A Return to Harthope Valley

17^th May.  We realised that we hadn’t visited Harthope Valley in the past two years (was it really that long?), probably because at the time we would normally visit, trips to foreign parts had been arranged, so today’s visit accompanied by Lee (he’d never previously visited the valley), Sam and I were keen to reach our destination.  A Kestrel and Common Buzzards were seen on the outward journey, but we later found little in the way of raptor life in the uplands!

Red Legged Partridges were seen before we had entered the valley, in fact I don’t remember seeing as many in the area before.  Once into the valley and driving along by the burn and flowering gorse we soon had sightings of Cuckoo, Whinchat and Sand Martins.  The air was full of bird song including Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and more Cuckoos.  As we parked up at the car-park at the bottom of Hawsen Burn our first Red Grouse were heard and a Song Thrush was seen on the river bank.  It was about 11:00am now and there was still a chill in the air, but we were soon to warm up!

We began as we always do and walked the climbing path up by Hawsen Burn.  The pathway on the right of the burn has deteriorated even more and is virtually impassable without some crisscrossing of the burn at its narrowest points.  We were soon listening to many more calls from Red Grouse and having gained some height we began to see them.  Seven or eight pairs of Whinchat were seen and one or possibly two pairs of Stonechat.  Thankfully there had been no recent burning in the area we walked as had occurred on our previous visit.  Our target bird was of course Ring Ouzel and we weren’t disappointed having sightings of male birds, at least five, the best sighting being on our return walk and near to the valley bottom.  We rested at the sheep fold, although I’ve learned that a better name for this is the Scottish term, sheep stell.  It was warm by now and at times silent.  There aren’t many silent areas about and I’m sure there are many who would struggle with silence, but not me, at least for periods.  Common Buzzard was seen although as I’ve already mentioned it was the only raptor seen in the upland area.  Meadow Pipits were seen at times and Skylark heard.  Some liquid intake and a share of Sam’s chocolate set me up nicely for the return walk.  The aroma was typical of this upland area and Willow Warbler and Wrens song was heard above the sound of the waters of the burn, relaxation at its best.  Both Slow Worm and Green Hairstreak Butterfly were found.   One male Wheatear showed nicely as we approached the valley floor and Lee found us a Hare.  We had seen no one on the walk, although there were plenty of visitors in the valley.  Our lunch was enjoyed by the river where only Pied Wagtail appeared on the rocks, but Redpoll and Siskin were both seen and heard in the trees and overhead.  We would usually walk up the valley past Langleeford, but on this occasion decided to drive back down the valley as we were a bit pushed for time if we were to stop at Druridge Pools on our return.

Carey Burn provided us with a pair of Grey Wagtails and eventually Sam had a fleeting sighting of Dipper, which I heard.  A Grey Heron flew up the valley and the sound of Cuckoos had entertained us.  The scent of gorse filled the air.  Probably because we had shortened the walking we missed out on the likes of Green Woodpecker, Common Sandpiper and Spotted Flycatcher and goodness knows what else, but there is always a next time and our time in the valley was well spent and enjoyed.  We intend to explore the path at Carey Burn on a future trip.

We headed for Druridge with Lee confident that we’d see the Glossy Ibis.  In my experience it never pays to be over confident as to birds and of course we didn’t find it.  However, we weren’t disappointed as we saw four Garganey, three of them drakes, two Little Stint and several Black Tailed Godwit amongst other waterfowl and waders.

It looked as though it was to be another stunning evening at the bay, but we had to head for home now passing the Avocets at Cresswell Pond.  It had been excellent day in some of my favourite Northumbrian habitat.   

Reflecting Upon a Druridge Evening

14^th May.  Sam and I made for Cresswell for a spot of early evening birding and expected that folk would be out in droves on such a stunning evening.  On arrival we were met by a singing Sedge Warbler and a small crowd at the parking area.  I soon realised that the crowd was part of the Barn Owl brigade and their plan was for yet more images of the most photographed owl in the Northeast.  We had different ideas and were soon in the hide which we had to ourselves and where we could enjoy peace and the song and sightings of many Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers and equally nice sightings of Avocets which looked splendid in the sunlight.  Wheatears could be seen in the fields north of the pond and Ringed Plovers and Lapwings were on the mud.  I’d expected it to be cooler by now, but the wooden hide held the heat and the sun shone down on us, so brightly that it was difficult to watch anything on the western side of the pond.  Tree Sparrows were in the hedge.

Moving along to the other end of the pond we once again had closer sightings of the Wheatears and watched two Avocet dive-bomb a Grey Heron which stood its ground for a while at the edge of the pond.  The antics of the bobbing heron was good to watch, but even more interesting was the Grey Heron that caught an Eel.  We watched as the Eel curled itself around the heron’s bill until the bird disappeared behind the reeds.  My money was on the heron eventually overcoming the Eel’s tactics.  There were no rarities, but this evening did not require them.  A pair of Gadwall were nearby on the pond.  I did notice this evening that there was once again a distinct lack of hirundines.  Skylark climbed and sang above our heads.

There was more Sedge Warblers at Druridge Pools along with Common Whitethroats and Blackcap.  Perhaps the nicest sighting here was five Yellow Wagtails, one of them a Channel, which were seen at the feet of the Exmoor Ponies.  Nesting and displaying Lapwings were numerous and the Shovelers also put on a really good display and I came up with a good name for a group of goslings, ‘a pile’.  Oystercatcher s flew over and called, Water Rail was heard calling from the reedbed, whilst calls varying from birds such as Arctic Tern and Pheasant were amongst those we picked up.  Once again apart from a lone birder /photographer that we passed, we had the whole area to ourselves.

A 'Pile' of Goslings

We eventually took a walk through the dunes to look over the sea.  The sun was now going down quickly but the light was still bright, and Stonechat, Reed Bunting and Linnet showed really well.  The sea was a pale blue mill pond this evening and the colour overall was good to see, wit the horizon a narrow band of very pale red.  The beach was deserted apart from one passing dog walker and Coquet Island showed well in the clear air.  We picked up several Red Throated Divers, Guillemot, Sandwich and Arctic Tern.  I shared my packet of crisps with Sam as we took in the peace and quiet and stunning views.  It wasn’t easy to take our leave but leave we did.  As we passed Cresswell Pond we noted the crowd had left and we saw no Barn Owl, but we had experienced a great deal more.

On my arrival home I went to close the curtains and found that I was looking at a very large Hedgehog on the patio.  I left it in peace too.  Hedgehogs used to be regular visitors to the garden, but I don’t recall seeing one in recent times.  It’s tempted me now to buy the forthcoming New Naturalist book on Hedgehogs which is due to be issued in July.  The Hedgehog brought a close to a very enjoyable evening which seemed far longer than the three hours we were out.

Reflecting Upon a Holywell Evening

8^th May.  The sunshine had disappeared, and the rain began as I was putting my boots on and preparing to leave for Holywell.  I had arranged to lead a small group around the area, all of whom had attended the ‘new to bird watching’ talks at the Rising Sun Country Park over recent weeks.  The rain was heavier when I arrived in the village, so full marks to everyone for turning up.  As we walked off from outside of the Milbourne Arms the rain ceased, although temperatures had plummeted.  Hirundines were few and far between as we walked through the village and only the occasional Swift was noted.  Swallow and House Martin numbers continued to disappoint as we approached the pond, and over the pond only a couple of Sand Martins were seen.  I feel that the reserve is looking a little worse for wear and the reed-beds looked a bit unhealthy and thin to me.  A flash in the west field near to the pathway held a pair of Gadwall and Pied Wagtail and there was only a solitary female Pheasant at the feeding station, although several other Pheasants were heard throughout the evening.

The pond area was quiet but did offer some nice sightings, perhaps the best being a pair of Great Crested Grebes.  I remember an attempt at breeding at the pond a few years ago ended in the death of one of the birds, I seem to remember that it had been caught up in something.  I don’t think there has been any breeding success by this species for some time at Holywell, but this pair did look as though they had been or were preparing to display.  The birds were several yards apart and looking at one another when we arrived although nothing much happened whilst we watched.  Our talks had included information on the Killingworth grebes, so I was pleased that everyone had a close sighting this evening.  I pointed out the Lesser Black Backed Gulls not expecting much of a response and was surprised at the excited calls from one of the participants.  Oh, he must like gulls I thought, that is until I turned around and found Keith’s excited and rather shocked response was a result of a black faced sheep having climbed up the outside of the hide and which was now eyeball to eyeball with him.  The inquisitive small flock of sheep had followed us around the reserve.  Other birds seen near the pond included Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Oystercatcher, at least two Common Terns, Mallard, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Moorhen and Coot.  Bird song was limited, but we did pick up the distant song of Sedge Warblers and Chiffchaff.

We later looked at the flash in the East Field and found Canada Geese, Lapwing and Pied Wagtail.  Bumping into A J we were told by him that there was a Common Sandpiper on the west side of the flash which could be seen from the Avenue.  We later found this bird, more Lapwings and a White Wagtail in amongst the Pied Wagtails.  Whilst on the Avenue we heard a close by Sedge Warbler and briefly saw some movement and had very nice sightings of Common Whitethroat, Linnet and singing Reed Bunting.

As we looked over the fields to the east and I mentioned this area as good for owl and geese species a gentleman approached us, and he had his very own Barn Owl.  It was a large Barn Owl tattoo on his leg!  With the benefit of hindsight, I thought that I ought to have taken a photo for the blog.  There gain, perhaps not!

There was little on the walk down to the dene apart from singing Chiffchaff.  The weather had improved however.  Once down in the dene a pair of Grey Wagtails were picked up almost immediately as they fed and on the rocks a pair of Dipper stood together perfectly still with no dipping at all whilst we watched at length.  The lack of dipping movement seemed to me to reflect what was now such a quiet and relaxed evening.  We took a walk along the footpath to find Blackcap but found none and there continued to be a lack of bird song.  We were rewarded with a wonderful sighting of two Roe Deer.  One of them was initially picked out by Heather as it stood at length watching us, again a reflection of the relaxed evening.  I thought this was a good point to call it a day and make back towards the village.  The Dippers remained on their rock as we passed by again.  I picked up a partial call from Yellowhammer and everyone had a good sighting of this bird lit by the now bright sun as it began to drop quickly towards the western horizon.  Heather and I discussed once again the idea of a sunset walk and I suggested fish and chips would be a good way to end it.  Well I would, wouldn’t I?  Anyway, it seems that more than one participant had knowingly seen their first Yellowhammer!

At the start of the walk I had passed my copy of Henry Beston’s The Outermost House to one of the participants.  Published initially in 1928 it describes a year spent Cape Cod by the author.  It’s a real classic and a great read and I set off on the walk with it very much in mind having polished it off over the past couple of days.  Beston used all his senses whilst taking in the passing year on the Atlantic coast of Cape Cod.  Much has been said and written of late about the distance between people and nature and my own experiences with people reflect just how true this is.  Many could benefit by reading Beston’s book.  Whilst many people I come across are good talkers, not so many are good listeners and users of all the senses.  So much can be missed if you fail to tune in to nature.  I also think people in general expect to be shown things rather than making their own efforts, perhaps having been brought up with easily seen nature on TV and social media and it has become the expectation that nature is served up in this manner.  It’s certainly not just young people with that attitude as I find my own generation even more inclined to act in this way.

A very nice evening, with very nice people.

Rising Sun Sunrise

Oh mother, tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun

The Animals from a traditional folk song.

5^th June.  I was loitering alone and with intent in the Rising Sun Country Park at 4.30am this morning.  My intent was to lead a Dawn Chorus walk beginning at 5.00am.  Probably a bit late in the morning but there was no expectation that folk would turn up for a 4.00am start.  By 5.00am all 20 participants had turned up on time and were ready for action.  This is the third year running that I have led this walk and I always make sure that participants are informed that this is an exercise for the ears and thankfully most people take notice.  We began the walk with song from Blackbirds, Robins, Song Thrushes, Wrens and Tits surrounding us.

It’s amazing how many folk don’t know the call of Chiffchaff so we can always be assured that this is one call that participants will (hopefully) learn before the morning is out.  Picking up the song of Willow Warbler was more difficult this year, but we did get there eventually, and Blackcap and Common Whitethroat were also heard well.

 As we walked towards Swallow Pond the drumming of Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard.  The pond itself was at its best with the back drop of a rising sun in a clear sky and a layer of mist over a still and cold pond.  Birds seen here included Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Mallard, gulls and Ruddy Duck.  A Swallow appeared too.

Our youngest participant picked up the call of Common Whitethroat and he and I saw the bird fly from the hedge.  Numbers of Goldfinch were in this area as were Greenfinch and Chaffinch.  Starlings had nested in what seemed to be a hole caused by a woodpecker in one of the wooden pylons.

It was towards the end of the walk when the aroma of sausages and bacon seemed to be in the air that we finally had song from Willow Warblers.  Over breakfast we found a Tree Sparrow visiting the feeders.

We ended the day having heard and seen a nice selection of birds and everyone seemed t go away happy that getting out of bead at 4:00am was more than worth it.  The excellent weather, fine breakfast served by Graham and assistant and the group of very friendly and keen participants ensured that the morning was a success.  I really did enjoy the morning myself.  I left before the park run began and the ambiance of the park changed!  We had definitely been there at the best time.  The idea of a sunset bird walk is now under consideration.