Tuesday 23 April 2013

Tail Hammer Ear

Nightshift continues, so afternoon cycles along the northern edge of Cramlington are on order this week.

West Hartford was relatively quiet (probably due to the relatively gale force conditions) - the pools held the usual plethora of gulls - lbw, c, h and a couple of displaying bh. A pair of gadwall plodded through the south west corner with a few teal. No garganey yet (!)

Highlight of the visit came in the form of a calling yellow wagtail, south over the pool and onwards to the industrial estate - a tricky bird in Cramlington despite some favourable sites, the third in the past week. Historically yellow wagtail was easier - I even had one near my parents house one spring near the Whitelea fields.

Yellow continued in the form of yellowhammer - a male on the small puddle/flash in the ploughed field east of the sub station. No tree sparrow for a few days now...

A quick sortie into the industrial estate for lesser whitethroat was lesser-less, while the eastward journey to the delights of Boghouses produced 2 male wheatear in the East Hartford fields, and a mistle thrush at the final destination.

Barn swallow are now abundant over Cramlington, martins less so - 4 sand at West Hartford and no house for a few days...


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