Saturday 16th A Lapland Bunting was noted all week at Newburn Lap Bunting image by Ian Forest Barn Owl (GS) at ShibdonPond Gateshead reminded us of 3 species of owls seen back in Nov 1988, when Barn, Tawny & Long-eared Owls all roosted on site in adjacent trees. A couple of daylight hunting birds were noted at Houghton & 2 nr Rushyford on 19th (GB) 7 Snow Bunting remained at Shields (DH) Peregrine over A690 Houghton (NU) 1GND, 1 BTDiver, Merlin & Snow Bunting at Blackhall. Su

This weeks undoubted highlight was the Two barred Crossbill, described in the previous blog entry. A number of observers followed up on this over the next few days - but sadly no further sightings yet.... hopefully this bird, & perhaps some Parrot Crossbill will be uncovered over the holiday period...? Our one-off Little Owl looked to be in his element this week - his odd plumage perfect for this weeks winter weather conditions. There were a number of unusual species noted th

Sunday 7th January 2018 Join us and your friends in the new year for what's set to be a lively day birding around the county. See how many species of birds each team can see on the day (8am - 4pm) in our recording area, i.e. the old vice county of Durham (basically the Tyne to the Tees) Contact Sacha at durhambirdclub@gmail.com by 1st January 2018 to enter your team. Keep up to date with the day's bird news on the DBC Bird News WhatsApp and on Twitter - Tag your sightings  #D

Monday 11th December 2017 An amazing record of a Stunning adult male Two-barred Crossbill found by Mike Wood in the west end of Hamsterley Forest feeding with Common Crossbills at grid-ref NZ 031 280, approx 1km south-east of Neighbour Moor House. (internet image Two-barred Crossbill) The observer was in the forest looking for Parrot Crossbills....so this is quite the bonus bird ! He has ruled out White-winged Crossbill after consulting images along with previous experience

South Shields was the place to be this week, with an excellent selection of winter species, the following images by local patchers Stuart Thompson / Laurence Younger :- Grey Phalarope (StuT) Slavonian Grebe(StuT) Glaucous Gull(StuT) Phalarope feeding(StuT) Drake Long tailed Duck (Laurence Younger) - photo credit edited. During the week further Glaucous Gull were noted from Whitburn (PHi) & Blackhall(RR), Iceland Gulls were much more difficult to come by with a first calender

Festive Robin by M.Heron An Arctic blast this week with cold & snow has seen a plethora of activity at various feeding stations around the County. Hetton Bogs as popular as ever for the showy Rails & Willow Tits. Whooper Swans took advantage of the tail wind to continue south, the largest herd being 17 south east at Rainton (MH). An interesting perspective on the Shields Slavonian Grebe - nowadays not such a common sight in our area. (image by Stu Thompson) An interesting obs