News 2022

17/04/22 Honey-buzzard: 2 W at Kolimvarion, Crete. Better weather for seeing migrants, including Honey-buzzard with a female and male coming off the sea from E at 12:33 and 12:43 respectively and flying towards southern base of the Rodopou Peninsula, presumably to feed in the more fertile land there, before continuing to N. Here’s piccies of the male Honey-buzzard at Crete on 17/4 at 12:44: 1  2  3  4 (12001). The female Honey-buzzard (or another) was indeed rediscovered later at 15:32 in Koumouli at the base of the Rodopou Peninsula floating over the wooded hillside 1 (12001b) but no sign of the male. Also a male Honey-buzzard N at 15:56 at Agia Triada on 9/4.

18/05/22 Honey-buzzard Habitat: Completed analysing habitat for Honey-buzzard at Hyons Wood, that’s no.4 in Tyne Valley E and no.22 overall with further river-system totals: Hexhamshire 6, Allen 10, Tyne Valley W 2.

10/05/22 Black Kite/Honey-buzzard: Here's Black Kite piccies from Prudhoe 10/5 in display for pure pair: second adult 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  and first adult 9  10  11  12  13  14  15 (pair)  16  17  18  19  20  plus pair with male Honey-buzzard (12004) 21 .

29/05/22 Black Kite update: 1st seen 5/5 at Bywell. Have Black Kite at 5 sites with 1) a pure pair displaying at last year’s site at Prudhoe, where mixed pairing with Red Kite last year; 2) last year’s site at Bywell with one bird seen to date; 3) a new site near Styford where a pure pair appear to be nesting along Tyne; 4) a new site in Hexham area where single bird seen; and 5) the site in East Allendale where a mixed pairing again of Black Kite (male) x Red Kite (female) with food pass seen. So that’s a minimum of 7 Black Kite at 5 sites!

30/05/22 Honey-buzzard update: first seen 24.4 with pair at Ordley. Slow return this year and activity subdued with cool daytime weather; 10 sites occupied in study area with 7 male, 7 female seen.

28/05/22 Honey-buzzard: Here’s Honey-buzzard piccies from Staward, where saw 3 Honey-buzzard: 2 displaying at N, female 1  2  3  4  5, male 6  7 (12009), 1 male in territory at S.

15/06/22 Black Kite update: 1st seen 5/5 at Bywell. Have Black Kite at 5 sites with 1) a pure pair displaying at last year’s site at Prudhoe, where mixed pairing with Red Kite last year; 2) last year’s site at Bywell with a pure pair up on 10/06 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11, and singles seen on 2 occasions; 3) a new site near Styford where a pure pair appear to be nesting along Tyne with, for instance, one seen on 29/5 1  2  3  4; 4) a new site in Hexham area where a pure pair defending site by Tyne on 01/06 1  2  3  4  5; and 5) the site in East Allendale where a mixed pairing again of Black Kite (male) x Red Kite (female) with food pass seen. So that’s a minimum of 9 Black Kite at 5 sites!

15/06/22 Honey-buzzard update: typical high aerial hanging by males in recent days so pairs settled. Not a good year for vigorous display. In core area 6/6 sites occupied in ‘Shire and 7/8 in Tyne Valley W. 20 sites occupied in whole study area with 15 male, 10 female seen. Piccies: Ordley 24/4 female 12002 1 ; Ordley 24/4 male 12002 2 ; Bywell 5/5 pair 12003 3 ; Prudhoe 11/5 male with Black Kite 12004 4 ; Sinderhope 17/5 female 12007 5 ; Bywell 5/5 male 12008 6 ; Bywell 5/5 male 12008 7 ; Bywell 5/5 male 12008 8 ; Hexham NE1/6 female12010 9 ; Dotland 4/6 female 12013 10.

15/06/22: Other medium-sized raptors update for 2022 ytd: Red Kite 24 birds, 18 localities, observer’s own records only; Goshawk 8 birds, 7 localities; Common Buzzard 81 birds, 38 localities. These totals are lower than they might be with long absence in Crete of 2+ weeks in April. Nil returns: Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier, Montagu’s Harrier, Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle.

01/07/22: Black Kite update: further recent sightings at the 5 sites: 1) 2 birds at Prudhoe on 25/6, one heavy 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9, a lighter-weight bird 10  11  12  13 so 2 birds seen, both apparently pure Black Kite but the lighter-weight bird could have a bit of Red Kite in it; 2) 1 bird seen briefly at Bywell on 1/7; 3) at Styford 1 bird hunting out to E by Tyne on 1/7; 4) at Hexham on 29/6, a Black Kite was up over the site with everything up in area including Corvids; the Kite circled over the site 1  2 and came into land and everything quickly quietened down; another Black Kite came out of the nest site and flew provocatively flap-flap-glide into the Common Buzzard site to the W 3  4  5  6  7  8  9, circling some trees there and rousing an angry Common Buzzard which flew in circles around each other and even a female Honey-buzzard came up briefly at one point 3 (12100); this kite was lost to sight in this area to W of its nest; and 5) the site in East Allendale where a mixed pairing again, on 27/6 a Black Kite came back to the nest, coming in fast in the breeze from the E and going straight in, giving opportunity for 2 photos 1  2. So the 5 sites all continue to progress!

01/08/22: Honey-buzzard update: 22 sites occupied, 17 male, 12 female. Very little activity noted in rearing period this year with only 6 birds (4 male, 2 female) seen at 4 sites since 15/6. But my absences abroad (Hungary, France) and distraction of Black Kite need to be taken into account!

15/09/22: Honey-buzzard end of breeding season update: Overall 23 sites occupied, 18 male, 14 female. In fledging period from 28/8-15/9, in 14 sites, had 4 male, 4 female, 21+ juvenile seen, 1+ juvenile inferred, 30 birds total. Survey very much restricted to core of study area this year of Hexhamshire (Devil’s Water) and Tyne Valley W. In this core area the population was at saturation levels with high breeding success. Piccies: male Dotland 29/8 12111 1 ; male Bywell 30/8 12113 2  juvenile Bywell 30/8 12113 3 ; juvenile Shilford 30/8 12114 4 ; juvenile West Dipton 4/9 12116 5 ; juvenile Viewley 5/9 12117 6 ; juvenile Eltringham 9/9 12118 7 ; female 2 juv Eastwood Common 11/9 12119 8 ; female Eastwood Common 11/9 12119 9 ; female Eastwood Common 11/9 12119 10 ; female Eastwood Common 11/9 12119 11.

14/11/22: Black Kite season summary: 7 sites occupied, 12 adults seen, all pure pairs, all sites successful, 11+ young raised (4x2, 3x1+). See http://nickrossiter.org.uk/hbweb/northumberlandbk.html for further details.

17/11/22: Hobby season summary: 3 sites occupied, 4 adults seen, no confirmed breeding. There is a marked decline:10+ sites occupied annually from 2001-2017 and 3-9 sites from 2018-2022, albeit with less coverage in latter period. See http://nickrossiter.org.uk/hbweb/northumberlandhobby.html for further details.

22/11/22: Goshawk season summary: 9 sites occupied in spring, no records after 15/6, no young known to be raised, a perplexing season. See http://nickrossiter.org.uk/hbweb/northumberlandgos.html for further details.

18/12/22: Red Kite season summary: 40 sites occupied but only 16 juveniles known to fledge, a disappointing season productivity-wise. See http://nickrossiter.org.uk/hbweb/northumberlandrk.html for further details.

15/01/23: Honey-buzzard season summary: 23 sites occupied, 33 adults seen (19 male, 14 female), 23 juvenile fledged, core area maintained with usual high productivity. Nine migrants were seen, including 4 female E/S in peak period identified by BirdGuides from 9/9-14/9. See http://nickrossiter.org.uk/hbweb/northumberlandhb.htm for further details.

17/01/23: Honey-buzzard Habitat: Completed analysing habitat for Honey-buzzard at Stanley Burn, that’s no.8 and last one in Tyne Valley E and no.27 overall with further river-system totals: Hexhamshire 6 (complete), Allen 10 (complete), Tyne Valley W (3 in progress).

12/02/23: Honey-buzzard in France: in trips this year, lasting 3 weeks in all, to Marciac in July and Chamonix in August found 3 and 2 sites occupied respectively. See Marciac 2022 and Chamonix 2022 for details.

04/04/23: Honey-buzzard Migration at Tarifa, Spain: in a trip in September 2021 to study raptor migration over the Straits of Gibraltar. See Tarifa 2021 for details.