Ups and Downs

Wasted a morning, tyre rubber and diesel today by going for the 'third time lucky' Kielder Goshawk tick.  Like Eurovision, it was Liverbirder, nil points!  Crossbills, Buzzards, wee things and a Peregrine tho'.  Decided to try for the Black Redstart at Druridge at 2:30 pm.  It's great when you arrive and see better birders' cars there.  Northumbrian Birder was with Lord Dack Snr of Seaton Sluice and within seconds, l'oiseau!  What a stunner; flighty but more often visible than not.  It favoured the plantation or the bare, low sycamores to its east and north, but never venturing far from the perimeter fence.  And then, like the Famous Five, it was home for tea.

Sorting the Wheat(ear) from the (Chiff)chaff

Crackin' start to the day; weather superb and no-one else about.  Off out at 06:30 and back an hour later with just under 30 species.  Bullfinch (not seen for a month or so) on the r/about o/s the business park, but the best was a superb male Northern Wheatear sitting on a dead bush next to the grey 13013 box to the south of the sub-station and was quite obliging in terms of letting me get within about 12 feet (come on, Sometimes, one for the expert cameraman here!) .  On the flash were a pair of Oystercatcher, Greylag and Shelduck but generally not a lot else.  A pair of Kestrel's were playin' chasy and passing the sub-station, Mr Wheatear was now on the muddy area south of the road.  And the Chiffchaff was calling its lungs out on Crosland Way on he way back.

I did post the Wheatear on Birdguides at 07:45 but 45 minutes or so later, nothing!

Patch Work

Later start to work today, so a 6:30/7:30 am stroll revealed several points of interest, mostly good, but not entirely so.  A Woodcock was flushed from the north end of the copse, as was a male Roe Deer (I don't know who was more spooked, him or me).  The F*ck Factor was that someone has been 'tear-arsing' around on some form of 4 x 4, probably Sunday afternoon when the gate was open for the workies at the new Fire and Rescue HQ.  My patch might not be much to look at, but I have noted more than 90 species since I started recording them.

This evening, same route.  No Alpine Swift or Great Grey Shrike, but 8 Pied Wagtails as a close second (!), 14 Oystercatchers and a few other 'bits' on/near the water.  A Jay flying from the r/about east was a nice surprise (as were 20 Whooper Swans over the house at 21:30 last night).