Burdon Moor

Seeing that I was in the area I thought that I would spend an hour at Burdon Moor  which happened to be part of my first wildlife watching patch around sixty five years ago.
Its adjacent to the car park for Tanfield Railway which used to be the site for two rows of houses, namely, Andrews Houses, my home for the first eleven years.
Burdon Moor used to be the site of a drift mine, with a great pit pond for newts, but I digress.
I started right on the crown of the moor and the sound of the Tanfield Railway loco whistle put the first Short-eared Owl  to flight. As it flew from left to right, a Buzzard went in the opposite direction, then a Red Kite drifted across.
I drove down to the Burdon Moor NR and as I approached on foot there was a Shortie atop a hawthorn and showed its displeasure at my presence.

 It was not long before there were three Short-eared Owls in flight together.

A couple of Red Kites drifted over

and fifty Golden Plover flew South

followed by a large flock of Lapwing.

Driving home back across the crown a Short-eared owl landed on a roadside post just as I passed. I must do that again.