A week back at work after our holiday with a few things of interest at
home.
The Saturday before we came back from Glen Affric I received a Bluesky message
from Mark Eaton to say that there were two Common Cranes in the field behind
our house that would be visible from the kitchen window if we weren't 300
miles away in Scotland! Its always the case isn't it. The field in question
has been recently tilled and seeded and looked great for Dotterel but Crane
wasn't on my radar. Unfortunately a message around 8.30pm said they had flown
off south. It looked like a good garden and patch tick was left wanting.
So, a long drive back on Sunday saw us reversing up the drive at 4pm. Due to
the actual driving my phone had not been looked at all day, so a quick glance
showed a message from our neighbour saying there are Cranes in the field, at
10am! So, a scrabble for the bins and a scan of the field and there they were,
two, huge graceful dinosaurs striding through and over pigeons and rooks
looking right at home.
Get on the lists!
Common Cranes, from our house.
They graced us with their daily presence for the following 6 days, being
joined by a third Crane on the Tuesday morning! Now I have a self found Crane on
the patch list. On one morning I even heard them bugling as I did the moth trap
count!
And then there were three...
The original two were obviously a pair, maybe 2 yr old birds as there was some
grey in the neck and not as much red on the crown. The new bird was a last
years young with a lot of grey in the neck and no red in the crown.
They were last seen on Friday 22nd am, then going over Skateraw at
1.30pm...
Those were clearly the biggest highlights of the week but as the weather got
warmer the Moth Trap was not about to be outdone.
On Thursday 21st I lifted the moth trap out to count it. As I removed the
cone, no pugs or carpets flew to freedom. Very unusual I thought under the
conditions. So after counting a couple of egg trays, I saw, lying in the base
drain, a large Poplar Hawk-moth forewing. At the same time a sliver of
something in an egg tray set the alarm bells ringing. Oh no, birds had been
in, and that sliver, surely not...
I hurriedly did the remaining living moths that all seemed very subdued,and
moved the egg trays. Then my nightmare suspicions came true. In with the other
dismembered lepidoptera in the bottom were the four wings of a Lime
Hawk-moth!
This must seem a bit of an anti climax to the southern contingent reading
this, but that dead moth was only the 2nd for VC68 and the first since 1902!
Its a species that has slowly been making inroads into Northumberland and was
to expected here one day, but after a decade of blank springs this is not the
way to find a first.
So, end knocked in, that night, two traps were deployed in desperation.
Sometimes the luck of the moth Gods shines down on us. A last check before bed
around 11.30pm and there in the front garden Skinner, a lovely living Lime
Hawk-moth. Superb. The second VC68 record in living memory.
We have just returned from a week up near Tomich in Glen Affric,
Highlands. before we went, the weather forecast looked grim for the week, but
it turned out not as bad as predicted. We still had some rain everyday except
the Saturday, it was a Sunday to Sunday trip, that was fine and warm. The rest
was mainly sunny with showers but it was quite cold all week.
The area seemed quite quiet for wildlife, maybe the weather was keeping things
down. The hoped for Pine Martens didn't materialise, leaving our bait
untouched despite them being nightly visitors to a house just a few hundred
metres away. We didn't even see a single deer of any kind! Very unusual
that.
Still' a few things of interest did show including Osprey, Red Kite, a single
juv Golden Eagle viewed from the bottom of the house garden over the Affric
hills. Its white tail base, wing flashes and Golden nape could be seen clearly
in the sunsine through the scope. A Red Squirrel ran along the road side near
Beauly.
This is the house we stayed in Glen Affric View, Hilltop, Tomich, a
lovely quiet place. The access track was a bit steep and undulating in
the car, but otherwise, great.
As you can see from the top image, we were surrounded by birch woodland so the
moth trap was deployed to see what was around. Despite the cold nights
sometimes with white frost, moths were caught every evening. Highlights below
-
Acleris logiana, only one caught.
Barred Umber, one or two each night
Glaucous Shears, only the one caught.
Grey Birch, a few taken each night.
Ringed Carpet was my only new moth, 2 caught on one night.
Scarce Prominent, maybe the moth of the week. Before this week I had
only seen one, last year in our garden. This week up to a dozen per
night!
Pearl bordered Fritillary, only the third time I have seen this
butterfly, this was my first in Scotland, in the garden by the
summerhouse.
Some other odds and sods in the garden -
Orange Tip, female
Platismatia glauca, a nice lichen.
I kept seeing lighting fast beautiful shiny small beetles in the lawn.
They were Poecilus versicolor, a Greenclock beetle. A new one for me.
This Harvestman Rilaena triangularis wasnt even seen until back home
looking at photos of the lichen.
Oak Ferns in the birch woods, a new one to me.
Cowberry, Glan Affric
A few more of the local scenery -
Above, all Glen Affric.
Plodda Falls, impressive...
The lovely village of Tomich.
We also were given a site in Strath Glass for Beavers. We visited and saw the
lodge and some tree gnawing but no Beavers. Had we been staying a bit closer I
would have put more effort in.
New additions to the PSL - Ringed Carpet, Oak Fern, Haplodrassus signifer,
Plasmatia glauca,
should never be seen, goes the old adage, indicating that the two
colours may clash or indicate Christmas. In the natural world nothing clashes,
there is no fashion, only beauty.
It was with this in mind, that on Sunday I was out alone, on to the Alnwick
Moors towards Edlingham and Corby to look for Green Hairstreaks and hoping to
get a better look at some Redstarts after fleeting glimpses last week.
It was a 50 / 50 day of success, with the Greens showing well, the Reds still
not playing ball.
Starting off in a short stream gorge where 2 male Redstarts were singing on
territory but despite waiting and watching leafless trees for an hour I still
only managed very short glimpses of this upland stunner. I will try them again
when by then the females might have them at a nest hole. Also here a
Treecreeper took food into a long crack in an oak tree, and a nice male Grey
Wagtail showed well in the sunshine.
Moschatel was still in flower while in the background Willow Warbler, Garden
Warbler and Chiffchaff song filled the air.
Dreadful phone scoped shot of a Redstart.
A short drive along the road, maybe a mile, where I stopped at one of our
traditional Green Hairstreak Sites. Sadly the birch trees are now closing in
but open places can still be found. Here, up to 6 Green Hairstreaks squabbled
around bilberry clumps and as the air was quite cool they were easier to
approach. While stalking the butterflies, a small single Bee attracted
attention. Photos later confirmed that it was a lifer for me, Andrena
lapponica Bilberry Mining Bee only discovered in Northumberland in 2020.
Speckled Wood butterfly and Common Heath Moth flitted past while the years
first Cuckoo was Cuckooing across the road. 5 Redpolls danced over head and
several Willow Warblers sang in the scrub.
A grand Morning out.
Above - Bilberry Mining Bee showing its long jaws.
Before I get on to the end of the title, this weekend we were out on
Saturday morning rather than Sunday for a change due to circumstances.
We began by looking for Ring Ouzels at a spot near Alnwick where we sometimes
see them on spring passage. Not this year though. Still, the moor was full of
singing Willow Warblers which in todays climate, are always nice to hear. A
Golden Plover flew over in display voice but reamined unseen while alone
Curlew bubbled away over a field.
Next stop, a small burn nearby where our target was found immediately. A
singing male Redstart. Only the one mind you, but there is time for more
arrivals yet. While here an addition to the pan species list might seem small
fry for all the botanists out there but they all count as one in this game, so
Field Wood-Rush was duly added. It is quite common on these moorland
grasslands, its just I've never particularly looked for it before.
Field Wood-Rush
Moving on, this time to a failed recce of a bit of remnant old woodland near
Edlingham, unfortunately the place was decked with Private signs so that was
that.
We did manage a few interesting bits near Edlingham Church including my second
lifer of the day - Goldilocks Buttercup. A nice little clump growing near the
church. This is a plant of limestone areas, and before we found it we had
discussed how the Church was built in the 12th century by using a lime pit to
make mortar on site. The alkalinity must still have an effect.
Goldilocks Buttercup, Edlingham
I also thought Hedge Bedstraw here might be new for me but it isn't, its
already on my list from Hauxley. In the church yard were a nice female Tawny
Mining Bee and a few Heather Beetles.
Edlingham Church with Heather Beetles and a Tawny Mining Bee.
I digress, getting back to the title. Build it...and they will come was never
more evident than yesterday in our garden.
After watching
My Garden of a Thousand Bees on BBC recently we were inspired to create some nest sites for solitary
bees in the garden. There were a few old willow logs stacked from previous years that seemed just the job,
about a metre tall and about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Having bought a
variety of drill bits I set about making various sized holes 3mm, 6mm and 8mm
in the wood and stood them in the sunniest spot on the garden. All capped by a
rain canopy to deflect the worst of the weather . That was done around noon
yesterday.
By 5pm our first bee had investigated, picked a hole and gone to roost! It was
an Red Mason Bee, Osmia bicornis. One of many I hope.
Also in the sun were my first Speckled Wood and Orange Tip of the year in the
village, plus a few Hairy Footed Flower Bees and some Andrena Bees I am
struggling to id.
Drilled Bee Logs in place.
Red Mason Bee Osmia bicornis
Bee hole, looks like a nest box, except the hole is 6mm in
diameter.
