Wallington

A recent trip to Wallington Hall a National Trust property , the forecast was not to good so we decided to go down to the feeding station first besides it would be quieter, not even a glimpse of Red Squirell  they used to be easy to see here , Chaffinch the dominant presence , but Goldfinch, Siskin, Great, long tailed and Blue Tit, and very briefly a Marsh/willow Tit , Great Spotted giving very good views , from here it was the river walk but surprisingly very few flowers out , no Dippers or wags on the river, there is to me what seems like a very good population of Nuthatch here with numerous birds calling and being very showy.

Lunch time picnic just got sat at the outdoor table when it started to rain , so it was decided to visit the house along its seems with everyone else, the house is very impressive far more than Belsay hall , there is room after room to visit  with striking  views of the grounds, a cabinet of Taxidermy caught my eye but its a challenge to ID some of them, two glass domes contained a large amount of exotic birds including some tiny Hummers fascinating yet hideous at the sheer quantity. 

Finally a walk over to the walled garden not looking its best on a dull day but the greenhouse/hothouse always has some nice plants , back at the house a falconer had set up and was flying a Harris hawk and letting it land on the arms of children , I finally got my turn rightly so as I had hung around long enough, surprised at how heavy the bird was and impressive only inches away from your face.

It was a good day out and well worth a visit 

 Wallington Hall

GSW

Wood Mouse at the feeders

 Stock Dove
I was trying to get an arty shot of the tree from low down , but not bad for a phone !

 Some very nice flowers as always in the greenhouse but what a greenhouse  !!

 No Idea what they are apart from the Geraniums

 A huge cabinet contained two opposing lead armies this is Napolean

 Snaps with my phone of the small fish pool and river

 The famous Gargoyles (which if I remember was actually ships ballast)

Just a clip of the Harris hawk in action ,it was good to see the kids get involved even though it meant I had to wait till they al had a go !! I forget the guy's name that was running the Falconry but he was very good .

Seaton Sluice

Spent late afternoon at SSWT , the sea had settled down some what only a handfull of Auks around a few gannets moving North but well out several Fulmars but suspect of local origin, 3 Common Scoter, Sandwich Terns in good numbers and about 70+ on the rocks during the high tide,much mating and pair bonding going on but not many fish brought in as offerings , not much in total even the Gulls that passed close to the window where all 1st & 2nd year birds ,  so the hour dragged somewhat, 

Good news and not so Good !!!

Got an email the other day to inform me I had won second prize in a competition ,don't get carried away not for any of my journalistic or photographic ability probably just a name out of the hat . Anyway the prize turned out to be £250 off per person for two on either a short break or a week in Scotland , well better than nothing I thought till I looked into the prices of just under £500 for a short break to just under £1000 for a week or a single person could take the £500 off a two week stay , but I'm thinking £1500 for a two week stay in Scotland plus the cost of driving up  I had ten days in the Algarve for about £250 and that included car hire . So I guess I am lucky to have at least won something or I am I one of many that has won "second " prize , it looks like I'll have to slum it  in the Algarve again for this winter it's a hard life !!!

Twitter

I have added a widget for Twitter , not sure of it's full potential as yet but as my mobile provider lets you update for free  I thought I would give it a go , all I need now is something informative to "TWEET " about and is less than the max number of characters in length. !!!!!!!

Great Grey Shrike

The plan for today was to start off at Seaton Sluice to do a bit of seawatching but the thick mist put paid to that, so I headed off to Woodhorn to have a look for the Great Grey Shrike , I gave it a good hour but no sign , so I moved on to Newbiggin parked near the mound and walked over to the golf course two Redshank on a small pool and two Ring Ouzel flushed  not much else for me but checked out the area where I last saw the Ring Ouzel and one landed in the Gorse than dropped onto the grass.
Moved onto Cresswell  with a brief stop at Snab Point to have a look at the sea but got distracted by Fulmars flying back and forth along the cliffs, Cresswell North end Two Avocets and a further two on the shore of the main pond , White Wagtail and Wheatear , Andy Mc informed me the Shrike had returned so I headed off and spent the rest of the time having some cracking views of it till it flew out of sight and did not return, Three Swifts over in the distance picked up by Steff, still very cold today but at least no rain !!!

 Ring Ouzel pops out from the Gorse and onto the grass to feed, great to see out in the open !!

 Fulmars at Snab just loafing about and enjoying their flights along the cliff

 "Tubenose" clearly seen in this shot

 30 Sandwich Terns at Cresswell being rather raucous but nice to hear !!

 And  a nice confiding Wheatear in the cattle field

Just got some short video of the Shrike before it flew off, but it did give cracking views !!!