OUT AT LAST

Managed to get out the house on the 10th April and decided to head up to Lynemouth hoping to catch the water pipit that had been seen on the flash it did not take long to find it and i managed to get some good views from the roadside this was only my second water pipit the first one was at west allotment business park Dec 07 there was also a large number of pied wagtails here but i could not pick out any white's amongst them

Also at the flash was my first swallow of the year

I headed up to druridge pools next to catch up with the garganey and a little egret both showing well still and welcome additions to the year list .

Patch Listing

Here is my patch which i started keeping a record of birds seen in a calender year in 2008 i also have some old notes from previous years and i have been putting together a species list for this area,on the far left following the river wansbeck is sheepwash bridge then following the river in a north easterly direction taking in wansbeck riverside park then the river heads south easterly towards the stakeford road bridge then past the railway bridge and then towards castle island
then my boundary stops at the road bridge.

the patch is a bit narrower than the picture shows as i don't count all of the urban areas shown

and some of the distant fields etc.

2008 patch list

1 little grebe

2goldeneye

3 grey heron

4 magpie

5 woodpigion

6 blue tit

7 tufted duck

8 teal

9 mallard

10 canada goose

11 herring gull

12 black headed gull

13 shellduck

14 coot

15 moorhen

16 mute swan

17 iceland gull

18 glaucous gull

19 common gull

20 carrion crow

21 chaffinch

22 coal tit

23 blackbird

24 cormorant

25 long tailed duck

26 magpie

27 greater black backed gull

28 song thrush

29 robin

30 great tit

31 kingfisher

32 mistle thrush

33 pochard

34 feral pigion

35 greenfinch

36 goldfinch

37 bullfinch

38 wren

39 treecreeper

40 great spotted woodpecker

41 goosander

42 dunnock

43 redshank

44 nuthatch

45 grey wagtail

46 goldcrest

47 long tailed tit

48 oystercatcher

49 starling

50 snipe

51 pied wagtail

52 kestrel

53 red breasted merganser

54 barnacle goose

55 redwing

56 lesser black backed gull

57 jackdaw

58 sparrowhawk

59 chiff chaff

60 house sparrow

61 swallow

62 whitethroat

63 gadwall

64 sand martin

65 common sandpiper

66 blackcap

67 collared dove

68 swift

69 linnit

70 grasshopper warbler

71 common tern

72 reed bunting

73 willow warbler

74 spotted flycatcher

Water Rail

This water rail was sitting in the sun at cresswell ponds on the 9th

SHADOW IN THE REEDBEDS

This shape appeared when i scanned through the reedbeds
At cresswell on the 9th feb .

The bird then revealed itself it had to be .yesssss a Bittern

Then it came towards the waters edge what an amazing bird and a lifer for me

BACK ON THE PATCH

Have had a break from birding lately a combination of ill health, work and family commitments but had an opportunity to get up to the patch yesterday to start my patch list
I was hoping to pick up some of the winter species that were present last year i.e iceland gull,glaucous gull,redwing etc.
So i scanned the gull flock which had the usual combination of black heads,common,herring,greater black backed gull,
other birds present were as follows
Kestrel juv
wren
mallard
teal
pied wagtail
moorhen
starling
carrion crow
coot
redshank
long tailed tit
tufted duck
great tit
blackbird
house sparrow
greenfinch
woodpigion
goldfinch
chaffinch
collared dove

But best of all as i was returning home there was a lot of gulls in the horse field opposite the island so i thought it was worth a scan and as i scanned through mainly black heads and common gulls there was a stunning adult med gull,these are really stunning birds only my second hear but with it being an adult it realy stood out from the crowd.
Patch list 09 =24 1visit

LINTON LANE 14th NOVEMBER

A bean goose had been seen at linton by abbey meadows and an iceland gull so i decided to get up there as this would be another lifer for me and after a muddy hike to the hide i was not disapointed and managed to get these shots, no sign of iceland gull though.

does anyone no the origin of this goose?

BIRDS SEEN

herring gull

common gull

black headed gull

greater black backed gull

bean goose

canada goose

greylag goose

gadwell

wigion

coot

tufted duck

mute swan

mallard

redwing

bullfinch

blackbird

new species for site in bold

HOLY ISLAND PICS