Unable to find a space to park near the path to the Hawfinches we decided to visit the castle and river area at Mitford before trying again for a space. The decision was a good one as when we parked up by the church it was clear that there was plenty of birdlife in its grounds. Birds seen here included Song Thrush Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Robin, Siskin (heard), Nuthatch, Willow/Marsh Tit (?), Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, corvids and pigeons.
The Hawfinches
remained elusive for quite some time and I began to wonder if we were to be
unlucky. The trees and hedges were
silent. The eventually one Hawfinch
flew over from behind us and gave a good sighting. Eventually I saw other birds fly in and the
single bird was joined by four other Hawfinches. Eventually we had good sightings of the five
birds together as they began to feed on the samaras. Feeling the seeds hardness gives an idea of
the strength of the Hawfinch’s large bill. The five birds were quick to take off as a
hunting Sparrowhawk appeared and flew down the line of Hornbeams before
eventually disappearing. The Sparrowhawk
later returned, this time flying away in the opposite direction. I found it hard to believe that it was as
long ago as December 2017 when we had visited this same area to watch Hawfinches.
Hornbeams
are a rare tree in Northumberland and it seems likely that the extremely hard
wood of this species will have been used in the gears of the mills, three of
which are known to have existed in this area.
The English name Hornbeam derives from the hardness of the wood (likened
to horn), and the Old English beam i.e. tree.
As we left
and had our sighting of the pair of Marsh Tits, we read the sign which
remined us that the pathway walk along the River Wansbeck has probably changed
very little from the time of James Audubon’s visit to Mitford Hall in 1827. Sam later pointed me in the direction of
Audubon’s journal (available on the internet) where he records his visit to
Mitford Hall, Mitford Castle and his walk along the bank of the Wansbeck with
Captain Mitford. Audubon had met Captain
Mitford, brother in law of John Selby the Northumbrian naturalist and artist,
at Twizell House the home of Selby. The
two men travelled together by coach to Morpeth. Whilst the coach changed horses at Alnwick
they visited Alnwick Castle before proceeding on their journey passing Alnmouth. After his stay at Mitford Hall Audubon
travelled to Newcastle which he was none too complimentary about, recording its
shabby appearance in comparison to Edinburgh.
Nevertheless, he appears to have enjoyed meeting Thomas Bewick and his
family and finding subscribers to his artwork.
I intend to order a copy of the journal as a cursory glance of it on the
internet suggests that it holds much of interest, but it is tiresome trying to
read it at length on the screen.
Jenny Uglow
in her biography of Thomas Bewick records that ‘hearing that Audubon’s sons
longed for a copy of (Bewick’s) Quadrupeds, Bewick gave him one at once.’ It is also recorded that Audubon remembered
that ‘when I parted from Bewick that night, I parted from a friend.’ Of course, in 1827 Bewick was an old man and
he died the following year.
After we
left Mitford we drove to Harewood and passed Winter’s Gibbet which appeared well
placed in the now gloomy atmosphere of rain, mist and cold. We thought it a good idea to photograph the
bleakness of the area. I soon returned
to the car for warmth and thought it best to admire the bleakness from my seat.
It had been
a good day and one were birding was enjoyed along with other interests. Common Buzzard, Fieldfares and more Redwings
were seen along the way. An interest in
ornithology has led us along many paths of interest and I hope this blog will
continue to reflect that. Coming soon
will be a report of another interesting trip into Northumberland’s historic
sites.
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