The Hirsel

The Hirsel

This estate is just outside Coldstream in the Scottish Borders. A lovely place to visit (a little muddy in places). Great woodland walks, open spaces and a lake (Parking £1:50 for the day).

Winter Heliotrope

Ladybird

'Reindeer Food'

 

Bullfinch

Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Long-tailed Tits, Buzzard and all the other common resident species.

Highlights however were a calling Chiffchaff and best of all a Bittern flying over the lake and landing in the reeds.

The power of the Nikon P900. The Buzzard is in the top right of the right hand tree. The picture below was taken from the same position, handheld on full zoom. Imagine what you can get with the Nikon P1000.

White Dead-nettle

(Dead ... because they don't sting.)

Hogweed

 

I am reliably informed (thanks MPF) that the colouring is due to anthrocyanins which protect plants from the cold weather conditions. This colouring changes a plane flower into a stunning one.

December ... 2018 nearly over

A good month to visit places away from the patch (briefly).

Bamburgh

Purple Sandpipers (100+) the highlight but Long-tailed Ducks, Slavonian Grebe and Razorbills added to a pleasant if chilly morning.

Oh ... back on the patch a second Smew. Another brief visitor although it now seems fairly well settled on Widdrington Moor Lake.

Tynemouth and North Shields Fish Quay next. A fairly uneventful trip probably due to the lack of fishing boats at the quayside. I did however manage to get some proper smoked fish instead of the bright yellow dyed stuff in the supermarkets.

Fontburn Reservoir

Amazing how satisfying it can be to observe flocks of birds over a longer period. I watched this flock of Redpolls (170+) for over two hours. Searching for the 'white ones', getting showered with seed remnants as they fed above me. The bickering and bullying was amusing and my unfortunate cough would send them fleeing the tree and then settling a little further away. 

You can't beat a good patch...

... and mine is one of the best. Rough seas washed millions of tiny crustaceans (shrimps at a guess) ashore. A couple of weeks ago there was a similar event but they were the larval stages much smaller. This bounty led to a feeding frenzy and gave me the chance to sift through the gull flocks. Sadly no unusual gulls but a great way to fill a few hours. When the gulls left there were still lots of shrimps left. The Resdshanks took over but most were abandoned by the birds.

 

Still on patch. The Twite flock feed before flying to a clear part of the sandy beach to digest the food and have a 'toilet' break.

This is rather annoying as almost every photo contains a small white package.

... or two

Yeah!

This Redshank was ringed on Humberside  in October 2018. Six birds ringed on the Humber are all now North of their ringing site.

 

Then to Newbiggin.

This Oystercatcher was ringed as a three years+ bird in 2013, in Oslo. So it is at least 8 years old.

So it is time to start planning for the New Year.

I think the blog has run its course and is starting to get repetitive so I'm wondering what to try instead or how to make it different. Maybe a website? Twitter is also becoming less useful but what to do (not sure any of the other social media platforms would suit me)?

One thing is for sure ... I'll be out birding (guess where)!

Still Plenty To Keep Me Busy

Redwing

Siskin

The country park (Druridge) has a good variety of birds and is a welcome place of shelter on a wet and windy day.

M.E. found this splendid Great Northern Diver on Ladyburn Lake.

Several trips to Newbiggin during the last two weeks. Water Pipit, Woodcock, Velvet Scoter among the highlights.

Seal in South Shields harbour enjoying a rather sizeable Sea Trout.

Hooded Crow at Linton

Grey Heron

Smew. This is becoming a scarce bird in Northumberland , so it was nice to see one at East Chevington even if it did keep its distance.

Water levels remaining low have ensured there are always plenty of birds to check through.

November

Thanks to JF for finding these Bewick's Swans. Originally giving distant views at East Chevington, they later relocated to Warkworth and gave splendid views.

Best comparative shot I could manage, juv Whoopers and adult Bewick's. 

Whoopers. Plenty of Juveniles this year.

Twite

Crossbill

Blackbird

My first beach walk produced a Wheatear but not a rare one. This poor bird has a damaged or diseased bill. It also looked a little dishevelled. Five more beaches were checked and although no Wheatears were found they all produced good birds including; Purple Sandpipers, Snow Buntings and Twite.