Migration in action!

If you thought that a small Northumbrian town 45 miles inland wouldn't be the best place to experience the wonder of bird migration, you'd be right. I'm not in the best place to see swathes of thrushes, geese and waders arriving from the continent, however each autumn I make sure I get my share of migration. One of my favourite spots to go to see these winter arrivals is a small housing estate a short walk from where I live.

A housing estate? Again, not the most likely of places, however I have my reasons for choosing the spot. It is in the heart of a green area, with school fields, two small wooded denes, and a woodland nearby. It is a rather open area, and so there is good viewing of birds flying over on migration or between these sites. However, what I love about the site is an area of dense, low coniferous shrubs/trees. At this time of year they are laden with berries that pull in the thrushes - at times there can be over a hundred Redwings gorging on them!

On Saturday morning I decided I would head across to see if there was much about. I arrived at around 20 to eight, and even in the low light thrush activity was obvious. Redwings were flying to and from overhead in small groups, and Blackbirds were feeding on the rowans as I approached the housing estate. In the housing estate itself, there was a mass of thrushes in the conifers. There were also plenty of finches about, the standouts being 39 Siskins and 9 Greenfinches.

However the moment of the morning came at around 08:06, when I noticed a large group of birds flying overhead - Fieldfares, my first of the autumn!! I counted a total of 56 in the group, and they were swiftly followed by another group of 58. Both groups headed west.

In my hour on site I managed to count 24 species, with highlights including the 114 Fieldfares, 4 Mistle Thrushes and 9 Greenfinches.

The next morning I decided to go back to the site again. Counts there were pretty similar, with 91 Redwings this time. Full count here:

However, afterwards, I went across to the school. When I studied there it was always a good place for birds, especially in winter when I would see good numbers of thrushes and finches. It seemed not much had changed! Highlights there included 30+ Siskins, 3 Greenfinches, 4 Bullfinches and 24 Redwings.

Later in the day, we headed out to Wallington NT, an old estate west of Morpeth, as my cousin was here for the weekend and it was a nice place for a day out on the way back to Newcastle for her train. Here I saw plenty more Redwings, however the most exciting find was a single Brambling, which was feeding by the hide amongst a huge number of Chaffinches! Again, first of the autumn for me! It seems our summer has well and truly gone, and the winter season is in full flow.