Teesmouth Bird Club

Nice one Ian. I'm green with envy.

  Good points Chip and well put. The Yellow-rumped Warbler at Shincliffe prompted all sorts of accusations regarding "suppression" which were totally unfounded. The bird was discovered by inexperienced people, identified later from photographs and responsible birders then put the wheels in motion to ensure that as many people as possible could appreciate the bird. Job done.

For those who don't already know about it, there will be an eclipse, starting at around 8:30am on 20th March. Not a full eclipse, but quite a significant one. If there is no cloud cover it should be pretty impressive; enough to make the birds go to roost maybe? 

  Re Damian's comments on the sightings page about traps being placed in nestboxes. This has hopefully been passed on to the local police. This is an alarming occurrence which needs to be addressed before it gets out on hand. Wildlife has it tough enough as it is without this frightening new development.

Duly signed, and I BEG every right-minded individual to do likewise.We must do something to stop this planet becoming the sterile environment that politicians are heading toward creating!
Look no further than the fiasco of the badger cull.

Prince Harry will be gutted.

As they say on the TV "Some of you may find the next item upsetting."
Whilst at Hauxley NR yesterday I observed an interesting piece of behaviour from a sub-adult Great Black-Backed Gull. The Gull was standing at the waters edge when it suddenly grabbed a Tufted Duck which, rather foolishly, had paddled close by. The Gull then hung on to the stern of the unfortunate duck whilst it paddled furiously in an attempt to escape. After maybe 10 minutes had elapsed the Tuftie had become totally exhausted and its head sunk into the water. Presumably, if not already dead, it would then have drowned. The Gull then proceeded to lunch on its capture.
Looks like the Gulls regard Hauxley as an avian McDonalds. A couple of years ago when I was up there, Lesser Black-backs reduced a brood of  8 Shelduck chicks to 3 in less than 15 minutes.
All part of nature's rich tapestry.

Absolutely disgusted to see this news. I was chatting to the wardens last week and know how dedicated they are. They must be gutted. We just have to pray that the Terns can recover and that the utter scum who did this get their just desserts.

Cheers Richard. Petition signed.

One step forward, two steps back. Not grouse this time but pheasant shoots. I've just read that English Nature has issued a licence to a pheasant shoot in Northumberland allowing them to destroy four Buzzard nests. There will be plenty of birders like myself who will recall that not so long ago, seeing a Buzzard in Northumberland was a rare event.
What hope is there for birds of prey when this sort of authorised vandalism is allowed to continue to attack our wildlife?

Done. The only way to stop the so and so's is to hit them in the pocket. Boycott the country. How do they get away with it when we can't even throw terrorists out of our own country?

Signed. Positive action on raptor persecution is long overdue.

Thanks for your kind words Ian. I'll not fall on my sword just yet, though I may put a brown paper bag on my head when I'm birding Teessmouth. I took one look at your photo and booked myself in at the Eye Infirmary.

Got to hold my hands up folks. Got this one wrong. Ian's photo's are pretty conclusive. Sorry.

I was also disgusted by what was going on when I visited the Farnes last Summer. The ropes marking the boundaries of public access had in some places been trampled down and visitors were actually standing between Puffins and their burrows when the Puffins returned with food for their chicks. Everyone was happy to move away when I explained what was happening, but WHERE were the wardens?