Nicely Camouflaged Still daylight but already at its roost

Firetails fledged 🔥 Redstarts now on the wing Note to Self - Remember to check for second sets ! We always get side tracked with our long SpotFly season & forget the boxes #NEBirding #NestRecordScheme

So… Tape luring adult Long-eared Owls with juvenile begging calls is now a thing…. 😳😵‍💫🤬 Unbelievable #Fucktographers

Mmm 🧐 Dead adult right were a branched family currently are… with both adults present & correct 🧐 #longearedowl #biglugs #owling

A nice little Chaffinch in a wood where every tree is clad in ivy ! #NestRecordScheme

Close shave ! What an intimate insight into these Welsh Wilti’s Brilliant project 🎯👍🏻 #Wilti26

An early Sparrowhawks hatching out close to home. She will have been incubating before end of April @oldtimebirder59.bsky.social #NestRecordScheme #Raptors

The Scots Pine bark nest lining is the Hawks Dettol. It contains Resins & Terpenes, both natural insecticides & fungicides We had a decent sample in 2025, with x49 nestlings rung. At present we are monitoring x6 local nests for the Nest Records Scheme.

We named all of our 90 nesting SpotFly females last year This pair are Caroline & Neil💎 She bred in a Sweet Chestnut so we thought Caroline & Neil Diamond were a good fit ☺️ #SpotFly26 (Further good news with a pair back in a small wood after a 3 year absence 🎯👍🏻)

It didn’t look a very Blue Moon from where we were standing 🧐 A rainy week ahead, means we ought to see a bit more daylight hunting

Such a familiar sight & sound nowadays We only need to go back 15-16 years & Durham Birders were twitching Barnies if the opportunity arose Box schemes, mild & largely snow free winters coupled with agri-enviro schemes have seen them prosper 🦉

Spotties back in NZ23 not far from Durham City. They returned to breed last year after a long hiatus It’s looking like they’ll use the same small cavity that was more fitting for a Pied ! Fingers crossed for x2 sets fledged again !! #SpotFly26 ⚫️🪰

It’s Squeaky gates time again Branched young at this age may choose a more open perch till they hone their flying skills. *NB* Listen for adults barking the alarm & move away if the begging youngster hasn’t received a food pass

A lovely surprise through the front window #HawkMoth

Grey Partridge is still a familiar sight here 3 pairs in these meadows in a settlement break between 2 small towns The males escort their hens while feeding & can be very protective particularly when the brood are hatched

Lesser Whitethroat a massively overlooked species- not many have the time nor inclination to put the miles in to gauge population density c45 territories within 4km of home in unruly hedgerows, woodland edge & scrubby margins, breeding alongside Willow Tit, Long-eared Owl, Bullfinch & Gropper

An evolutionary defence The cuckoo is trying to match the Tree Pipit, which uses egg variation as an anti-cuckoo defence The female TP have various egg types, to try to be unmatchable this is called egg signature variation or polymorphism TP clutch + a Cuckoo egg @oldtimebirder59.bsky.social

Some passage wader finds on Crete Nice to get a decent view of the Marsh Sand (found by the Mrs) after a distant local bird at Boldon Flats last month. #Waders

Professor Yaffle Quite happy to share incubation duties while Mrs Yaffle is off feeding @oldtimebirder59.bsky.social Endoscope image at c30 feet Weardale Co.Durham # NestRecordScheme

Enjoying a Nice break in Crete Short trip down the road this morning Oodles of Corn Bunts & Stonechats Turtle Doves Hoopoes Woodlark Hobby Cirl Bunting Woodchat all seen well, even a couple of familiar faces like Spotty Flys too. Also a close range sum plumage Little Stint nr the resort

Typical farmland Willow Tit site Old field boundary scrub adjacent to a new amenity woodland. PS: Just heard from Wayne who’s looking at x61 this season!! Now that’s a decent sample 🪺🎯 😎 #NestRecordScheme #Wilti #WillowTit

Grey Wagtail brooding young in a cosy little nook in a riverside Oak (TM). Weardale. #NestRecordScheme

Just in the nick of time Marsh Tits rung today in beautiful Weardale #NestRecordScheme #BirdRinging @teesbirds.bsky.social @oldtimebirder59.bsky.social

#SpotFly26 After 4 days she’s laid x2 Mint Imperials 😵‍💫🤣 What’s garn on @oldtimebirder59.bsky.social ?? 🧐 #NestRecordScheme

Kings Not long for this brood now, just a few days & they’ll be off down the Beck 7 eggs, 1 had perished on last visit 10 days ago They shuffled about a bit & could see at least 5 #S1 #NestRecordScheme

Typical Blackcap nest in Bramble patch The male was on incubation duty #NestRecordScheme Video in att’d msg 1/2

Good Morning 🌅 🦉 The weather has been poor & we postponed checking these till today. Quite a surprise The largest shields 2 other siblings in a brief #NestRecordScheme #Owl #BigLuggs Population isn’t as strong & productivity lower nowadays but always a special feature here.

Sparrowhawks are now starting to lay This one in a typical suburban location, Scots Pine in an amenity plantation Incomplete c4 #NestRecordScheme

In the past natural cavity nests at height were a no go & we’d walk away wondering 🤔 A new tool in the kit allows a peak into these Several species examined recently Image(zoom in) shows a Pied Flycatcher which flew in whilst inspecting a Nuthatch higher in the same tree ! 😀 #NestRecordScheme

A trip to Hamsterly Forest produced our first Tripit nest of the season Delightful creatures & a tricky nest to locate 🎯 #TreePipit #NestRecordSceme

First Spotted Flycatcher egg of the Season 😳 #NestRecordScheme What on earth is that supposed to be ? Almost pure white & unmarked 😵‍💫 Pic 4 shows what they should look like

A reminder that there’s more than one wader that can nest under the tree canopy A beautiful clutch of Sandpiper eggs this evening #NestRecordScheme #waders

This is Pair number Eleven in 1.2 linear kilometres. The best breeding density we have studied. The same stretch has 2 pairs of Dipper & 1 Kingfisher nest.

A another good example of Grey Wagtail breeding abundance. Two nests with chicks just under 100metres apart. One of them under a Yew sapling growing out of the N facing wall. Our 10th GW nest for #NestRecordScheme this season Lots of regular sites blank 🧐

Firetails 🔥 Working up some of yesterday’s sightings coupled with box checks last week, gives a total of 28 Redstart territories known across approximately 30Ha of our main woodland study site. Better than usual year for them here #Firetail #Redstart #NestRecordScheme @teesbirds.bsky.social

Another Grey Wagtail brood rung this morning at one of our study sites. An amazingly high population here, 10pairs on a 1km linear stretch, yet elsewhere (including different Hectads) we are finding numerous regular nest sites vacant & no birds around 🧐 #NestRecordScheme #BirdRinging #pulli #BTO

Couple of clips from one of our trail cams. The Goosander sat a full 19hours & 45 mins before finally coming off to feed ! (Camera was discretely placed when she was known to be off feeding & returned without hesitation). 1/4

Juvvy Dipper for Breakfast ! 😳 Spotted by Foghorn Leghorn

Spot On 🎯 #SpotFly26 is well & truly GO ! Birds at several Weardale locations with x2 pairs watched nest building 🪺 #NestRecordScheme

Golden Crested Wren Nest Number 8 in clip below #NestRecordScheme

The Laughing Lad (Lass) Green Woodpecker is far less numerous as it once was. Lots of territories lost from Eastern & Central Durham. This nest in Weardale, but even here numbers have declined We will check contents next week with inspection pole & endoscope 🎯 #NEBirding

Things you don’t see everyday Robin in a Redstart box #NestRecordScheme

Recycling 5 of our best boxes found to be holding Redstarts this afternoon This timber is being used for the third time Salvaged fencing boards, used to build a bairns play fort for a decade, then dismantled & reused for nest boxes ! 🪺 #NestRecordScheme

Natural nest sites for Redstart (Birch), & PiedFly (Alder )in Weardale #NestRecordScheme

This old SpottyFly box was falling apart The back was missing So we repositioned it here hoping for a new tenant Result! Mrs Wagtail has settled & laid 5 #NestRecordScheme

Coastal Ringed Plover Like their cousins at home, their first clutches were also predated The fence helps keep them safe from the Fox, but makes an ideal perch for the Crow

Noisy neighbours Mediterranean Gull on nest with mate stood on guard @teesbirds.bsky.social

Med Gull pair nesting at RSPB Saltholme #BirdingNEast

Beautiful but Stinky Half way there, c13 days old Sadly one of the 7 has perished (front left) Pic 3 is same burrow on 10/4 🤴🐟

We have a contact who has looked at x200 Red Crossbill nests. We mentioned we had a Green male paired & breeding, something he’d never encountered. The collage is his hen and their nest on a Durham Council Site under Licence.