Thursday 19 February 2015

Ford Moss 19th February

Ford Moss 19th February
We had a quick visit to Ford Moss this morning to do a bird count, there were a few birds about(we managed 26 species) on a bright but blustery day. Apart from the usual's such as Great Tit, Blue Tit and Robin we also had 1 Woodcock, 3 Common Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 8 Fieldfare, 3 Jay and best of all 2 Ravens flying over at tree height, "cronking" as they went, not a bad morning for mid-February, perhaps a sign of things to come!  

Sunday 15 February 2015

Grazing Geese fuelling for flight

If anyone wants to catch good numbers of geese, before their departure from these parts for their summer breeding grounds, try the Doddington to Milfield to Wooler triangle: the Milfield Plain. Yesterday (14th Feb)2-3,000 Pinkfeet were fattening up on a cereal crop on a road-side field between Wooler & Doddington. However, they were very wary and easily disturbed.
95 Dark-bellied Brent Geese were easily seen from the crooked-lonnen, Holy Island, and less nervous. The greater numbers of  Pale-bellied Brents remained elusive.

Thursday 12 February 2015

Ross and Gyle Point.


Wednesday 11th February was misty and cold as we crossed the dunes from Ross Farm heading for Gyle Point to have a final search for Snow Bunting which had eluded me so far this winter!
With a flat sea,it was easy to spot a couple of dozen Wigeon off shore.
50 or so Brents flew low over the water heading South whilst higher in the sky a large skein of Pink Feet flew North.
There were no waders on this stretch of beach at all. Heading North we had good views through the scope of 4 Slavonian Grebes.
Crossing the Wide Opens we looked over to Fenham Flats where in the far distance Shelduck were feeding.Continuing towards Gyle Point a small flock of 10 Snow Buntings flew over-my first this year!
Redshank ,Curlew and 2 Bar Tailed Godwit were spotted on the water's edge whilst a  Red Breasted Merganser gave some great views as the sun briefly appeared,illuminating it in a shaft of sunlight.
Rounding the Point,a raft of Common Scoter was bobbing some way out with another Red Breasted Merganser also seen .
Our penultimate spot of the day on the home strait were 5 Long Tailed Ducks which shortly took off flying south as the visibility decreased,whilst just before Ross Farm a group of around 50 Curlew landed in a field.