I went with people from my church for the church's annual retreat week to Minsteracres Retreat Centre in Northumberland. It is a beautiful place with lovely grounds and the retreat includes free time so I was able to do a little bird watching each day. It was lovely in the early morning to hear geese flying over. They were mainly Canada Geese with smaller numbers of Greylag Geese. They started to go over just after dawn and on average I would see about 200 Canada and 60 Greylag Geese each morning. Nuthatches could be heard calling and Tawney Owls were vocal. Lots of Coal Tits were busy in the woods, as were Treecreepers, and it was nice to hear plentiful Willow Warbler song. Several Tree Pipits could be seen as well.
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| Canada Geese |
I was kindly given a lift to Blanchland on Monday afternoon to see if I could see a Dipper from the bridge there as it is usually a good place to see them and it was close to where we were staying. Unfortunately the river was very high as there had been a lot of rain and all the perching stones had been covered over so we did not have any luck but did see a couple of Grey Wagtail. However on the way back we drove up into the heather covered hills and saw plenty of Wheatear and then, best of all, Red Grouse. We were very lucky and ended up seeing quite a few and getting some very nice views indeed and they certainly made my day.
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Grey Wagtail |
On the Tuesday I had an early morning walk down the road that overlooks the reservoir. It was a grey and overcast morning but luckily soon became brighter with blue sky and sunshine. I hoped to catch up with Tree Sparrow as there is a farm a little way down the road where Tree Sparrows are fairly plentiful. While looking for them it was a bonus to have a couple of Spotted Flycatchers busily fly catching from the telegraph wires. I got some nice views of a some Tree Sparrows and a male obligingly paused long enough for a photo. They are lovely little birds.
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| View from the road |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Tree Sparrow |
In the afternoon I took a walk down to the small lake on the grounds. It was very windy and raining fairly steadily but luckily stopped after a while. A couple of young Buzzards were calling away and as I turned from watching them I caught sight of a Roe Deer at the same moment that it saw me. I felt so lucky as it did not bound off as soon as it saw me but, though wary, it watched me for a minute or so from behind the grass before moving back into cover. It was a beautiful animal. Nearer the water I found some Emerald Damselflies and 3 Elephant Hawkmoth caterpillars - two were green of different shades and one was dark brown. They really are very striking caterpillars.
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| Roe Deer |
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| Emerald Damselfly |
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| Elephant Hawkmoth Caterpillar |
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| Elephant Hawkmoth Caterpillar |
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| Elephant Hawkmoth Caterpillar |
On Wednesday I saw another couple of Roe Deer but further away this time. A Red Kite showed briefly before disappearing behind the trees. I came across a family of Wren with 4 very young birds who appeared to be newly fledged.
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| Roe Deer |
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| newly fledged Wren |
We had a free day on the Thursday so I took a slow wander down to the reservoir. The day started nicely with 4 Spotted Flycatchers in the grounds and a female Bullfinch feeding a youngster.
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| female Bullfinch and youngster |
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| female Bullfinch and youngster |
It was nice to see several Wall Butterflies on the walk down. Once I reached the reservoir I could see 120 Canada Geese and 40 Greylag Geese.
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| Wall Butterfly |
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| Canada Geese |
Without a doubt, though, the highlight of the day was walking beside the reservoir and idly looking towards the water only to see the breath taking sight of an adult Sabine's Gull flying below and alongside me. Now that I did not expect. I literally could not believe it. It gained height and the light through its wings looked fantastic. What a stunningly beautiful bird. I tried for some photos and luckily some came out not too badly. It had been very windy yesterday and I wonder if that had brought it in. The reservoir is a fair way from the sea though.
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| Sabine's Gull |
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| Sabine's Gull |
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| Sabine's Gull |
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| Sabine's Gull |
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| Sabine's Gull |
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| Sabine's Gull |
I finished a very enjoyable day with some good views of a Red Kite. A perfect end to a great day out.
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| Red Kite |
With very little time available for bird watching on Friday I enjoyed some lovely views of a Chaffinch.
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| Chaffinch |
It was a good week away. The retreat was enjoyable and interesting, the people in the group were great company, and I had a great time away. I was very pleased that I had also had time to do some birdwatching. It is a beautiful part of the country and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what I could see. It would be a lovely area to do some birdwatching in.
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