Spain March 2009

Spain March 2009


Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls de l'Emporda


and Cap de Creus


Anyone fancy this trip.......... email me



Black Kites in off the sea
Cap de Creus
Cap de Creus
Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls de l' Empordá

Extensive view over the area from the obs tower

Spain March 2009

Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls de l'Emporda

and Cap de Creus

Anyone fancy this trip.......... email me

14-10-08 Linton Ponds

I love to eat Mushrooms but never sure which is edible and which is not

It was colder today so I thought a look at Linton Ponds would be a good idea, not as many Gulls around as I had hoped , the gear set up for some digiscoping but nothing caught my eye , Common Darter briefly on the walk through it suddenly got really cold so I headed home early, later I must have got a chill as I felt as stiff as a board and have not been out since (Friday) looks like it's time for the winter gear to come out. A few fly around at Linton
Lesser Black Backed
Bean Goose............rossicus
Common Darter

12-10-08 Budle & Fenham

It is hard to capture via a photograph the sheer number of birds around, the long shot and they are hard to see or the closer shot and you lose the image you where trying to capture, this area is well worth a visit if you have not been before.

Sunday and we decided to go up the coast to Budle Bay a huge number of Pinkfeet on the flats and a Peregrine feeding while trying to keep a Crow at bay the tide starting to push in so after awhile of large numbers of geese leaving every few minutes and wanting to get to Fenham Flats as well we headed off, I forgot how quick the tide comes in on the flats as it was well up and there seemed to be a good number of wildfowlers along to the south, the sheer number of birds here is just amazing , when you scan with bins or scope there are birds everywhere another Peregrine over the hide and the heads of about thirty Seals towards Holy Island , most of the Ducks & Geese seemed to keep their distance from shore and the sound of a shotgun or three sounded off regularly. I just liked the sheer scale of the area I was hoping to get to digiscope some stuff so we went for a walk to the north of the hide but not much to see other than two Snipe and another Peregrine over the causeway along with a large flock of Golden Plover, it did not seem to take long for the tide to turn again and waders where dropping in all along the shore , but it also drops quickly and the waders where going out further and further a great day out in this fantastic area, also a large Hawker beside the hide before the sun went. Budle Bay
Fenham Flats
Looking towards Fenham Mill, one to buy with that lottery win
From the hide to the castle

9-10-08 Knockers

Knockers ,nothing to do with brass door furniture but Conkers or Knockers as my kids used to call them couldn't resist picking a few up they where all over the place, kids wouldn't know what to do with them nowadays I did hear they had been banned due to health and safety, Plessey Woods did not show much damage from the recent floods , nature has a way of putting things right, the only problem with going through the woods it's very dark for photographs pushed the iso to 1600 hence the grainy look

That bottom ones looks like a winner

Shield Bug
Southern Hawker still out

Indian Balsam out in numbers, providing a stop off !!!
Nice to see a Red neck

8-10-08

7-10-08 Prestwick Carr

A drop off at Newcastle airport would give me a chance to look around Prestwick Carr but Tuesday was a crap day with rain ,rain ,rain ,pulled up to a flock of about 15 Long Tailed Tits crossing the track , but that is all I saw as the weather was grotty, so I headed down to Big Waters , there where 8 Whoopers on (one with Darvic ring) apparently the male Mute has been displaced so there is more Swans than for a long time , only 5 Mallard and a Great Crested Grebe not much to keep my interest even the feeding station was quiet, still a Hawker out near the car park Still one of the best places to see Tree Sparrow
5 of 8 Whoopers
Ringed Whooper

6-10-08 Holywell to St Mary's

Cycled through to Holywell and on to St Mary's, a big mistake going along the tracks through the fields it was a quagmire and very hard work trying to pedal through the mud on a one wheel drive ,didn't even stop for a nice Red Admiral, when I got to the old railway line , I was done in and as I slowly peddled along the track I was overtaken by a Hawker as it came over my shoulder and passed me easily, I had to have a laugh at that, I pulled up as it turned and came back down the track, trying to follow them is very hard , but I saw it land and to my surprise not on the sunny side of the track but in the shade and it had climbed into the Hawthorn so it took some finding , perhaps it was roosting and aligning up for the morning sun, large numbers of gulls right in the middle to far for bins to check properly, St Mary's the tide just on the turn it pushed the Golden plover off the rocks and into the mast fields again

Migrant Hawker, it's well into the Hawthorn so it was not easy to get a shot of.
Moorhen at Holywell pond not much else came close.

5-10-08 Amble

Sunday the 5th of October we had a run through to Amble for a look around the harbour area the tide was well out but on the turn so we had our packed lunch overlooking the braid two Herring Gulls with colour rings but still can't read the numbers from the photos it was fine and sunny so I just had a dabble at some digiscoping , from here we called in at Hauxley with a flock of Goldfinches just outside the hide ,not much else here other than the very large flock of Geese , but again fine and sunny checked out the other hides , and just sat with a coffee and a cake as the sun set.

This I caught in the garden, yet to look it up

Garden Spider
Greenshank from Cresswell Digiscoped
Digiscoped at Amble

Common Gull , I do like these Digiscoped at Amble

Digiscoped at Amble
Digiscoped at Hauxley

2-10-08 On the Bike

The 2nd of October another sunny day still good numbers of Common Darters at suitable spots and a Wall Brown, two Adult Meds at Cresswell when I got there and I got a couple of views of the Bittern, with for me the first Barnacles over with three late morning ,, followed by lots more, I cycled up to as far as Hauxley, with The lone Whooper still around ,a Short Eared Owl past Druridge looked like it had just come in off Hauxley had amongst the "domestic" stuff 32 Pinkfeet with a neck collared LBD (to send in) also 10 Barnacles on the Island.
Back to Cresswell with Geese still coming in and another SEO in the field east of the track to the hide a great afternoon out.
I did see the Bittern a few times but a photo was another matter

The first of the many three Barnacles over Cresswell
Good numbers of Barnacles coming over all afternoon
The single Whooper Swan still around ,funny how it came back to the coast just before the winter arrivals
Pinkfeet at Hauxley with neck collared LBD
One of two Short Eared Owls along the coast

29-09-08 St Mary's

Curlew leaving the rocks
Looks like it can't work out what the wet stuff is !!!

Part of a Grave stone below the promenade
Trying to catch the Starlings flying past
Adult Med Gull in the Bay near the masts
Golden Plover on the mast field