As Spring has turned to Summer, some of the species I was seeing relatively often have become harder to see as the greenery has thickened on the trees and bushes while others such as Swifts have become almost permanent fixtures. I've tried a few small diversions to my general route to and from work recently to mix things up a little, as well as a slightly longer route home that did result in a new, and welcome, addition to the 'on foot commute' list.
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| Sparrowhawk |
On the 28th of May, the main highlight was a Bullfinch though Small Tortoiseshell and Green Veined White butterflies were also welcome sightings. The 29th produced Stock Dove and Goldcrest as the relatively less common birds seen among the 21 species noted. The second day in a row of that number being seen. The 1st of June was a little more productive with Great Spotted Woodpecker, Stock Dove and Swallow among the 23 species spotted. I was fairly sure I heard faint Crossbill calls as I walked through Balgay Park from somewhere high on the hill. As I crossed the football pitches behind the hill on the 2nd a party of 6 Crossbills overflew towards the trees atop the hill, which may well have been the same birds heard the previous day. One of the Cox's Stack Peregrine pair was also visible that day. A total of 23 species were seen for the second day in a row.
I was off work ill for a few days and when I returned on Monday the 8th it was a relatively disappointing haul of only 18 species seen with Swift the closest thing to a highlight. The 9th was a bit of an improvement with a singing Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest the best of the 22 species on the list for the day. On Thursday the 11th I managed to see quite a decent selection of some less common species along the way. The main highlight was 2 different Jays as I neared work with one being around 10 feet away in a tree a minute or so after seeing the first rather unexpected one flying across the road into some trees. Other decent sightings that day were 4 Swallows around a garden on Byron Street and a welcome Pied Wagtail in the same area. I almost stood on a juvenile Goldcrest that was feeding on the ground as I searched in the tree above for the source of a calling bird. I managed brief views of a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the afternoon as I headed for home having managed to see a singing male Blackcap a few minutes before.
On the 12th I spotted my first Sparrowhawk for some time when one flew towards the Law as I wandered along Byron Street in the morning. Although the walk to work that day was rather disappointing with a mere 16 species noted, the walk home later did produce a welcome new species as I took a more meandering exploratory route homewards. As I walked past the council depot on Clepington Road, a movement on the ground caught my eye as I passed. Initially as I turned I thought the bird was a juvenile House Sparrow, but it was much greyer and streakier with some white showing on the wings. The bird struggled a little to land on the fence wires as I fumbled with my phone to attempt to get a photo of what I realised was actually a very young juvenile Lesser Redpoll. It flew off towards cover before I managed to get the camera on my phone ready. A nice surprise that went some way to cancelling the slight disappointment of only managing 18 species for the dayand getting caught in a bit of a rain shower that I would've avoided had I taken my usual route home.
Not really the most productive few weeks overall but some nice birds seen with the Crossbills and the Lesser Redpoll the main highlights among the 39 species noted during the period covered in this post. In total I have now managed to see 55 species while walking to and from work since the beginning of March. All photos featured here are older photos.
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| Starling |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Blackbird |
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| Collared Dove |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Swift |
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| House Martin |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Blackcap |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Buzzard |
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| Great Tit |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Robin |
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| Woodpigeon |
Species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Crossbill, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies seen - Green Veined White, Small Tortoiseshell.
Mammals seen - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
