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Outdoor Activities

A TOUR OF CLARK’S BOG NATURE RESERVE

Saturday 3rd June 2023

Peter Matthewson, the warden at Clark’s Bog, had given us a talk in November 2022 about the history of the reserve, and the work he and his group of volunteers had done over the years to convert what had been low-grade agricultural land into the wildlife haven it is now. The site is on the eastern side of Morpeth, south of the river Wansbeck, and has varied habitats including marsh, reedbed, deciduous woodland and several ponds.

Peter had kindly agreed to give us a guided tour, and eleven of our group attended on a sunny spring morning for a slow walk around the reserve, visiting the hides, and enjoying encounters with a variety of birds, invertebrates and other wildlife. These included a visitation from the resident pair mute swans and their four cygnets. Peter showed us a newly acquired extension to the reserve on its eastern side, made up of woodland and grassland. It was a very enjoyable morning, and all were impressed by the work Peter and his team have put in to develop and maintain the reserve, and its ethos of community involvement.

Tuesday 16th May 2023
SPRING BIRDSONG at PRESTWICK CARR

The weather on the day of this walk was unsettled, and the forecast for the early evening had changed from hour to hour, with a likely prospect of rain. But as things turned out we were fortunate, conditions being calm and overcast, and during the walk we could see rain falling elsewhere with accompanying rainbows.

Because of the good numbers of members attending (16) we split into two groups, with one led by my birding colleague David Leat, who has helped out on previous bird walks for our group. Starting in the car park of the Diamond pub, we set off north down Eland Lane, admiring blackbirds singing from chimneys on the houses of the Eland estate and noting the flocks of house sparrows in the hedges. We stopped briefly to explore the new ‘community wood’ recent planted as a biodiversity off set scheme by a local developer, before passing through Eland Farm (with its tree sparrows) to reach the edge of the golf course. Blackcaps, chiffchaffs, whitethroat and yellowhammers were singing in the hedges here. Continuing along the lane north of the golf course, at least two willow warblers were on territories near the aspen plantation, and a song thrush put on a fine display. Reaching the bridge over the drain on the edge of Prestwick Carr in the hope of encountering sedge warbler or willow tit (neither was cooperative!), but enjoying the skylarks over the carr, we reflected on our good fortune with the weather and decided to retrace our steps back to the Diamond, stopping to admire greenfinches and goldfinches singing near the farm.

Species heard singing during our walk included: wood pigeon, collared dove, great tit, blue tit, long-tailed tit, wren, dunnock, robin, blackbird, song thrush, tree sparrow, house sparrow, willow warbler, chiffchaff, blackcap, whitethroat, chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, bullfinch, skylark.

Saturday 30 July 2022

PONTELAND PARK

Although it’s exciting to travel away from home to find new and exciting wildlife, those of us living in Ponteland are lucky that we have so much of interest on our door step. On 30th July about a dozen of us were taken on a tour of Ponteland Park by local experts Louise Hislop and Heather Forshaw to look at the bees and flowers there. Heather has spent much time in recent years developing the meadow area on the slope in the eastern end of the Park, which now supports a wonderful range of native flowers, including especially at this time of year a lot of scabious. Heather gave us background about the work involved in establishing and maintaining the meadow, as well as helping us identify individual plant species. These flowers of course attracts a wide range of insects, and Louise provided specimen pots for us to catch bees that she identified (and expertly handled!) before releasing them back to the meadow. She identified the following:

Bombus hortorum Garden Bumblebee (only at park gates on raised bed)

Bombus hypnorum Tree Bumblebee

Bombus lapidarius Red-tailed Bumblebee

Bombus lucorum agg. White-tailed Bumblebee aggregation (a group of 3 possible species)

Bombus pascuorum Common Carder

Bombus terrestris Buff-tailed Bumblebee

Bombus rupestris Red-tailed Cuckoo Bee

Bombus vestalis Vestal Cuckoo Bee

Apis mellifera Honeybee (not wild)

Surveys like this not only show us the benefits of the work Heather is doing, but also give us a baseline for comparison with surveys in future years.

Saturday 21 May 2022

LONGHORSLEY MOOR

On a mild, bright and breezy Saturday morning eleven of our group met at Longhorsley Moor and were taken on a guided tour of this SSSI by Penny Ford from Longhorsley Parish Council, who have responsibility for maintaining it. Penny had previously come to Ponteland to give us a talk about this wonderful site, which over the years has been used for coal mining and horse racing, and as a wartime airfield.

We were particularly interested of course in the wildlife, and this thrives there because of the varied habitats, including heath, grassland, birch scrub and mature woodland. Management of these habitats requires much input from local volunteers, aided by the grazing activites of five Exmoor ponies and a flock of inquisitive Soay sheep.

All of the habitats can be explored by following the way-marked footpaths, and despite the windy weather we identified a variety of bird species including skylark and meadow pipits on the heath and grassland, lesser redpoll, blackcaps, willow warbler and chiffchaff. Willow tits breed on the site (seen by Mary and Richard Lee on an earlier visit this year), which is significant as numbers of this species have declined markedly in other parts of the country. Our group also identified a variety of local flora, including lousewort and milkwort. Thanks again to Penny Ford for a very enjoyable morning.

Sunday 13th March 2022

ST. MARY'S ISLAND SEAL WALK

A dozen of our group were met on a windy and cool but dry morning by Sal of St. Mary's Island Wildlife Conservation Society, and Nat from Tynemouth Seal Hospital. While we watched the seals that had come ashore on the island, including pups, they discussed seal biology and the roles their organisations play in monitoring the population, trying to reduce conflicts arising from the use of the islands for various human activities, and caring for sick seals.

We also had time to have a walk around the shoreline and wetland reserve on the mainland; the reserve habitat is managed using conservation grazing by ponies. Most of the wintering seabirds and waders had already dispersed but the species we did see Teal, Eider Duck, Curlew, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Turnstone, and a small number of Purple Sandpipers.

Thanks to Sal and Nat for taking the time to give us a great morning's wildlife watching.

Saturday 13th July 2019

HAVANNAH NATURE RESERVE, HAZLERIGG

About a dozen members met at the reserve car park at 11 a.m. for a walk led by local insect expert Dave Stebbings. For many of us this was our first visit to Havannah, and it was impressive to see the range of habitats present and the wide variety of plants they supported. Unfortunately the weather wasn't kind to us, with constant drizzle reducing the numbers of butterflies on the wing, but we did see several Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Small Skippers.

Dave also identified various moths for us, including

Shaded Broad-bar, Six-spot Burnet and the beautiful

Bird-cherry Ermine (a small white

moth with multiple tiny black spots).

We also came across a variety of

birds, including Blackcap,

Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, and a 'reeling' Grasshopper

Warbler. Those of us who were first-time visitors saw enough to show us that Havannah is a local gem, and it is to be hoped it doesn't suffer too much from the extensive surrounding housing development.

Small Skipper

Ringlet

Wednesday 15th May 2019

SPRING BIRDSONG IN PONTELAND PARK

Once again we were very lucky with the weather for our walk - mild, sunny and not too breezy. Fourteen of us met in the Memorial Hall car park at 7pm, and set out into the park in two groups, led by Chris Wright and David Leat. Song thrush and blackbird were singing strongly in the trees by the river just after we set off, and these were quickly followed by several robins (probably challenging each other) and the always surprisingly loud song of the wren. A little later we could hear two of the warblers that arrive here to breed in the summer months - the chiffchaff and blackcap, both present in good numbers in the park this year. (We didn't come across a willow warbler, although they had been singing in recent weeks.) Other contributors to the dusk chorus were several finches (chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch), as well as blue tit, collared dove and wood pigeon. Our enjoyable stroll was rounded off by watching swifts feeding over the park.

Saturday 14th July 2018

WILDLIFE OF WARKWORTH WETLANDS

On a hot and sunny morning nine of our group were entertainingly led on a walk around the wetlands by local expert Atholl Swanston, who had given us an enjoyable talk on the River Coquet in March. Atholl told us about the origins and history of the wetlands before we set off on our walk, heading towards the mouth of the Coquet. In keeping with the varied terrain, including dunes and scrub as well as the wetlands themselves, Atholl pointed out a wide variety of plants, including restharrow, mugwort, weld, viper's bugloss and ragwort. Many of the ragwort plants had attracted the attention of cinnabar moths. Sedge warblers and whitethroats were still singing in the wetlands, where a group of over 30 curlews was feeding. One of the highlights of our walk was arriving at the mouth of the river to watch the colony of sand martins nesting in the dunes there, disturbed at one point by the appearance of a merlin, which was mobbed by the martins and headed off back over Amble. Thanks to Atholl for a very enjoyable morning.

Thursday 17th May 2018

GOSFORTH PARK NATURE RESERVE - EVENING BIRDSONG WALK

Conditions were good for our walk in Gosforth Park, with eight supporters attending, a good number for a quiet walk listening for bird song. Most had not previously been to the reserve, and it is always impressive to see how extensive the reed beds and wetland areas are, and the variety of wildlife so close to the centre of the city. The evening was cool, sunny and a little breezy.

We were entertained by the songs of a blackcap and blackbirds close to the feeding station, and pressing on down the path along the edge of the reserve came across singing wrens, dunnocks, robins and tits. Reaching the reed beds we were able to compare the songs of reed and sedge warblers, although unfortunately the grasshopper warbler that had been 'reeling' in recent weeks did not put in an appearance. A number of reed buntings were present though, singing conspicuously from trees and bushes in their respective territories as two kestrels gave a fly past through the trees. The resident common terns called noisily as they flew above their nest platform in one of the ponds. As we started to head back towards the car park, chiffchaffs and willow warblers were singing among the mature trees and shrubs adjacent to the reed beds.

Overall we encountered most of the expected warbler and other songs, and hopefully those attending enjoyed the visit as much as I did. The total list of birds we heard singing or calling was as follows:

water rail; common tern; wood pigeon; great spotted woodpecker; swallow; wren; dunnock; robin; blackbird; song thrush; sedge warbler; reed warbler; blackcap; chiffchaff; willow warbler; long-tailed tit; blue tit; great tit; jackdaw; carrion crow; chaffinch; goldfinch; reed bunting

Sunday 21st January 2018

WINTER BIRD WATCHING WALK at St. Mary’s Island, Whitley Bay

Eight hardy souls braved the cold and frosty conditions for our walk. We started along the promenade and although bird numbers weren't high, there was good variety, with the usual waders, gulls, cormorant and heron. Ducks sheltering on the wetland included teal, gadwall and a single wigeon, and a pair of stonechats were following the ponies grazing within the wetland. We then headed off across the causeway, and after a much needed cup of coffee from the shop on the island sat in the hide, where the highlights were seeing a group of five divers (probably red-throated) flying south, and a single seal disporting itself off-shore.

A very enjoyable morning in good company, with a final total of 36 bird species identified:

(?Red-throated) diver cormorant grey heron wigeon gadwall teal mallard eider kestrel moorhen oystercatcher ringed pover golden plover lapwing sanderling dunlin snipe curlew redshank turnstone black-h gull herring gull great b-b gull skylark meadow pipit pied wagtail wren robin stonechat blackbird song thrush magpie jackdaw carrion crow starling linnet

Wednesday 10th May 2017, 7 p.m.

Birds of spring in Ponteland

Report

For our walk on 10th May we were blessed with beautiful spring weather, warm and sunny. Sixteen people came along and we split into two groups, one led by my birding colleague David Leat. During our leisurely stroll around the Park and up the bridleway, by listening for calls and songs we encountered a variety of bird species, including residents such as blackbird, song thrush, starling, dunnock, robin, blue tit, great tit, goldfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch and goldcrest; and summer visitors chiffchaff, willow warbler and blackcap. Highlights included finding a starling nest high in an old ash tree near Waitrose; and listening to two duelling blackcaps in the Park. A very enjoyable evening, and a reminder of how important the Park is as a home for wildlife.

Chris Wright

Sunday 11th June 2017, 1.30 p.m.

Darras Hall Grassland SSSI