Todays adventures.

 This afternoon I ventured into a place that brought back many a childhood memory, a section of the Don that Ive not been to for many a moon. I think the last time I was by this section of the Don's bank I left with wet feet after falling in here from on a rope swing. ;-)  or chased because of venturing onto private land . I honestly didn't recognise this site as its matured over the years from what I remembered.
My reason mainly for this visit was to check for Otter sign with the survey organised by the Durham wildlife trust taking place next weekend and its within the the patch area Ive been allocated to survey.

That square looking stone in the above picture ....hot spot!

 Pretty fresh spraint and remains of older shit... This made the visit well worth while, not to mention my first Chiffy of the year calling in this area and a couple of male Bullfinch's of note.

 Bobby got a warm welcome here from these 'not too pleased' pair here.

 Sleepy Tawny from Whitburn today, well hidden...sort of.

 Another spot I dropped into today, the Lakeside ponds. This is the south pond here which is vastly over grown since this privately owned site has not been managed and looked after for the anglers. Looking good in my eyes! the other lake here still has open water and attracted a Great-crested grebe last year for a short time, which was an excellent bird for inland Jarra! Second Chiffy of the year calling here.

 Whilst in these parts today I ventured a little further onto the West pastures area. Knowing what this notorious area is like for dodgy folk I was surprised to see hardly any cars parked up or the same ones passing up teem times...( before anyone says owt...No I wasn't disappointed ).
Two of the fields in this area were lifting with Fieldfares! ...impossible to count but estimate 200-300.

The pond area held a few Wigeon and Teal still along with 20 or so Pied waggies and this White waggy. Also 2 Buzzards soared in the distance towards the Wardley area.

Not a great day for photos but a canny visit around the doors never the less.

Its like waiting for a bus....When one does arrive so does another 2 !!

 Finally after weeks of waiting my first Wheatear of the year was had today, and not just one either! 3 of these stunning male birds showed together along the fence line of the old shooting range field in Whitburn.

 They were first picked up on Jackies beach when me and Berb picked 2 up here before they flew off into the field above this beach. That's when number 3 joined them. Give it a week or so and the cry will be 'its just another Wheatear'.

 Dropped into the Washington wildfowl centre the other day. The car park was that busy here that the overflow one was being used, I had forgot the kids were off school.Great for this centre! but not so good if you want a nice quiet visit.....Surprisingly the wader lake hides were pretty quiet considering  the amount of folk who must have been in this centre this day.
 I had to count the Avocets here three times! as 11 of these fantastic waders were present on the wader lake here. I hadn't checked the centres web page for a while , the last time was when 7 birds were reported on this. So seeing 11 here was a pleasant surprise.

 Plenty of tension and scrapping going off with the Canada's and Greylags.

And this immature Mute swan ended up on the Wear after being chased numerous times along the lake here by this adult.
Couple of Black-tailed Godwits along with the Herons nesting exploits being the other highlights of this short visit which is one of the benifits of being a member of this wwt, you can pop in when you want, for as long as you want.

Serial Trillers

 Its April.....honest!..I had thought I might have been posting Wheatears or Chiffchaff on here by now not these winter beauties....
But nope, so far hardly any of the white rumped summer migrants have been sighted along our coastal area as yet, and hardly a 'Chiffing' thing heard or seen.
So when I was kindly informed that these bellters were still hanging around this morning (after being sighted yesterday), well we just had to go and have a look being only minutes away in the car in South Shields.
First pass and none were in view, second time lucky!.  32 had been sighted first thing this morning feeding on a canny number of berries left on the trees and this our second visit here, 18 birds showed.

We did a 3rd pass this afternoon and at first no birds to be seen and then 9 came over the roof tops and started to feed here. The visit was cut short when the the birds flew up onto a ariel before flying off again...the reason? the local Spuggyhawk bombed through seconds behind them.

As Jan was returning to the car she over heard some woman passing by saying to her companion- ' I hope they aren't taking pictures of bairns' referring to me and Ian mc. (who had his little lad present in his buggy). Thankfully this woman's companion reassured her that the cameras were being pointed at birds. The joys of urban birding and busy public places...! ;-)

Souter stack(jack rock) this afternoon

 The last couple of days Ive walked about a mile and a half of the Don in search of Otter sign. This is because of the stretch of this waterway Ive been allocated to carry out the up-coming survey that's being carried out by the Durham wildlife trust.A couple of these areas Ive not visited in years, so it was nice to view them again and see what changes have taken place. Pretty fruitless regarding Otter sign with only "maybe" prints at one spot and the remains of old spraint in another area, but the Water vole signs were very good!! Also another Bullfinch territory within Jarrow was found that was new to me.

This afternoon I visited Jack rock (Souter stack) to see how this breeding colony around this area was looking at the moment.
The Fulmars look to have occupied for the moment all of thier old preferred nesting ledges and hiddy-holes along the cliff faces and stacks...Lots of Fulmar chat going off!

 Kittiwakes haven't fully returned as yet to nesting ledges judging by the numbers present around this area today and also in Marsden.

 The Cormorant colony had 45 birds present on Jack rock on this visit this afternoon, courtship/pair bonding and nest building going off. None on Marsden rock or the smaller stack just to south of this bay here as yet.

Single Shag present also.....(Still waiting to see a success story breeding wise here).
Only 2 Razorbills on the main cliff face on this visit.

Small up-date regarding the Redheads landing Kittiwake colony.
Many a email has been sent and responses had- emails, phone calls and via Facebook.
The RSPB and Natural England have been consulted by the Port of Tyne regarding the planned development, also ST council obviously .
Legally they are within their rights to remove nests out of the breeding season and make future nesting here not possible, morally,thats another thing...........
It hit the local paper last week-
http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/nesting-birds-mean-river-work-is-suspended-1-5511428

Eviction!

 It was time for my first visit of the year to this site above, not exactly a local beauty spot but a hidden gem. This is Redheads landing and its a public right of way (for now) and has been for along time. The first thing I noticed when I pulled up here was that a few folk were cleaning up the old slipway here, this group are called Redhead landing public support group I learnt after having a chat with them. They told me about the future development planned for this site and the surrounding area.....and then I was told about the nesting ledges.

 Promotion board on the entrance gate...I think a email will be sent!

And this is why- http://www.portoftyne.co.uk/news/port-of-tyne/port-banking-on-renewables-for-jobs-and-growth

 This was the sight that greeted me when I eventually walked further down the slipway. The port of Tyne have removed years of Kittiwake mounds from most of the ledges and put boards over them to stop the birds nesting here.....to say I am gutted is a understatement! No doubt the rest will go the same way.

 Ringed bird here today, cannot get enough detail off it unfortunately. But its also been colour ringed so might be able to find some details from this.

So its looking like this sight will not be seen here this year. Over 50 pairs nested here last year, South Tynesides only inland breeding colony.... in the process of being evicted.

This is the first time Ive given the exact details of this colony on any web site etc. due to some of the nesting ledges being easy to access and also not wanting any low lifes to cause the birds harm.

Making the most of a few hours this week.

 On Thursday me and the UN-trained hound Bob....or Bobby (depends on how he's behaving name wise to what he's called) ventured around the northern end of the Leas. Its been a few weeks since I set foot here last, but the sight and sound of a few Skylarks and Meadow pipits starting to lay claim to ground here was just lush!.. And ...4 Snow buntings flew off over the mound area from the south end of Frenchmans bay as we approached this bay. I thought this might be my last sighting on this visit here and also of this winter period in our parts. But on the return leg around Frenchmans a pair hopped up out of the grass onto the railings, a real surprise! as Me and Ian Mc. had'nt seen the orignal birds sighted do a return lap here.

 He,s a stunner no doubt about it.!

 And wor Med. gull is looking great also now.

Sighted the Shorty from the obs end of the LNR at Whitburn the other day also, big ask photo wise but great to see all the same again.

This late morning was spent helping plant sapplings above the Don valley area in Jarrow. Some 300+ planted in only a few hours by the few who turned out to try and make a difference within South Tyneside. 

This weekends exploring.

 I cannot praise the local council highly enough for thier endeviours to protect and encourage our dunes to develop, with a little human introvention.  Matt, the former Countryside officer for our borough is the man to thank regards this great project.  Over the winter period our dunes have enlarged big style because of the fencing erected around the area, which has acted like a barrier.

 This was the scene yesterday... what path?? This is(was) the one leading from the skateboard park(behind the fair) to the pier, and I really hope that this path is never seen again.! 

 The pier wander- This ship still has me doing a double take each time I see it around the Tyne area., its just not the normal.

 Marine park (south) produced my first Chiffchaff of the year on Saturday ( More than likely wintering)  and also a couple of Goldcrests in tow.  8 Pochards on this lake is the best count in our area.

 And what can you say about this beauty.. ? Wor Marsden resident is looking very smart again.( bar the noise, camera wise)

 A Short-eared owl showed briefly along the coastal path in Whitburn after i landed with the dog in tow.

 Just a blob on a rock..? i hope not.  Sign of Otter me things along the Don. Anal jelly ( sounds a tad naughty) but it looks like the real thing.  

 Lesser Black-backed gull on the way back to the coast on the Moor lane flash.

And this arsehole .....words fail me.