Another week with no real birding. Still cant get motivated but I am out and about most days seeing whats around locally.
Moths have been dire. Maybe the worst spring I've known for numbers and diversity. The last few nights catches have been like late Feb or March with a few Hebrew Characters, Powdered Quakers and odd Early Thorn etc. A by catch visitor caught my attention this week, a tiny beetle with a big name - Notiophilus biguttatus. More jauntily known as Common Springtail Stalker, named after the way it hunts springtails by running them down to eat. Good job it was only 4 or 5mm long...
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| Not. Big. ( for short) A big eyed beetle... |
We headed inland again yesterday morning. Our first stop wasn't a success when we were moved on by the bailliff! After some chat he was alright really and even showed us a photo on his phone of an out of habitat Bittern taken last spring on a field edge flood in Alnwick. Not bad.
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| Cuckoo |
A few Cuckoos were around at various spots with three of them making odd sounding calls. One called only the 'Cuck' bit, one called a 'tuktuktuk' noise maybe a female, and one did the Cuckoo in the voice of gravel throated Dan McCafferty of 70's rock band Nazareth. Maybe they've yet to tune up.
Redstarts were singing in all the wooded burns, but we didn't see any females. They could be on nests. Although we were in good habitat there were no Tree Pipits either.
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| Redstart |
Another stop along at Debdon in now pleasant sunshine, was nice with Green Hairstreak and Adela reaumurella being found on some bilberry heath.
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| Green Longhorn Moth Adela reaumurella |
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| Green Hairstreak. |
Back home, a couple of Shieldbugs were found this week with Common Green and Hawthorn in the village.
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| Green Shieldbug |
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| Hawthorn Shieldbug |
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