Birding around Hartlepool

 

My only free day this week so decided to spend it birding around Hartlepool. I arrived at 8am and started with a couple of hours seawatching.

It was high tide at 0830 so I was hoping to see birds fairly close to the shore. Sadly not to be. Lots of herring gulls, cormorants and eiders were close but other birds were a bit further out. A red throated diver was preening not too far away and 4 common scoter were viewable through my binoculars. Everything else was a telescope job. 3/4 of the way to the horizon lots of gannets were plunge diving into the sea and an equally distant manx shearwater skimmed the waves. Sandwich terns were vocal as they went fishing and an arctic skua attacked one of them. After 2 hours I had a walk around the headland. More eiders and a few turnstones on the shoreline.

This was as close as I got to the Pilot pier as there were several fishermen on the end sitting on the wall, so I guessed that there would be few if any birds about.

A few ringed plover, turnstones and oystercatchers at Newburn bridge.

This young gull was in trouble. The incoming waves were too strong for it and it was fored into the rocks by the force of the sea.

For a few minutes all I could see was one of its wings as the sea trapped it between some rocks. However it managed to hop onto a rock and get away from the incoming sea.

Seaton Carew was my next stop.

Lots of little terns on the beach until the lifeguard put his flags there and they flew off. A few birds came back to the fenced off area to feed their young.

I managed to spot a young tern chick.

Saltholme was my next stop.

A great white egret from the Phil Stead hide.

It had a red ring on one of its legs.

In the evening 3 friends and I went to Sutton Bank visitor centre to look for turtle doves.

Great spooted woodpecker and jays were about as were collared dove, wood pigeons and lots of chaffinches. Eventually we saw a turtle dove in a tree above one of the feeding stations. It then flew down onto a fence.

We saw a turtle dove in 3 locations, heard them purring and saw them glide in flight, a perfect end to a long days birding.

Bearded reedlings everywhere.

 

My view from Marshland hide at 0745 this morning. All the white dots are spoonbills.

I counted 16 birds, some feeding while others rested. A mixture of adults and young birds, how many I wondered came from Fairburn?

Cormorants, greylag geese and mallards on the water, plus various waders.

On the mud at the bottom of the reeds were bearded tits. They were on the mud on every lagoon. They were a fair distance away, but allowed the visitors an opportunity to see them. 

These were some of the 35 I counted from the hide at Singleton.

I visited 5 hides and counted just over 100 beardies.

Time to open the visitor hide. A very day with lots of visitors, who all went away happy having seen the spoonbills, beaded tits, spotted redshanks, ruff, greenshank, green sandpipers and black tailed godwits.

Spoonbill feeding time

 Spoonbill experience walk number 10 and I took my camera today, We were able to see the young birds in one nest reasonably well as they are growing quickly. Will they still be in the nest for my last 2 walks next weekend?

Feeding three young must take a lot of effort. I wonder if the adults have been to RSPB Blacktoft Sands searching for food.

Before the walk I spent an hour in the Pickup Hide. Lots of activity from young birds.

Blacktoft Sands tomorrow.

Cattle egret at North Duffield Carrs

 Harvest time and the farmer is busy collecting all the bales of hay. Just a young coot and 2 female mallards on the scrape.

2 red kites were gliding over the area looking for any prey caught up in the harvesting. One kite spotted something on the ground.

 across the river cattle were grazing and a cattle egret was busily feeding on the insects they disturbed.

Some of the cattle did not like the bird and chased it away.

Another spoonbill experience walk tomorrow.

Turtle Dove

 My first visit to Sutton Bank Visitor Centre tonight. I arrived at 1740 and as soon as I got out of my car, I could feel a difference in temperature. When I returned to put my parking ticket in the car I looked at the dashboard display, it read 15 degrees.

I sat at one of the picnic tables, so that I could see both sets of feeders. Shortly after I arrived a couple of birders joined me. They had been there for an hour and had not seen or heard any turtle doves. Another 2 birders joined us and we waited and watched both sets of feeders. After a while the others went back to their cars for some clothes! We continued to watch and wait.

A great spotted woodpecker turned up.

Then this dove arrived

a collared dove.

About 7pm the others left and wished me luck. I continued to sit and look. 7.30pm and my parking ticket expired at 7.40. So I slowly walked back to the car, when I saw a movement on the floor beneath the feeders. A turtle dove.

RSPB Fairburn Ings

 My 8th spoonbill experience walk today. An adult arrived with food which enabled us to see the young begging for food. We also saw a recently fledged bird following its parent as they waded through the water, whenever the adult caught something the young would start asking for food.

Before and after the walk I spent some time at the Pickup hide, near the visitor centre.

The jays did not come very close today.

Walk number 9 on Tuesday

A hot day at Blacktoft Sands.

 

I arrived just before 8am and walked to Marshland Hide, the above photo was my view.

Spoonbill

Is it one of the birds with a nest at Fairburn?

Green sandpiper

snipe

Others waders feeding on the scrape were Ruff. Spotted redshank, Redshank, Lapwing, Greenshank, Black-tailed godwit and Little ringed plover. I then joined Pete in Reedling hide. Marsh harriers were having a squable

Pete pointed out a young bittern in the opposite reed bed. it was just showing its head.

Reed warblers were singing from deep in the reedbed, while this Chiffchaff sat on top of a bush to sing.

Tree sparrows were also active.

Butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies were also on the wing, but they did not settle for long in the gentle breeze.

A couple of hours into my shift I noticed a female Bittern feeding a young on at the edge of Reedling lagoon. Not a brilliant photo due to the vegetation in the foreground.

Is it the same bird I saw earlier, or is it another young bird from the same nest?

Back to Spoonbills at Fairbirn tomorrow.