July catch-up

Sightings for Castle Lake;

July 14th; 4 Avocet (1 adult with 3 juveniles) only the second record of Avocet at Bishop Middleham, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 4 Snipe, 1 Common Sandpiper & 2 Common Tern.

July 15th; female Shoveler with 10 juveniles, 3 Teal, female Pochard with 5 ducklings (pictured below), 4 Ringed Plover & 2 Common Sandpiper.

July 29th; 1 Ruff, 2 Dunlin, 4 Greenshank, 1 Common Sandpiper & 2 Common Tern.

July 31st; 1 Little Egret (pictured below), 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Redshank & 2 Corn Bunting.

Saturday 29th June 2013

A very good selection of birds present this Saturday including the following;

Castle Lake - 20 Mute Swan, 6 Shelduck juveniles but no adults, female Shoveler with 8 ducklings, 18 adult & 3 juvenile Great Crested Grebe, 2 Black-necked Grebe (present since the 23rd), 2 Cormorant, a male Marsh Harrier hunting the long grass near the south-east corner of the lake, 2 Little Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper, 1 Redshank, 2 Common Tern.
Also a Mink was seen chasing (unsuccessfully) Mallard ducklings in the flooded bowl at the north end.

Stoneybeck Lake- Continuing a trend in recent years of mid-summer sightings, a drake Scaup was present in the company of some Pochard, numerous Tufted Duck, 3 Teal and 4 Little Grebe.

Tuesday 16th April 2013

Plenty of summer visitors noted today;

Castle Lake - 1 Wheatear, 50+ Sand Martin, 3 Swallow, 4+ Yellow Wagtail, 1 Common Sandpiper with Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff noted at Fishburn Lake.

Blog entries may be a bit reduced in coming months as I try to get to grips with my cricket blog.

Sunday 31st March 2013

A good selection of birds seen this Easter Sunday around Bishop Middleham;

Castle Lake (about 75% frozen); drake Pintail, 5 Goldeneye, 3 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Woodcock flushed from the north end of the lake and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

A1 Flashes/River Stell; 2 Pintail, 2 Shoveler and a Kingfisher.

Fishburn Lake; 1 Goosander, 1 Jay and 2 Bullfinch.

Low Hardwick; 1 Common Buzzard and a Little Owl (pictured below)

Stoneybeck Lake; 5 Shelduck, 1 Goldeneye, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Oystercatcher, 4 Redshank, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 2 Mistle Thrush.

Tuesday 26th March 2013

Today's sightings included the following;

Mute Swan - 3 on the River Stell and a pair on Alan's Pool.
Canada Geese - 78 on the A1 flashes with more at Low Hardwick.
Shelduck - a pair on Castle Lake and 3 more on Stoneybeck Lake.
Pintail - a pair on Castle Lake, later seen flying towards the A1 flashes (south).
Shoveler - a pair on the A1 flashes and a single drake on Castle Lake.
Pochard - apart from birds on Castle Lake and Stoneybeck Lake, four were also on Alan's Pool.
Goldeneye - five including one drake on Castle Lake.
Goosander - a pair flew onto Castle Lake late morning (pictured below).

Great Crested Grebe - at least three on Castle Lake.
Cormorant - one on Castle Lake.
Grey Heron - two were at the Moto-x pools, Low Hardwick.
Common Buzzard - two together at Low Hardwick.
Kestrel - one distant bird at Low Hardwick.
Oystercatcher - 23 were frequenting Castle Lake and the A1 flashes with two more at Stoneybeck Lake.
Golden Plover - a flock of 150 including many in summer plumage were in a field at Low Hardwick.

Lapwing - at least fifty at Castle Lake.
Snipe - two at Castle Lake.
Curlew - c150 moving between Castle Lake, the A1 flashes and Low Hardwick.
Redshank - 11 birds seen at various locations.
Great Spotted Woodpecker - one at Low Hardwick.
Meadow Pipit - birds starting to return to breeding areas with 5+ at Low Hardwick.

Fieldfare - 15 feeding near the Castle Lake hide and another six at Low Hardwick.

Tuesday 12th March 2013

Today's sightings included the following;

Castle Lake - 30 Greylag Geese, 95 Canada Geese, 2 Shelduck, 2 Pintail, 2 Shoveler, c20 Pochard, 1 Goldeneye,  2 Grey Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 5 Great Crested Grebe, 24 Oystercatcher, 2 Ringed Plover, 10 Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Great Black-backed Gull and 2 Mistle Thrush.

Low Hardwick - 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 drumming) , 2 Willow Tit and a Jay.

Stoneybeck Lake - 3 Shelduck, 2 Goldeneye, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Golden Plover in with Lapwing's, 1 Redshank and another Great Black-backed Gull.

Winter still refusing to relinquish it's grip.

Thursday 7th March 2013

Sightings today, with thanks to John Olley.

Castle Lake - 22 Oystercatcher, 10 Redshank, 1 Ringed Plover, 150 Lapwing, 40 Curlew with 120 on the A1 flashes, 6 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Goldeneye, 1pr Shoveler, 250 Wigeon, 3 Shelduck, 12 Pochard & 44 Tufted Duck.

Stoneybeck Lake - 10 Shelduck, 14 Pochard, 30 Tufted Duck, 100 Lapwing, 2 Goldeneye, 30 Curlew, 12 Wigeon, 2 Oystercatcher & 300 Common Gull.

Another record today for Curlew with a combined total of 190 from the three sites.

Tuesday 5th March 2013

Sightings from the last couple of day's;

Monday 4th February 2013
Castle Lake - 33 Whooper Swan

Tuesday 5th February 2013
Stoneybeck Lake - 8 Shelduck, 6 Shoveler, 2 Oystercatcher.

Castle Lake - 60 Canada Geese (1 pair copulating), 1 Shelduck, 2m Pintail, 1m Shoveler, 1f Goldeneye, 3 Little Grebe, 4 Great Crested Grebe, 19 Oystercatcher, 1 Ringed Plover, Lapwing displaying, 3 Snipe, c10 Redshank, 1 Willow Tit.

A1 Flashes - 1 Green Sandpiper, 142 Curlew (a new site record).

Sunday 3rd March 2013

Sightings from today;

Stoneybeck Lake - 3 pair Shelduck, 5 Pochard, 34 Tufted Duck, 2 Goldeneye, 1 Oystercatcher, 130 Lapwing, 300 Black-headed Gull and 200 Common Gull.

Castle Lake - 3 Shelduck, 3 Pintail, 26 Pochard, 35 Tufted Duck, 1 Goldeneye, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Cormorant, 5 Oystercatcher, 1 Dunlin, 2 Snipe.

A1 Flashes - 2 Grey Heron, 9 Oystercatcher and 1 Green Sandpiper.

Dunlin is species no.91 for Bishop Middleham this year.

And finally....

...rather them than me.

Tuesday 26th February 2013

Out and about again today with the following birds catching the eye;

Castle Lake - 2 Shelduck, 3 Pintail, 10 Pochard, 3f Goldeneye, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Oystercatcher, 4 Snipe, 15 Redshank and 35 Redwing.

A1 Flashes - 1 Mute Swan, 1 Greylag Goose, 90 Canada Geese, 50 Wigeon, 50 Teal, 11 Oystercatcher and 2 Green Sandpiper feeding together (poor picture below).

Low Hardwick - 3 Mute Swan, 2 Canada Geese, 2 Grey Heron, 5 Snipe over, 41 Curlew, Tawny Owl calling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 10 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Willow Tit, 2 Nuthatch (the second sighting of this species in February away from Hardwick Hall CP) and 16 Magpie.

Fishburn Lake - 2 Mute Swan, 46 Gadwall, 38 Pochard, 5 Tufted Duck, 1 Cormorant and 1 Grey Heron.

Just some of the excellent count of 38 Pochard on Fishburn Lake today.

Stoneybeck Lake - 3 Shelduck, 6 Gadwall, 1 Pochard, 2 Oystercatcher, 300 Lapwing, 52 Curlew and 400 Woodpigeon.

Plenty of these around too...

Monday 11th February 2013

Birds seen today included the following;

Castle Lake - 3 Shelduck, 2 Pintail, 14 Pochard, 2 Goldeneye, 4 Cormorant, 3 Oystercatcher, 26 Redshank, 14 Redshank, 1 Grey Wagtail.

One of three Oystercatcher back at Castle Lake.

Low Hardwick - 3 European White-fronted Geese, 37 Greylag Geese, 13 Canada Geese, 1 Sparrowhawk, 200 Lapwing, 300 Starling plus a Fox.

Bridlepath to Fishburn Lake - 1 Goldcrest, 8 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Willow Tit, 1 Treecreeper and 2 Lesser Redpoll.

Fishburn Lake - 8 Pochard with another 2 on Stoneybeck Lake.

Saturday 9th February 2013

Sightings today from John Olley and myself.

Castle Lake - 3 European White-fronted Geese dropped-in mid-morning with about 20 Greylag Geese, unfortunately they only stayed for 45 minutes, however later in the day 4 were located on the A1 flashes.

Poor picture of the Geese flock including the 3 White-front's.

Other Castle Lake sightings today included c200 Pink-footed Geese over north at 12:00, 3 Shelduck, 4 Pintail, 2 Goldeneye, 5 Cormorant, 1 Oystercatcher, 135 Lapwing, 6 Snipe, 10 Redshank, 5+ Skylark singing, 1 Little Owl, 15 Fieldfare, 1 Mistle Thrush, 80 Redwing and a singing Nuthatch along Foumarts Lane.

Alan's Pool - 17 Moorhen, 1 Cormorant, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Green Woodpecker over towards Low Hardwick and 2 Brambling in a hedgerow alongside good numbers of Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Tree Sparrow, Linnet, Goldfinch and Corn Bunting.

Friday 1st February 2013

Another good selection of birds seen today, including the following;

Castle Lake - drake Shoveler, 14 Pochard, 1st-winter drake Scaup, 18 Tufted Duck, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 180 Lapwing, 16 Redshank, 1-2 Skylark singing all morning and a Grey Wagtail.

The drake Scaup pictured this morning and looking very much like the same individual that put in an appearance in early January.

Stoneybeck Lake/ Farnless Farm - 2 Canada Geese, 15 Wigeon, 60 Mallard, 4 Pintail (3 drakes), 22 Teal, 2 Pochard, 24 Tufted Duck, 3f Goldeneye, 1 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine, 26 Coot, 21 Curlew, 500 Woodpigeon, 40+ Fieldfare over, 200 Jackdaw and 200 Rook.

Stoneybeck Lake, still full to overflowing.

No caption necessary.

Monday 28th January 2013

Highlights from today;

Castle Lake (still 70% frozen) - 6 drake Pochard, 3 female Goldeneye, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Kestrel, 30 Lapwing, 5 Snipe, 14 Redshank, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, 9 Fieldfare, 1 Song Thrush and 20 Redwing.

Castle Lake pictured last Thursday.

Stoneybeck Lake - A pair of Peregrine mobbing a Common Buzzard.

Thursday 24th January 2013

58 species seen today, not a bad total given the snow and ice gripping the area.

Hardwick Hall CP Lake - (about 70% frozen) - 16 Wigeon, 3 Pochard, 1 Goldeneye plus various numbers of Mute Swan, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Coot, Gull's etc. Nuthatch in the park grounds and a single Skylark over south.

Loads of small birds were giving very close views along the boardwalk including four Robin's.

One of two ice-free areas of Hardwick Hall Lake.

Low Hardwick - 1male Sparrowhawk, 1 Woodcock, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Treecreeper, 2 Tree Sparrow, 25 Lesser Redpoll, 7 Bullfinch, 2 Corn Bunting.

 

One of the very active flock of Lesser Redpoll near the Moto-X Pools.

One of these male Bullfinch was singing today.

Bridlepath to Fishburn Lake - 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Meadow Pipit, 3 Fieldfare, 8 Long-tailed Tit and a Willow Tit.

This Meadow Pipit was a surprise, feeding around a partially snow-free area.

Alan's Pool - 3 Grey Heron, 17 Moorhen and 2 Hare.

The three Heron were playing statue's near Alan's Pool.

Castle Lake (75% frozen) - 1f Goldeneye, 1 Little Grebe, 26 Snipe, 10 Redshank, 2 Great Black-backed Gull (an adult and a 1st-winter), 20 Corn Bunting plus the usual Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Teal, Pochard, Coot etc.

Some of the Corn Bunting near the Island Farm seed-crop, some sub-song heard.

Snipe feeding in the field between Castle Lake and Town End Farm.

Saturday 12th January 2013

Today's sightings included the following;

Castle Lake - 89 Canada Geese, 1f Shoveler, 15 Pochard, 3 Grey Partridge, 3 Little Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 5 Cormorant, 175 Golden Plover flew over, later 55 landed, 350 Lapwing, 15 Redshank, 2 Stock Dove, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Mistle Thrush and 13 Redwing.

Stoneybeck Lake - 26 Canada Geese, 5 Shelduck, 14 Wigeon, 1m Pintail, 2m Pochard, 2f Goldeneye, 85 Curlew and 4 Brambling.

Tuesday 8th January 2013

Birds seen today included the following;

Castle Lake - 4 Shelduck, 1 pair Pintail, 16 Pochard, 3f Goldeneye, a pair of Goosander flew past and landed on the southern A1 flashes, 2 Grey Partridge, 2 Great Crested Grebe, c400 Lapwing, 75 Curlew, 19 Redshank and a Green Sandpiper.

Low Hardwick - 20 Snipe flew over, 1 Jay, 1 Kestrel and 6 Crossbill flew over heading south towards Hardwick Park at 11:00.

Fishburn Lake - 20 Gadwall, 11 Tufted Duck, 2 Mute Swan, 1 Grey Heron, 12 Redwing over, 1 Treecreeper and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

A few pictures from today;

Grey Heron at Fishburn Lake, one of at least five in the general area today.

Some of the Island Farm seed-crop flock, mostly Goldfinch with a few Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and Tree Sparrow.

A second Great Crested Grebe has returned to Castle Lake.

It doesn't take long for Shelduck numbers to build-up in early January.

Finally today's sighting of Crossbill was a long-awaited patch tick for myself after 301 visits (!) since April 2007 (that White Stork has a lot to answer for!!). Sightings are fairly regular at Hardwick Hall and occaisionally occur at Ferryhill Carrs but before today I'd never managed to be in the right place at the right time to see them in the Bishop Middleham area.
BM patch list #155 Crossbill.

Sunday 6th January 2013

Today's sightings;

Castle Lake - c100 Pink-footed Geese flew over heading north at 12:00, 18 Pochard, 2f Goldeneye, 7 Grey Partridge, 3 Little Grebe, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Cormorant, 1 Sparrowhawk, 19 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Kingfisher on the River Stell and a Treecreeper along Foumarts Lane.
No sign of the drake Scaup or the presumed Red-crestedPochard hybrid.

Stoneybeck Lake - 1 Shelduck, 1 pair of Pintail, 1m Pochard, 1f Goldeneye, 85 Curlew and 2 Brambling.

Plenty of Linnet, Greenfinch, Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting still around Farnless Farm.

Friday 4th January 2013

Sightings today with thanks to John Olley.

Farnless Farm crop walkthrough - 65 Tree Sparrow, 5 Skylark, 78 Reed Bunting, 101 Yellowhammer, 286 Linnet, 70 Chaffinch, 22 Corn Bunting, 6 Brambling, 13 Grey Partridge, 24 Stock Dove and 300 Woodpigeon.

Stoneybeck Lake - 120 Curlew, 400 Lapwing, 2 Redshank, 210 Mallard, 40 Teal, 30 Tufted Duck, 1 drake Pintail, 200 Greylag Geese, 60 Canada Geese, 90 Coot, 12 Moorhen, 200 Black-headed Gull, 120 Common Gull, Peregrine pair, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard.

Castle Lake - Green Sandpiper, 3 Skylark.

A1 Flashes/Alan's Pool - Green Sandpiper, Kingfisher, 400 Lapwing, 200 Greylag Geese, 180 Teal, 5 Grey Heron, 6 Mute Swan, 10 Coot.

Wednesday 2nd January 2013

Sightings today with thanks to John Olley.

Castle Lake - 300 Wigeon, 200 Teal, 70 Gadwall, 150 Mallard, 50 Tufted Duck, 1 Scaup, 18 Pochard, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 3 Goldeneye, 100 Greylag Geese, 110 Canada Geese, 120 Coot, 450 Lapwing, 10 Golden Plover, 18 Redshank, 20 Curlew, 2 Mute Swan, 4 Cormorant, 12 Moorhen, 2 Peregrine (male and female over together) 20 Redwing and the strange hybrid duck which looks to be either a Red Crested Pochard x Tufted Duck or possibly Teal x Tufted Duck.

Tuesday 1st January 2013

 

Happy New Year!

Despite a cold gusty wind today Castle Lake produced an excellent selection to get the year list off to a decent start , highlight was certainly the 1st-winter drake Scaup, a scarce species at Bishop Middleham.

Castle Lake - drake Pintail, 2 Shoveler, 14 Pochard, drake Scaup, 2f Goldeneye, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Kestrel, 18 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper (near the A1 flashes), 2 Great Black-backed Gull over north, 2 Mistle Thrush (1 singing) and 8 Redwing.

 

A couple of poor pictures of the Scaup.

Stoneybeck Lake - 47 Coot and 70 Curlew.