Bird Watching at Cut Thorn Farm

West Wood Yurts is a great base for a bird watching holiday in the North East. For a start, you can experience the luxury of yurt camping at Gibside's Cut Thorn Farm, while taking in magnifcent views of a range of birds on a walk around the Gibside estate, entry into which is included in the booking price! A recent survey at Cut Thorn Farm, undertaken by the RSPB Volunteer & Farmer Alliance, recorded 32 species of birds, 14 of which are 'Birds of Conservation Concern'. The list below gives you information on the birds you can expect to see throughout your stay, so if you are an avid bird spotter and want to couple your interest with the unique experience of yurt camping, get in touch with us to arrange your stay today!  

LINNET - A small, slim finch, widely distributed, and once very popular as a cage bird because of its melodious cong. Males are attractively marked with crimson foreheads ..more information.
TREE SPARROW - Smaller than a house sparrow and more active, with its tail almost permanently cocked. It has a chestnut brown head and nape (rather than grey) ..more information.
CURLEW - The curlew is the largest European wading bird, instantly recognisable on winter estuaries or summer moors by its long, downcurved bill, brown underparts, ..more information.
KESTREL - A familiar sight with its pointed wings and long tail, hovering beside a roadside verge. Numbers of kestrels declined during the 1970s, probably as a result of ..more information.
MEADOW PIPIT - A small, brown, streaky bird, it is the commonest songbird in upland areas and its high, piping call is a familiar sound. In flightn it shows white ..more information.
REED BUNTING - Sparrow-sized but slim with a long, deeply notched tail, the male has a black head, white collar and drooping moustache. Females and winter males ..more information.
SWIFT - The swift is a medium-sized aerial bird, which is a superb flier. It even sleeps on the wing, It is plain sooty brown, but in flight against the sky it appears black ..more information.
BLACKBIRD - The males live up to their name but, confusingly, females are brown often with spots and streaks on their breasts. The bright orange-yellow beak and eye-ring ..more information.
BLUE TIT - A colourful mix of blue, yellow, white and green makes the blue tit one of our most attractive and recognisable garden visitiors. In winter, family flocks join ..more information.
CARRION CROW - The all-black carrion crow is one of the cleverest, most adaptable of our birds. It is often quite fearless, although it can be wary of man. They are ..more information.
CHIFFCHAFF - A small olive-brown warbler which actively flits through trees and shrubs, with a distinctive tail-wagging movement. Less bright than the similar ..more information.
GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER - About blackbird-sized and striking black-and-white. It has a very distinctive bouncing flight and spends most of its time clinging to tree ..more information.
GREENFINCH -  Its twittering and wheezing song, and flash of yellow and green as it flies, make this finch a truly colourful character. Nesting in a garden conifer, or ..more information.
JAY - Although they are the most colourful members of the crow family, jays are actually quite difficult to see. They are shy woodland birds, rarely moving far from ..more information.
ROBIN - The UK's favourite bird - with its bright red breast it is familiar throughout the year and especially at Christmas! Males and females look identical, and young birds ..more information.
TREECREEPER - The treecreeper is a small, very active, bird that lives in trees. It has a long, slender, downcurved bill. It is speckly brown above and mainly white below. It ..more information.
SKYLARK - The skylark is a small brown bird, somewhat larger than a sparrow but smaller than a starling. It is streaky brown with a small crest, which can be raised ..more information.
YELLOWHAMMER - Males are unmistakeable with a bright yellow head and underparts, brown black streaked with black, and chestnut rump. In flight it shows white ..more information.
DUNNOCK - A small brown and grey bird. Quiet and unobtrusive, it is often seen on its own, creeping along the edge of a flower bed or near to a bush, moving with a rather ..more information.
MALLARD - The mallard is a large and heavy looking duck. It has a long body and a long and broad bill. The male has a dark green head, a yellow bill, is mainly purple-brown ..more information.
RED KITE - This magnificently graceful bird of prey is unmistakable with its reddish-brown body, angled wings and deeply forked tail. It was saved from ..more information.
SWALLOW - Swallows are small birds with dark glossy-blue backs, red throats, pale underparts and long tail streamers. They are extremely agile in flight and spend most ..more information.
WILLOW WARBLER - Willow warblers are small birds with grey-green backs and pale under parts. They have a yellow tinged chest and throat and pale supercillium (the ..more information.
BLACKCAP - A distinctive greyish warbler, the male has a black cap, and the female a chestnut one. Its delightful fluting song has earned it the name 'nothern nightingale' ..more information.
BUZZARD - Now the commonest and most widespread UK bird of prey. It is quite large with broad, rounded wings, and a short neck and tail. When gliding and soaring it ..more information.
CHAFFINCH - The chaffinch is the UK's second commonest breeding bird, and is arguably the most colourful of the UK's finches. Its patterned plumage helps it to ..more information.
GOLDFINCH - A highly colourful finch with a bright red face and yellow wing patch. Sociable, often breeding in loose colonies, they have a delightful liquid twittering song and ..more information.
GREAT TIT - The largest UK tit - green and yellow with a striking glossy black head with white cheeks and a distinctive two-syllable song. It is a woodland bird which has ..more information.
JACKDAW - This is a small, black crow with a distinctive silvery sheen to the back of its head. The pale eyes are also noticable. Jackdaws can be found in fields, woods, ..more information.
PHEASANT - A large, long-tailed gamebird. Males have rich chestnut golden-brown and black markings on body and tail, with a dark green head and red face wattling. ..more information.
SPARROWHAWK - Sparrowhawks are small birds of prey. They're adapted for hunting birds in confined spaces like dense woodland, so gardens are ideal hunting ..more information.
WREN - The wren is a tiny brown bird, although it is heavier, less slim, than the even smaller goldcrest. It is dumpy, almost rounded, with a fine bill, quite long legs and ..more information.