Common Night Gulls

A big improvement in the weather this morning - it isn't snowing - so off I went to work to keep the cogs of Britain turning.

Walking down into town - still no chance of getting the car out - 2 Grey Lag Geese flew over heading south honking away. Before I left the 20 Siskin were still in the trees by the house but no sign of the Waxwing there or along the road at Warkworth Drive this morning.
It took a lot longer to get home this evening. It was dark of course but at one point in the snow and hail  I heard some birds calling overhead and a large flock of Common Gull were flying over, again heading south. I've seen up to about half a dozen at a time this winter, but this flock was made up of at least 45 and should have been roosting somewhere by now. Most unusual.

Still cut off

Its 10:50 and still no way of getting to work. The mobile is working and  another 4x4 managed to make a break for it but its snowing again and there's already 16" of snow on the lawn and patio. But on the bright side, its also sunny and looking out I can see a flock of 60 Waxwing and 20 Siskin in the trees nearby.

Cut off

Failed at an early attempt to get to work. No cars have managed to leave the street apart from a couple of large 4x4s. No buses leaving Chester-le-Street apart from one to Newcastle, trains running a hour late and I can't even get a mobile signal.

Walked down into town and back again due to the above, in deep snow, and thunder and lightning I may add,  and am I cheesed off? - no chance. Whilst pushing the 3rd car out of the snow in Warkworth Drive on the way back, I was rewarded for being such a good samaritan when I looked up and watched a flock of 28 Waxwing land in a Sorbus bush in one of the front gardens. They did this several times but with there being so much snow covering the bush they eventually gave up. Just a few minutes earlier I had 2 Brambling perched up in the roadside trees.

A walk on the white side

Blackbird

and Wood Pigeon scoffing most of the food.

The bird table was quite busy but often the small birds had to wait there their turn due to the large number of plump Wood Pigeons and Blackbirds.
A bit more snow and -10C overnight but a little walk over the Fell was required. 

The horses in the fields certainly needed their coats overnight

South Burn Woods

 A wander along Beaney Lane produced one surprise when a Common Snipe was flushed out from under the hedge, calling as it got up. With the snow I would have expected a Woodcock more than a Snipe.

Hogweed - some of this was still in flower a week ago

 
Later, walking over the fell it or another Common Snipe flew over, again calling. After getting a newspaper at the garage on the A167, I took the footpath nearby, back  towards the fell and scanning the hedgerow I found a Little Owl perched in an old Ash tree. I didn't approach any closer as it was watching me and would have been away if I did get nearer. Carrying on, not surprising, I saw very little as I plodded through 15" of deep virgin snow.

Waldridge Fell with a bit of snow

 

One of the  Sessile Oaks  in the hedgerow looking quite majestic today

 A few Siskin and Redwing  flew over but otherwise the only other birds were the same species as have been in the garden this week

Deer  and rabbit tracks

There were lots of tracks in the snow, mainly of Rabbit but also Roe Deer who had obviously been digging about and feeding on brassicas hidden under the snow in one of the arable fields.Despite teh numerous tracks I saw only a few Rabbit and  only 1 Roe Deer, a good way off,  near  Kimblesworth.

This had been dug up and partly eaten by Roe Deer as is evident by the tracks in the snow.

 

Male Stonechat

Heading towards the woods, as well as the Common Snipe flying over, a male Stonechat was flitting amongst some dead umbellifer stalks.

Hopefully the 3 pair on the fell will survive these next few months, as despite their reputation for suffering in harsh winters, they came through last winter, fine, somehow.

Waldridge Lane and no traffic at all as I walked along it - excellent!

 The woods had a few more birds than the other day, with a few Bullfinch, 20 Lesser Redpoll, and a small number of Blue, Great and Coal Tit but I was glad to get home as trekking through the deep snow is not easy.

My walk home

Snow plus

With the snow its down to watching the birds visiting the garden bird table. I did have a little wander but apart from some snow plus some more snow I saw very little.

South Burn Woods - very pretty but also very quiet

So it was through the house window that the past couple of days  I have seen anything so far. The results have been ok but nothing startling.

Pair of Bullfinch

• Wood Pigeon - 8
• Collared Dove - 2
• Blackbird - 4
• Song Thrush - 1
• Redwing - 1
• Robin - 1
• Dunnock - 2
• Great Tit - 2
• Blue Tit - 4
• Coal Tit - 1
• Chaffinch - 2
• Goldfinch - 3
• Bullfinch - 2
• House Sparrow - 8
• Common Starling - 5

Coal Tit

No Long-tailed Tit or Greenfinch yet nor a repeat of any Siskin. 
2 Grey Wagtails flew over today and a flock of 25 Lesser Redpolls in the trees about 30 metres away.

A Christmas Robin  29 days early

And now its snowing!

Its 18:20hrs and the first snow of the winter

Down to 7

It wasn't raining, so off I went with my camera to look for the Waxwings. Found them easily enough flying around at the roundabout  junction of Waldridge Road and Warkworth Drive. There seems to be only seven birds left now. They landed in the trees behind the bus stop and I rattled off a few photos but the light wasn't good and they were at the very tops. Quite a few people stopped and asked what I was doing and seemed quite interested, or bemused (delete as applicable) but they do now have Waxwing on their lists.

Waxwings at the roundabout

As I was already out, I went for a little wander and walked down the bank, left at the doctors surgery and into Cong Burn Woods. Very,  very muddy after all the rain and a bit quiet too.Most of the vegetation is brown now and with little leaf cover remaining, so different from a few months ago. Several species of ferns were still green and I photographed a few including Broad Buckler Fern and Scaly Male Fern.

Scaly male fern growing by the Cong Burn

 

Five Redwings flew out the tree and 3 Lesser Redpoll flew over but that was it on the bird front.

The underside of Broad Buckler Fern showing the spores

and the same of Scaly Male Fern 

I then checked the nearby Tribley farm ponds.Lots of water in them and three Teal flew off with a pair of Mallard and a Grey Heron. The fields have been sown with winter cereal and more than 220 Curlew were feeding in them, together with 150 Lapwing and 25 Black-headed Gull.

Part of the flock of Lapwings.

 I walked back through the woods and just as I was about to exit I saw this.

 

 

Having ruled out Triffid, I reckon its  the remains of a fungus, Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) which has popped open and shed its spores then filled with water and algae has started to grow on it. Very strange.

Anyway up the bank through the village and over the top where I saw a very nice lichen, one of the Reindeer-mosses Cladonia portenosa which was new for me

The Lichen Cladonia portenosa

Back through South Burn Woods, which had a lot more birds than the Cong Burn, in part due to a roaming tit flock,  that included 3 Willow Tit, 2 Tree-creeper and a pair of Bullfinch. 

One of two Tree-creepers in the Tit flock

A nice finish to a cold winter walk and I only got wet the once.