Only the Waxwings

Out of Waldridge this morning but on my return I saw the 9 Waxwing that are still present at lunchtime. They are now in the trees opposite the Whitehills pub.

Waxwings keep coming (and going)

9 Waxwing were at the junction of Waldridge Road and Whitehills Way early afternoon but I could not find the bigger flock either in the railway station or community hospital area earlier. Perhaps the flock has broken up.
Down at the river its still quiet with the water level so high and fast flowing only the Goosander seem to be able to feed in it. The Mute Swans, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Moorhen and Coot are all seemingly replying on being fed by the public. There are no Geese or Whopper Swan around at the moment
On the bend of the river north of the sewage works the two Common Seal were feeding quite successfully. I thought with the river being so high they might have tried making it back downstream to the sea, but seem happy to be staying around here. Considering how well they are feeding it not surprisingly really.
Nothing else around except for 2 decent groups of Long-tailed Tit and a few common ruderal plants in flower such as Oxford Ragwort and Dandelion.

Waxwings are here again.

There were 40 Waxwings around last night in the railway station area and this morning they were to be seen by the railway bridge by Avondale  Terrace / Bullion Lane.

Fewer is better

The morning was spent on the fell trying to get a few more species added, though that was after getting the birds of the day whilst I was down in the town centre early on. Near the hospital a flock of 18 Waxwing flew over, circled over ARGOS, then back towards the hospital.

By 10:30 I was on the fell, covered in mud as everywhere is not just wet but flooded. Several inches of soaking sticky mud making walking very difficult on every path or area of grass. The ponies and Highland Cattle are doing a fine job of tramping and churning up the area. Just what's needed.

Looking quite pleased with a job well done

The next best birds of the day were a group of 4 Crossbill, all green birds calling a characteristic  'chip-chip-chip' as they  flew over the South Burn Woods. A Willow Tit called and showed in the thick scrub, more than it did yesterday.
On the fell, a  few other birds also showed which they didn't do on the 1st including Kestrel, Goldcrest, Nuthatch and Siskin. 3 more Crossbill, I assume a different group, as one was red male, which also flew over.

Kestrel - one of 3 birds seen on the fell this morning

Other bits and pieces seen were the Yellow Brain (or Golden Jelly) Fungus, Tremella sp. probably T. messentrica and the Fairy cup lichen Cladonia fimbriata

Yellow Brain Fungus

Fairy Cup Lichen 

Certainly less species than yesterday but the Waxwing and Crossbill were better birds and my bird list is now 54.

A new year but not started with a bang.

Back with a new year but not a big bang. It's been a quiet couple of months, hence the lack of activity on this blog and today wasn't much of an improvement. I was up before dawn, walked down to the Riverside, along the river and the A167 to Chester Moor, then the Fell and woods. Unlike last year I didn't get wet but it was cold and windy and the only plant in flower noted was Gorse.

Gorse - always in flower on the 1st day of the year

Very hard work for 41 species with a number of common species in hiding today. No Buntings, Wren or Coal Tit and there was no sign of the Whooper Swan on the river either. The park was very wet with the river lapping onto the adjacent path. I was told that same path was under water yesterday and  the level has dropped considerably in the last 24 hours. Goosanders were very prominent today, all along the river. In fact I had three flying over Chester Farm before I even got to the river this morning. Despite the high levels a Dipper flew by and did a sharp turn up the Cong Burn but no Cormorant.  The little wildlife area produced the only Jay and 13 Goldfinch of the day as well as a Grey Squirrel but the little pond there is certainly not little at the moment. 

38 Curlew were feeding in a flooded field alongside the road as I headed off.

6 Grey Partridge were nice as this species is no longer common around here (or anywhere these days)  but there are still a few about. They may well have been the birds of the day.

Pheasant and Grey Partridges

A skein of 15 Grey Lag Geese flew over the fell when I arrived but generally not much else.  I called it a day by 11:25 and  finished knackered.

Grey Lag over the fell

Find some Waxwings

 Waxwings have been arriving in the north-east in good numbers the past week or so and I have seen them at several spots, so I had to look for some in Chester-le-Street yesterday. I did, amazingly, find some without too much difficulty. Not a flock of 150-200 like in some places but a small group of 12 in the trees of Park View School in the town centre.

I continued down into the Riverside Park. The Whooper Swan is still present and a few Cormorant  and 7 Goosander were on the river but very little else except for 2 Grey Wagtail. The little nature reserve near the cricket ground was, as usual, very quiet, with only a few Bullfinch, a Jay and a lone Siskin of note.

2 of the Goosanders, the drake looking uncomfortably like a duck out of water.

Today a single Waxwing flew over the house and landed in the nearby big Beech tree. This is the same tree that held a flock of 60 in November 2010. At lunchtime, on my way to Chester Moor, I found a hairy orange-brown caterpillar crawling across the pavement in front of me. It turned out to be the larva of a Ruby Tiger Moth.

I had sneaked out of the area early this morning to successfully see a Great Grey Shrike but was probably more pleased to see four juvenile Barn Owls getting what may be the last bit of warm sun this year as they sat outside their nestbox.

2 of the 4 Barn Owls I saw this morning

With two separate sightings of Waxwing this weekend with very little effort, it shows just how many are currently about and I'm sure anyone interested could find some if they were vigilant. But they need to hurry, as following the spring and summer we have had,  there are not many berries about, so they'll not be around for long. 

Roof top Nature

With the dark nights it's weekend only nature watching most of the time till spring now.  Recently it's been looking at what has popping into the garden but so far it's been rather quiet.

Dunnock in the garden

A (or the) Grey Squirrel has been quite regular, not only raiding the bird table but generally scurrying around the garden.

Grey Squirrel - 9 out of 10 for attempted cuteness

It has taking the habit of scrambling onto the roof if it's disturbed instead of leaving all together.

Rooftop Grey Squirrel

Today I went to the coast of the outside chance that a reported Lesser Kestrel was going to be around at Marsden. Of course it wasn't but I took the opportunity of heading a couple of miles south to a garden in Seaburn where a Bee-eater has been present for a couple of days. Instead of either being in Africa or at least well on it's way, its feed on wasps still around in gardens in Sunderland.

Bee-eater at Seaburn

Like the garden Squirrel it was also using the rooftops to view it's surroundings.

Rooftop Bee-eater

I know which I would prefer on my roof.