Hello 2010

Woke to deep snow and a garden full of spuggies and starlings, with Herring Gulls scrapping for the leftover loaf deposited last night as an afterthought. A sparrowhawk went over pursuing a small flock of fieldfare, the first I have seen in Monkseaton.

Eventually, despite my better judgement, Trish and I got moving to check out the office and make our way out for a New Year Gawk. The roads were pretty clear so we decided to drop in at Prestwick Carr in the hope of seeing Short Eared Owls (well it was really late when we got up). The turn into PC was snowy but looked ok so down we went. Mistake!

At least 5 inches of snow along the wibbly wobbly road guaranteed some fun, but the drifts were deceptive and we immediately got stuck, unable to move forward or back. Luckily a carload of folks in a 4x4 came to the rescue and allowed us to get to the birding.

Two kestrels were the first sightings, with a good number of fieldfare still around, scrounging berries from the hedgerows. Large numbers of blue and great tit drifted through the hawthorns and robins seemed to be everywhere. We also noted that wrens were very active all along the lane. Two stonechat caught my eye feeding in a area cleared of snow, a nice find so early on.

The vista was stunning. The Carr looked resplendant in its winter clothing and reminded me of how fantastic this area can be. As the light dimmed towards the end of the day, I spotted an owl in a bush close to the small caravan. I was overjoyed, as Short Eared Owl was the object of the visit, but I was more pleased when this proved to be a Long Eared Owl instead! It sat for nearly an hour in full view, so we were able to return to the car for a scope just to confirm the sighting. Both of us were totally made up to see such a wonderful bird and even better it took to the wing as soon as a crow alighted in the bush. After a few turns around the rushy ground, it moved out of view and we failed to pick it up again.


Although no other owls were seen(we had verbal reports of Barn Owl from a local), this made the trip well worth while. Deciding to leave, the final bonus was a beautiful roe deer trudging nonchalantly through the drifting snow. Despite the growing snow, we both had a lovely glow inside, amply rewarded for the effort.