A lovely day...

Met John down at Alnmouth this morning ( well, he had gone to my house before hand forgetting the arrangements :) . A short wander around had my first ( well, my first countable after the tape luring debacle a couple of weeks ago) Sedge Warbler of the year. A single bird was parachuting from a small phragmites patch near the cricket nets. Also here a single Black tailed Godwit was on the flood meadow nearby.

Sedge Warbler in habitat.

Yellow Wagtails new in, like animated dandelions...

From here we headed south to Chevington to see the summer plumaged Black Tern that has been around since Friday. I saw it on Friday on my way home from work, but we don't get too many looking like this so it was well worth another look. Too distant for photos but nice in the scope.

A close Grasshopper Warbler singing to another bird across the ditch was nice, again my first for the year was here on Friday night after being hoodwinked by an arse with a tape machine two weeks ago.

Grasshoppper Warbler.

We decided that the fleshpots of the bay were too much for us anti-social types so we made off slightly inland to some old stomping ground by Widdrington Tip / Felton Lane.

We didn't see much, but a male Orange Tip was  my first this season along with 2 Speckled Wood, 1 Peacock, 2+ Green veined White, and a couple of Small Whites. This was a very pleasant area to wander around looking for insects and plants. There aren't any decent brown field sites in the north of the county, so this was like returning to my roots...we will be back on another warm day for sure...

Green veined White on a yellow wagtail...

Cool nights have quietened the moth trap, but this Streamer was nice to get...