Birds in a Billingham garden

This is a delightful bird watching area within a mile of where we live, which makes it a very handy venue to visit. The area began as an old brick pit to which the pond owes it’s origins. The site later became and refuse tip and then a landfill site. It has now been developed into the wildlife park with a large car park and visitors centre, which opened two years ago. Opposite the car park entrance is a narrow metal gate, similar to those found in tennis courts. Through the gate and to the left, is a bird feeding area with several tables and feeders, attracting a wide variety of woodland birds. I recently even saw a Short Eared Owl in this area (Jan ‘02). Back into the car park, you can see the visitors centre on the other side of a couple of small ponds, which usually hold Coots, Moorhens and Mute Swans. From the north end of the car park is a chipping covered track that takes you over to the largest pond. The pond holds a good head of ducks and water fowl throughout the year and always seems to attract a few ‘special’ visitors such as Red Crested Pochard and Goldeneye. There are always the usual Coots, Moorhens, Tufted Ducks, Mute Swans and Pochards to see. There are annual influxes of Canada and Greylag Geese. There are usually Great Crested and Little Grebes about and Goosanders bred there last year too. The pond and circular route leading back to the car park are lined with small wooded areas and plenty of hedges which attract the smaller birds. The berries attract Redwings and Fieldfares in the winter and Redpolls and Yellow Hammers too. Generally there is always something to see.

This whole area is low lying, much of the land has been reclaimed from the sea and used for the petrochemical industry. Much of the area is above the old salt extraction mines and still suffers from subsidence, as can be seen on the bumpy A1185. There are two main ponds, East and West Saltholme which straddle the A178 one mile north of Port Clarence. There are actually a number of ponds in the area, including Back Saltholme Pond, Dorman’s Pool and Reclamation Pond, with Greatham Creek a mile to the north. Access to the hides is restricted to members of Teesmouth Bird Club, but most of the sites can be viewed with ease from the roadsides with binoculars or scopes - there are a couple of car parks and laybyes at handy points. All of the ponds attract a wide variety of aquatic birds throughout the year, with regular occurrences of rarities such as Great White Egret, Little Egret, Spoonbill, Black Necked and Red Necked Grebes. There are also large areas of surrounding marsh and scrubland containing such delights as Grasshopper Warblers and Merlins are sighted regularly.

This is a wonderful site on the banks of the river Wear beside the A68 a few miles west of Bishop Auckland. It has two main ponds in a 15 hectare site, with a circular route that leads through mature woodland. There are a large selection of birds to be seen, both woodland and aquatic. There is a good car park and a very well used bird feeding station beside the visitors centre. The largest pond has two large hides, though binoculars and preferably a spotting scope are advised. The smaller West Pond has a hide and is comfortable to view even without binoculars. It is a quieter pond but often attracts the rarities such as the Ring Necked Duck and Goldeneyes. The larger pond has a wide selection of aquatic birds. The surrounding woods contain large numbers of Tits, Robins, Tree Creepers and Nuthatches. The numerous nest boxes certainly, make a Spring viewing visit worthwhile. I visit year round and I have yet to visit and not see Woodpeckers, Great Spotted and Green. Along the river Kingfishers are often seen and deer in the woods.