Big Garden Birdwatch.

 Sunday morning was calm and fine, a pleasing contrast after the blasting we had on Saturday so we did the garden bird count. I watched the kitchen window, Jane from the other side in the bedroom calling out additions.

Totals from 10.50 - 11.50am.

The list is pretty much as last year but without Great Spotted Woodpecker and Sparrowhawk. Both species are around, just not in the hour we counted.

Its still great to see my second most numerous species after Jackdaw is Tree Sparrow. I have had up to 32 birds this winter but only the 22 today. The RSPB webpage for recording the count doesnt have Tree Sparrows as a standard garden species so I had to add them as an extra with no number. People are telling me it is possible to add them so I'll see if it can be edited.

Some of the cast as seen from the kitchen window...

  

BWKN0 ....

My second day working from home from 8am until 4pm sat at the computer with only an odd break away for a cuppa or to let Peggy out. During this time in some nice early spring weather I managged to add a few new species to the garden list.

I was a bit disappointed that there was no obvious overhead passage going on, but some of the locals appeared co-operatively.

First thing a Curlew flew south over the garden. This is not an unusual occurrence but by this time most have moved on inland or further north so I was pleased to get this one out of the way.

A Tractor ploughing a strip of the back field was a good sign and I felt sure it would add something like a Lesser black backed or Med Gull but no, only a few Herring Gulls attended but it did flush Skylark and Rook while a Stock Dove landed with 19 Woodpigeons on the fine tilth afterwards.

Around the feeders and garden itself were Song Thrush, Bullfinch, 2 Sparrowhawks, male and female and a Magpie. A loudly honking Greylag flew very low overhead this afternoon bringing my wildfowl list to one.

Bird list now stand at a respectable 33 species for the last few days.
Late edit - 3 Long tailed Tits over the feeders were forgotten and late last night a calling Redwing emigrating back home was pulled in by the light of the moth trap. Revised Total 35

This post is quite photo heavy to give readers an idea of my garden patch at the present time..

Two angles looking out of the kitchen window facing West. This is a good skyline to watch and the farmland is mainly rough grass and mixed. The hill you can see is the Hips Heugh, it is a cliff on the far side and is part of the Whin Sill geology.

The feeders will have a part to play providing I can get the seed! This is Tree Sparrow Tesco...

Another look facing NW. A Barn Owl sometimes hunts right along the wall edging the drive giving great views from inside the house. It hasn't shown yet...

Along the drive to the old pig sty sheds and copse on the N edge of the garden. It pulls in a few migrants mainly in autumn but you never know.

The main East garden. Viewing more resiricted here but is is sheltered and good for insects. That hedge along the wall top has had Barred Warbler.

Another bird table. This only gets a few bits of food for the shy species that dont want to be in the main flock. The sea is approx 300 mtrs that way.

This tractor was ploughing part of the back field but only these few were attracted. Photo from our drive.

Hen Blackie always arrives as I start feeding the birds.

The Bully returned to the cherry tree in a neighbours garden today.

This Magpie cleared the small birds from the feeders briefly.

Starling was late and had to make do with peanuts.

Garden Starlings...

Our neighbour has 3 conifers in her garden. From mid summer until late autumn they attract a small roost of up to 500 starlings with numbers decreasing as winter arrives. I wonder if they move off with continental starlings coming in from the east?

Anyway, this year the starling roost has gone mad! There are thousands of them. I like them but wonder what will happen if numbers continue to increase in the winter? If they get moved on during a cold spell it wouldn't do the poor things any good...

Sunny...

A day off today and the sun is shining. A loiter around the garden had a nice Red legged Partridge singing from the back field. I saw it as it ran off over the rise. This is a garden tick for me taking that list to 121 species in almost 6 years. Not bad.

While out, the local Goldfinches were very active today with males singing and swaying side to side for females nearby.I think they look territorial so there might be a breeding attempt in the garden this year?

Female Goldfinch.

Male Goldfinch singing...

Male swinging and swaying his fanned tail...

While the camera was out a Starling looked to good to ignore...

Sunny Saturday.

What a lovely day its been. The sun has shone all day with a bit of frost first thing and very little wind it was a pleasure to be out. There was even a hint of warmth in the sun, a taste of things to come I hope.

A few wanders around the patch from home added only one new species to the Patch List - Stock Dove. A single bird was in stubble down near the teepee track this morning. Apart from that the other main highlight was a flock of 20 Bullfinches feeding on a lawn in the rear of Howick Hall this afternoon. I cant recall seeing as many all in one view before. I couldn't get a picture due to visitors wandering by flushing the birds as soon as the landed. Maybe next time.  

At the beach along the burn mouth there was no sign of the reported Dunlin and Sanderling there earlier in the week. You know the rules, if you dont see it yourself it has to be stringy!

Other things of note - 30 Curlew, 10+ Skylark including one in full song, 100+ Linnets, Grey Wagtail, Sparrowhawk, 4 Teal, 3 Goldeneye, Goldcrest.

I hope the weather is the same tomorrow, I'm only out for a couple of hours first thing, so its on foot around the patch again. I'm really enjoying the patch work thing at the minute...

Starling

Tree Sparrow

House Sparrow

Blue Tit

91. Stock Dove

The Coquet Estuary....

Amble Harbour

Eider displaying.

The day dawned calmish and quite bright but soon became dull, making these photos very grainy and drab. We covered the Coquet estuary from Amble Harbour up to Birling Carrs, adding a couple of new species to JWR's patch list.

On arrival a huge number of Rooks and Jackdaws were leaving their roost, numbering several thousand birds. The sky was full of them, the air ringing with their calls.

The estuary was full of birds with up to 700 Golden Plover, 300 Lapwing, Dunlins and Redshank. A lone Grey Plover and a few Knot added interest. Up at the harbour, an adult Mediterranean Gull loafed, but it wasn't the usual bird carrying a red darvic. This one only had a metal ring on one leg.

8+ Red breasted Merganser were spread right up the river, one or two pairs were in full display mode and a female Goosander was up near the road bridge.

2 Purple Sandpipers were on the pier, 2 Grey Partridges were along the braid with another 5 at Birling. 5 Roe Deer showed well near the river.

Small stuff around the Braid car park included a female Bullfinch, several Long tailed Tits and a host of Goldfinches.

Mediterranean Gull at the Little Shore.  

Starling singing from lobster pots.

Female Bullfinch.

Long tailed Tit

Back home, a short look along the shore added othing to the Howick list, but 5 Grey Plovers were extra noteworthy, not being annual here, 2 Harbour Porpoises off shore near 2 Red throated Divers.

A cold spell forecast for mid week might shuffle the pack a bit...