Look out for unusual sea creatures. A 3m-long Oarfish has been washed up on the beach at Tynemouth. This follows tideline corpses at Hauxley on Boxing Day and Amble last Monday (the same day as the one at Tynemouth). Only 4 records of these fish (the longest bony fish in the world) in the UK, and 3 in Northumberland in 2 months. What is going on? We’ve had some unusual things on our pelagic trips in the last few years; Ocean Sunfish (the heaviest bony fish in the world) and Wilson’s Petrel (a southern-hemisphere seabird that hadn’t been recorded in the British North Sea before we found one in 2002), but nothing as bizarre as this. I think I’ll be spending more time beachcombing, and as much time as possible on the SarahJFK with my good friend Allan Skinner
Blog
-
What do think that is, then?
On the road from Craster to Alnwick there’s a sign pointing to “Lee Moor Business Park”. I’ve always thought that out in the Northumberland countryside was a bit of an odd place for a business park, but today I had the opportunity to go and see what goes on there. After a very nice lunch with Ian Brown (chatting about a wide range of topics and issues related to Northumberland), in the Black Olive Sandwich Lounge (highly recommended), I went for a walk around the farm trail. Flocks of tree sparrows, reed buntings and yellowhammers were all along the hedges by the trail and I lost count of the number of partridges and pheasants that I flushed from the tall vegetation that has been left around the field edges. Common buzzard and common kestrel were testament to the volume of wildlife on the farm, as were all the small mammal holes and runs around the entire length of the trail, and finding two of my favourite mammals, stoat and brown hare, was a real bonus. An environmentally-friendly business park, set on an environmentally-friendly farm, may sound like the stuff of dreams but it isn’t – it does really exist; diversification, biodiversity and renewable energy all set beneath the big skies of Northumberland.
-
Signs of Spring
06:30 – Martin woke from a good night’s sleep and sensed something different, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. The most obvious thing was that the sky wasn’t the deep black of a winter morning, but it was starting to get light already. 06:30? When did this start to happen? Then the dawning recognition…bird song. That was it; robins, blackbirds, chaffinches, mistle thrushes and song thrushes – all belting out their very own ballads as they tried to woo the ladies. As daylight took hold, the scene around the feeding station wasn’t quite how it has been recently. The blackbirds were fighting instead of feeding, our resident collared doves were nibbling each other instead of the seed that we provide for them – the long-tailed tits were feeding, but just the two of them instead of the dozen or so that usually encapsulate the feeders in a heaving ball of pink fluff.
As we headed up the coast, the warm sunshine broke through the fluffy white clouds that were scudding across the sky, propelled by a wind that was chill enough to remind us that it is still the winter. A sprinkling of snowdrops decorated the roadside verges, another sign of new life after the heavy snow of recent weeks. And then, after a very productive and enjoyable photographic session near Bamburgh, on the journey home we passed fields of very small lambs. Does any creature revel in new life as much as these little balls of white wool as they dash headlong around the fields?
-
More BTO Atlas work
We went up into Harwood today, to undertake our late-winter visit to two of the tetrads we’re surveying for Bird Atlas 2007-2011. The weather was fine, with big fluffy clouds against a beautiful blue sky, and quite warm; at least it was quite warm while we were out of the wind… The winter is a great time for a walk in the forests of Northumberland, although the density of birds is somewhat limited. A pair of Mistle Thrushes caught our attention and, as we scanned the area for more birds, a pair of Stock Doves were up and displaying, a single Skylark flew overhead and a Buzzard soared above the trees. With a strong breeze and excellent visibility we expected to find more raptors, and two Kestrels hovering over an area of clearfell were a good addition to the list. Inland winter birding is often characterised by periods of nothing, interspersed with sudden concentrations of birds, and today was no different; after a long time with nothing to add to the list we came across a field that held 50 Fieldfares, 12 Redwings, 6 Mistle Thrushes, half a dozen each of Chaffinches and Goldfinches and a single Song Thrush. A pair of Stonechats ‘chacked’ angrily at us and flicked their tails as we had the temerity to cross their clearfell territory. The best was yet to come though; as we walked along the forest rides a Great Spotted Woodpecker flushed from close by and we rounded the edge of a plantation…and our ears were assailed by the maniacal screaming of a male Goshawk who had been sunning himself near the top of a spruce tree and didn’t take too kindly to being disturbed. His escape route was across a clearfell so we enjoyed the best views we’ve ever had of this phantom of the forest. When our Kielder trips begin on March 24th, this will be one of our target species; powerful, secretive but always impressive.
-
Community Involvement
I’ve had a lot of involvement with community groups in the area where we live and this week I’ve had the chance to help make a difference both as owner and senior guide of Northern Experience Wildlife Tours and as Chair of The Friends of Choppington Community Woods. Both organisations have been partners in a week of activities based in Choppington Woods. Litter-picking, path marking, bird-box building, creative natural art and a nature walk have all featured in the last three days. Members of the community who wanted to help have come along and an impressive list of organisations have been involved; Wansbeck District Council (and their Play Ranger Team), Northumberland County Council, Groundwork Northumberland, Wansbeck Works, Choppington Welfare, the Healthy Living Centre and the Northumberland Wildlife Trust. The organisations that have provided the manpower to carry out the ‘make-over’ tasks deserve special mention; Air Cadets, Army Cadets and the Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service Community Safety Academy have all worked tirelessly to make the woods a better place for the local community (and anyone else who wants to visit them as well). I can’t really talk about the activities week without mentioning Fiona Wardlaw from Wansbeck District Council. Fiona’s project management has managed to bring together so many diverse groups that “The Friends of…” will be eternally grateful for the way in which the profile of ‘our’ woods has been raised. Thank you.
As Chair of FOCCW I’m busy with grant applications that, if successful, will enable us to make further improvements; habitat management, multi-user paths, a panoramic viewpoint, education packs for local schools and a boardwalk with a safe, secure pond-dipping area are all part of our vision for the reserve. And that’s what I do in my spare time…
-
Change is all around
There has been a noticeable change in the weather over the last couple of days with much warmer temperatures clearing away the snow that had fallen so hard at the end of last week. We may even avoid any frosts over the coming nights too. Being out and about over the weekend we saw our first snowdrops of the year, blanketing the ground in swathes of green and white as they did indeed push up through the snow and frozen ground to make us all think of spring. Skeins of Pink-footed Geese were heading north over Druridge Bay yesterday, perhaps already departing the wintering grounds in Norfolk, and Martin demonstrated his ability to pick up flyover birds on call as he pinpointed a small movement of Skylarks, presumably now dispersing from the large flocks in which they spend the winter (it’s a shame he isn’t so good at picking up the close range voice of his wife…). It’s noticeable too that the evenings are staying lighter for longer and dawn is getting earlier, giving all of our wildlife more daylight hours in which to feed up for the biggest change of all; getting ready to breed and raise the next generation. Collared Doves are cooing and preening on our extension roof, and spending more time near to last year’s nest.
With this in mind we were pleased to hear of proposals to reintroduce set aside; the scheme where farmers are encouraged to leave part of their farms free from production to enable nature to take over, which provides plenty of food for some of our most endangered species such as Yellowhammer, Grey Partridge, Tree Sparrows and Skylarks. Introduced when European farmers were producing too much food, it was abandoned as food production became more critical. Reintroduction is planned on a voluntary basis, so let’s hope that room can be found for a little bit of nature to find its way back into our agricultural landscape to help support and conserve those declining species that were once so common.
-
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
There’s something so special about the squeak and crunch of snow underfoot. Whether you’re 4 or 40,18 or 80, so many of your senses can be triggered by it. It started snowing here at about 08:30 yesterday and eventually stopped at 16:00, by which time there was about 4″ depth on our patio. I went outside to fill the squirrel feeders…and forgot about the sheet of ice that was still lingering from last week’s snow. So, my sense of balance wasn’t quite cooperating. I made quite an impressive snow angel, if I say so myself. Last night was the monthly meeting of the Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club and, despite the inclement weather and difficult road conditions, the lecture theatre was nearly full. Not surprising really; the speaker was Phil Curtis, former Hen Harrier nestwatch co-ordinator for Northumberland. It’s almost impossible to put into words, the contribution that Phil has made to protecting and monitoring Hen Harriers. His passion and drive have fuelled the rota at the well-publicised Northmberland nest for the last 3 years and, without it, we may not have seen young harriers successfully fledging. It’s fairly difficult to describe the catalogue and pattern of persecution that these birds have been subjected to in the north of England as well. I’m looking forward to starting our inland trips for this year as Hen Harrier is always a possibility.
Anyhow, the sun is shining in a clear blue sky and everywhere is still blanketed in crisp white snow, so it’s time to go for a walk I think. Then back home to plan next week’s activities, including a special family offer for the end of the half-term week.
-
Invasion of the giant squirrels
In a week when the often contentious issue of Red Squirrel conservation/Grey Squirrel eradication has made the news again I’ve been spending a lot of time watching our local Red Squirrels. In the last hour we’ve had two Reds running up and down the trees in our garden and one had gone out of sight somewhere on the patio. Out of sight? Not exactly; as I looked out of the window, there was a squirrel sitting in the middle of our patio table watching me through the window. Then squirrel number 2 appeared and they had a bit of a chase around the garden before each settling at the tops of two adjacent bonsai trees. Imagine that, a Red Squirrel as big as a tree. Greys wouldn’t be so much of a problem then…but we’d have something else to be concerned about instead 🙂
-
Re-introducing Hen Harriers?
Now this promises to be about as controversial as it gets; a plan by Natural England to re-introduce the Hen Harrier into lowland farmland, heathland and upland areas such as Dartmoor, the New Forest and Exmoor within the next two years. They’re remarkably beautiful, graceful birds and always lift the spirits during a spring walk on the moors. Northern Experience Wildlife Tours are planning to include visits to suitable habitat for Hen Harriers this year, in the hope that we can show our clients the ‘grey male’ and the ‘ringtail’. But, here’s the controversy; Hen Harriers in England are in a perilous position after decades of persecution. Less than 20 pairs nested in England in 2008, and the majority of those were concentrated in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. The persecution shows no sign of abating so I’ve got to ask the question (awkward as it may be); if we can’t protect the Hen Harriers we’ve got now, how will we protect the introduced birds?
-
Footprints in the Snow
I returned home yesterday lunchtime, after having put in a few extra hours at work, to see that there was still a covering of snow in our garden. Martin had spent the morning watching a red squirrel bury hazelnuts in the garden and he was able to point out the tiny squirrel footprints to show where they had been. Along with the prints of blackbirds and other garden regulars there were some large bird footprints. Without a second thought we assumed that one of our neighbour’s chickens had come to take advantage of a free breakfast of spilled bird seed under our feeders.
I was definitely ready for some fresh air in the afternoon and we decided to head out to see if we could find some more footprints in the snow before it all melted. Unfortunately, despite an icy chill in the air the snow was beginning to disappear and the only footprints that we could find were those of the many folk that had beaten us to it and their trusty four legged companions. We did have some excellent views from a local vantage point but as the afternoon wore on we were ready to head home for a warming mug of hot chocolate.
As I was waiting for the kettle to boil I looked out into the garden as the feeders provided the local finch and tit population sustenance to make it through another sub-zero night. Then the owner of the large footprints in the snow wandered into view. Definitely a new addition to our garden bird list, and whilst by no means an unusual or rare bird, one that neither Martin nor myself would have predicted to be in our garden. Not one of our neighbour’s chickens but a Moorhen!
We would love to hear of any unusual birds that you have seen in your garden over the recent cold spell; let us know by e-mailing us at: blog@newtltd.co.uk