voices
Urban Birder David Lindo doesn’t let the weather get him down as he visits the urban birding delights of the North East
T
he other evening I watched a distant Short-eared Owl hunting under a dimly lit and depressingly murky grey autumnal sky. Only this was not autumn, it was during the middle of our glorious English summer: an evening in June to be exact. It was hardly balmy, as I felt a tad cold watching the owl through my scope, flapping leisurely over the edge of a field and up an embankment. I tracked the bird as it suddenly pounced on something that must have been unfortunate enough to have caught the owl’s eye or maybe its ear. It disappeared behind a bush. Satisfied with the fascinating spectacle that I had witnessed, I began to scan the horizon on the lookout for any other interesting birds. You might now be imagining me scanning some expansive moorland or beautiful marshy estuarine vista. You would be wrong. I was standing alongside the River Tees in Teesmouth National Nature Reserve, surrounded by a highly industrialized hinterland north of Middlesbrough and very close to Saltholme RSPB Reserve. The landscape ahead of me was punctuated by a multitude of high-rise pipes and flame-throwing funnels, like the opening sequence in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. I ended up in this strange place at the culmination of a long day exploring the wilder side of Middlesbrough and Stockton in the company of Steve Ashton, Tees Valley Wildlife Trust’s People and Wildlife Manager. Situated within Teesside, this industrialised urban centre is largely ignored by everyone from politicians to non-resident birders – unless there is a rarity in town. Middlesbrough and Stockton are almost like twin towns separated by the River Tees and the urban birding was surprisingly varied. Take for example, Portrack Marsh in Middlesbrough. It was a very interesting-looking 50-acre remnant marshland reserve, managed by the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and Northumbrian Water. The ever-present River Tees borders the site and during the summer Sand Martins and Kingfisher nest along its raised banks plus at the right time of year it hosts migrating Salmon. Despite being encroached upon by industry, the reserve’s mosaic of open water, reedbeds and scrubland pulls in some good birds. The usual riparian warblers breed alongside Reed Buntings whilst Water Voles are resident. During the winter it receives the expected array of waterfowl including small gatherings of Grey Herons. Scarcer ducks are sometimes to be found including Smew and Long-tailed Duck. However, the local twitching fraternity got very excited when two male Penduline Tits showed
up in 2006 – exceptionally rare this far north. Bowesfield NR, however, was a very different proposition. Originally farmland, it was left to go wild in 1996. By 2004 development plans were afoot to use the land for housing and commerce. The developers, to their eternal credit, decided to work with the Wildlife Trust to create part of the land into a nature reserve with a series of small pools and open lakes leading to the river interspersed with wildflower meadows. The new residents were also offered free membership of the Wildlife Trust. It was a superb opportunity to engage folk who may have otherwise viewed the reserve as waste ground. Indeed, the very same good folk would have been first on the scene to witness a recent spring Red-rumped Swallow swooping over the heads of the more regular Sky Larks and Reed Buntings. Steve and I popped into a few other interesting urban spots like Middlebeck in the heart of a Middlesbrough housing estate. Its attractions include Water Voles, Reed Warblers and even Grasshopper Warbler. The luxuriantly wooded Linthorpe Cemetery was also quite a surprise in the middle of the urban sprawl. It harboured the classic woodland birds that you would expect to find, though it is very under-watched. I ended my urban sprawl exploration (unsuccessfully) twitching a Nightingale singing way north of its normal southern range at Cowpen Bewley Country Park in Stockton. This former landfill site is now part of the Tees Forest Development. Undoubtedly, Stockton and Middlesbrough’s pièce de résistance has to be Salthome RSPB Reserve. With a backdrop of oil refineries and factory towers, it was certainly a marshy wildlife oasis. I was shown the lay of the land by ultra enthusiastic assistant warden, Toby Collett. During the time I was there, I managed to dip on a Roseate Tern but caught up with a Mediterranean Gull, a first-summer Arctic Tern that Toby expertly picked out, a female Marsh Harrier and a Barn Owl watched wafting into an empty building. The reserve has amazing birding credentials: from county notable records like a booming Bittern, Purple Heron and Glossy Ibis to national rarities such as White-rumped Sandpiper and Pallid Harrier. I was totally taken by my day birding in Teesside. Not only were there some very interesting places to explore but I loved the fact that here, people engagement was viewed as an imperative element in the region’s conservation efforts. I you are ever in the area come and get involved in some real urban birding.
BEST SITE: Saltholme RSPB CITY LIST: c200 ■ Many thanks to Steve Ashton, Tees Valley Wildlife Trust sashton@teeswildlife.org ■ Toby Collett, RSPB Saltholme www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/s/saltholme/index.aspx ■ Additional information supplied by Jeff Mears www.birdwatching.co.uk 17