Saturday 9-4-11 Went up to Cragside to visit the house and grounds stopped at Paperhaugh Bridge on the way up as at this point I still had not seen Sand Martin nor did I here fisherman on both banks all I saw was a Dipper carrying food  to a nearby nest, Thrum Mill the next stop it was near here that one year on a nice warm sunny day a Bat flew back and forth along the river , so close you could see it glance at us as it past, mind that same night it rained very heavily causes local flooding. Another Dipper 2 Grey Wagtails ,  2 Mallard and  a pair of Goosanders . After looking around the house which is well worth a visit , a walk around the grounds or at least some of them ,headed up towards the lake but alas not much around anywhere a few butterflies in sunny spots Peacock & Comma plenty of Chiffs singing but no Willow Warblers or Blackcap, most of the vegetation is Rhododendron  its everywhere 10' feet high in places giving plenty of cover but I suspect little else. Only two Moorhen, a Goldeneye and a Little Grebe on the lake but I think it would be good for Dragonflies later in the year,walked around to the North on to the edge of the woods  here it opens out onto the moors, from here back to the car only had two Jays silent as they lifted from the ground,called at West Hartford on the way home JM pointed out a Green Sandpiper way off in the distance  a few Lesser Black Backs , Herring Gulls and Oystercatchers.

Cragside on the way back to the car park

The Iron Bridge from one of the windows

 Some fantastic art work, Taxidermy etc: this is a light shade I will leave it up to you to I.D.the birds

Gyr Falcon , King Eider which is upside down with its head twisted and I presume a Stoat although it looks a bit big to me.

Roseates & Semipalmated Sandpiper 24-8-09

Monday the 24th saw me check out the Roseates before heading back up to Cresswell ,not sure how many Roseates here, but there was a few Juveniles ,I think Roseate Juveniles are very smart birds in the early days of fledging as are Sandwich tern, with that striking pattern.
Moved on to Cresswell the Semi-P had been reported but was not on view so I decided to walk the beach hoping to come across it , which I did it was at the pond outflow and even flew over to the side I was on but kept it's back to me , it then moved to the waters edge , I had to walk around the large long pool to refind it , from here the tide pushed the birds over to the pool , Wood Sandpiper at the North end and in the field 6 Yellow Wagtails increasing to 10 later in the afternoon also 3 Wheatear, and a Whinchat, also a steady movement of Swallows south for most of the afternoon.
The Semipalmated Sandpiper again from the hide along with a Wood Sandpiper, 30 Black-tailed Godwits,4 Bar-tailed , 2 Greenshank, 2 Ruff, 1 Green Sandpiper,1 Adult Curlew Sandpiper, 70 odd Dunlin, Redshanks & Lapwings, of which I again picked out the same colour ringed bird seen awhile ago but again just the left leg...................so if you see the other leg please let me know
Roseates on the rocks this one with a juvenile

some very low tides of late keeping the birds well out

Semi-P back on the pond, when asked where is the bird after they all flushed, I said it feeds in a small area either side of the old tyre ..........................where's the tyre was the next question !!!

I'll just have a quick nap !!!!!!!!!!

Another out of focus flight shot of the Semi-P

and with Sanderling on the beach

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS LAPWINGS RIGHT LEG.....PLEASE LET ME KNOW !!

Wader day 20-8-09

Unable to sleep last night I was up very early and at Bothal pond which held 6 Greenshank,1 Wood Sandpiper,2 Green Sandpiper,1 Spotted Redshank, and about 30+ Snipe, another day of strong winds which is not good for digiscoping, also had 3 Swift which hung around most of the morning, next stop Longhirst flash large number of duck which I admit I ignored, a F Marsh Harrier over , a quick stop at Linton but nothing of note so I headed for Cresswell and into the hide which only had a couple of people in most at the north end , level dropping and wader numbers increasing, 50+ Dunlin, 3 Black Tailed Godwits(30 on Monday) ,4 Ruff, 1 Curlew Sandpiper ,2 Greenshank, 1 Green Sandpiper,also a few Sanderling the Semipalmated Sandpiper dropped in a couple of times, and even stayed when all other waders took flight , another 2 Swift, probably keeping ahead of the rain,eventually those from the far end came to look for the Semi-P, only to find it had taken off as they came in the door (frustrating or what !!!), after having given cracking views on the sandbank, the hide filled and it was time to go.