Killy Goosanders--Grafitti bridge

Is this art?


Goosanders and Goldeneye Killy Lake

Sunday morning decided to have a trip up to Big Waters and decided to call past Killy on the way. As i arrived there was a bit of a downpour but it stopped after 10 minutes or so and brightened up to be a nice morning. I spotted a lone male Goosander on the larger lake and not having any decent images of said species decided to capture it. Easier said than done. It decided to spend the majority of its time in the centre of the water and on the odd occasions in ventured towards the side , by the time i got somewhere close it buggered off again. Yes, weve been there dozens of times. After over an hour of this and some ropey shots i made my way to the smaller lake before i left for " Muddy".

As i approached there was the outline of 3 Sawbills with the now bright sun behind them. It was 2 female and 1 male Goosander, " I DON'T BELIEVE IT ! " i thought to myself having chased around after there pal, and these were less than 15 metres away at times. The shots above were taken on my Canon compact as i've been having trouble downloading my images taken on my EOS Canon coz the files are too big. Anyway they will have to do 'till i get a prog. organised to compress my photo files.

Having succeeded in capturing the Goosanders i decided to head off to B. W. but on the way i realised the time was getting on so instead stopped off at Weetslade C. Park to have a walk and give the old knees a work out. Not much in the way of bird life to be seen except for 3 Kestrels hovering in the air together, but as i wandered off down one of the waggonways towards Burradon i spotted this fantastic work of grafitti on the concrete work of the bridge. I think some grafitti is brilliant and this effort is fabulous. I've just checked on Memory Map and this passes under the A189 and the waggonway heads away from the car park at Weetslade.

Hollywell Pond...Jack Snipe

A trip to St. Marys Lighthouse mid afternoon yesterday turned out to be disappointing as i failed to locate the Firecrest that has been around for the last few days. After a dry but miserable half hour, the drizzle started and with that the mist began to thicken. From the prom. the usual selection of gulls and waders. Along to the island, causeway then beach nothing much startling but got my first close up glimpse of one of my favourite wintering birds, Sanderling. I found a nice rock close by to park my bum and spent a delightful half hour watching their keystone cop style antics at the waters edge. No matter how cold it is , i always get a warm glow when i sit and watch these birds. Away from the water there was an abundance of Redwing, Blackbirds and a number of Robins.

This morning i ventured down to Hollywell Pond which was quite busy. Large numbers of gull, Black Headed, Herring and Black Backed which when not on the water formed an endless stream to and from the direction of Seghill Tip. A large flock of Lapwing were interrupted for a couple of minutes when 30 odd Starlings descended on the water and decided to have a collective bathe. Unaware of this, there were 34 Canada Geese, 18 Greylag, 44 Mallard, 8 Tufted Duck and various small numbers of Coot, Moorhen, Pochard, a couple of Grey Heron, a Cormorant, 16 Teal feeding on the shoreline and what looked like a male Shoveller in eclipse. Anyway in amongst this lot over to the left of the public hide in amongst Bull rushes at the corner of the bay i spotted a Snipe. By now the mist was slowly beginning to drop and visibility was OK but starting to deteriorate. I had seen half a dozen Snipe up at Big Waters a couple of times in the last 10 days and i commented to Dave, who frequents the pond, how bright i thought the stripes on the back were. Never thought any more of it but then there were more Snipe that had flew in. By then another couple of lads had joined us and one said that one of them was a Jack Snipe. Sure enough, with a number of birds together you could see how much smaller the Jack was, along with the shorter bill and different colouration. It was also noticed to be slowly bouncing up and down. I must thank Bob Dac for the excellent views i observed from his scope as the mist was spoiling good views from my bins by now. No pics of Jack but couple of Teal and what i think is the Shoveler in eclipse taken on my compact Canon.

Harlequin Ladybird

Whilst up at St Abbs Head i noticed this Ladybird. For those who don't know there is a species known as the HARLEQUIN LADYBIRD which has been invading our shores since 2004. This invasive species is jeopardising many of our own46 species of Ladybird and needs to be reported if spotted.

Now i am not sure if this is a Harlequin, i can't remember the exact size of it but it almost has the letter "M " formed within its spots. Can anyone help as i may need to report it. Many thanks.

pics

The pics i want to show won't download. I took them in raw, edited them, then into pics on computer but have noticed they are now "tif" does this cause a problem? Anyone know.

No pics for the moment.

Frustrated blooger

I don't know how many times i have sat down since my last post and not actually written a word. It's like this. I set off in my walking boots, rucksack full, batteries charged and raring to get out there. I don't give a toss what the weather is, (obviously a bit of nice light would be an advantage) it's just nice to get out and about. If i see something new, speak to someone interesting or learn something new i am a happy man.

When i get back i download and go through my images from the days explorations and decide which pics i will use on the blog. This is where the trouble starts. You see, i don't know much about anything that i come across, be it bird or fungi or insect or whatever. SOOOOO, when i have picked the pics, i have to do some research on what is in that pic. Then after 3 hours of hunting out the fungi i managed to capture underneath that dead branch, it's usually 1.30 a.m. and i haven't even identified what it was. AAAAHHHHH. Mind you, i've thoroughly enjoyed myself. There is so much out there to learn about. Anyway, that is why i am so slow posting my blogs.

Since my last post i have visited Rothbury, Upper Coquetdale, St. Abbs Head, Eyemouth, Cresswell, Druridge, Holy Island and Budle Bay and not managed one post.

Until now. I visited Seaham on Sunday and followed a walk i had which took in Blast Beach and Hawthorn Village amongst other places. There was a gusty westerley blowing so not much at sea but joined a couple of people searching out a Yellow-Browed Warbler at the south end of Blast Beach. Half an hours crack while we waited but no joy so off i set. I'll catch it on the way back. Passed a disused quarry (which i later found out was Hawthorn Quarry) and hung around hoping to capture sight of a bird of prey possibly, only to see a few Crows but was informed by a guy in Hawthorn Dene when i got there that Peregrines had nested last year but not this. Through Hawthorn Village onto the Dene....loads of fungi pics.....but on the way out was puzzled by the sight on the ground only 1 metre from the path. A Great Spotted Woodpecker had snuggled up and went to sleep. It was in the grass without any cover. I stood over it for a couple of minutes, actually trying to figure out what i was looking at, i knew it was a G.S.W. but couldn't figure out what was going on. Anyway eventually i disturbed it , at which it turned its head looked at me and casually flew into a nearby tree. Is this common behaviour? On the way back i called past the site of the Y.B.Warbler but no luck and took in Blast Beach, as i had read that it had been used in scenes from the film Alien 3. I know why........what a strange landscape, and a reminder of the pollution man has caused over the years.

Here are a couple of pics

Sorry

I feel quite guilty. I decided to start blogging without realising how busy i am. From now on i am going to make time to update. Here are a number of images from the last few weeks.

I have been away visiting my beautiful Grandson in Kent. I did managed a little birding while there and visited Elmley Marshes on the Isle of Sheppey. This is a RSPB site in the North East of Kent and comes highly recommended if anyone is in the area. The main thing that actually sticks in my mind from the visit was the thousands of pounds worth of pumping equipment lying around all over the site, ready to be used if water levels needed adjusting. I am relatively new to birding but have heard a lot of moans about water levels or the lack of management of some sites i have visited up here. This certainly wasn't the case at Elmley.

My local haunt normally is Big Waters, or muddy ( any blues people will know Muddy Waters) as i like to call it. This is in no way a swipe at the water quality there, just my sense of humour. However i haven't been as often in the last couple of weeks as thanks to PC Wanderings blog, have been up to Prestwick Carr ( large Blue British Shorthair jumps onto lap at this point making my typing errors increase by 50 %) marveling at the Short Eared Owl that has been showing there. I aint got any pics as there has not been one reasonable photo opportunity but the Owl has been brilliant to watch. I like to walk while i'm out and about but have tended to hang around while at Prestwick, not wanting to miss any of the S.E.O. action so i need to explore a little more. Whilst waiting for said Owl i have been entertained by other species but mainly the Buzzard family that frequent the restricted zone woods, all four of which made an appearance together last Wednesday evening for best part of an hour. Can i also thank Peter ( PC Wanderings) and Bicycle Bill for answering my endless stream of questions about Prestwick and birding generally, they are a joy to talk to........very helpful.

I warned you there would be more waffling than warbling. Here are some pics.........when i started originally it was about birding but i have seen so many fantastic things around me that i love everything about nature, so the images i capture now can be of anything. Nature is wonderful, i only wish i'd discovered it when i was younger.