Guest
Bryan Rackham<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saturday 25th April<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After breakfast, we began a seven mile circular walk in Upper Teesdale. Crossing the river Tees we enjoyed watching two adult\u00a0Dippers\u00a0bring food to at least two hungry chicks that appeared to be filling their riverside nest to bursting.\u00a0 A pair of\u00a0Wigeon\u00a0and\u00a0Common Sandpiper\u00a0were viewed distantly upstream. Climbing up onto Cronkley Fell, several pairs of\u00a0Wheatear\u00a0kept just of out of photographic range. We caught sight of a pair of\u00a0Kestrels\u00a0sitting side by side on their nesting ledge, while trying to find a\u00a0Ring Ouzel\u00a0whose ringing song tones we could hear. Grazing enclosures in the fell summit have allowed dozens of spring gentian and birds-eye primrose to flower, bringing a shock of intense colour to this bleak moorland landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once over the summit, our picnic lunch was enlivened by a dust-bathing female\u00a0Red Grouse\u00a0stalked by an amorous male. Distant views of a pair of\u00a0Goosander\u00a0in flight over the River Tees encouraged our descent into the valley. Distant thundery showers added an aura of menace to our riverside return but as the rain passed us by, Ring Ouzel alarm calling alerted us to a\u00a0Peregrine\u00a0overhead. A second Peregrine sped past us chasing another Ring Ouzel. We did not see the outcome of the contest!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sunday 26th April<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After breakfast, we walked into an oak-dominated upland woodland, close to Middleton-in-Teesdale. The ringing song of Redstart drew us on but pinning down the bird proved impossible. The rising wind made song and bird location difficult. Heading down into the woodland valley out of the wind, patience rewarded us with the arrival of a male\u00a0Pied Flycatcher. The bird began singing and visited a nest box. Several more singing birds were seen during the morning. Eventually, after more near misses and another riverside picnic lunch, great views of two male\u00a0Redstarts\u00a0ended our walk on a high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heading back towards Middleton, a short detour brought us close views of a\u00a0Ring Ouzel\u00a0pair feeding together at the roadside, before returning towards their nesting place. Another short walk gave us a lucky encounter with a\u00a0Red Kite, which gave great views lazily quartering over the wooded hillside and open moor. The kite moved out of view for quarter of an hour, but we then saw it retuning carrying food into a nearby wood. Returning to Middleton, a female\u00a0Merlin\u00a0flew parallel to the car for about 400 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monday 27th April<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A showery start to the day did little to dampen our spirits as we drove north into the South Tyne Valley. Lambley Viaduct runs across this lovely river valley and its wooded sides and fast flowing river make it a great wildlife watching spot. Despite the rain, we gained close views of\u00a0Grey Wagtail,\u00a0Dippers\u00a0feeding young,\u00a0Common Sandpiper,\u00a0Nuthatch\u00a0and\u00a0Sparrowhawk, during a traverse of the valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After lunch, we walked through the central section of the RSPB\u2019s 5000 hectare\u00a0Geltsdale Reserve<\/a>. After a welcome cup of tea with reserve staff, we joined them as they surveyed Lapwings breeding on the floodplain meadows and pastures next to the visitor centre. We finally located some Lapwings with tiny chicks, probably just hatched that day. Singing Cuckoo eluded us but several small groups of\u00a0Lesser Redpoll\u00a0gave us great views to end the holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks to Bryan for his wonderful photos from the holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Black](\"http:\/\/realbirder.com\/ToursImages\/BlackGrouse1.jpg\")
6 am saw us watching 15 male\u00a0Black Grouse\u00a0lekking close to the car as the sun rose up into a cloudless sky. The still air helped the bubbling and spitting calls of the grouse fill their bowl-like display arena and appeared to hold the attention of the gaggle of seven female Black Grouse standing close to the edge of the lek. A pair of courting\u00a0Curlew, displaying\u00a0Lapwing\u00a0and singing\u00a0Redshank\u00a0helped to keep our attention also. A short driving circuit of Upper Teesdale brought us a female\u00a0Merlin,\u00a0Golden Plover,\u00a0drumming\u00a0Snipe\u00a0and\u00a0Red Grouse. Roadside views of hare ended our early morning outing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Hare\"](\"http:\/\/realbirder.com\/ToursImages\/Hare.jpg\")
Another early morning start brought us onto the frosty moors of Lunedale. Little early morning movement spurred us onto Grassholme Reservoir, where good views of feeding\u00a0Dunlin\u00a0and\u00a0Ringed Plover\u00a0helped to warm us up. Moving over to Baldersdale, Brian managed to get close enough to a feeding male Black Grouse for some great photos and on returning to the car we startled a\u00a0Short-eared Owl\u00a0which then perched and stared at us from a grassy bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Dipper\"\/](\"http:\/\/realbirder.com\/ToursImages\/Dipper.jpg\")
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