I went to Blyth Harbour last night with Steve H to do a Cormorant count.
Apart from the 36 Cormorants in the Harbour there wasn’t much else. 6 GBB Gulls 3 Sandwich Terns was it. 2 Gannets were off shore past the piers.
At Arcot Pond the Pochard still had all her young, as did the Mute Swans.
1 Stock Dove flew over and 4 teal were at the back of the pond.3 Whitethroat, 2 Grasshopper Warbler and 1 Lesser Whitethroat were all reeling away in the background near Beacon Lane.
2 Common Terns were on the dead wood in the middle of the pond also.
Showing posts with label Blyth Harbour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blyth Harbour. Show all posts
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Saturday, 13 June 2009
Blyth Atlas and more
I went out with Lindsay McDougall yesterday to do a Webs count and Atlas for the Blyth Estuary and Blyth Area.
We started at the Kitty Brewster end of the estuary were 2 Common Terns and a hand full of Gull were all that was around.
From the Sleekburn end a family party of five Pied Wagtail were on the grass opposite the factories.
Despite it being low tide there was a lack of waders with only 1 Ringed Plover on the mud, a huge change from the 222 there the other week.
On the Bates Filtration Pools there were Reed Bunting, Linnet, Skylark and Meadow Pipit on the waste land surrounding the pools and 3 LBB Gulls on the main pool also 10 Mallards circled the overhead.
We did the Atlas square around Ridley Park were we relied on sounds rather than sight.
A couple of Kittiwakes and GBB Gulls were all that there was in the harbour.
Next we went to Newsham Pond, a site which could be easily overlooked if you didn’t know it was there. Although the pond is mainly for fishing, Mute Swan. Moorhen with young and Mallard were still on the water.
Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat were singing in the trees surrounding the pond, not bad for being in the middle of a housing estate.
We moved on quickly from Laverock Hall Pond, as it was too overgrown to see anything surrounding the pond so we went to Seghill N.R instead.
The reeds were to overgrown to see the water from the hide so we listened for Reed Warbler from the other side of the pond.
Three Reed Warbler were singing in the reeds along with 2 Sedge. 2 Bullfinch were around the back of the pond and a Cormorant landed on the water after circling for a while, probably trying to find the water.
At Arcot Pond nothing new was seen from the night before apart from a female Pochard with four young swimming across the pond.
We started at the Kitty Brewster end of the estuary were 2 Common Terns and a hand full of Gull were all that was around.
From the Sleekburn end a family party of five Pied Wagtail were on the grass opposite the factories.
Despite it being low tide there was a lack of waders with only 1 Ringed Plover on the mud, a huge change from the 222 there the other week.
On the Bates Filtration Pools there were Reed Bunting, Linnet, Skylark and Meadow Pipit on the waste land surrounding the pools and 3 LBB Gulls on the main pool also 10 Mallards circled the overhead.
We did the Atlas square around Ridley Park were we relied on sounds rather than sight.
A couple of Kittiwakes and GBB Gulls were all that there was in the harbour.
Next we went to Newsham Pond, a site which could be easily overlooked if you didn’t know it was there. Although the pond is mainly for fishing, Mute Swan. Moorhen with young and Mallard were still on the water.
Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat were singing in the trees surrounding the pond, not bad for being in the middle of a housing estate.
We moved on quickly from Laverock Hall Pond, as it was too overgrown to see anything surrounding the pond so we went to Seghill N.R instead.
The reeds were to overgrown to see the water from the hide so we listened for Reed Warbler from the other side of the pond.
Three Reed Warbler were singing in the reeds along with 2 Sedge. 2 Bullfinch were around the back of the pond and a Cormorant landed on the water after circling for a while, probably trying to find the water.
At Arcot Pond nothing new was seen from the night before apart from a female Pochard with four young swimming across the pond.
Saturday, 14 February 2009
Who says February is boring?
Quite sad looking, lonely this valentines day?
A bit of a show-off!
Distant Glauc
I spent two hour at Blyth Harbour this morning to try and find the Glaucous Gull.
As soon as I arrived the Iceland Gull was standing on the edge of the pier only a meter away from me and was happy to have its picture taken.
It flew around the harbour a few times and settled on the pier opposite.
All the other Gulls in the harbour joined the Cormorants in raiding the boats coming into the harbour.
A quick scan and I found a 1st winter Glaucous Gull next to a group of Eiders on the water. I managed to get a distant shot of it to confirm it wasn’t another Iceland.
The Glauc swan under the pier the Iceland was sitting on, as if for comparison.
I noticed the difference straight away; the Glauc was much stockier with smaller wings and a more angry expression.
Eiders, Shag, female Merganser etc were also in the harbour.
I was in Manor Walks this afternoon and I got a text from Steve Holliday saying 13+ Tree Sparrow on the Beacon scrubland, I finished in Subway and was straight off to Beacon Lane.
After nearly breaking my neck on the ice, I took the over the bridge route to Beacon Lane and just as I crossed the bridge 10+ Tree Sparrows- Patch Tick, flew from the stubble field and into the trees.
The hedge row where they had first been seen was being cut by the council tree chopping van so I stood back and watched it flush out 10+ Tree Sparrow, 15+ Yellowhammer, 40+ Reed Bunting, 20+ Chaffinch, 16 Fieldfare and a Mistle Thrush.
Also 60+ Carrion Crow were flushed from the stubble and 50+ Skylark were flying over the field.That has to be the best twitch I have ever had in Crammy, what a day.
As soon as I arrived the Iceland Gull was standing on the edge of the pier only a meter away from me and was happy to have its picture taken.
It flew around the harbour a few times and settled on the pier opposite.
All the other Gulls in the harbour joined the Cormorants in raiding the boats coming into the harbour.
A quick scan and I found a 1st winter Glaucous Gull next to a group of Eiders on the water. I managed to get a distant shot of it to confirm it wasn’t another Iceland.
The Glauc swan under the pier the Iceland was sitting on, as if for comparison.
I noticed the difference straight away; the Glauc was much stockier with smaller wings and a more angry expression.
Eiders, Shag, female Merganser etc were also in the harbour.
I was in Manor Walks this afternoon and I got a text from Steve Holliday saying 13+ Tree Sparrow on the Beacon scrubland, I finished in Subway and was straight off to Beacon Lane.
After nearly breaking my neck on the ice, I took the over the bridge route to Beacon Lane and just as I crossed the bridge 10+ Tree Sparrows- Patch Tick, flew from the stubble field and into the trees.
The hedge row where they had first been seen was being cut by the council tree chopping van so I stood back and watched it flush out 10+ Tree Sparrow, 15+ Yellowhammer, 40+ Reed Bunting, 20+ Chaffinch, 16 Fieldfare and a Mistle Thrush.
Also 60+ Carrion Crow were flushed from the stubble and 50+ Skylark were flying over the field.That has to be the best twitch I have ever had in Crammy, what a day.
This week I have also seen 18 Fieldfare feeding on berries near Nelson Hill, have had a pair of Bullfinches visiting my garden everyday and had 50 Pink Footed Geese fly over Sainsburys car park today.
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Iceland Gulls
I took Blyth birders advice today and went to Blyth Harbour for white winged gulls between 11:30 and 12:15.
The usual suspects were around Eider, 2 female Mergansers, 3 Juv Shag, Cormorants etc but no seal.
I then checked the harbour in front of the Harbour master office and found a Juv Iceland feeding on the seaweed with GBB’s.
I have never seen Iceland’s this close up and the bright whiteness and long wings really stood out.
It soon got spooked and flew around the harbour out of sight.
The weather wasn’t as bad as yesterday so I tried to get some decent shots of Eiders and other gulls until I had found the Iceland again.
After a few shots of the Eiders the Iceland Gull swam out from under the pier and I got the photos above.
I watched it for another 15 minutes as it flew around the harbour before it flew further up and joined another Juv Iceland. I was going to get a photo but they were slightly further out and a mini hail shower was starting so I went home to watch the dooms day derby instead
I’m guessing that the Gull I photographed is a 1st winter but I’m not sure.
The usual suspects were around Eider, 2 female Mergansers, 3 Juv Shag, Cormorants etc but no seal.
I then checked the harbour in front of the Harbour master office and found a Juv Iceland feeding on the seaweed with GBB’s.
I have never seen Iceland’s this close up and the bright whiteness and long wings really stood out.
It soon got spooked and flew around the harbour out of sight.
The weather wasn’t as bad as yesterday so I tried to get some decent shots of Eiders and other gulls until I had found the Iceland again.
After a few shots of the Eiders the Iceland Gull swam out from under the pier and I got the photos above.
I watched it for another 15 minutes as it flew around the harbour before it flew further up and joined another Juv Iceland. I was going to get a photo but they were slightly further out and a mini hail shower was starting so I went home to watch the dooms day derby instead
I’m guessing that the Gull I photographed is a 1st winter but I’m not sure.
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