Yesterday I went with SH and DMcK to do 2 Atlas Tetrad squares at Kielder Forest. We left crammy at 7:30 and the heavy fog on the road didn’t clear until we arrived at Kielder.
The squares we were heading for were at Comb in Kielder Forest, an area none of us had been to before. I had done some Atlas work around Blyth, Havannah NR and Plessey Woods with LMcD in the summer so I knew that it was more about number of birds than species. It gave me another chance to improve my bird call i.d.
Before we started we guessed how many species we would end up seeing or hearing, I decided on 15.
We decided to do the longer walk first, which proved to be a good decision as the first part of the walk was uphill over an area of felled trees which were still covered in frost. The occasional stream and the boggy ground only added to the fun.
It was worth it once we reached the top as the views were stunning as was the silence. On the way we managed to add Robin, Dunnock, Wren and a flock of 25+ Crossbill to the list.
Meadow Pipit and more Crossbill were going over head as we finished off the 2 hour walk.
We drove further up for the next square which was on the edge of the Forest and had a flat path to walk on, which was just as well as the first walk nearly killed us.
We scanned the felled area in front of us when we heard a Raven calling. Soon two Ravens started calling to each other and it wasn’t long until they flew off as a Buzzard came into view.
The other highlight of the second square was the flock of 15 Bullfinch which flew in front of us before landing in the trees, always good birds to see. In total we had 19 Bullfinch in the second square. Good numbers of Coal Tits and Wrens were also present.
So after the four hours we ended up seeing 14 Species, 1 off my prediction.
The 14 were:
Dunnock, Wren, Coal Tit, Bullfinch, Siskin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Crossbill, Woodpigeon, Meadow Pipit, Robin, Raven, Buzzard, Goldcrest and... I’ve forgotten.
Helping to do Atlas work always makes me appreciate nature more and it’s nice to work to see the birds rather than just stepping out of the car.
On the way home we made a detour to Ridley Stokeo which was Mandarin-less as the river was very high and Ridley Stokeo itself was completely flooded.
The fog was still visible in the valleys and it seemed to be following the river which would have made for some atmospheric shots, if I’d brought the camera.
Showing posts with label Ridley Stokoe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ridley Stokoe. Show all posts
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Sunday, 12 April 2009
New sites
I was out today with Steve Holliday, Grahame Bowman and Mark Lowther for a trip to Kielder.
We didn’t get as far as Kielder due to car problems so we stopped instead at Ridley Stokoe.
No Mandarins on the river but there was a Common Sandpiper on the gravel Island in the river.
A pair of Jays were calling from the trees on the bank opposite and Grahame had a female Goosander further upstream.
Next we stopped at Bakethin viewpoint to look for Raptors. We stayed for an hour and
Saw 6 Buzzards displaying high up. Also there were 2 Ravens high overhead, he had good views of them all.
We then tried Bakethin Reservoir, and where lucky enough to get 4 Mandarins. We watched from the bridge rather than the hide and it gave us good views of the right side of the reservoir and the two islands in the middle of it.
The first Mandarin we saw was a Drake asleep on one of the islands. Then we had another Drake swimming close to the bank followed by a pair in the reeds below the bridge.
I hadn’t been to any of the sites we went to before today and was impressed by all of them. Sometimes Loughs and other upland sites seem to merge into one but everywhere we went today had its own distinctive areas and species.
Also on Bakethin there were 2 Greylag, 2 Canada Geese, 6 Mallard and 2 late Whooper Swans, which were starting to get orange heads.
After Bakethin we went to Whittle Dene Reservoirs. We checked the two main fishing waters first where there were 2 Goldeneye and 1 female Smew, which disappeared after a few minutes.
From the hide on the main Reservoir there were 4 Great Crested Grebe, 6 Goldeneye, 1 Grey Heron, 10+ Greylags, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Linnet, 4 Tufted Duck and a controversial Pipit.
The Pipit was on the dry concrete waterfall and kept disappearing behind the wall, so we moved around the corner to get a better view.
At first it looked like a Water Pipit but after half an hour of careful studying and some fence hopping we decided that it was a very streaked Meadow Pipit.
At one point we all thought it might have been a Scandinavian Rock Pipit but it had a clean white tail and the general lack of pink and greyish head ruled out Water Pipit, it sounds easy to identify but it was a dodgy Meadow Pipit, even when it was flushed it refused to call which would have solved the problem a lot faster.
Whilst watching the Pipit 13 Siskin flew over and a Toad swam across the water.
Are last stop of the day was Arcot Pond where apart from the usual a Stock Dove- Patch Tick flew over and 2 Willow Warblers- Patch Tick were calling. Also there was a Swallow – Patch Tick on the telephone wire at Dam Dykes.
I had my first sighting of the Red Eared Terrapin at Arcot today, it was sitting on a log in the south west corner.
83 - Stock Dove
84 - Wilow Warbler
85 - Swallow
We didn’t get as far as Kielder due to car problems so we stopped instead at Ridley Stokoe.
No Mandarins on the river but there was a Common Sandpiper on the gravel Island in the river.
A pair of Jays were calling from the trees on the bank opposite and Grahame had a female Goosander further upstream.
Next we stopped at Bakethin viewpoint to look for Raptors. We stayed for an hour and
Saw 6 Buzzards displaying high up. Also there were 2 Ravens high overhead, he had good views of them all.
We then tried Bakethin Reservoir, and where lucky enough to get 4 Mandarins. We watched from the bridge rather than the hide and it gave us good views of the right side of the reservoir and the two islands in the middle of it.
The first Mandarin we saw was a Drake asleep on one of the islands. Then we had another Drake swimming close to the bank followed by a pair in the reeds below the bridge.
I hadn’t been to any of the sites we went to before today and was impressed by all of them. Sometimes Loughs and other upland sites seem to merge into one but everywhere we went today had its own distinctive areas and species.
Also on Bakethin there were 2 Greylag, 2 Canada Geese, 6 Mallard and 2 late Whooper Swans, which were starting to get orange heads.
After Bakethin we went to Whittle Dene Reservoirs. We checked the two main fishing waters first where there were 2 Goldeneye and 1 female Smew, which disappeared after a few minutes.
From the hide on the main Reservoir there were 4 Great Crested Grebe, 6 Goldeneye, 1 Grey Heron, 10+ Greylags, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Linnet, 4 Tufted Duck and a controversial Pipit.
The Pipit was on the dry concrete waterfall and kept disappearing behind the wall, so we moved around the corner to get a better view.
At first it looked like a Water Pipit but after half an hour of careful studying and some fence hopping we decided that it was a very streaked Meadow Pipit.
At one point we all thought it might have been a Scandinavian Rock Pipit but it had a clean white tail and the general lack of pink and greyish head ruled out Water Pipit, it sounds easy to identify but it was a dodgy Meadow Pipit, even when it was flushed it refused to call which would have solved the problem a lot faster.
Whilst watching the Pipit 13 Siskin flew over and a Toad swam across the water.
Are last stop of the day was Arcot Pond where apart from the usual a Stock Dove- Patch Tick flew over and 2 Willow Warblers- Patch Tick were calling. Also there was a Swallow – Patch Tick on the telephone wire at Dam Dykes.
I had my first sighting of the Red Eared Terrapin at Arcot today, it was sitting on a log in the south west corner.
83 - Stock Dove
84 - Wilow Warbler
85 - Swallow
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