A bike ride this morning on waggonways and farm tracks, starting at Monkseaton, where 2 Song Thrushes were in full voice. Garden feeders attracted 7-8 Tree Sparrows and a pair of Bullfinches nipped off emerging buds. Double figures of both Greenfinches and Goldfinches sang, each male establishing a territory. Robins\u00a0 and Dunnocks did likewise, again into double figures. The first of 3 pairs of Long tailed Tits appeared too. \u00a0Farmland hedgerows held 8 Yellowhammer males, calling. I halted to listen to the first singing one of the year. Over the fields near Holywell Dene, 2 Lapwings displayed, calling. Both these species\u00a0always a delight in Spring. A few Skylarks were in full songflight mode and others chased each other,calling.<\/p>\n
A Kestrel hovered here, then at the Pond several Curlews and more Lapwings.\u00a0 Pairs of Oystercatchers and Shelduck noted, as were a pair of Little Grebes,also calling. Teal, Mallard, Pochard,Tufted Duck\u00a0and Gadwall seen on the Pond. Down into the Dene next, where 2 Nuthatches called,one inspecting a possible nest hole.<\/p>\n
The Dene was alive with birdsong, despite the cool, dull conditions. Great,Blue and Coal Tits sang, along with Chaffinches,more Gold and Greenfinches,Wrens,Dunnocks and Robins. Then a Treecreeper heard, another 2 Song Thrushes and several Blackbirds. A Dipper flashed by,calling ,then a male Grey Wagtail perched on rock mid-stream. A Kingfisher was seen here earlier in the week.\u00a0At the east end of the Dene, the rookery was busy,with 80 or so birds noisily repairing old nests.<\/p>\n
On to Old Hartley next, but no hoped for Wheatears. Plenty of Fulmars on the cliffs and a small group of Eiders offshore. A Stonechat perched on a fence and 4-5 singing Skylarks here over the fields. St Mary’s held 5 or 6 Reed Buntings, males now with black headgear,singing from bushtops. On the rocks, good numbers of Redshank and Oystercatchers,Curlews and Turnstones. 2-3 Rock Pipits seen and a Meadow Pipit overhead.<\/p>\n
West of Whitley Bay Golf Course, 10 more Reed Buntings were along a good sized hedgerow,one singing male.Then a flock of 40 or so Skylarks took flight from\u00a0 stubble with much courtship activity,birds chasing each other and rising to sing ,with 5 singing in the area\u00a0at one point. More Meadow Pipits here too. Back along a waggonway and\u00a02 more pairs of Bullfinches completed a good morning.<\/p>\n
A.S.Jack<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A bike ride this morning on waggonways and farm tracks, starting at Monkseaton, where 2 Song Thrushes were in full voice. Garden feeders attracted 7-8 Tree Sparrows and a pair of Bullfinches nipped off emerging buds. Double figures of both Greenfinches and Goldfinches sang, each male establishing a territory. Robins\u00a0 and Dunnocks did likewise, again […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ntbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ntbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ntbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ntbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ntbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5346"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ntbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5403,"href":"https:\/\/www.ntbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5346\/revisions\/5403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ntbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ntbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ntbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}