Industrial Oyks and the (Not so) Secret Wood.

 This post is another all-over-the-shop cornucopia of wildlife sightings locally.

Lesser Redpolls.

In April I like to keep an even closer eye on my bird feeders than usual because there is always the chance of a Brambling or Mealy Redpoll on its return migration. Who knows, even a Hawfinch is a possibility. 

To keep up the Mealy hopes I make sure the niger is filled each morning. This has attracted up to 20 Goldfinches at a time and a couple of Siskins on some days. The other day two Redpolls appeared, both Lessers and one was injured with a broken leg. That didn't seem to hamper it as it fed well for a couple of days before departure.

While it was sunny in the garden on Saturday a Holly Blue kept me company. A second was along the road by the Village Hall. The slow moth trapping continues with a nice Chamomile Shark being the highlight. This is only my 3rd here in 15 yrs.

Chamomile Shark

The ever present ( in spring anyway) Hairy Footed Flower Bee males.

Above - Holly Blue butterfly. Still earlier that usual...

This Pale Mottled Willow is the county earliest by 3 weeks. Maybe a migrant?

Industrial Oystercatchers.

On Sunday we visited a new spot, a little bit further than usual but not much. You might have seen me mention our severe lack of decent woodland up here, well this spot had a quite a large area and some of it quite mature too. Mature enough to hold a single singing male Redstart that was typically camera shy as they often are.. The whole area looks good for plants and insects too when the weather warms up a bit.

Today we found a couple of pairs of Marsh Tit, including one at a nest site. This is the best year I've had for these for a decade. Long may it be so. 

Marsh Tits prospecting a likely nest site.

Also around the area were good numbers of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers with 3 Buzzards, Brambling heard and Siskins singing. A carpet of Bluebells were on the cusp of opening.

It just shows, no matter how long you live in a place, there are always discoveries to be made if you only look...

Full of Bull...the Bull is Full...

 A more pleasant day, weather-wise, at Boulmer yesterday morning.

After Storm Arwen, it makes a refreshing change to see the, albeit temporary, return of the Bull's Mere in the village roadside field. This is how Boulmer got its name. Whether this is the original historic site of Bull's Mere I couldn't say, but Id like to think it was here in centuries past.

This area used to flood regularly some years ago but these farmers are expert at drainage and habitat reduction, so it has looked more like a football pitch in recent times. At one stage the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club approached the farmer to see if he would allow a small flash to stand. All it would take is some minor amendments to the manhole that would be done free of charge to allow excess water to drain away to prevent flooding but for some to remain longer for wildlife.

The beach at Boulmer is heavily disturbed by dog walkers etc these days, so as soon as the field floods the waders get a peaceful high tide roosting place. It has also attracted some good birds in the past, the best being a patch first Baird's Sandpiper.

 Anyway, that approach was refused, only for us to find a short time later that they had granted permission for a new car park to be put there! Complaints to planning have been made.

We are now gathering any evidence through counts of birds using it to show how beneficial it is to waders etc locally. Today it held a nice little selection at high tide - 

Mallard 49, Wigeon 35, Goldeneye 2, Redshank 61, Curlew 46+, Lapwing 40+, Oystercatcher 50.  While counting, a Black tailed Godwit dropped in briefly. The high tide was not very big so some birds roosted out on exposed rocks. On a bigger one, these numbers would have been much higher. 

When the field has water, it only takes about a day for the birds to use it. Such a shame that this small change in land use request falls on deaf ears.. 

An overly full Boulmer flash. There is a manhole in the centre. This could easily be modified to allow a pond half this size to remain. 

Black tailed Godwit leaves with a Curlew

Goldeneye

Later we walked down to Seaton Point for a scan. At sea were 38+ Red throated Divers, but even these were disturbed by 4 speeding dirigibles hammering around offshore. 3 Little Grebes were on the sea, always a novelty to see on salt water, 12+ Bar tailed Godwits, 34+ Grey Plover, 77+ Wigeon, 156+ Lapwing, 20+ Sanderling and 2 Ringed Plover. Passerines were very thin on the ground today with only 1 Gey Wagtail, 1 Rock Pipit, 2 Greenfinches of note.

6+ Bottle nosed Dolphins were hanging around off the village until the water racers arrived...

Spring.

This morning dawned bright and sunny with a light frost. John arrived at our house at about eight, just in time to catch a pair of Ravens flying south, high overhead, calling and doing some twisting display flight. This is the first here for two years, I wonder if its the same pair we used to get?

We headed off west to look for Adders at Branton Pits.

Looking west from Beanly Moor....

Spring has definitely sprung up here, despite the back drop of a snow covered Cheviot hills, Oystercatchers had arrived en-masse as had Black Headed and Common Gulls. The Oystercatchers breed on the river shingle beds and are absent all winter. It was good to hear them 'kleeping' about all over the place.

On our walk, Kingfishers could be heard whistling a territorial dispute call, but only brief glimpses were had.

Mute Swans and other wildfowl were already paired up, but the swans are in danger if they keep flying about and fighting. Its so easy for them to hit a pylon or fence.

Passerine targets were in short supply today, with no sign of the usual siskin flocks etc. Only 2 Goldcrest, a Yellowhammer and a few Chaffinches put in an appearance.

When the sun came out we checked the usual Adder basking spots, and were pleased to find a single snake quite well hidden out of the wind, catching a few rays. Although there isnt much to them really, a snake has a certain tropical feel and are always exciting to see.

A short stop near some pine woods had a few distant Crossbills calling and flying about but little else... 

Only another singleton from the moth trap this morning, a nice fresh Hebrew Character.