Wednesday 30th April
Been away for a few days in the lakes for my birthday, but its nice to be back.
Went up to Bassenthwaite for the day to see if we could see the Ospreys, as they werent about when we were there in march. Yes...finally we were lucky. Called to the visitors centre first as they have big screens in there where you can watch the webcams they have rigged up beside the nest they've apparently used for the last 8 years. But this year the female has decided she wants a new place...i can understand that, so they've built a new nest, but as yet they haven't been able to locate it so that they can rig up a new webcam. Anyway one of the staff told us that the ospreys can be seen (if lucky) back down the track where theres a layby overlooking bassenthwaite, as they say they are nesting somewhere in the woods to the right of the lake. So off we went and sat for a while and thought...no...just not meant to see them, but....yes they both showed up, the male and female...was definitely well worth the persistence, they are fabulous birds. At first glance and from a distance they look very similar to a buzzard. Would have liked to see them diving for food, but satisfied that we did see them after all this time.
While we were away we didnt actually see very much. We could hear lots of birds, but didnt get to see many, apart from a grey-wagtail, coal-tits, blue-tits, buzzard, mallards, greylags + chicks, siskins and chaffinch
Called into boulmer on our way home as the sun was glorious and parked up at longframlington steel, saw larks, 2 wheatear, meadow pipit, black-headed gulls, herring gulls, oyster catchers.
Cresswell 2 grey-heron, stonechats and linnets

Not there

Recieved a text monday 21st to say there was a bean goose at chevington so on the way home from work thought we'd have a look see, got there about 17:40 nothing in sight, in fact hardly a bird in sight, except for 8 whoopers flying overhead to another pond.
Recieved another text tuesday today saying Spoobill in hauxley, so we tootled up again from work...nothing....not a sausage.
Its been very quiet almost everywhere we've been in the last week. Hope things change soon.

Where are the avocets

Tuesday 15th April

Ever had one of those days...when you cant wait to get out of the office, especially when it feels like every person you've dealt with today seems to be incapable of understanding english...or do i speak with forked tongue!!
Got out fine again this afternoon, so we wanted to go and see if the avocets and the hooded crow were still around druridge and cresswell, but, the answer to that was no....well not while we where there anyway so we wandered along to chevington for a look on the pools which produced - 9 whooper swans - greylags - mallards - female goldeneye.

Nice evening

Monday 14th April
Great, the weather started out wet and dull, but, by mid afternoon it started to brighten up, and by the time it came to finish work and drive home the weather wasnt too bad at all. So it was 'make hay while the sun shines'...and off up to boulmer for a couple of hours via a quick stop in amble to pick up some fish 'n' chips.
We parked the car up on boulmer steel, and a chap that had just come up from the beach with his dog, was trying to persaude it to drop a poor little baby bunny he had in its teeth....put me right off my supper i can tell you.
Shelducks - oyster catchers - redshanks - grey heron - black headed gulls - robin and a pied wagtail

Weekend away

Saturday 12th April

We've been fed up with the miserable weather lately, so to cheer ourselves up we decided to treat ourselves to a weekend away, but wanted it to be somewhere not too far away to give the hubby a wee rest from driving, as unfortunately i dont drive (apart from him nuts)
So I did a quick search on the internet and booked us into 'Hardwick Hall' in Sedgefield. I would strongly recommend this hotel..it has to be one of the best we've ever stayed in. Our room was excellent, and luckily enough was situated at the front of the hotel which looks out onto the Hardwick country park lake. This meant we were able to literally lie in bed and look out of the window and watch the swans and ducks out on the lake...cant get much better than that. We ordered breakfast in our room, and, while we were sitting there eating, a grey wagtail landed on our windowsill next to the table, the daft bird could see its own reflection and nearly knocked itself out on the glass, what a beautiful bird to see so close up. I even put little pieces of my toast on the sill when it flew off to try and tempt it back....but no I suppose that was expecting a bit too much. Saw our first sand-martins of this year flying around the lake. On and around the lake as we walked there was - mute swans - 8 cygnets - Canada geese – coots – moorhens – mallards – tufted ducks - robin – great-tit – blue-tit – song thrush – blackbirds.

Sunday 13th April

Another lovely day...but time to leave Hardwick and back to reality and home again. We dropped our case off at home, and headed inland for a couple of hours as it was still such a nice day (and we've not had many of them lately) so wanted to make the most of it while it lasted. So we tootled up to ‘Ewarty shank’ mainly because its normally very peaceful as not many people seem to wander up that way apart from hikers and numpty's who go hand-gliding..
Yes it was lovely and peaceful, we only saw one other person all afternoon while we were there hiking...but we did have 100's of sheep and lambs for company too.
Heard a few curlews while we were sitting in the car, as I believe they breed up there, but we never seem to be able to catch sight of them though. Pied wagtail was having a bath in the stream, and we saw our first lark this year.
On the way home called to boulmer and longhoughton steele for a little while and the sun was glorious there. The tide was out and suprisingly there was very little bird life about apart from a couple of - dunlins - shelducks - blackheaded gulls - eiders - 1 Whimbrel on the waters edge.
Cresswell - 9 mute swans - mallards - canada geese.
Now that its lighter in the evening we might be able to get out for a little while after work...weather permitting

Back to normal.

Its nice to be back in the land of the living after 2 weeks with a viral infection, the fresh air was lovley.
Eventhough the weather forecast was sleet and snow showers, it was lovely and sunny when we let home and headed up the coast. But the sun seemed to disappear between widdrington and druridge and it looked really grey on the coastline up towards amble etc so we thought we would head inland instead for a few hours and maybe drive up to Coldgate Mill Ford to see if the weather might be a little better. It did brighten up again for a little while until we reached the alnwick moors....then the sky turned grey and the heavens opened for about 5 or 10 minutes. It did thankfully clear up enough though for us to carry on up to coldgate mill where we had nice walk up through the woods alongside the river. The dipper we saw there last time wasnt about, but we saw great-tits, long-tailed tits, robin, chaffinches, tree-creeper, goldfinches. Outside Chatton in a newly turned over field 30+ chaffinches and 3 pheasants were relieving the farmer of his newly planted seeds.
Warenton - 1 Roe deer
Stag rock - long-tailed duck, common scooter, eiders, shag, gannets flying north.
Howick - a buzzard over the woods.
Monkhouse pool - 2 greylags on the grass around the edge of the pool. 6 shelducks,1 golden eye, 60+ mixed herring gulls/black-headed gulls
Boulmer - 13 gannets flying north, eider ducks. Longhoughton steel 20+ oyster catchers on the rocks and 2 shelducks.
We're visiting family tomorrow, but, if the weather isnt too bad hopefully we might be able to have a run up to boulmer or bolam lake afterwards.