Update - better late than never!!

All been a bit busy since coming back from hols so got very lazy on blog !! So what has been happening? Well I don't know what others think but from a Gunnerside perspective I think 2009 is looking like a really good breeding year for garden birds. The bird table and feeders seem to be absolutely full of young and the swallows/ swifts and house martins are still very busy nesting. Houise martins on front of house and very busy feeding young and I guess they may well fledge in next day or two - once gone we will however have a very serious window cleaning job to do - it seems the young like nothing more than pointing their a*** out of the nest and projectile poohing all over our bedroom window!!!! Still a small price to pay i guess.
Sand martins are also still nesting down at Rowleth, infact they were washed out just 2 weeks ago and started nesting again 2 days later. We were relaibly informed by my house sitting parents that the Spotted flycatchers successfully raised a brood and they fledged whilst we were on holiday. Up on the moors there seem to be a few grouse around along with a few curlew and lapwing still.
Tawny owls in the village seem to be very vocal at night at the moment and i wonder whether this is the young just practising their hooting!?
Birds in the garden most days at the moment include, chaffinch, blue tit, great tit, blackbird, collared dove, siskin, goldfinch, greenfinch, dunnock, robin, song thrush, jackdaw, house sparrow, great spot woodpecker, pheasant, pied wagtail, swallow, house martin and swift.

Back from Hols

Been away for 2 weeks in Sutherland - fab weather with great walking, kayaking, fishing and wildlife - highlights were a minke whale just 50 metres away from us and a brief glimpse of a pine martin! Pick of the birds was a Black Throated Diver and chick I found while fishing Loch Crogach and a singing male Snow Bunting on the top of Conival.
Bird news from Gunnerside is that spotted flycatchers and grey wags raised broods just 10 metres from the front door of the pub!! The house martins have rebuilt their nest on the front of our house and seem to be well on the way to raising a family. Yet more nesting is taking place in the garden, the rear nest box, having been vacated by blue tits is now the home of a family of house sparrows and dunnocks are nesting in our clematis. I think that now takes us to the following nesting species in our garden this year; house sparrow x 3 nests; jackdaw; blackbird; blue tit; swallow; house martin; and dunnock.

Snow in June!

This photo was taken 7pm last night outside the Kings Head pub - proper snow on 5th June, last time I saw that was 1976 and for 3 months after that the temp hardly fell below 75 degrees - lets hope it repeats itself!
First however the bad news, our house martin nest has fallen off the house. It seemed to coinside with some light rainfall so perhaps it just got wet and slipped off, I assume this is a fairly common occurence?? As yet they dont seem to be interested in rebuilding in the same place. The swallows however continue to thrive and we are expecting that some chicks may hatch pretty soon and the sparrows are still busy feeding their young in the nest box.
Went for a short walk up the gill this pm once the torrential rain had stopped and some sunshine had come out. The swallows, swifts and house martins were really busy feeding with light winds and loads of insects up and about. Up at Pot Ing there were several pairs of wheatear busy feeding chicks and as we headed down towards the river we picked up our first spotted flys of the year - always great to see them and we are really lucky here as we seem to get alot of them still. On our short stroll back to Gunnerside bridge we saw about 6/7 of them. Other birds picked up were, goldfinch, redpoll, song thrush, oyster catcher, lapwing, blackbird, blue tit, meadow pipit, mistle thrush, starling, blackheaded gull, great tit, robin, jackdaw, willow warbler. At the bridge we did a quick scan of the bushes and were delighted to pick up both grey wag and spotted fly and even happier to see that they were both nesting right next to the bridge, even allowing great views into the SF's nest itself - it will be interesting seeing how they both get on as last years SF's in this location were unsuccessful nesters.

Holiday time!

Had fabulous week up in Scotland last week. Mostly walking and fishing with a bit of birdwatching thrown in. Total bird count for the week was 101 including some scottish specialities, crested tit, breeding dotterel, scottish crossbill, black and red throated divers and of course osprey. Fishing was good too with good catches of pollock and brown trout - so we didn't go hungry!

News from Gunnerside is that we now have both swallows and house martins nesting in or on the house, taking our nesting birb species in garden this year to 6!!! I guess it will also mean that the out house and window will also get covered in droppings - still, on balance worth it I think.

Couldn't resist one fish photo, just to wind up my brothers!

Northumberland

Weekend away in Northumberland so no Gunnerside news. Some excellent walking and plenty of birdwatching on the coast. Over 90 different species seen over the weekend, including whimbrel, arctic, little, common and sandwich terns, swift, white wagtails and a good selection of waders moving into breeding plumage. Paid visit to Holy Island which was fascinating but birds proved elusive. Did manage to get some great shots of a swallow that was nesting in the hide overlooking the lake though.

Stang Forest and Scargill

We ventured over the dale and up to the Stang forest today. Did lovely walk through pine forest and then down wooded valley to Scargill and then back over the moor. Highlight of day was finding 3 pied flycatchers. Two were already paired up and investigating a nest box. With a little patience I was able to get some reasonable shots of the birds. There were also a couple of blackcaps and a marsh tit to be seen with plenty of willow warblers and chiff chaffs. Today we also heard our first cuckoo of the year but try as we might he remained hidden from sight. Coming back over Garnerthwaite pasture there were lots of curlew and lapwing and even the odd hatchling.

Four Ravens still here

The four ravens seen all winter are still very active and vocal around Gunnerside. seems late for them to still be here so I will watch with interest to see if they see the summer out here

Easter weekend

After a week away cross country skiing in Norway it was back to the milder clims of Gunnerside for Easter - but our bird list for the weekend still has a number of winter visiters. First good news was the reappearance of a pair of Redpolls on the birdfeeders, along with a couple of siskin. They must have been hungry because they haven't really moved from the birdtable all weekend!

On Friday, with Mum and Dad in tow we went over to Whaw, Arkengarthdale and walked up dale to Dalehead and back round, with the hope of seeing some Black Grouse. After a few anxious miles we eventually did see a pair hiding behind some trees but fortunately better views were had as we walked back near Shepherds Lodge. Other birds of note included 2 x Redshank, 2 x Snipe, 4/5 x Oystercatcher, a lone Wheatear and good numbers of nesting Lapwing. Also nice to see a flock of 100+ fieldfare plus one or two Redwing all looking very bright as though getting into breeding plumage. Rather incongruously, up above them flew a lone Swallow.
Sunday saw us head off up the Gunnerside Gilll in search of Ring Ouzel. The weather was absolutely beautiful despite an early morning frost. After having got Dad up on to Jingle Pot Edge path with the aid of oxygen we continued up past Botcher Gill gate and on to Ewe Leap Scar. The first Ouzel of the day were seen at Botcher Gill Gate and from then on it was an Ouzel fest!! Our full count for the day was 5 pairs including one in the middle of nest building. The Gill truely is a great place for these summer visiters but I am not sure we have had such a high count before. We were also quite surprised to still see the Ravens over wintering Scar. There were 4 flying around most of the day. I am assuming these will be juveniles and they will be moving on soon. An unusual sighting just below Potting was a lone bat out in the mid afternoon sun. The attached photo (awful quality) gives some idea of its features - we are guessing it was a Pipestrelle.
Monday was yet another glorious day, so we decided to take a look up on Low Row Pastures. The highlight of the morning was a pair of Redstarts on the edge of Little Rowleth Wood along with a good smattering of Willow Warbler. Again we saw 2 Ravens flying over head. Other birds seen on the walk were; calling Snipe, large numbers of Lapwing, 6 + pairs of Wheatear and a pair of Sparrowhawk. Also of interest on the walk were a Roe Deer and a cracking Violet Ground Beetle.
PM I took myself off for the first fly fishing session of the season and although I blanked as far as fish were concerned I did see the first pair of Sandpipers of the year at Rowleth Bottoms.
In addition to the Blackbird that is nesting in the coal shed we now have the following nesters in our garden; Sparrows in nest box and in Cotoneaster, Blue Tit in nest box and Jackdaw on roof. In addition something is building a nest in the open nest box we have in the back garden but is proving rather elusive to nail down!!

Migrants are arriving!

After 10 days of mild spring like weather we headed up Gunnerside Ghyll Saturday to see whether any of the spring migrants had arrived. Our route took us up the ghyll to Eweleap Scar, back south and east across Merryfield, past Old gang mines, on to Surrender Bridge, further east through Cringley Bottoms, across Barney Beck and west to Hilton, Riddings and on to Low Row for a pint. We finished off by walking along the river back to Gunnerside.
The first bird news of the day was discovery of a rather messy blackbirds nest in the coal house, amazingly constructed on top of the open door. Last year they nested in the same building but I mice or rats got to the eggs which was disappointing - hopefully they may do better this year.
As we progressed up the ghyll it was clear that the Mipits had arrived in big numbers, they seemed to be everywhere! Infact they were just about all we saw for the first hour or so, give or take a grouse or two. It was not until we got into the relative shelter of the area around Old gang Mines that we started to pick up a few more birds. Infact at the mines itself we found the first Wheatear of the year, a male in full breeding colours - looked stonking. Also in the area were 2 Grey Wags, 3/4 Pied Wags and a Stonechat. Up above on the moors were a few lapwings, Curlew and the odd Golden Plover calling.
In the fields and woodland down towards Healaugh there seemed to be alot of song and mistle thrushes around which is always nice to see. On Feetham Pasture we spooked a lone Snipe that I guess may well be looking to breed in the area. After a well earned drink at the Punch Bowl we walked back along the Swale. At Rowleth we chalked up the first Sand Martin of the year, a rather lonesome bird but he did seem to finding enough insects to feed on. On the same strech we also disturbed a pair of female Goosanders and 4 Redshanks that again may well be looking for good nesting sites. The regular pair of Oystercatchers have also arrived back at Isles Bridge. No sign yet of any Sandpipers, nor Ring Ouzel up on the moor - still it is early yet!

Active birdtable!

Thought I would post this video just annoy my Mum who has been complaining about the limited bird action in their garden, despite a very tempting array of different feeders. Although not featuring on this clip the siskins are back in residence in Gunnerside and are paying daily visits to the feeders along with large numbers of greenfinch. Also popping in today were 2 LT Tits feeding on the peanuts. Woodpeckers are pretty active in the dale with both GS Spotted and Greens seen this week. There also seem to be large numbers of song thrushes around with one taking up residence at the top of the telegraph pole in our garden and looking quite interested in our outhouse for posssible nesting???

BTO bird survey - late winter

We take part in the BTO annual bird survey which involves surveying a 4km sq local patch 4 times a year. This year our patch is to the north east of Gunnerside, taking in Barf End, Blades and alot of moorland. You have to visit the area 4 times a year and record what you see. In the spring and summer they also want details of any breeding activity. Winter up there is always going to be a little challenging to find anything much of interest, but anyway we gave it a bash on saturday morning. Predictably the results were not that impressive! Nevertheless it was good to find good numbers of lapwing already up there, about 6 golden plover (already in breeding plumage) and one solitary curlew! Otherwise there were plenty of grouse and not much else. We had heard reports of some twite up there but sadly they proved elusive. Hopefully when we come to survey in spring things will be little more busy with the moorland breeders arriving - fingers crossed!

At last the snow has gone!

Spent the weekend in Lake District brushing up on our winter walking skills, had great fun on Hellvelyn and Old Man Coniston with crampons and ice axe.
Returned on Monday evening to find a snow free Gunnerside and the first signs of spring with daffs begins to poke through and and the first sprouts on our purple sprouting brocolli!!! Enough of winter bring on springtime!!

Goshawk, owl and goose!

Had day off work today and after a morning full of chores I left Leeds at 1pm and headed cross country to Gunnerside. Arrived Nosterfield (near Masham) at about 2pm. Started at the main reserve hide but there was very little of interest around, lots of grey lags, coot, teal and wigeon and a solitary egyptian goose. After half an hour i moved to the quarry hide. There wasn't too much around so I scanned the gulls for anything of interest, two immature great blackbacks and plenty of black heads. As I was looking through scope something flashed in front of it and I heard a screech and a crash. Looking up I very quickly picked up a bundle of feathers about 10 metres in front of the hide. Closer inspection revealed a superb goshawk with a lapwing in its talons! I don't often get to see these beautiful birds but boy are they stunners. Piercing yellow eyes and that vivid eye stripe, really give them an evil look!! I was able to watch him for about 5 mins before he pulled the unfortunate lapwing under a poorly placed lifebouy which obscured my view - fantastic!!!
Fortunately my bird day was still not quite finished because as i came out of Reeth on my way up dale to Gunnerside there was a great Little Owl sitting on the ridge of a barn in the sunshine just up above the swing bridge. Swaledale is a really good place for these little beauties and I never tire of seeing them. Fab few hours!!!

Swinnergill walk

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Two old birds playing in the snow!

Quite sensibly any self respecting feathered friend has departed the moorland tops and flown to sunnier climes. So we left bins at home and headed for the hill tops around Gunnerside to play in the snow. Our Sat route (10 miles) took up near Lady Mary Hut (top end Gunnerside Gill)and on Sun we went Keld way via Swinnergill (12 miles). If I get time later I will add maps for both walks. Both days were quite fantastic walks in snow at least a foot deep and in many places drifts 8 to 10 feet deep, which made the going really hard but the beer at the end all the more deserved! Over the two days of walking we met only 6 people and had the hills essentially to ourselves. In 5 years we have certainly never seen so much snow and locals are hard pressed to recollect snow like this in the last 25 years. I suspect we will be finding patches remaining in sheltered northern gullies well in April and even May. In the garden the bird table has been chaotic with up to 8 blue tits, perhaps as many as 12 blackbirds, loads of chaffinch, goldfinch and sparrows, 3/4 robins, dunnock, greenfinch, GS woodpecker, collared doves, jackdaws, coal tit, great tit and pheasant all paying regular visits. For some reason we are still missing the siskin and redpolls from last year. On the Sunday walk the only bird highlight was the first Swale kingfisher of the year about 1/2 mile up from Ivelet bridge.
PS First drummimg GS Woodpecker heard in village today.

Gunnerside Thwaite walk

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Decided to take a trip to Caerlaverock WWT on Sat. Surprisingly just under two hours away from Gunnerside. Like everywhere there was a bitter SE wind blowing all day but we still managed to find a pretty good range of birds. The highlight of the day being a merlin at very close quarters (see very poor photo taken with my snippy snappy compact). We were sitting in a hide when a wren started to alarm call very frantically, we looked to the left and there barely 5 metres away was a merlin trying to chase the wren through the brambles. I've seen them trying to mipits and the like in flight, but this seemed unusual behaviour and quite frankly pretty futile as well! Other raptors included good views of hunting peregrine and sparrowhawk. Wildfowl of course were there in big numbers, about 10,000 barnacle geese, many canada (apparently 1 cackling but i'll be jiggered if i can tell it apart) several hundred whoopers and mutes and good array of ducks. There also seemed to be a very healthy population sparrows and buntings and it was great to see a flock of 22+ yellowhammers. Waders were a bit thin on the ground but we did pick up 4/5 black tailed godwits, a few snipe and plenty of redshanks. After spending 4 hours at the reserve we headed back the scenic route along the coast hoping to pick up some other geese and waders. In terms of geese the best on offer was a lonesome pink foot in a field close to the reserve but at Cummertrees, in a rather rough sea, we got some great views of a scaup, which made up for a rather unsatisfactory sighting a few weeks ago in Northumberland. Finally, on the way back we managed to pick up a group of 7 male black grouse on the way down from Tan Hill to Keld. They should soon be leking, if not now, and I must make an effort to get up early and try and watch that.

Sunday, back at Gunnerside we did a 8/9 mile walk up dale, via Oxnop Gill, across Crow Trees and on past Muker to Thwaite, all the time keeping to the southern side of the valley. To be quite honest it was so cold and windy that no decerning bird would be seen dead out, so our sightings were pretty minimal, plenty of jackdaws, a pair of nuthatches and alonesome kestrel, after that I think I gave up!! The final bird of the day was a fine male goosander at Rowleth as I drove past on my way back to Leeds.

Finally, I know I bill this as a Gunnerside site, however I just have to record my fab sighting of this afternoon in Leeds. Like many others today I left work early to avoid the worst of the snow (which as I type is shovelling it down at the moment). At 4pm I was reading the latest paper on Adult Care Services Inspection, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a flock of birds fly up just beyond the bottom of the garden. Starlings I thought, but something made me get my bins and check them out. Starlings my ****, 150 plus waxwing!!!! I quickly threw a jacket on and legged it to the tree they were all sitting in. The pity was that it was snowing and poor visibility for any photos. Well chuffed I wandered back home for a warming brew, but as i was putting the key in the door I heard the tell tail chattering of the waxwing, this time at the bottom of my garden, I think 150 of them well and truely makes that a bird in the garden tick!!!!

Bird count day photo

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

Apparently, along with 500000 others we took part in the BGBW on Saturday. I know it's not a competition, but desperate to get as high a count as possible we charged the feeders, added additional home made fat balls and even resorted to some bread for the jackdaws! We did our allotted hour starting 9.30am and as ever with these things it was a bit of an anti climax. We got some good numbers but nothing out of the ordinary really turned up - where have our siskins and redpolls from last winter gone? Nevertheless, the count was:
goldfinch 10
chaffinch 11
blackbird 4
dunnock 3
blue tit 6
coal tit 1
great tit 3
robin 2
jackdaw 3 (well done bread!)
G S Woodpecker 1
collared dove 2
house sparrow 12
greenfinch 1
pheasant 1

Winter returned with a vengeance last night with snow in the village and 3 or 4 inches up on the tops being blown into drifts - no wonder there is not much around.
Think we may abandon Swaledale next weekend and pop up to Caerlaverock and check out the wildfowl on the mudflats.

Time this winter came to an end!

Struggling to get this blog going but we will continue to perservere! Weather at weekend not that brilliant, cold westerlies with sleet and snow keeping most birds well hidden. The usual parade of bird table visitors included, blue tit, great tit, greenfinch, starling, dunnock, blackbird, coal tit, GS woodpecker, jackdaw, collared dove, robin, house sparrow, goldfinch, chaffinch and pheasant. Walked 3 miles up gill in afternoon but the only things of interest were 3 wintering ravens which seem to make there winter home here every year. Still plenty of red grouse up there despite the record shooting year! Everything else seems to have made in down into the valley or headed south for winter!

Test photo post of crossbill on birdtable in garden Oct 08

First Entry

First ever attempt at creating a blog. Seeking to create a local birdwatching blog for the Gunnerside area North Yorkshire. Will be unashamedly be copying from others who have done similar in other areas, that is if my IT skills hold out! Will try and post this now and then look at how to up load phots.