Little Egrets

Little Egret being harrassad by the local Magpies not keen to have this strange bird on their patch 

There have not been  many Little  Egrets around this year I have seen them at Alnmouth and Warkworth Gut  and only one on the River Blyth, where last year there was four which hung around for a month or so keeping up river though. Two Kingfishers around and a single Greenshank, with a few Bar-tailed Godwits  in with the large number of Redshank and lots of Curlew, and the strange sight of two pure white Doves living under the road bridge 

 Not the best photo as I have missed off the tip of the Bill but it does show pink to the underside which I believe is indicative of a Juvenile  so I wonder where this bird was born ?

The bird always distant and very wary so photos taken from range

 Good to hear the call of a Greenshank this one feeding well up river

Alnmouth

A visit to Alnmouth  parking near the bridge and walking along the river to the beach only produced  2 Shellduck some ever present Canada and Greylag  a few Curlews and a Hare, on the beach Common terns where fishing in the small pools left as the tide receded a group of Terns and Gulls where on the far shore with the Aln stopping anyone from walking either way the birds find refuge here about 40 Sandwhich Terns and 10 or so Common Terns, with an assortment of Herring and Great Black Backs  , ended up having picnic lunch looking onto the flats where the boats moor , another walk along the shore two check out 2 distant Little Egrets .

Called at Druridge Bay on the way back and had a look at the Lesser Butterfly Orchids , and some Common Twayblade

 This has to be the largest bit of Lego I have ever seen !!!

 Fantastic beach here at Alnmouth

 Looking across to the other side a rough track leads down to this side it is rough but worth a visit

 Looking back with the sea wall in the foreground

 Two Litttle egrets Aln Estuary

Common Terns feeding in the small pools

 Lesser Butterfly Orchid

 Common Spotted Orchid

 Common Twayblade

Marsh Warbler- Hadston

Link to sound file 

Marsh Warbler Hadston 7-6-2012

Took the opportunity on Thursday to have a look at the Marsh Warbler  that had turned up at Hadston the bird showed straight away coming to the top of the reeds a couple of times and apparently it had been sitting on top of the Sycamores before I got there,but I failed to find it in the camera viewfinder as it would not stay still long enough in the tall reeds, I got a few short recordings of its extensive song  repertoire which I have had to join together as there was a lot of background noise , by 12pm it was less active and the day was getting colder , so I headed to the Hauxley Reserve nicknamed the Goose Farm  an apt  name today several large broods of Greylag's at the Ponteland hide , two Little Egrets also here and a couple of Dunlin and Redshank. Walked along to the Tern hide and the view was mostly of Geese , with a couple of Lapwing chicks on the waters edge, so it was back to the Ponteland hide no sign of the Egrets but did see a Heron get  a very large Eel, no further sign of the marsh Warbler  for me or a few others that day .

Edit :  it seems the bird is still showing very well and everyone is getting some good photos of the bird .......looks like another visit is in order   !!!!

This Heron caught a rather large Eel which it eventually swallowed then as usual spent a long time trying to get the mucus off it's bill by rubbing it in the mud on the grass and washing it . A fish like that must take some time to  digest and they must have very powerful digestive juices to do it , so it's probably off for a siesta for this Heron.

I have been having major problems with Blogger of late ,it won't let me upload videos , this has taken several  attempts , having to greatly reduce the quality /size was the only way to achieve it ,despite there being no real limit to size. 

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

Time to put something new on type post !!

I thought it about time I put something on this blog to bring it more up to date this is a right assortment of photos some from "My Phone" as opposed to  an i phone , which I find handy to get that shot which you can't be bothered to get the camera out for , I wont bore you with full frame shots of the recent Firecrest and Yellow -Browed's  you'll be sick of those by now, so here are some full frame photos most taken with my phone (which is unfortunately is useless for digiscoping )  and probably the worst video I have posted to date of a mini murmuration , check out you tube there are loads of actual good ones 

 I was amazed at this tree growing and adapting to it's environment presume it was a  sappling that grew up between the bars but has now engulfed them ,perhaps it needs the "iron". So amazed was I that I did not even note the species.  

 Blackcap at St Marys Island

 Lesser Scaup still at Marden Quarry

 The digger clears a channel at Cresswell  then starts to drive up behind me so I had to get up on the bank , it does not look much but that sand bar was about 6-7' feet deep , at first it seemed to gush out but as this pool emptied it slowed down some what.

 A few Cycle rides along the River Blyth Little Egret still around and I had one at Gosforth Park

One of the small burns that runs into the Blyth the water hides the supermarket trolleys and old tyres etc:

An afternoon at Gosforth Park recently and just as I was about to leave a flock of Starlings came over, here with two Kestrels amongst them , I watched rather enthralled as they swirled around the flock getting larger and larger, not one of those mega flocks you see but enough to entertain me as the sun rapidly set I  got some rather crap video with my phone and it's only about the middle that you can actually see the tight mass but it gives an idea , Must get over perhaps to the Gretna  site if it is still used this year.

Little Egret-Hen Harrier

A cycle ride along the river was fairly uneventful a flock of about 15 Linnets the first birds noted ,tide fairly low so any waders where well spread out further East a Little Egret still around so I took the opportunity to get a couple of videos   

Little Egret tackles a flat fish

The Little Egret finally settles in a tree which is actually the first one I think I have seen in a tree in Northumberland
The next day took the bus to Woodhorn area to try for the Hen Harrier to add it to my Bus List . Did not have long to wait as it quartered the area although distant frequently dropping out of sight , Fieldfares  noted in the background several groups coming in off the sea also 2 Short Eared Owls also around , 3 Mistle Thrush,2 Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, 2 Heron and c15 Long Tailed Tit working the hedge , not bad for just standing by a gate. To top it off the HH came fairly close giving some cracking views allowing me to take some notes as it's not often these birds give you the opportunity.

River Blyth

Another cycle ride along the River Blyth without the camera this time as I had the scope , so it was digi or nothing went straight along to look for the Little Egrets ,but the council is working on the new path  ( I think it's to make it easier for people to dump rubbish , or faster for the numerous unlicensed and uninsured motorbikes that seem to use this as a rat run so beware) any way found three of the Egrets but looking into the light so I had to go around and look back down but now they where some way off . Further down a Wheatear caught my attention so I spent some time trying to get some shots in a brief sunny spell , at least 200 Great Black Backs roosting  on the old pit workings , 2 Goosanders fed along the north edge later 3 Mergansers by the old power sattion. Later I went down to Ridley Park via any trees or bushes I could find, there was a very good site that was last used as an old wood yard with a tangle of bushes,Brambles etc; giving loads of cover but now the site is cleared and it's just grass. Ridley Park at this time most of the birds concentrated behind the Tennis Courts the cover is thick with little access, I could hear a Yellow Browed calling  but failed to find it all I got was  Chiffchaff, the Great Crested  Grebe was still around but the light no better making it look dull.

Click on an image to display and enlarge all images ..

 I presume the Yellowish tone to the legs of these two birds is an indication of Juveniles ?

I am sure Dulux could come up with some fancy name for those yellow feet

 This Wheatear proved very difficult to digiscope  with a fence blocking not my view but the scope as in was set , I persevered as its all good practice for that one day "biggy" , Wheatears are fantastic looking birds even this Autumn male looking smart

Typical of trying to photograph birds the sun barely breaks through the clouds then went dull, only to later come out with full force, but by now the bird has gone !!!

Mixed Bag of sightings

A few photos from some recent days out , a run through to Thornley for perhaps the last of the Dragons ,produced a female briefly and a male looking for the said female , with still a few Speckled Woods, a Buzzard and Red Kite over , on the way to Shibdon had a look over the old bridge on to the river with , Kingfisher, Dipper & Grey Wagtail noted , Shibdon Pond  had a couple of Migrant Hawkers  taking advantage of the sunny spell , a couple of cycle rides along the River Blyth of late to check out the waders nearing high tide has been interesting, heightened one day we I came across one of the smallest Curlew I have ever seen , I tried to stop behind a small bush to have a look at it but it was off  and immediately out of sight,  I did try and find it but it will remain a mystery ,was it as small as I thought or just because I caught a glance of it as I passed , interesting bird nevertheless and it was in my thoughts  for the rest of the day. While checking out the waders a Kingfisher past silently and headed further up river behind me a loose flock of Long Tailed ,Blue and Great Tits with  2 Chiffchaffs  tagging along , across the river 2 Wheatears dropped onto insects from fences and posts the Curlews gathered on the field edge up-to a 150  but no sign of my runt

 Migrant Hawker from the track at Prestwick Carr

 Migrant Hawker taken at Shibdon Pond

 Buzzard over Thornley Woodland

 Red Kite also over Thornley Woods just over a small clearing

 Red Kite again as it circled the small clearing briefly

 This Fungi forcing its way through the bark of a Birch Tree at Thornley Woodland

 Two Moorhens give the classic pose as they fight over ? , just that bit to far for a decent shot, Shibdon Pond

 Little Egret one of up to Four along the River Blyth

Still find it hard to believe that we now have Little Egret , becoming a fairly common sight in Northumberland and especially these four birds along the River amongst old tyres ,shopping trolleys ,traffic cones , and many other mystery objects.

Great Crested Grebe  taken along the River Blyth.