A Hoot of a Weekend!!

What a lovely day yesterday was, frosty, cold with beautiful blue sky.  We managed to see a Short Eared Owl hunting near Greatham Creek and then today we found a Long Eared Owl at roost on Saltholme reserve.  We then decided on the way home to try and find a Little Owl which we did on the road between Redmarshall and Bishopton although it was a stones throw outside the Cleveland boundary.  Other birds seen yesterday were Water Rail and White Fronted Goose.



At one point the Owl attacked a Kestrel to try and steal its prey.

Long Eared Owl at roost in Saltholme.

Little Owl - easy to locate in our area

At least 12 Bullfinch in Stillington.

Water  Rail at Saltholme.



Long Tailed Duck at Last.

Spent the afternoon at South Gare trying to locate the Long Tailed Duck which had been reported there earlier in the week.  Thanks to Bert we managed to see one in the bay.  Later in the afternoon a second bird flew in to join it.  Also there on our arrival was a large flock of over 50 Snow Bunting but we failed to locate them later in the day.  There were good numbers of Knot, Turnstone and Oystercatcher along with Purple Sandpiper a fly over of a small group of Sanderling and at least 5 Bar Tailed Godwit.  A Guillemot became beached on the breakwater and late in the afternoon a Merlin landed on the beach before flying off.  All in all a very pleasant afternoon although a little cold in the wind.

A New Year begins.

Well we didn't get out very early on New Year's Day but we went out about 1pm and decided to see how many birds we could locate within a couple of hours.  We managed 71 in 2 and a half hours after visiting Crookfoot Reservoir, The Headland and Cowpen Bewley.  The female Smew was still at Crookfoot and the Ring Necked Duck at Cowpen Bewley although it was dusk and it was fast asleep.  It was good fun and can't wait for the next full, decent weather day off to try and see how many birds we can get in Cleveland in a day.  Roll on the weekend, feel like I have been back at school for weeks instead of days!

Tree Sparrows at Crookfoot

Kittiwake at the Fish Quay, Hartlepool.

Velvet Scoter from theHeugh Battery.

Black Redstart at Newburn

The Black Redstart was putting on a good show at Newburn this afternoon, lets hope it hangs around until the new year.  Good weather on New Years Day would make for a good first days birding in the county.  Can't wait! 

 Happy New Year to all who may read this blog.



Will Slavonian be our last of the year?

As horse-riding was cancelled and I was not feeling too good I decided to go out for an hour and get some fresh air.  I went up to the Headland to see if the Slavonian Grebe was still there and sure enough it was along with quite a few other birdwatchers.  It was giving excellent views feeding along the waters edge for quite a while before moving further out to feed.  It was very cold though so I did not spend too long there before coming home to watch more Christmas films and make some mince pies.

Med Gull - Hartlepool Headland 19/12/11

White-fronted Goose - Zinc Works Road

Pink-footed Goose - Zinc works Road

Black Necked Grebe

Well we can't believe it is so long since we last posted anything.  However we managed to venture out on the guided walk along Greatham Creek this morning to find a Black Necked Grebe.  We also had excellent views of a fly past Peregrine which proceeded to land on one of the towers a across from Seal Sands.  There were also good numbers of Grey Plover along with Black and Bar Tailed Godwits and Mergansers.

There were good numbers of Fieldfare at Saltholme.

And at the Headland there were large numbers of porpoise, the most we have seen there of late.

A Favourite - Grey Phalarope

Having spent the morning horse riding we managed to catch up with the Grey Phalarope late afternoon at the headland.  It showed very well for us as we walked along the pier and although the sun was going down we did manage to get a few reasonable shots before it flew off across the bay.  We called in at Crookfoot Reservoir prior to going to the headland and saw Bean, White Fronted and Pink Footed Geese along with the Smew, although all distant. 

Another day at the Gare.

Well the day dawned and seemed rather dull and miserable but we headed off with our picnic to South Gare to meet anyone who was prepared to brave the inclement weather and see what was around.  We were surprised to find that about 15 brave souls turned out with us and by the end of the morning we were probably all glad we had come.  We had a great morning starting off at the cars with Black Guillemot, Red Throated Divers and Merlin and Hen Harrier.  A short walk on the the shoreline produced a Goldcrest and shortly after an obliging Woodcock flew through.  A Reed Bunting and a Lesser Redpoll were by the Gully and then we had excellent sightings of a Short Eared Owl.  3 Twite obliged later in the morning along with the Hen Harrier again.  It was good to spend the morning with a good bunch of folk and meet some new faces and together we managed to find quite a few birds.  A good day was had by all even though we dipped out on the Humes and Black Redstart.  We stayed on well into the afternoon and managed to get further sightings of the Hen Harrier as it quartered the beach before returning to the dunes. 

Twite

Birds at South Gare

Went to South Gare to see the Humes Yellow Browed Warbler just in case it has disappeared by the time we visit tomorrow to lead a guided walk around the gare.  If the last time we lead a guided walk is anything to go by then it will absolutely pour down, everyone will get soaked and we will see virtually nothing.  But hey ho it is all part of the fun and hopefully it wont be like that and the weather will be good and we will see all sorts. May take some coffee for everyone just in case. Will let you know tomorrow night.  Anyway back to today, we did see the warbler and good views at that and also three Black Redstarts in the same vicinity.  Also around were some Red Throated Divers, guillemots and a juv. Gannet. 

Humes Yellow Browed Warbler

Black Redstart catching his tea.



Day Flying Bat today.

Not a lot of birds about today in the beautiful sunshine but we did see a Bat.  We were up at Crookfoot Reservoir when we noticed something being chased by a Gull.  We were quite surprised to see that it was some sort of Bat.  It flew around the whole time we were there, on one occassion being mobbed by two pied wagtails.  It seemed to be pretty large and certainly did get around pretty quickly.

From there we went over to the Headland where we saw this ringed Purple Sandpiper on the beach with a further 47 on the wall of the pier.

Purple Sandpiper