Little Bittern -1

 

 

Monday the news filtered out of a Little Bittern  seen and heard at Gosforth Park Nature Reserve, I was along the coast and rather than dash off straight there I decided to go home first and dress more appropriate to an evening at the lakeside  complete with insect repellent. It had been decided as with the recent Feruginous Duck to allow day passes to what is normally a private reserve of The Norrthumbria Nartural History Society so I suppose I should not have been surprised when arriving at the hide to find it filled to overflowing and being a nice warm sunny day  it was rather comical to see everyone sweating profusely , well at least I got in the hide with a few standing outside where you can see nothing, I was bent over trying to get a look out of the low shutters temperature rising by the minute so I decided to head around to the South hide which overlooks a lot of the reeds and has a small pool in front. Arrived at the hide to find it empty what a strange contrast , no sooner had  I sat down when a Kingfisher drops in sitting on a nicely placed branch  it has a couple of attempts at fishing but without success, numerous Reed Warblers feeding along the reed edges also a Reed Bunting, with Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, and Blackcap  singing beside the hide. Well I gave it my best shot spending about an hour and a half gazing over the extensive reed bed with no sign of the bird I could hear it calling but only faintly, (it resembles a small dark barking but in slow motion) with the surrounding area providing lots of traffic and aircraft noise pollution , the seemed to over towards the west edge where a screen overlooks another pool which are all collected with narrow passages . I decided to walk around on arrival only a family of Mute Swans to be seen with the occasional Common Tern trying it s hand at fishing , a Green Woodpecker called and sounded fairly close so I headed off to have  a look , surprised  myself at picking it out fairly quickly as it rested in a tree calling briefly giving me the rare opportunity of getting a few shots  , I did not go back to the main hide but the bird was reported as having been seen/heard at least it was still here , no chance to get back Tuesday but Wednesday was free so the plan to get there early. Round one Little Bittern 1 me 0 

 

 Kingfisher for company in a nice cool empty hide

 Preparing to make a dive

 Not sure how long  it sat around probably not more than a few minutes in reality but enough for me to get loads of shots

 Obligingly it change pose several times

 A Reed Warbler takes a moment to preen the  constant effort of feeding young takes it's toll

 Water Rail puts in a brief appearance but would just not come far enough out in the open

 View from the screen what a fantastic evening

 Green Woodpecker sits for me with the odd short call

 Unlike the Kingfisher it just sits there looking around ,not complaining though at last an opportunity to get some shots of this elusive bird.

So that's how my evening ended I'm not complaining no sight of the Little Bittern but nor did I have to spend hours in a packed out hide !!! Being a member  I can return as often as it takes . So why not think about joining from as little as £30 per year it's well worth it without membership this site would have just overgrown and slowly went over to woodland it takes money and  management  to preserve wildlife habitat

Coral Root Orchids

Today I  went to Gosforth Park nature Reserve to see the Coralroot Orchid as it has a good colony here.

I have mentioned "The Natural History Society" before and this is their site I have also mentioned it's well worth being a member for I think £30 per annum , If you read an advert  in a local wildlife magazine offering to show you Coralroot Orchid for a mere £30 you would think it good value, well join the society instead and you can visit the reserve as many times as you like ,plus their excellent library and programme of Summer outings and Winter talks.

Well the Orchids located but the day rather dull and me with only my large lens , most where in tight groups but spread over several yards, I know Orchids have a complicated life cycle but here the conditions must be just right ,will have to read up on these as I remember the ones I saw at Holy Island where in the open and not at the base of trees (unless there had been trees in the past.)

I walked around the path to the screen then onto the hide for my lunch several Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler ,Chiffchaff  and a couple of Blackcaps with a brief Garden Warbler singing , Jay GSW also heard and seen , along with Heron ,Blue Tits and |Great Tits and a Song Thrush giving it's fantastic musical repertoire . The nesting platform on the lake held about 6 pairs of BH gulls and I counted about 14 pairs of  Common Tern , several BH gull chicks around with three to the left of the hide which must have swam from the platform , 30+ House Martins with several Swallows and 3-4 Swifts all hawking the area  it's always worth an hour or so in the hide. 

 Taken with miphone4u

Taken with miphone4u

Coralroot Orchid

 That Shoveller can't be comfortable on that post ?

 Three BH gull chicks they spent there time swimming amongst the reeds  till the parent returned, but no insects for them to peck at !

 Common Terns fishing in front of the hide and very good they where to!

Gosforth Park NHSN Reserve

A recent visit to Gosforth Park reserve of  The Natural History Society of Northumbria you have to be a member of the Society to gain access to the reserve, as I have said before membership is well worth the expense with meetings/lectures at The Hancock Museum on various Natural History subjects also an excellent Library  to view, and access to the Reserve with a key entry feeding station and 2 key entry hides . Check out the website membership could be a very good Christmas present for someone !!!!!!!!!!

We started off at the feeding station  with the usual Blue Tits etc as you would expect good sightings of GSW and regular visits of Nuthatch and Treecreeper , it was decided to walk around the reserve as the rain was keeping off  so we set off  on a circular walk but calling into one of the hides that looks onto the lake oddly no wildfowl at all , and save for 2 Mute and a few Moorhen and Coot , that was it , sightings of Bittern are seemingly regular but you need something to look at in the meantime .

Walking further around a Jay overhead , and 2 Roe deer skipped off with another 2 further around till wee came upon one that we saw it before it saw us and I managed a couple of shots before it was off into the thick cover , very few birds on the walk most seem to hang around the feeders as there was plenty still there when we called in again but the light had gone and despite the birds dropping in fairly close photography was no good 

 Nuthatch frequent if brief visitor to the feeding station

 Roe Deer till it either got wind of or heard us

 Treecreeper another regular visitor to the feeding station

 GSW like to feed on the fat balls that are pushed into the holes as the one above

 The ever present Rats inevitable with all the falling seed etc:

Treecreeper again seem to like this Oak, brilliant little birds I have had them very close but never it seems when I have a camera ?

Gosforth Park....Binless !!!

Last week I paid a visit to Gosforth Park, when I arrived at the feeding station  I automatically reached for my bins to find I had obviously left them on the hall table , how the hell I can come out without them  is beyond me as even if  I'm not going birding I will still put them in the car, so I had two cameras monopod and clamp,Scope  flask and sarnies and had to resort to using my 400 lens to check stuff out. Well I was out so make the most of it and I walked around the entire reserve then back to the hide, most bird life was on the south side where I also encountered a Roe Buck crossing the field, got into the hide set the scope up and had a look through the wildfowl which was mainly Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, 2 Mute Swans ,2 Canada Geese I'm not a fan of Canadas the feral population has grown enormously over the years this must have an impact on other water birds. Well birding without bins is a complete waste of time how those guys go around Prestwick etc: with just a camera is beyond me , I headed back to the feeding station which is starting to run down as many birds have paired off and looking for nest sites so I headed off home where sure enough my bins lying just where I had left them...!!

Roe Buck with the nearby housing estate in the background he is in a hurry to get over to the woods

...........and he seems rather excited !

 A few Wigeon came near the hide so you have to take advantage of such opportunities as they soon moved much further off

 A very common wildfowl but nevertheless a nice bird either in flocks or individuals

 Male Wigeon

Filtering out food through his bill 

Gosforth Park, Killingworth Lake & Fish Quay

Last Fiday  I started out at Gosforth Park NHSN site , the walk to the pond had lots  of Chaffinch on the wood edge and I was hoping for Brambling, a Sparrowhawk bathing in the stream which probably had Woodcock and Snipe along it's muddy edges as the pond was frozen to about 97% , several Moorhen lifted from the reeds a couple of minutes later a Fox came out along the left cutting , but ten minutes later came over the pond , so no wonder I did not see any Bitterns.

Called at Killingworth Lake all the birds at the west end where the Swans are keeping it open , hoping to get some close-ups of Goldeneye etc: but they all still kept their distance.

I next went down to the Fish Quay  2 Icelands up on the shed roof not very active so I thought I would head to the boating lake which also had some open water but no Iceland here , Tufted & Pochard with a few mallard, back down to the quay walked the very small beach only 4 Sanderling one of which colour ringed , by now the sub-adult was flying around  but no boats in and the light fading so I called it a day.

 In this cold spell there must be the odd carcase to scavenge in the reeds ?

 half a glance at the birds in the pool before it went back into the reeds.

 The Male Pochard is a rather smart bird in good light

 Black - headed Gulls coming to bread  at the boating lake

Colour ringed Sanderling on the beach

Juvenile centre and sub adult top  sitting on the fish quay roof

Caught this Iceland just as it was going over the shed roof , it's cleaner this side without the smudge behind the eye !!!

Gosforth Park - Bittern

Gosforth Park is a  Private site run by The Natural History Society of Northumbria and is only open to members of the society membership details here.http://www.nhsn.ncl.ac.uk/

A few hours in Gosforth park  Just to get out of the wind again ,usual suspects at the feeders and some Long Tailed Tits  and a Stock Dove dropped in . I had a walk to the lake area not expecting much ,more just to stretch my legs before heading home  after counting everything in sight  the chap next to me said "Bittern " on your right, camera came out and I rattled a few shots off  as it was only seen very briefly ,I should have reset my camera as I had forgot to put the IS back on and should have upped the iso as it was rather dull so I have put the shots into a slideshow on there own they are not much but together they show the bird in some sort of display? . It first stood on the reed edge then flew a few yards and started to flap rather like a young bird flexing it's wings  this it did briefly before again disappearing into the reeds . The images below are some of the better ones from the run.   

Bittern with it's wings spread neck feathers erect,threat display ? or actually just stretching it's wings ?

Gosforth Park

Heading to Morpeth the other day I got excited seeing a Buzzard hovering low to the ground stopped and got the camera out of the boot the bird so low it's head is out of focus due to some long twigs from the hedge ,the hope of Rough legged soon dispelled and even the chance of a good photo spoiled the bird turned and disappeared rapidly. A walk along the river East & West did not produce much more than Black Headed Gulls and Mallard on the river

 A couple of views from the feeding station at Gosforth park

 Fungi frothing from this tree !!!!

Treecreepers are just too far for my lens but cracking little birds to see !!!!

One of three Water Rails seen also a Grey Squirrel , not seen any red in Northumberland for awhile. Little Egret just S/W of the reserve