What colour is your heron?

Purple Heron

After doing my Breeding Bird survey at Widdrington, it seemed sensible to pop along to East Chevington to see the Purple Heron. A cracking bird, showing well, but at half a mile away the 2x convertor went on the camera. This hazy shot was the result.

Sedge Warbler

Then, came a  report of a Great White Egret at Hauxley, just a couple of miles up the road. On arrival I was told it was in front of the Ponteland hide. It's a long walk to the Ponteland hide, and even further to then get to the Eric hide, where the bird had decided to move to after 'interacting' with a Grey Heron!

Interaction!

Great White Egret

Holywell Pond

Heron

I missed the reported Marsh Harrier but found a fishing Heron, a fine adult Med Gull and a rather smart Ruff in front of the public hide. And I dodged the rain :)

Med Gull

Ruff

Our man in Havannah

An hour spent at Havanah Nature Reserve today was richly rewarded with a sighting of a Common Lizard - it ran over my foot!

Plenty of other wildlife on view including a possible sighting of a Water Vole and a couple of moths; one yet to be identified and one identified as 1251 Grapholita jungiella last recorded 13 years ago in 1998.

Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula

Green-veined White Pieris napi

Holywell Dene & Pond

I parked up at Holywell village and headed east towards the Dene and then took a turn northwards towards the Obelisk eventually heading back to Holywell going along the south of Holywell Pond. A mild and sunny day meant a chance of taking some photos with some light to work with and without getting hypothermia, again!

On reaching the Dene a flock of Blue, Great and Coal Tits were feeding when a single male Bullfinch flew in to view.

Bullfinch

Then a heron flew up from the Dene into the field above.

Grey Heron

Heading north a flock of 8 Linnet and 15 Yellowhammer were feeding in the stubble field.

Yellowhammers take cover in the hedge

Along the south of Holywell Pond a new path is under construction

Great Spotted Woodpecker by the hide at Holywell 

And on the pond ..... a few Tufties, couple of Gadwall, a Mallard and a pair of Mute Swan.

Mute Swan

Bay Watch 18/03

Walked to St Mary's via the waggonway and then returned along the beach picking up 38 species. Temperature hit a tropical 16.3 deg C!

Along the waggonway there was a flock of c150 Greylag in the fields between the golf course and the Beehive pub.

Waggonway

At St Mary's the wader numbers are way down. No Bar-tailed Godwit, no Ringed Plover, no Dunlin and only a single Sanderling on Whitley Beach. Lots of OAPs throwing chips at the gulls. Oh, and there was a pair of Shelduck on the wetland.

'Punk' Grey Heron on St Mary's Wetland

Fresh landslides on Whitley beach

Lumpsucker on the beach

I got a new Blogger tick - Tyne to Tweed. He did better than me and picked up a Barwit and Purple Sandpipers.

Bay Watch 11/02

I picked up two patch ticks today; a Kingfisher at the mouth of the Brierdene and a Med Gull in the adjacent car park. The latter has evaded my gaze for the last 3 months and I was starting to think it was an elaborate wind-up.





The tide was high so the last leg to St Mary's was along the cliff top. Not the safest of routes as it is retreating at an alarming rate.

My patch is shrinking by the minute!

The south beach at St Marys had 3 Purple Sandpiper, a number of Knot and 2 Bar-tailed Godwit.







The wetland had 3 snipe showing well, a pair of Mute Swan, Mallard, Teal, Gadwall and a Fox.



The fields to the west by Feathers Caravan Park were populated by over 200 Golden Plover, a good number of Curlew and a solitary Grey Heron.

The tide had started to recede on the way back so I took the route along the bottom of the cliffs. This wasn't too safe either with a couple of landslides witnessed. It can only be a matter of time before the council extend the sea defences as the loss of the pitch and putt could be the final nail in the coffin for Whitley tourism :)