The birds & wildlife of Gateshead (5 Viewers)

[degsy_safc]

Need to brush up on my Gulls, though never been a grt Gull watcher.
Yellow Legged or Lesser B.B.?

Its a seagull Michael, we've had this discussion before - give up on them stick with interesting birds not the black 'n' white all look the same variety :eek!: :-O

 

[Michael A]

Thanks Andrew,took the photo two years ago and Id it as LBB, don't know why I thought otherwise.

 

[Mr Gon]

Sunday 3rd March saw 10 Waxwings on the railway path between Washington and Birtley. Didn't realise they stayed around that long! This morning saw Roe Deer, GSW drumming, >10 Song Thrush territories, Yellowhammers and Jay on short run along Ryton Willows.

 

[degsy_safc]

Sled Lane - 6 pairs of Goosander & 2 pairs of Goldeneye coming pretty close on a couple of occasions

Clara Vale - Sparrowhawk, male & female Siskin, Treecreeper, Kingfisher and Greenfinch as well as the more commoner species..

 

[2slo]

Clara Vale a.m., No sign of the Kingfisher or Heron ( I did see a Heron on a flooded field though driving back up towards Ryton) Several Bullfinch, Greenfinch, LTTs, Wren and a Magpie plus a ringed Blackbird which when I look at the leg band I can just make out the word 'inform'. Not much help I know, does it mean anything to anyone?

 

[Michael A]

Gooseanders

Sled Lane today,
Goldeneyes, Gooseanders, Tufted ducks, Mallard, Coot and many domestic ducks.
http://www.trampsandhawkers.co.uk/gallery/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trampsandhawkers/

 

[June Atkinson]

Red Kite Breeding Survey

Red Kite Survey - 23rd March 2013

Friends of Red Kites are seeking volunteers to help out with the above survey.

It will take place on Saturday 23rd March between 09.00hrs and 12.00hrs in Northumberland and Durham.

The primary aims of the survey are:

(a) to determine how many red kites there are in the north east of England

and

(b) to determine how widely distributed the red kites are in both counties.

The best way to survey is to find good vantage points, preferably high ground, which overlooks woodland and the adjacent countryside. Kites will be on territory at this time and are more likely to be seen over or near woodland. There is no need to walk through the woodland looking for kites, the aim is just to determine numbers. Please record any breeding behaviour on the forms (click on links below and print off relevant form) e.g. displaying, carrying nesting material, interaction with other birds etc. This will be followed up to confirm whether breeding has taken place or not.

The survey area could be your local patch or a place of your choosing which has mature woodland.

If the weather is poor on Saturday then the survey can be carried out on Sunday morning, 24th March.

To register an interest or if you have any queries contact Ken Sanderson at [email protected]

Forms are available for

Red Kite Survey Form - Northumberland

Red Kite Survey Form - Durham

They can be accessed on the website Breeding 2013 page.

 

[Ron Hindhaugh]

Clara Vale

A few shots from today. The weather was miserable with heavy showers at times but at least it was dry in the hide at Clara. One of the Moorhen in the last picture seemed to be grooming the other one something I have not seen before, does this happen often during the breeding season?

 

[Ron Hindhaugh]

Sled Lane & Shibdon Pond

A couple of shots of the Goldeneye at Sled Lane. The Whooper Swan was still at Shibdon and there was also (what looked like to me) a second winter Mediterranean Gull and a second winter Common Gull present, although as my gull identification is not great, I could be wrong about the last two. Again the weather was not great so apologies about the poor quality of the pictures.

 

[Adam W]

(what looked like to me) a second winter Mediterranean Gull and a second winter Common Gull present, although as my gull identification is not great, I could be wrong about the last two.

You are right with both species and the Med Gull does look like a 2nd winter though I'm not sure if the Common Gull might be an adult winter.

 

[Ron Hindhaugh]

You are right with both species and the Med Gull does look like a 2nd winter though I'm not sure if the Common Gull might be an adult winter.

Adam you could be right just looked at the bird book again and it does look like an adult winter.

 

[Michael A]

Red Kites

Red Kite nest building Gateshead.

 

[Mark Newsome]

Red Kite nest building Gateshead.

Although I'm sure you are a responsible photographer, it may be best not to add your photos of Red Kite on the nest to a public website. With Red Kite being a Schedule 1 breeding species, a licence is actually needed to photograph them at the nest. Maybe you already have a licence, but your photo may invite unwanted criticism.
http://www.britishbirds.co.uk/articles/bird-photography-%E2%80%93-a-new-code-of-practice
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/wildbirdslaw/birdsandlaw/wca/schedules.aspx

No offence intended by this advice.

Mark

 

[June Atkinson]

Red Kite news

I'm so glad that you did not disclose the location of this nest, Michael.
Please have a look at the Red Kite Breeding 2013 page on our website.
http://www.friendsofredkites.org.uk/page10.htm

Also the page on How to help http://www.friendsofredkites.org.uk/page7.htm

The message sent by Mark agrees with our advice at this crucial time for the kites. But we would appreciate it if, confidentially, you could send in the location of this nest to me at [email protected]

We are currently building a database of territories and nest-building activity in the whole of the region, so any information would be extremely useful.

Red Kite nest building Gateshead.

 

[Michael A]

Although I'm sure you are a responsible photographer, it may be best not to add your photos of Red Kite on the nest to a public website. With Red Kite being a Schedule 1 breeding species, a licence is actually needed to photograph them at the nest. Maybe you already have a licence, but your photo may invite unwanted criticism.
http://www.britishbirds.co.uk/articles/bird-photography-%E2%80%93-a-new-code-of-practice
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/wildbirdslaw/birdsandlaw/wca/schedules.aspx

No offence intended by this advice.

Mark

I know this is now on schedule 1 list. I would not give out location on a website, the reason i've posted photo is to actually let public know these magnificent birds are now about to nest and it may make people more vigilant around the borough and the more people watching maybe less chance of undesirables causing any problems. (for want of a better word)
Bird was not disturbed photo taken from public pathway.

 

[FoghornKinghorn]

I know this is now on schedule 1 list. Bird was not disturbed photo taken from public pathway.

I don't think anyone doubts that Michael. However the law is the law regarding rare breeding birds. It is even criminal to take photographs of Little Terns at the breeding enclosure at Crimdon, I think thats a little silly but then thats the law.

 

[Mickr]

I know this is now on schedule 1 list. I would not give out location on a website, the reason i've posted photo is to actually let public know these magnificent birds are now about to nest and it may make people more vigilant around the borough and the more people watching maybe less chance of undesirables causing any problems. (for want of a better word)
Bird was not disturbed photo taken from public pathway.

Michael, this is in reply to you but not aimed at you so please don't read anything into it as you make good points above.

You need to take care that you're not drawing people’s attention to the nest site, I know that is obvious and I’m not suggesting for one minute that you weren’t taking care. The Kites are probably OK with people walking down the path but might become agitated if people stop for a while if they're not used to that behaviour. Having said that, 2 years ago I found a nest which was within 20 metres of a river where kids were playing. At the time I cringed when the kids told me what I already knew anyway, that the Kite was building a nest in the tree because I could have been an egg collector. The kids were swimming, splashing and throwing rocks into the water and that didn’t stop the Kites nest building and raising 1 chick.

I help with the Kite monitoring and we do need people to report sightings because we live in a large expanse of land which is impossible to be constantly monitored by a few people. The photographs are of a untagged Kite so it isn’t one of the released Kites unless the tags have fallen off, which they do from time to time as they are fastened in a way which allows this to happen so the tag doesn’t become a potential hazard.

Anyway, I do photograph Kites from public footpaths or roads but never go anywhere close to a nest. I report the sighting to a Schedule 1licence holder who will then only go close to the nest if he has to. His first attempts at discovering a nest will be done from distance and will be done through the lens of a telescope where possible. The nest will only be disturbed if and when the young are tagged and or ringed.

On tagging, I know some people may prefer that this didn’t happen because the Kite doesn’t look natural with a tag on each wing but it’s massively important that this happens where possible. The reason for this is that we still don’t know everything about the Kites. We don’t know how far they are spreading and how many are moving. If a Kite is regularly seen and it’s untagged then nobody will know if you see 10 Kites 1 time each, or 1 Kite 10 times.

It was thought that Kites paired up for life. Because the Kites have been tagged we know that this isn’t necessarily true. Some Kites change partners, even after they have had a very good breeding season. We have one female who was half of a very successful pair which produced young every year. For some unknown reason she paired up with another male and they have been together for a number of breeding seasons without producing a single chick but she seems to be sticking with her 2nd partner.

Because of tagging we also know that Kites move territories, we wouldn’t know this without tags because sometimes one pair move out of a territory and another pair will move in and use the same nest. Without wing tags we would be perfectly entitled to assume that the same pair used the same territory.

We also know that some of our Kites have moved to other areas of the country and we know that some Kites have moved into our area from Scotland and Cumbria as well as other areas so we know the gene pool is being transferred. We also had a chick in rehab last year after it was blown out of its nest. We know this Kite has survived its first winter and that is fantastic to know considering the poor start it had to life.

We know we have a female which was raised in Scotland (WT T2), moved to Wales then set up home in the North East. We also know that last summer she lost her partner who was washed up dead on Redcar beach, none of this would have been known if it wasn’t for the tags and the information provided by members of the general public who bothered to take the time to inform people of the sightings. A limited number of people have come into contact with the 2 Kites I’m using in this example but we know so much about them because of the information people have provided and the information is priceless.

After all of that I guess I had better get to the point, a point which isn’t aimed at anybody in particular.

Don’t make it obvious if you’re watching what you think may be breeding Kites because not everybody has the best interests of the Kite at heart.

Don’t disturb them, especially at this time of year when they may move on because they haven’t really invested a lot of time in one nest site.

Report the finding so that they can be monitored and tagged if necessary.

Finally, enjoy the Kites, they are a fantastic site and we’ve got an opportunity which was denied to people of the North East for something like 170 years. I never for one minute thought that I would see a Red kite within 2 miles of my home, which actually became a reality within the last 2 weeks.

 

[Michael A]

Hi Mickr.
no offence taken. I no i'm fortunate to see Kites everyday, though i've yet to find any positive signs of breeding further up the Derwent Valley were i live. I think this is down to illegal persecution imho.

 

[Ron Hindhaugh]

Clara Vale

Clara Vale today there were originally 18 chicks now there are 17 (less if this Heron stays around).

 

[June Atkinson]

Spring Breeding


Keep looking.............. I wonder where you are "further up the valley".
I come from Consett.
We have almost 20 breeding sites verified and under surveyance.
We've also just had a report of a kite between Wark and Bellingham - that is good news, if it escapes persecution.

Do have a look at this page on our website: http://www.friendsofredkites.org.uk/page10.htm

Hi Mickr.
no offence taken. I no i'm fortunate to see Kites everyday, though i've yet to find any positive signs of breeding further up the Derwent Valley were i live. I think this is down to illegal persecution imho.