Hancock Collections NHSN

As a member of the  Natural History Society of Northumbria I took advantage of  a visit  to the Hancock collections at the Discovery museum,  these are items awaiting repair , restoration  or just held as cabinet specimens , after being escorted through a myriad of doors we eventually got down to the temperature controlled rooms with the role back shelving units .The first tour was the Biology Section , the top photo shows not only one Great Auk but also a juvenile ,opposite these where a selection of Humming Birds , I was absolutely in awe of just how small some of them where , I was unaware we could take some photos and missed the opportunity of several Hummers displayed on a small branch , I have never seen any Humming Bird as yet , but one or two of these where on a par with the size of  Humming Bird Hawkmoth . Next to the Auks where some very rare birds a Passenger Pigeon, and two Slender Billed Curlews . There where also drawers of cabinet specimens used for measurements etc . I was rather pleased with myself  to identify  a Kakapo  wrapped in polythene but the tail just visible, on closer inspection it just looked like moss growing on it , apparently it means Night Parrot.

The next tour was the Archaeology section which oddly included a huge amount of weapons from ethnic tribes etc: the guides where excellent and I took every opportunity to ask questions , the collection was not just a few pieces of pottery etc: that I perhaps thought  but items such as a Reindeer suit that apparently the owner would be sewn into in the Winter and then released in the Spring presumably outdoors and facing downwind. A large portion of the arrows etc: where heavily wrapped and labelled with the warning  "Hazard of Poison " from such as poison arrow frogs, again so much to take in the items looking haphazard on the shelves and not as you seen them in a display cabinet, they quickest few hours I have ever spent the time flew by.     

 Great Auks

 Slender Billed Curlews, don't know the bird ion the background

 I never even had time to look at what was on here ?

 The air is conrtolled so I presume there is no dust circulating

 I think this was a young Lioness

 Armadillo superbly constructed for want of a better term !!  Stewart has corrected my  I.D. and it is indeed a Pangolin. and also the bird behind the Slender Billed Curlew is a Passenger Pigeon  a bird now extinct the last one dying in an American Zoo, once seen in flocks of Millions !!

 The complete skeleton of a Moa, the largest flightless bird or was that the Elephant bird ?

 Hip ! Hip ! Hippo !!

 There was that much to see my eyes darting everywhere to take it all in , I think this was a Pilot Whale

Gyr Falcon with Heron prey , I remember this well from the Hancock , it is being restored , and not as I suggested having been removed because of the subject.

Lone Whooper

There seems to be a few lone Whoopers around this one at Big Waters and I had one on the River Blyth that swan out to sea , you always assume they would stick together perhaps one or two get misplaced in fog,or perhaps as  they are not paired up, they get pushed out the flock , there must be some reason for birds to be on there own especially a species like Whooper Swan this one looking rather forlorn as it drifted around on the pond ,but that's all just guess work on my part they do all seem to head of North in the end !.

I also headed to Holywell Pond  a flock of 60 Curlew on the shore, 125 greylag with 12 Pinks and a single White Fronted Goose, two Red Legged Partridge  in the west field.

Waxwings

I had forgotten  about taking  these,the Waxwings near Asda, I was working so just called in on passing the four birds sitting above me as I sat in the car but they would not come down till I moved . they have been thin on the ground although I have been looking , checking any berry source I could find, but as I don't use Asda  I never got around that way , not sure how long they stayed in total but numerous birders caught up with them, so that's probably it till next winter .

Seaton Sluice/ St Mary's

15th March I took the bus and got off at the top end of Seaton Sluice to check wha'ts locally called the Donkey Field just near the football field you can see this concrete wall which is part of the Roberts Battery this is actually a fortified latrine and the square holes are for putting your rifle through, the low wall to the left must have had some heavy barbed wire all the way along , now it just has some nice Lichen, the compound and Officers Bungalow are now a private dwelling but it does have open days in i believe September well worth a visit.

No Donkeys or Wheatear's in the field but the Alpacas seem at home, single Fulmar along the cliffs single Meadow Pipit and single Reed Bunting and the theme continued down at St Mary's in the Willows a single Goldcrest and then a single Goldfinch topped off with on the newly scraped pond a Moorhen I did have two Wood Pigeon though.

Headed down to the harbour at Blyth and the highlight here was a Single Whooper swimming down the river past the piers and away out to sea   !!!!!

 The fortified latrine of Robert's Battery (actually the gun only fired once and broke every window along the front !!)

 You can see where the wire would have went at an angle 7-8' tall

 And the metal slot to put your rifle through

 There is a Bungalow through the trees which used to be for the Officers but it is a private house now

Lichen nows inhabits the wall

 Alpaccas seem at home in the steep valleys of Seaton Sluice

 St Mary's wetland and what look like feeding platforms have been erected ,the one in the background is for Sparrowhawks  complete with Wood Pigeons

 Apparantly the weed has been scraped out and the pond looks much better but I only had a single Moorhen here (views from the screen)

Whooper swan coming down the river at Blyth

Cresswell Pond/ Druridge Pools

14th March a visit up the coast  was today's plan, checked over the flash at Lynemouth .....nothing ,stopped at Snab Point checked the sea looking for any signs of Harbour Porpoise or Divers only 4 Red Throated Divers and the all white bird on the rocks turned out to be a Dove and not an Iceland Gull no sign of any Porpoise either so next stop Cresswell I headed to the hide but only gave the pond a quick scan it was too nice to be inside 10 Whooper Swan still around, no waders on the sand bar, Druridge Pools at the screen 2 Male Pintail amongst the many Teal Wigeon and a few Shoveller, with 5 Herons present  view from the Odddie Hide was just looking into the strong light , the ten Whoopers over heading NW but 10 minutes later they came back over . A look on the sea from the dunes produced 14 RTD,3 Mergansers and 20+ Common Scoter oddly there was only about 10 people on the beach from Cresswell right through as far as you could see