Teesmouth Bird Club

thanks a lot Steve thats very helpful - As I've never knowingly seen a goshawk in the wild, so im not confident in my identification although looking through the field guide its the best fit.  I'll just take a philosophical line and say I enjoyed the spectacle of the goshawk/female sparrowhawk tackling this buzzard immensely and keep my eyes peeled when I go back at the week end

I was walking near the river at Weary Bank when I saw a Buzzard soaring around pursued by some swallows. A few moments later a Sparrow Hawk flew across and then a larger raptor midway between the size of the Buzzard & Sparrow Hawk flew at the Buzzard. It was a similar shape to the sparrowhawk but much larger with rounded wings and a fairly long tail with a similar soaring flight to the Buzzard -it was hard to make out any markings & I didn't hear any call, any suggestions?

I see the slippery Middlesbrough Council got their way in the end  by bulldozing Coulby Newham's Longridge Wood without notice in the run up to Christmas. Even though the Housing Developers have pulled out. 'Middlesbrough Moving Forward' is their logo - style over substance in my opinion. Did the TBC express a view on this issue?

Thanks for the info Ian - My impression is that the area that they used to nest on at south gare has changed a bit over the years with a much bigger bank of stones replacing the flatter grassier area, I dont know whether that would be less attrctive to them. Anyway I'll watch for an increase in terns over the cming weeks - thanks again

For a few years Little Terns seemed to breed on one side of the Tees or the other. I havn't been down South Gare for a while but I spent a few hours around Seal Sands today and didnt see any. Are they around or have they left the area?

I saw a male Nightjar in the woods at Hutton village on the walk tonight - and a very good view it was too. I'll happily go and look for its north yorks counterpart Azurebt. if you have the time & inclination

It was really good event this evening with a couple of excellent views of a male Nightjar. It was a first for me and it was a splendid view. Thanks to the organisers

Thanks a lot for the kind offer ABT- I'll keep you posted

I've looked a few times to see what people think but I'm not up enough on my big birds of prey in flight a long way off to contribute any helpful suggestions

sorry

The birds that first caught my enthusiasm were House Martins. As a kid I watched them flying along the stretch of Sandy Beck between Saltersgill and the palladium

Swifts seem to do great at the fascinating bird job description too

I cant think of the third there's too many candidates to chose from Waxwings, Kingfishers, Tawny Owls, Firecrests crossbills...I'll have to sort a rota system

Thanks Ian - that's really helpful - I'll post any developments

hmmm plenty of views but no reply, I suspect my attempt at putting a bit of attempted levity into the query made people think it wasnt a real one. OK I'll try it this way

I suspect the sudden  requent visits to my garden of a great spotted woodpecker for the first time for the 25 years that I've lived there is linked to him feeding young. Does anyone have a view on if or when these regular visits will end?

For the last week or two we've had a male GSW on the nut feeder & on my apple tree, I'm assuming he's nesting in a nearby tree. He was an occassional visitor last year but this week its been hourly.

How long do people guess he'll be doing this for - I missed th cup final last night because this was more watchable - but I've got a PG Wodehouse book to get back to the library soon and I'll never get it finished at this rate!

Thanks Ted - I hope to get there

Thanks a lot Jamie (Steve- looks at his list for another shameful omission)