Dusk At Arcot - 19th July

Yesterday evening I spent a still and relaxed couple of hours at Arcot Pond from sunset and into the ambiguity of twilight. 
The air was thick with Swifts, a sight I savoured knowing full well that they'll be heading back down to Africa soon enough. The last rays of sunlight lit them up as they fed on the masses of flying insects which gathered in thick clouds above the waters surface. 
A Grasshopper Warbler reeled in the distance, five Roe Deer fed around the pond perimeter, two of which were fawns, Common Tern darted across the water and the Shelduck family looked very well indeed. Moorhen searched for supper on the exposed mud bars around the pond, a pair of Oystercatcher fed up to waist height in the water on the northern edge and a lone Grey Heron preened itself underneath the ominous dead trees.

A beautiful evening for some down time on my patch.

David
Nature North East

Arcot - Back In Bloom

It feels good to be back in the North East and to finally return to my patch; Arcot Pond & Grasslands. One of the soon to be 'few' wild areas of green space left in Cramlington, to cut a long story short there is proposed development in the majority of other wild areas. This is really grinding my gears at the moment so I'm trying my best not to think about the implications on local flora and fauna.

Just the whole notion of building on every available scrap of land sickens me and reminds me of the introduction of the TV show, The Animals Of Farthing Wood, in which a huge cement mixer pours concrete down upon the wood! 

Enjoy it whilst you can folks it won't be long before Cramlington's wildlife corridors are no more!

After an absence of a good couple of months I returned to Arcot and what a change.

Readers of my blog will be well aware how annoyed I was that several horses of suspect origin were dumped onto my patch earlier in the year.

Well thankfully they are but a memory and after a few months of not going to my patch, I was very surprised to return to a thriving wildflower meadow! I was concerned that the massive overgrazing would destroy the growth of Dyer's Greenweed, a locally uncommon plant species which grows in abundance at Arcot. Amazingly, it's returned this year in force along with multiple Orchids and other wildflower species!

The water level of the pond was very low, so low in fact that in certain spots Swan Mussels could be seen sticking out of the water. Lapwing and Oystercatcher were present, along with the Shelduck and Mallard families. The solitary Common Tern chick was noticeable on the far side with the adults being very attentive and regularly fishing and diving at any large Gull that was bathing or getting too close for comfort.

Sedge Warbler were more often seen, rather then heard around the margins of the pond and both Blue-Tailed and Common Blue Damselfly were seen, sadly no larger dragonflies were noted. I know of a few local dragon hotspots which I intend to investigate.

Its good to be back!

David
Nature North East

Buff-Tailed Bumble Bee?

Volucella Pellucens; Doing its best impression of Linda Blair from the Exorcist!

Common Spotted Orchid

Common Blue Damselfly

Blue-Tailed Damselfly

Common Tern about to dive!

Greenery, Greenshank & A Garganey

Sunday became a rather dull day swiftly after 9am. The heavens opened and the rain came down hard and heavy, long overdue I suppose after a great week weather wise.
It's a pleasure to see greenery beginning to finally take back a colourful hold over the landscape of the North East.
As much as I relish the bleak look that Winter brings with it, the return of Spring is always welcome and this year its return has felt long overdue.

I had just finished writing up my latest blog, 'Amphibious Amplexus', and the sun had resumed its place in the now clearing sky when I received a text from Gordon, saying there was a Greenshank at West Hartford, Cramlington.
I decided to head over for a look whilst the sun was still out.
Sure enough when I arrived it was wading around the margins of the larger pool, joined by a Redshank and after a few minutes an Oystercatcher pair. A good number of Lesser Black-Backed Gulls were present around the pool and in the Eastern distance, high up in the sky two Buzzards were circling in the deep blue sky.

Unfortunately my lens struggled to capture any decent photographs of the distant Greenshank, hence the above image being heavily cropped. Next stop larger lens!
I watched the birds milling about the pool, the Skylarks which sang in the air above me and a Kestrel hunting over the rough grassland of West Hartford.

Then a text from Gordon.............Drake Garganey @ Arcot

Upon arrival Gordon pointed out the drake, my first ever. Arcot has played a blinder for me recently, now if only I could find the elusive Green Woodpecker!
The Pond had the Garganey, a single Greylag and Canada Goose and the usual suspects. Over the pond hunted 20+ Sand Martin, cracking considering there was a single bird on friday. Amongst them a few Swallows zipped over the fields and waters surface.
The usual 'primary feather missing' Buzzard was again present and a Kestrel made a few appearances whilst I was there.
Not a bad afternoon.
David
Nature North East / The Northern Owl Project

Patch Platinum: Arcot Pond Osprey

Upon finishing work on Wednesday afternoon, 8th April 2015, I headed across to my patch (Arcot Pond & Grasslands) and was greeted with my first Swallow and Sand Martin of the year. I had a scan of the pond from the southern field and was pleased to see the drake Pintail was still present on the Northern side of the pond. The newly arrived Chiffchaffs provided a none stop soundtrack of 'Chiff-Chaffing' to the patch and a few Toads were noticeable as they marched through the grass in search of a good time.
I took a slow walk to the Eastern edge of the pond and sat in the reed bed for almost an hour and a half, completely chilled and watching life at Arcot go on around me.
I was just turning to leave and head back to the car when suddenly all the birds took to the sky. I presumed the local Buzzard was just passing through as it is usually does, that was until I looked up to see an OSPREY!! WOW!! My first ever osprey and on my patch as well, this was amazing and so unexpected. I suppose that's the thing about wildlife watching you just never know what is going to turn up and in that lies the thrill.
The Osprey proceeded to fish the waters in front of me, at times drifting thirty feet or so overhead. It was incredibly unphased by my presence flying much closer than even the Arcot Buzzard would ever do.
After a handful of fishing attempts, incredible to watch, and ten minutes of relentless mobbing by crows and gulls it swiftly headed North.

What an experience. What a Bird. What a patch treat! Wow!
(Shame about how overcast it was for photography)

David
Nature North East / The Northern Owl Project

Just to prove the Osprey was at Arcot ;)

Arcot Pond 27th Feb

On Friday morning (27th Feb) I spent about 45 minutes at my local patch before heading off to Gateshead to complete my woodchipper training qualification.
All was quiet, all was still and this seems to be the norm recently at Arcot Pond. The horses were still in the South West field, much to my frustration and the Roe Deer were in their usual hot spot across the pond. Two doe and a buck, sporting velvet antlers! Fantastic.
I look forward to watching them over the coming weeks and months.

As I stood watching the Deer, there was a few duck species milling about the pond with Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck and Shoveler all dabbling on the waters surface. All of a sudden ducks, gulls and corvids took to the air as Arcot's chief avian predator burst out of the woodland and flew over the pond and headed northwards.

Once the Buzzard had left a stillness returned to the area and I watched as two Oystercatchers flew south and possibly towards Big Waters? The presence of two distant Canada Geese on the pond provided my first geese of the year at Arcot, I wonder if they'll breed again this year?

All in all it was a very quiet forty five minutes on patch but nonetheless enjoyable and as readers to my blog will know, the birding day got vastly better in the afternoon with a Short-Eared Owl bonanza!
http://nature-northeast.blogspot.com/2015/02/shortie-stakeout.html

David
Nature North East / The Northern Owl Project

...Windy West Hartford

Let me begin by stating that I don't think I've ever been to West Hartford and it has not been windy! The place is a wind tunnel, and I swear it has its own micro climate going on!
Anyway I digress.....
Lets get down to the matter at hand.

So it was a Saturday and after a somewhat sluggish start to the day I set about on what, initially was going to be a quick 20 minute walk. This of course evolved into a 4 hour adventure around familiar and unfamiliar locales.

A Grey Heron taking flight after being spooked by yours truly

I began as usual by searching the area of the wetland for any life, not much about bar a handful of Gulls and a Grey Heron. No sign of any wading birds or even the regular Kestrel. I had however, earlier had a tip off from The Liverbirder that there was a pair of Stonechat hanging around the area.

They weren't were they had been sighted earlier, I did manage to catch up with them on the back field. Brilliant birds and though the female was very photogenic and willing to be snapped, the male was not so obliging.  Great birds to see in Cramlington. 

The Happy Couple

She was ready for her close up

From here my journey led me North where I caught sight of a Buzzard, unfortunately not Rough Legged like some of the local lads have witnessed over the weekend in the county.
From here my path went beyond the beaten one, and for three hours I walked through woodland, pockets of Gorse, fields, ditches & dykes. At one point I followed a Roe Deer hind for about 10 minutes before losing her in the woods.
Although I really enjoyed my time wandering around fresh territory I was a wee bit dismayed at the lack of action going on, then again that's the beauty of wildlife/birdwatching. You never know what is going to turn up.

The journey continues....