Out on the BIke

A trip over to Thornley woods area with the bikes with the intention of cycling along the Derwent Way which takes you over the Nine Arches Viaduct and beyond never been any further than Far Pastures so it should be interesting. Bikes offloaded at Winlaton Mill we headed South you have to cross the river first then uphill to get onto the old railway track, and very soon over the Viaduct , a detour at Far Pastures so we went into the rather large hide there you need a key which can be obtained from the visitor centre which will also fit Shibdon, Clara Vale , Thornley Feeding Station , but as it happens the door was open and to my surprise about 8-9 Photographers all staring into space hoping for the Kingfisher to appear ,it probably would not stay long once 9 cameras set at machine gun mode all went off together personally although I have spent many an hour in a hide ,I couldn't see the point sitting there on a glorious day when there was nothing to see never mind photograph. Well we continued along the track which eventually petered out and we had to cross the road to rejoin it at a sign which said Shotley Bridge and Consett (route 14)its a very pleasant cycle with only  what seemed a slight gradient and eventually we arrived at the edge of Shotley Bridge  where lunch was finished off . There are many paths off to the sides which would be worth exploring with more information ,but we decided to head back and spend some time at the Arches looking for Red Kites, I was surprised at how fast we headed back seeming to go mostly down hill freewheeling a lot of the time ,till I got clever and tried to video with one hand and brake with the other  I left it to late and came off  having just switched off the video as I might have got £250 from YBF. We watched from the Arches for awhile you can if lucky see Purple Hairstreaks in the tops of the Oaks , only 3 Red Kites visible but two Juveniles in the trees was a nice surprise 

There must have been numerous bridges etc built to span the many gaps, this one just beside Gibside

 Giving views over the surrounding countryside far better than my phone camera can capture

 Not sure why this was so wide looks even wider than a double track

 Numerous bridges cross over the track giving the opportunity to go off and explore further

 A small station or halt platforms still visible with steps up to the road crossing over

 That's and impressive span such is the width of the well wooded steep sided valley not sure if theres a stream at the bottom

 Always amazes me at the finish on the stonework , it's built not just to last but look good to

 An old Loco shed which I had not seen on the way along as it's so overgrown

Juvenile Red Kite camera to the bins job

Red Kite Roost

Last week I went over to Thornley Woods area  via Shibdon Pond and Far Pastures, I checked out the old Stone bridge near the roundabout just along from Shibdon  I usually have Dipper ,Kingfisher and Grey wagtail  here but today nothing and heading to the pond I could see it was mainly frozen with a small area at the south end open but I went into the hide and gave it about 45mins in the hope of a Water Rail perhaps below the hide , checking out the gulls near the open water for perhaps a white winger or especially a Yellow legged Gull as the odd one has been reported here but only the  common varieties of Great Black backed, Herring ,Black headed and Common Gulls . A single Redwing on the grass area as it fed below the trees. From here I headed to Far Pastures the track down had 2 Goldcrests and 3-4 Coal Tit  just at the carpark a Nuthatch got my attention as it worked its way along branches coming tantalisingly nearer and nearer before flitting off before I could focus on it . A willow Tit did the same flitting towards me but always with branches in the way , then it would sit in a nice pose and just as I got on it off it went , so for the sake of my sanity I went in the hide for my coffee etc:. Surprised to see about half was free water with about 15 teal , a pair of Bullfinch in the background and Fieldfares on the tree tops no Water Rail back outside I saw my first Red Kite of the day  it was way off and already the light fading ,no chance of flight shots today , I started to slowly walk towards the viaduct more Bullfinches and a Treecreeper before I was out onto the viaduct with 3-4 kites coming in they started to settle on the trees rather quickly there was to be no flying overhead today I must have had about 15 in total but by this time I was frozen stiff  so started to make the climb back up to the road I saw a couple of birds through the trees before it became to thick , it was still a good end to the day , I will return about mid Feb  perhaps they will be more active and in better light.

 The ever gorgeous Nuthatch , when I first started birding  the place to go was that huge tree in the carpark at Wallington where your first sighting could virtually be guaranteed from the comfort of the car !!!!

 Redwing feeding amongst the leave litter

 Very Confiding Dunnock complete with bling as where all the birds at far pastures carpark

 Willow Tit

 Red Kite over the valley

Snow covered Lichen

The best I could get of the red Kites , but even so they are a fantastic spectacle as the gather before dropping down to roost , apparently they sometimes have a pre roost , so will all settle before heading off to roost , you have to check it out if youv'e not been , it's a birding must   !!!!!

Derwent Country park ----Gateshead

Gateshead in the form of  Thornley woodland centre and the surrounding woods ,started off at the feeding station merely a shadow of it's former glory mostly Grey Squirrels here today but also some Stock Doves, a yellowhammer and a couple of Great Tits with a Great Spotted dropping in , not seen a Red Squirrel here for years now, I did however have what I presume was a Squirrel drop some bits of green pine cone on me when out in the woods ,I tried in vane to see it well up in the canopy  the bits of cone rained down  I thought perhaps it was a Red will have to check to see if Grey's would eat this sort of food.

Heading down towards the viaduct and then on to far Pastures passed the fantastic wood sculptures carved right out of the tree absolutely fantastic  to see they have some great detail , single Speckled Wood out but a few Small Tortoise Shell, a single Red Kite viewed from the viaduct, Far Pastures had a garden Warbler but only a couple of Tufted Duck on the recently cleared pools.

Final stop of the day was Shibdon Pond but very little here today the water level high , I would have walked the boardwalk for Dragonflies but not on such a dull day .

Link to a short recording of Grey Squirrels at Thornley feeding Station 

http://soundcloud.com/northumbrian-birding/grey-squirrels-thornley

 Grey Squirrels up to a dozen at the feeding station some coming to the open windows presume they are being fed from here, we will just have to learn to live with them !!!!

 Much running back and forth on the roof  I presume they where juveniles full of energy.

 GSW drops in and a Pheasant comes through the now long grass.

 Red Kite from the viaduct a  watchpoint will be set up soon from the nearby hill

 Speckled Wood thin on th eground this year so far lets hope for a flurry later in the year

 One of the aims was to look for flowers some I know and some I don't like this one ?

Woodpecker and Otter, how do you even start something like this

 Some of these images are taken with my phone

 Butterfly ,Beetle and this perhaps Millipede it looks so life like.

 Perhaps in the Carboniferous period beetles where this size still very life like given it's carved in wood , take the red path from the visitor centre, which on this day was open.

 This is probably a garden escape but again don't have a clue ,looks like a form of Poppy

 Welsh poppy and Guelder Rose

Kibblesworth

Last week a visit to Kibblesworth Brick Pools apparently the site of a very large  Brickworks than used as a refuse tip now landscaped, the report of a Broad Bodied Chaser , a Dragonfly species that has evaded me so far  was all it took for me to head over , I arrived with expectations of getting some good photos of  my fist BBC but alas I circled the pond numerous times with no sign a couple of Large Red Damselflies  myriads of teneral Damsels floating off to the nearby tree cover  was all I  got , I even stupidly formatted my card losing the photos I had taken . Having not found any actual dragonflies I sat down for my sandwiches  when a  Cuckoo called and flew across just behind me as I watched it into the distance a red Kite came circling  overhead  and later three Buzzards in the air together. So with the target not around I looked for Butterflies plenty of Wall Brown and a few Small Heath but only one Dingy Skipper could be found , I find these a difficult species to locate more Moth like in flight it's hard to keep track of them watching till they land .

Kibblesworth Brick Pools there are actually several pools one is very overgrown one drys out and all suffer from severe disturbance , from Vehicles, rubbish, or people constantly throwing items in for dogs to retrieve 

 The main pool these two shots taken with my phone which actually takes a half decent photo, and the view across the reclaimed tip over to The Angel.

Red Kite pays a visit

 Two of three Buzzards overhead

 Small Heath

 Dingy Skipper