.

 

[Ron Hindhaugh]

A few more

Here are a few more shots from yesterday. Can anyone identify the first picture I think it could be a Lesser Redpoll but it just looks odd.

 

[One Man and His Dog]

bird id

Here are a few more shots from yesterday. Can anyone identify the first picture I think it could be a Lesser Redpoll but it just looks odd.

Hi ron
looks good for lesser redpoll to me, nice set of photos.
cheers
steven fryer :t:

 

[Ron Hindhaugh]

Hi ron
looks good for lesser redpoll to me, nice set of photos.
cheers
steven fryer :t:

Cheers Steven thought it might be.

Here are some from the fell today.

 

[One Man and His Dog]

Cheers Steven thought it might be.

Here are some from the fell today.

Nice red legged partridge photos ron, great place to go birding!

Not much around this am but had an incubating tawny owl this afternoon whilst walking tilly in the woods at winlaton mill (local patch), just a pitty she didnt show herself!!!
cheers
steven fryer :t:

 

[drexyl]

Hi there,
yes the waxwings were a lifer for me, fantastic sight to see, i couldn't get over how it just wasn't bothered by my attempts to get closer and closer....
i don't think it would've bothered if i'd climbed up the tree....
the blokes at work are sick of hearing me go on about it now..... ;-)

 

[drexyl]

Hi there,
yes the waxwings were a lifer for me, fantastic sight to see, i couldn't get over how it just wasn't bothered by my attempts to get closer and closer....
i don't think it would've bothered if i'd climbed up the tree....
the blokes at work are sick of hearing me go on about it now..... ;-)

 

[Ron Hindhaugh]

Nice red legged partridge photos ron, great place to go birding!

Not much around this am but had an incubating tawny owl this afternoon whilst walking tilly in the woods at winlaton mill (local patch), just a pitty she didnt show herself!!!
cheers
steven fryer :t:

Nice one Steven even though she didn't show. Only a pity I’m back at work from today or I would have gone to Winlaton to see if I could get some shots.

 

[One Man and His Dog]

The w word!!!

Nice one Steven even though she didn't show. Only a pity I’m back at work from today or I would have gone to Winlaton to see if I could get some shots.

Work!!! it dos get in the way sometimes, i'd love to call it a day sometime soon? anyway back to reality, tawny owl showing a bit better this am! also had green woodpecker near nest hole and great spotted woodpeckers mating, also had a potential lesser spotted woodpecker hole aswell? worth keeping an eye on, more than likely just an old one.
Should be a few more migrants in gateshead by the weekend if these southerly winds keep up? worth keeping an eye out!!!
cheers
steve :t:

 

[derwent7]

Work!!! it dos get in the way sometimes, i'd love to call it a day sometime soon? anyway back to reality, tawny owl showing a bit better this am! also had green woodpecker near nest hole and great spotted woodpeckers mating, also had a potential lesser spotted woodpecker hole aswell? worth keeping an eye on, more than likely just an old one.
Should be a few more migrants in gateshead by the weekend if these southerly winds keep up? worth keeping an eye out!!!
cheers
steve :t:

Hi Steve Willow Warbler at Shibdon in the reserve

George

 

[One Man and His Dog]

Hi Steve Willow Warbler at Shibdon in the reserve

George

Hi George
just got back from shidbon now, but no sign of willow warbler? the wind is a bit strong to hear or see anything, i'll try again tomorrow. maybe see you there tomorrow? plenty sand martins ~ chiffchaffs ~ lesser black backed gulls there now!
cheers
steve

 

[Mouldy]

making a meal out of it

Hi Steve, here's that crap photo I txt you about earlier, another one for the great lesser/mealy debate.
Had 3 lessers on the feeder earlier in the day, this one came late afternoon on it's tod so couldn't compare size, just looked different jizz, paler bird than t'others, obvious white supercillium and extensive white rump, seen well when it flew off into the hollybush soon after this photo (taken at distance, through double glazing).

Opinion?

A.