West Midlands Safari Park

Hello

Sorry we've not posted since the end of june but weve seen very little in the last month or so to actually add to the blog, but hopefully this wil change in the next week or so.
We dont know much about moths and insects that most people are blogging about at the moment so its best to leave that to the experts, but we're looking forward to seeing more as the season changes.
This is Stokesay Castle in shropshire near where we were staying on holiday a few weeks ago its a beautiful old building and really worth visiting if your ever in the area. We also visited the west midlands safari park and spent a full day there and still didnt manage to see everything, but the park does give you a voucher to return free of charge for a day so we paid another visit before we came home as there are some fabulous animals in there. I dont agree with wild animals being caged but i suppose its the nearest i will ever get to them so we did enjoy the experience.

Muggy weather

keilder


herterton house gardens

Well we went out yesterday (saturday) eventhough it was drizzling rain but getting some fresh air seemed like a good idea as we've both had this viral infection thats doing its rounds again! It probably wasnt the best day to go out as the rain hardly let up so we just explored for a few hours around black middens nr bellingham, falstone a really pretty little place and then keilder lake.
The sightseeing boat was out on the lake at keilder so i thought id be brave and try to go on it with hubby (malcolm) and the dog...but im terrified of boats and when i saw how the jetty thing for you to get on the boat was bobbing up and down in the water and wobbling like anything...i bottled it im embarrassed to say :( One day maybe i might try it again!
Sunday morning seemed a little better than yesterday it wasnt raining and the sun was trying to burn through, so packed a lunch etc and headed off up the coast, but decided after passing amble to head inland to see if the weather was any better, but it was really warm everywhere eventhough it was still cloudy. On our travels we passed Herterton house gdns next to hartington hall and decided to have a look around. This is well worth the £3 enterance fee if your ever up that way as theres 5 gardens to walk around or sit in, and it is just amazing that the old couple who own this beautiful property maintain it all themselves and they must be at easily 70 yrs of age! but still treat the obvious hardwork they put in everyday as a labour of love..they're an inspiration. They told us one of their advertsing signs fell down on the rd outside so theyre loosing buisness from passers by, but the council want £1000 to put it back up (disgraceful) but they said they couldnt afford to pay that as they didnt know if theyd live long enough to reap back the £1000 through entry fees!..such a shame theyre a lovely couple and its taken them 33 yrs to get to where they are today.
After leaving the gardens we drove about and ended up near the ranges at otterburn along through wainfordrigg, high carrick and we sat for a while and watched a couple of pairs of plovers at laingshill that must be breeding there and a curlew breeding in the next field. The road ends quite abruptly at laingshill as the m.o.d wont let you go any further on so we had to turn turned around and go back again. Theres a small layby called billsmoorfoot not far along the road next to duns farm/caravan park so we pullled up there to let the dog out, stretch our legs and have a sandwich and 4 army trucks pulled up next to us and out piled a couple of groups of soldiers off to play games in the small wood behind the farm....not the best place for some peace and quiet so needless to say we didnt stay long. Apart from the few plovers and the curlew we saw nr otterburn we didnt get to see many birds except for a pair of greenfinches and a chaffinch next to a railway crossing.
Well we're off to shropshire on the 4th july for a weeks holiday so will be offline, but hope to get out in the evenings after work for an hour or so before we go, weather permitting.

Ewarty shank/Coquet valley/Brinkburn priory

Ewarty Shank
Ewarty - 2 Cuckoos flying around this wood saturday/sunday
Brinkburn priory
Druridge at 06:30am
Cresswell









Sorry havent had time really to do this until today...busy week.
Got up really early saturday and drove up to druridge and hauxley, the sun rising was awesome its my favourite time of the day in the summer, the place is just starting to come alive..lovely.
Had brekky then drove up to Ewart shank but passed Brinkburn priory on the way. Now this place seems to have been closed to the public for a long time now, but its re-opened now so couldnt resisit a quick look around to see how they're getting on with it. Entry is £3 each and you can take dogs but only on a lead if theyre well behaved. Its like all old churches and priories etc they smell damp and foisty, but its a beautiful old building and the grounds are fantastic. You can walk around the old manor house on the ground floor but the first floor etc are in a bad state of
repair so theyre blocked off to the public..worth seeing though.
Then off in the car again up to Ewarty Shank with the dog, its always really peaceful up there apart from the odd hikers you dont see anyone, which is nice after a busy week its nice to get away from people. We sat in the car having sandwiches and thought we were hearing things?...a cuckoo!!...2 cuckoos.
Last time we saw or heard a cuckoo was in druridge country park about 5 years ago so we were really chuffed, but couldnt get a picture of them though as they were fliting about to quickly then dissapeared into the small woods.
Sunday started out nice so we went up to another favourite spot, the coquet valley. Normally we see dippers there but this is the 2nd visit in the last 2 weeks and weve not seen any at all! which is a bit dissapointing, but the amazing number of meadow pipits, pied wagtails, grey wagtails and wheatears made up for it.
On the way home the curiosity got he better of us and we couldnt resist another detour to ewarty shank to see if the cuckoos were still there...yes they were...great!
The weather started to turn late afternoon and it came downin buckets so we headed off home back down the coast calling in at cresswell before we got home where we watched the barn owl for abot 10 minspicking up dinner around the dunes to take back to the barn.
Had a really good weekend which was made special seeing those amazing cuckoos :)

Lovely warm evening

Been popping along to cresswell most of this week after tea as the weathers not too bad at the moment and im determined to get a picture of the sage warlber thats been around there for the last few weeks....but nope it wont stay still long enough!
Someone was camping on the grass beside the first little layby where you can walk onto the beach and theyve left a load of rubbish including loads of broken bottles etc it looks terrible and its unsafe al lthe broken glass!
Weve seen quite a few sparrows there over the last 2 weeks which havent been there beofre which is good to see. Not much on the pond apart from the usual culprits, mallard, mute swans, 2 grey herson, plus 2 sage warlbers, 1 male 1 female stonechat, 2 reed buntings, 20+ linnets and 1 kestrel. Hers hoping the weather is good for the weekend so we can get out and about birding.


some of the rubbish dumped in cresswell
plover which is hanging round...may be breeding

Coquet Valley - Whiskershield

Well hoped to be up for the dawn chorus this morning...but no! ashamed to say we slept in.
So it was a trip to the Coquet valley instead but it was well worth as it was just alive with birds and in particular...Wheatears, Meadow Pipits, Winchats and Pied Wagtails. Its a really good place for breeding up there as theres quite a large number of each specie. We did see one bird in particular which we werent exactly sure of...it had very similar markings to the wheater but it had a white band around the back of the head/neck? any ideas what it could be? I checked the books we have but the only similar bird was the wheatear...but this had the white band around the back of the head?
Suprisingly there werent any dippers about which is unusual as we normally always see them when we go up there.
We made a detour on the way home and drove to whiskershield as weve driven past it so many times and never bothered to stop, but unfortunately we didnt see anything there either apart from sheep, sheep and more sheep, not even a crow!
But it is that time of year though the breeding season so maybe thats why theres not so much to see.
Sorry i cant put my pictures up as i need a new usb lead for my camera, but hopefully next time.

Back again.

Had a nice week in Melkridge up near haltwhistle for my birthday and we just spent the week chilling out as weve had a really hectic 6 months or so with work and family commitments literally taking all of our time up.
But then back to reality and work and diy at home.....still have the kitchen redevamp in progress, but thankfully its more or less finished. We finished the wallpapering and painting today (my fault when we got half way round i changed my mind and had to start again with a different paper....womans perogative :) renewed all of the cupboards/benches/worktops/coving/pelmets/new stone floor etc etc so now all thats left is to put the new suspended ceiling in to finish it off. I can honeslty say its been a nightmare id never ever want to repeat....2 years off and on but at least theres only one job left.
We drove up on to the alnwick moors to do a spot of birding, but unfortunately there wasnt much around today apart from a lovely songthrush on the bushes outside shoredon hall, 15+ chaffinches and 4 goldfinches and we also got the evil eye from one of the groundsmen for sitting in the car opposite the gatehouse :)
On the way back down the coast going through cresswell it was nice to see the barn owl out again hunting on the dunes, weve seen him 4 or 5 times in the last 2 weeks so hopefully theyve got some hungry chicks in there. Plan tomorrow is to get up for the dawn chorus probably in cresswell/druridge...its the best time of the day.

Holy Island

The island safe crossing time was until 22:15 so the idea was that we could have a nice leisurely drive up to holy island and then be able to spend a few hours wandering about, plus it was a nice sunny day too. Suprisingly there wasnt much bird life about that we could see...probably due to the 100s of tourists swamping the island it was really really busy (too busy for us) so we had a late lunch and headed back down the coast to boulmer and parked up on boulmer steel for a few hours, it was so peaceful compared to where we'd just been. Took the dog for a walk along the path up to longhoughton steel but she wasnt too amused by the metal bird sculpture fixed on the wall next to the field gates..she gave it hell. 3 pied wagtails, 1 stonechat, usual culprits on the beach, 12+ eiders, 4 oyster catchers, herring gulls and 1 grey heron. It seemed to be pretty quiet with birds today, or were we just in the wrong places at the wrong times? We go away for a short break next sunday for 5 days (birthday treat) so ive booked us a cottage in melkridge where we've stayed about 2 months ago so it will be a nice break, plus we're off to an engagement party in cottingham, hull the weekend after that, so its a busy 2 weeks.

Where's the sun?

Looked outside this morning expecting to see the sun that was forecast...but no such luck it was overast again, but at least it wasnt raining. Inland seemed the safest bet so we headed for bellingham (not a good idea) there wasnt a parking spot to be had that we could see anyway, so drove straight through and out onto the hexham road. Found a little place called 'stonehaugh' with a really nice picnic area alongside a little stream so we parked up and had lunch. By this time the sun was out to so we sat for a while and watched a few chaffinches, 2 grey wagtails and a pied wagtail flying around the edge of the water. There's some extremely wobbly stepping stones over the stream onto the other side of the grassed area where there are 3 brilliantly carved totem poles...not exactly what you'd expect to see there, but different though.
3 buzzards flying overhead near simonburn. Drove through east woodburn and over the moorland and spotted this deer who didnt seem to be as quick to run off as they normally are. The road came out at monkridge where there were 54 moles hanging out on the fence for everyone to see! I didnt think id ever see anything else that could top the skewered crow from last week...but how wrong can you be!
Next stop was harwood forest where we saw 6 chaffinches, 3 greenfinches, 4 bluetits, 2 great tits, 1 meadow pipit and a willow warbler.
Forecast is sunny again for tomorrow so we might drive up to holy island as its safe to cross all afternoon 12:25 to 22:15

How gross is this....

Had a nice drive up to beaconhill and then to whinneyhill, but this poor dead crow skewered on a branch in the middle of a field sickened us!!
This has to be one of the most awful things ive ever seen.
Is this supposed to be some sort of sick form of scarecrow?....shouldnt be allowed.

Coquet Valley....

wren near the bottom of the wall



Coquet valley was absolutely alive with birds today..weve never seen so many up there in one day as we did today it was really wonderful.
Normally the valley is one of the best places we've found to go and watch dippers, but they were conspicous by their absence today... and im not really suprised, because chaffinches/pipits and wagtails were pouncing on anything that moved. They were literally catching insects off the water and in the air ...just like fly catchers...it was really fascinating to sit and watch. We sat next to the organic farm over the bridge for quite a while as thats where we usually see the dippers, but no, absolutely nothing today. We even drove further up the valley to see if we could see them...but unfortunately no.
Just a little 'by the way' - 'Barrowburn farm' halfway through the valley now has opened a tea-room. Handy to know if your ever up there and fancy a cuppa or sandwich.
10+ wheatear - 25+ pied wagtails - 40+ chaffinches - 35+ pipits - 1 grey heron - 4 mallards - 2 wrens - 1 blue tit - 1 grey wagtail - 4 goldfinches - 1 reed bunting.

Housework can wait until tomorrow

East Ditchburn 2 black lambs...cute



Work indoors can wait until tomorrow as it wasa such a sunny day cant stay in so we drove up to ingram valley because we havent been there in over a year. Apart from a lot of sheep unfortunately there wasnt much wildlife to see mainly because of the high winds. A walk alongside the river showed a pied wagtail and a pipit on the bank, but im afraid the pictures (above) havent come out as clear as i had hoped. Our dog Emm had a great time though with not many people about we could let her have a good run around. We took a lesuirely drive homewards and stopped on the hedgely eastate (old quarry) were theres a large number of breeding black-headed gulls...they make some racket! around the pond were 50+ canada geese, 30+ greylags, 8 tufted ducks and a buzzard circling above. Cant seem to pass boulmer withut having a look around and its a good place for hubby to have forty winks if he's feeling tired up on boulmer steele...the tide was out for a change because it seems to have been in every time we've been there lately..saw 4 sheilducks, mallard, 3 redshanks, 1 heron. Left boulmer for home at 18:20 but on the way out we observed the rare lesser spotted 'boulmer birder' sea watching from his parked car...didnt want to disturb you stewart :)

Twizel Bridge - Castle

Late post sorry i should have posted yesterday but we were out quite late as it was such a lovely day. We headed up the A1 to cornhill-on-tweed as we've been wanting to check out a place i pulled up on the internet called 'Twizle Bridge' and castle (above)
Twizel Bridge was used in the nearby Battle of Flodden in 1513 when the english army had to cross the river Till with their artillery while other troops crossed at fords further upstream. The castle pic above is actually a house that was started but never finished as the original castle was destroyed in the time of James iv of scotland. There was plenty of birds to be heard along the river walk but didnt manage to actually see much apart from these chaps above who were hung around just long enough for a quick pic. We had a late lunch at hirsel house tea rooms, which we would recommend if your ever that way the food is pretty good, try the 'stovie with pork and leek sausage and chutney'...very tasty.
On the way home we thought we'd go over to holy island but the tide was in, so we called into budle bay, boulmer and cressy but the tide was in so there was nothing much to see except for white pied wagtail in boulmer (first one ive ever seen) but i wasnt quick enough to get a picture.
Hope the weather is as good next weekend for another trip out.

Spring has Sprung

Nice to be about and about again, it seems so long since we were able to have a nice day birding. Sorry we havent kept up our blog but with one thing and another it hasnt been possible...but we hope that will change now especially with the weather picking up and we can get back to normal. We have a new member of the family too...no not a baby..a little dog 'Emm'. Shes a cross with a minature yorkie & jack russell, so shes got plenty of character, a real holy terror...but cute.
Ive added some of the popular birding blog links too...finally managed to sort it out and i will add more as i go.
Nice to be back :)



Theres actually 3 in this pic...toads/frogs?? dont know anything about them, they must be mating..but 3?

Day on Holy Island

What a day on the farnes...it produced quite a list of birds for us...well especially after the lean pickings we've experienced for a while anyway due to one thing or another.
Sorry havent got any pictures as my camera is in for repair (only had it since april)..things just arent built to last nowadays.
Anyway covered about 5 miles during the day around the island starting off at 'the'chair' on the causeway, then drove to the hotel and parked up, walked to the castle where theres quite a big flash, from the castle to the lough, onto the beach, then from the beach to 'the crooked' at lodden (think thats the right spelling) and along to have a spy in the vicars garden next to the church where someone had spotted the flycatchers. The birds we came across were...
Merlin
Little Grebe
Fulmar
Golden Plover
Lapwing
Bar tailed Godwit
Curlew
Redshank
Sandwich Tern
Black Headed Gull
Common Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Swallow
Redstart
Stonechat
Whinchat
Wheatear
Songthrush
Blackcap
Willow Warbler
Dunnock
Goldfinch
Hobby
Arctic Skua
Pied & Spotted Flycatcher
Oystercatcher

pause for breath.....

Gannet
Cormorant
Shoveler
Teal
Mallard
Tuted Duck
Eider
Common Scooter
Red Breasted Merganser
Kestrel
Coot
Oystercatcher
Golden Plover
Lapwing
Bar tailed Godwit
Curlew
Redshank
Sandwich Tern
Black Headed Gull
Common Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Swallow
Redstart
Stonechat
Whinchat
Wheatear
Songthrush
Blackcap
Willow Warbler
Dunnock
Goldfinch
Hobby
Arctic Skua
Pied & Spotted Flycatcher
Osprey
Ruff
Be going some to top that list next week!!

Highlands

Just back from our hols. We go away on holiday every year for our wedding anniversary, so weve been up near the Cairngorns nr Aviemore, and, the weather was just gorgeous (unlike scottish weather i know) but it was lovely. We stayed in Crudenbeg next to Newtonmore very nice little place. In the grounds of the hotel was the 'Falls of Truim' a small waterfall...very picturesque. The 'Insh Nature reserve' and 'Craigellachie nature reserve' were both just a couple of miles away from our hotel, but, cant decide if it was the wrong time of year or just not the best days we visited as all we saw were a few mallards, crows, 1 robin 1 chaffinch!. The lochs are very very pretty especially Loch Morlich..beautiful, but nearby Loch Nan Carraigean and Loch Dallas are very popular especially for people who enjoy watersports, which was nice to just sit back and watch some people make right idiots of themselves..it was so nice to just relax..a nice change.
My camera - fuji s8000fd which i bought in april is now 'knackered', dont know whats wrong with it - it wont download my pictures? so i have to return it for repair, which is a shame as i couldnt take any photos, and there was plenty of things i wanted to take pictures of. Still theres always next time. Nice to be back.

Viral infection

Sorry we havent been posting for the last 4 or 5 weeks, but we've both been a bit under the weather lately. Ive been off work for around 4 weeks now with a viral infection, and its just floored me and hubby has flu now too, so we havent done anything much at all for a while (what a pair) Hope we can get out and about again in the next week or so though and get back to normal....
Cheers.