Recent Sightings 24/5/09 - 27/5/09

These are a few sightings that I have seen lately:

Lapwing and White Wagtail? (not sure) at Druridge Pools.

Does anyone know what type of caterpillar this is because I am not sure? (Also taken at Druridge Pools)

Lapwing Chick at Cresswell Little Egret at Hauxley NR (Had to wait about 15 minutes before it walked in front of the Eric's Hide)

Sparrowhawk, Song Thrush and Starling Chick taken in my garden.

Warblers all around

On Sunday, we went on a dawn chorus walk arranged by the NWT in Plessey Woods. On our way round we heard lots of common birds like chiffchaff, willow warbler, robin, blue tit etc. We also saw a male blackcap singing but it soon moved when we got close. We also saw a grey wagtail on the river. Just as we were nearly back, we saw a juvenile mistle thrush flap into the bushes and when we passed this is what we saw:

What you lookin' at?

After the walk we went to Cresswell to see if we could find any sedge warblers. Sure enough when we got there, we saw a sedge warbler fly into the reeds in front of the car. It sat there for quite a while until it decided it had had enough and left. We went onto Druridge to find some whitethroats on our way to the hide and some waders on the pond. We didn't see any whitethroats on the way but from the open hide, we saw the spoonbill. There was also a yellow wagtail calling from the grass but we couldn't locate it. The spoonbill was on the far side so I had some attempts at digiscoping it. However, that is all there was so we went to Hauxley. On our way to the Eric's hide we saw a willow warbler singing it's heart out. Not much from the Eric's hide but the wader hide was a lot better. When we went in, we heard two sandpipers calling but we couldn't locate them until they flew straight in front of us and landed on the rocks to the left. Seconds later, 2 grey partridges flew in front disappearing into the distance. There was also the resident redshank in front of the hide that is always there. Unfortunately there was nothing else except for this whitethroat on the way home on the beehive road:

The Warblers we saw:

Sedge Warbler

Willow Warbler

Whitethroat

Blackcap

Chiffchaff

Common Sandpiper

Willow Warbler

Spoonbill Sedge Warbler

Hauxley, Druridge, East Chev and Cresswell.

On Sunday we went to Cresswell to see these wagtails that we can never find! As always, they weren't there and there wasn't much on the pond so we went to Druridge. We went to the mini-pond first which produced 3 black-wits, 6 dunlin and not much else. So we moved on to the bigger pond. On our way, we saw a whitethroat on our way to the hides. It just flew as we saw it so no picture unfortunately. From the first hide we saw 10 dunlin, 6 ringed plover and 2 nesting greylags. There was nothing at all on the main pond so we went to East Chev. On our way in, as we walked across the bridge, we saw a sedge warbler fly into the reeds. After 20 mins of looking, it never showed again. Just then it started to rain - heavily!! We ran to the hide and dived in. Not much on the pond and if it hadn't been for the 3 wheatears to the right side of the hide, we would have had nothing to watch! After it stopped raining we left the hide and went to Hauxley. On the board, in the reception hide there had been a marsh harrier seen 1 hour before we got there. As we walked round we saw 2 muscovy ducks on the little pond near the Eric's Hide. There were 2 gadwall in front of the hide but nothing else unusual expect a bar-wit on the far side. Not a bad day although not excellent. Wheatear Muscovy Ducks Gadwall

A little extra!: This year I set myself a challenge - to get a half-decent photo of a swift. This is what I came out with:

Bits and Pieces from the last month 2/5/09

Here are a few photos that I have taken over the past month that didn't posted: Avocet at Washington WWTWillow Tit at Washington WWTBuzzard at Elsdon Moors Otter at Druridge Pools Waxwing at Shiremoor Metro Station (My first ever waxwing. At last!!) Nuthatch, Stock Dove and Yellowhammer at Thornley Woods. (The Yellowhammer just turned away as I was taking it's photo!)