Planes, Sprains and Automobiles

I take my hat off to Heather Mills. 

It must have been hard enough to have to put up with that whinny over-rated soppy scouse fop when she married him, apparently for her "share of his fortune" (which condemned her to more public vilification than Saddam Hussein), but she then took a massive risk by becoming the Long John Silver of  Dancing on Ice, only to fall in mid Choctaw Turn. 

Following a smattering of the white stuff and a brief appearance from a solar flare, the glass like pavements of Whitley Bay brought me down to earth with more than just a bump as I cartwheeled into the air and landed heavily on my back. In futre years, I will remember with some fondness all those good samaritans who walked past me as I lay gasping for air outside the Salvation Army Charity Shop. Perhaps the absence of empty bottles of "dog" could have provided a clue that I wasn't waiting for a place in the hostel but was actually injured?

Anyhow, the resulting neck, back, rib and shoulder strains played some part in restricting this weekends outings. The need to jump in the Volvo and chug up to Town to open up the work space, so lots of Batty folk could meet and discuss all things myotis, meant that we had to be in Newcastle, so a trip to Big Waters looked the best bet.

Arriving at the reserve, prospects for birding looked poor as the cloud layer had descended so far that it was like walking under a suspended duvet! Piercing this gloom at frequent intervals, the shriek of aero engines sounded as if EasyJet had determined to reduce costs by landing in Dinnington and asking passengers to walk the last few metres to the airfield.

Pressing on regardless, there was little of note along the paths to the main hide (except meeting an old friend I hadn't seen for years!). It was bitting cold and quite depressing but this soon changed once we reached the hide (increasingly reminiscent of a gentlemans club) and changed from wellies to carpet slippers. First views into the feeding station showed it to be chocka with birds, almost wall to wall with blackbirds and great tits vying with moorhens (25) for the prize of "how many can we squeeze into a mini". But not for long as a superb male Sparrowhawk made the first of many forays to ground zero that afternoon, scattering the small birds from their gastronomic distractions like seed sown across a field. This was obviously an american accipiter though, as it never hit its target that day! 

Despite the threat, the feeding station was busy, with all the usual suspects present, together with a few yellowhammer, reed bunting, 25 tree sparrow, a single long-tailed tit and a superb male great-spotted woodpecker.

The main lake was still (!!!!) frozen, and this provided a platform for over 70 lapwing, hustling a decent number of mallard, teal and wigeon for space. A couple of coot, three cormorant and two female tufted duck made up the number with a single drake goldeneye being the pick of the crop. Now this guy must have something about him as he was slowly joined by a hareem until 11 females were drifting to and fro with him darting between them and throwing his head backwards in a wonderful display of optimism. Perhaps this was well placed, as I later learned that other goldeneye recorded elsewhere that day were all males!

Throughout this display and the periodic honking of overflying grey geese (greylag I think), the blanket of cloud remained firmly fixed above us. Every ten minutes or so, the roar of aircraft broke the perfect silence. At no point did any bird stir in response to this, not a single one wanted to take to the sky and intercept the metal monster as it ploughed overhead. It's really disappointing that such avian selfishness was displayed - surely everybody knows that birds are destined to commit self-sacrifice in the face of man's ingenuity and temerity in taking to the sky, forcing birds to consider themselves unworthy of sharing their natural element?

Perhaps I am totally missing the point here? Perhaps hundreds of goldeneye had actually minced through the turboprops, producing that miasma of fog, above which the great god, Aviation, could rule? I think not! But then again, I am partially responsible - my eldest works in aerospace design.

SWANN Vista's

Never a dull moment in my job!  Well not quite true as the morning consisted of emails and project planning, budgets and other mundane stuff, although I had a sneaky walk around the park and clocked a few goldfinch, assorted tits and a robin sheltering amongst the frosty branches of the silver birches outside the front door. Rescuing a few old apple cores from the compost bin, I hope I helped a little bit!

Coming to my rescue was an afternoon trip to see Sandra Butler at Shasun in Dudley. Sandra is one of those people you cannot fail to admire, she loves her wildlife so much and has a knack of making sure other people care as much as she does! Over the last few months we have been working to bring in finances to develop a nature reserve wholly contained within the boundaries of this pharmacutical factory, a hidden oasis for wildlife. With three good sized ponds, it already attracts a decent range of birds.

Today it looked just like everywhere else - white! About a foot of snow covered the lagoons but one small area of open water held about 40 mallard, a female pochard and four mute swans, in a really small area. Sandra does a bit of supplementary feeding with donated wheat, which must help in weather such as this.

As the first of the seed was scattered, the swans dragged their bulk slowly from the icy clutches of the frozen waters, looking ungainly and unsurprisingly lethargic. They showed no interest for a bit so we moved away in case they were shy in our company. Just as we did so three of the birds suddenly took to the air in a flurry of snow. Looking spectacular against the clear blue skies, the first two slowly gained height  but the third appeared to be struggling. With a short but loud honk she crashed into deep snow a few feet away and it was clear she had been chasing the other two off!

All we could see was an orange and black beak, a smudge in the otherwise pristine snow.  I thought she was OK but realised she was stuck and unable to stand. Approaching with caution, in case of a mighty peck, I was steeling myself to pick her up and move her to safety. Thankfully, the avian adrenaline kicked in and she struggled more determindly, getting her wings over the show and suddenly gained the strength to move herself quickly over the snow, not quite taking flight but with enough momentum to reach the icy pond and relative safety. Once again it demonstrated just how wildlife is affected by these conditions, making even large birds vulnerable to predators, such as the fox whose footprints were everywhere in the snow.

As we walked back for a coffee, 10 goldfinch drifted into the tree tops and a blackbird took advantage of the easy meal from the seed bucket. Three robins took refuge in the scrub and blackberry thicket which also housed a few rabbits.

Work to alter pond depths and profiles will start soon and after this pathwork and a boardwalk will be constructed. Additional resources are required to provide a hide, which SWANN are keen to have available for wider use, including school visits. I am sure that the bird list for this site will continue to grow as more attention is focussed upon it and as a sheltered site, the birds and other wildlife will not have the same human interference that other sites may present.

Can't do nowt about the weather though!

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.

Cheers to 2009

Well its almost time for the Hootenany and welcome to the next decade (whatever it is called). It is traditional at times such as this to look back and fondly recall good and bad times. With a brain like mine, recalling yesterdays stuff is hard enough  but there are one or two great nature conservation memories despite the grey matter decay.

Fondly leading the pack is the Pine Marten survey at Harwood. Armed with spatulas, plastic bags and a lack of insect repellent, our team braved swarms of flies in search of elusive marten scats. The discerning eyes rejected many possibles to recover only 3 or 4, one of which we were later informed looked "very hopeful". Feeeling like Eurovision hopefuls, the team went about their daily tasks for a few weeks as the DNA boffins did their stuff. Finally the great day arrived and Kevin O'Hara, the Willy Wonka of mammal work, passed over the golden sheet with a grin from ear to ear.   With festive fervour, my eyes scanned the text, the definitive proof of pine marten prescence clutched in my hand.......fox, dog, fox and.........human! Not a bit of bogroll in sight when we collected that sample! How the mighty are fallen!

Next are my trips to Coquet Island with/for RSPB. NWT has a good relationship here, and I was pleased to chair the management committee for a couple of years. This time around, we were trying to look into the possibilities of grazing to deal with the increasingly problematic vegetation growth which serves to cause so many problems for the chicks. It never ceases to amaze me that Paul and Zoe (and the gang) get stuck on this small rock, so close to the coast but it may as well be another planet at times. I admire the dedication and appplication they give for this cause. 2009 was good as many species had done well, Roseates in particular. To think that there is a possibility that getting volunteers to cut the grass had actually had some benefit to this very special bird makes me glow inside and shows the value of co-operation. However, the two highlights for me here are really the boat trip over at the end of the season and the coincidence with a reasonable fall of birds. Seeing so many pied wagtails and chiffchaffs in one place at once was great, but the appearance of a bright blue budgie topped it all!

Not wishing to sideline the fantastic news of breeding Osprey and Marsh Harriers, my final glow comes from filthy lucre. Yes, money! Root of all evil - but essential to allow us to achieve things. In a tough financial climate, getting not one, but THREE grants from the Aggregates Levy has been fantastic and one I am also very proud of. This cash has allowed NWT (my employers), to undertake work on our unique grasslands on the Great Whin Sill. We are even doing geology man! Fantastic stuff, even if grasslands are not an instant excitement like birds.

I have also loved media work this year. Radio is the best, and I have really enjoyed joining Carl at Lionheart for our wildlife programme, which we cunningly disguised as a Blues fiesta. Watch this space for news on this in 2010. I also met a few celebs, none more enjoyable than Matt Baker during a film piece for Countryfile (my third appearance!) - what a top bloke.

Hauxley and Druridge have a special place in my life now as well (thanks Trish) and I finally have a companion on my trips oot. Its even forced my youngest to slip off the sofa, don his boots and take the air. Nothing can express the joy to hear him say "Thanks for taking me to Hauxley Dad, it was lush, I had a great day".

There will be more, I am sure. Its certainly better than the football (apart from Wembley with Whitley - Parakeet - tick!)

Gannin' Fer A Gawk at Holywell

A day for staying inside really but I dragged myself out to Holywell this afternoon with dark skies looming and a wind that carried threats of arctic conditions later.

A quick trip to the public hide showed a couple of meadow pipits feeding in the short grass but nothing else of note. If I was hoping for some respite from the growing gale, the members hide was not the place to go next! Directly in the teeth of the wind, I was glad of the extra jacket as the chill factor soared but it was obvious that the ground temperature was warmer than recently as the pond is starting to defrost and there was a larger area of open water, with waves forming.

That said, the bird life was thinner than Twiggy on a diet! A handful of mallard and 6 wigeon, two mute swans chugging into the wind, a few gulls, two coot, 8 moorhens and a cormorant. The short appearance of a little grebe brightened the view briefly, but it moved off quickly. Six lapwings sat in the field to the east amongst a huge flock of gulls, but by then it was too cold to worry in case there was anything unusual!

Not a huge haul but...Man did that tea taste good!