Hoodie

Went to Seaton Common to see if the Hooded Crow was still there, it did show at distance in the pouring rain. It was pretty mobile and disappeared for long periods and never came very close.

The Avocet are now sitting on the Saline lagoon island and a Little Ringed Plover was also there.

Wish the weather would improve but no sign for a while yet and the summer migrants are slow in returning.

Hooded Crow

Hooded Crow

Skylark

Little Ringed Plover

Avocet

Avocet (colour ringed)

Not everything is black and white!

Went up to the moors again today to see what I could find before the wet weather arrived. As usual the weather forecasters got their timing wrong and the wet weather arrived as I arrived at my destination.

Not to be totally put off I braved the very heavy rain and located the male Pied Flycatcher again along with a female in the area, a Buzzard braved the rain with a rapid fly through the area being mobbed by Jackdaws. The Fieldfare flock was still in the area (100+).The Nuthatches were working hard and looks like they must have young.

Moved on to another area of the moors to locate the Ring Ouzels, again the weather was like a monsoon when I arrived, but not to be put off - out of the car, into the rain and located the birds (4+) in a few minutes, then back to the car to dry off.

By this time I'd had enough...................back home for a coffee and some warmth!!!

Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzel

Pied Flycatcher

Nuthatch

Pied Flycatcher Returns.

It was sunny when I came in from school and Mick was on his day off so we decided to make the most of the evening and have a run over the moors.  On the way we saw a Red Legged Partridge posing like a statue followed by a pair of Crossbill perching high in some conifers high up on the tops.  On reaching our destination we had no sooner got out of the car when it began to rain and came in really black.  We did however (without even leaving the vacinity of the car) see our first Pied Flycatcher of the year.  We managed a couple of record shots before the light was too bad.  We also had approx. 100 Fieldfare fly into the tree tops being chased by a Sparrowhawk.  In all not a bad hour or so finished off with fish and chips from Stokesley.

Birds in our Garden

We have put a new bird feeder in our front garden and have had more birds recently than ever before.  We have  pairs of Long Tailed Tit and Goldfinch feeding continually each day along with Robin, Blue Tit, Great and Coal Tits.  Starling visit later on in the day with Dunnock, House Sparrow and Wood Pigeon also.  The best bird this week however was the male Bullfinch which visited one day - a first for our garden.

Long Tailed Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Coal Tit

House Sparrow

Goldfinch

Starling

Robin

Wood Pigeon

What weather, where are the birds?

Have spent the past few days looking for summer visitors but not much around at the moment.  Have heard a couple of Willow Warblers and managed to see a couple of Swallows in Yorkshire but not much in Cleveland.  We visited South Gare after the horrible weather had passed away on Wednesday and saw the Iceland Gull, two Sandwich Tern, flock of Linnet, Turnstone and Ringed Plover.

Iceland Gull

Iceland Gull

Iceland Gull

Kittiwake

Grey Wagtail

Sandwich Tern

Linnet

Ringed Plover

Turnstone

Treecreeper

Avoiding the Weather.

Monday -  had a short visit to Satlholme, the Glossy Ibis was showing well at distance.

Glossy Ibis

Tuesday -  was spent avoiding the bad weather so little was seen.

Little Grebe

A late start on Wednesday and strong winds prevented us having a good day, but Buzzard, Smew and Sand Martin, were seen. A trip down to Saltholme after gave us Water Pipit and Green Sandpiper. 

Common Buzzard

Green Sandpiper

Sand Martin

Making the most of it.

A walk was in order on Sunday as the weather was supposed to deteriorate today, although so far it has not been as bad as we expected.  May not say that tomorrow however if the rain, snow and winds arrive.

Went along the river at Weary Valley in search of Sandmartins which we found there this time last year but did not find them this year.  However lots of butterflies which were good to see.

Comma

Orange Tip

Peacock

Speckled Wood

Toad

Willow Tit

Sparrowhawk - Over Hutton Rudby

Nuthatch - Snilesworth

Buzzard versus Rook over Thimbleby