False Spring.

 Well that made a change. Some very pleasant weather for Saturday and Sunday! 

Saturday was spent cleaning the greenhouse and tidying in the garden a bit. Some molehills were collected to mix with peat free compost to plant seeds in but that was about it really. Heron was added to the garden list as there has been some territorial flighting past with birds grunting at each other on the way.

As it felt quite spring-like, on Sunday we took a short trip to a usual inland patch to look for Goshawks. That particular quest didn't end well and a lot of our forest area has now been clear felled, mainly in the aftermath of Storm Arwen damage a couple of years ago. Still, the place is now a light-filled open space so there might be more plants and insects in the summer plus it has extended the Nightjar habitat by a great deal.

On the way, a short stop to scan a finch flock in a stubble field was a nice surprise. There were 80-100 Bramblings with a few Yellowhammers, Reed Bunting, Chaffinches and Linnets. The air was filled with singing Skylarks, Snipe were tick-tocking and Lapwings were in tumbling display in the next field, but they need to be careful, this is just a temporary 'false' spring that we always get at this time of year. There is a chance we will get some snow yet.

Up in the clearfell it was quiet other than some nice Crossbills singing and showing very well and a Raven carrying nesting material. For me it doesn't matter too much if there isn't much to see up here, it just feels so quiet and remote, and we never bump into anyone so its always a great walk.

We were back at the car for lunchtime. On the way home a short roadside stop found 3 Adders basking. Two were very black looking individuals with a more normal olive toned female. Seeing these is a highlight every spring, long may it continue.

That area on the left was tall pines when we were last here.

 

At the top of that spindly tree is a singing Crossbill. This is just my phone shot. Compare how much difference a shot through the scope makes. 

This female was further along. We saw around 25 birds in total.

A Murmuration...

 There's not been much birding or wildlife this weekend.

On Saturday the whole day was spent cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom, inside and out in preparation for decoration next week. It seemed a good idea to make use of a dreary rainy day.

Sunday, JWR was away cycling, so we finished off yesterdays efforts and went to the tip etc with a load of stuff hoarded over the years. This reminded Jane that last week she had been on the A1 near Alnwick and saw  a murmuration of Starlings over the local industrial estate, so we went at dusk to check it out.

At 5pm in a strong gusty breeze, a large flock of Starlings were circling over the Council Gritting Depot on the estate. I now remembered that these birds roost in a huge poly tunnel type Grit store. By 5.10pm the birds were swirling and shimmering overhead in an impressive spectacle before diving under cover for the night. I couldnt guess at how many? Certainly 5k plus... These big flocks take on a different persona to the birds that make them up, behaving like a single organism as they weave about. At one point there was a rush of wings as the birds came low over head showing my newly valeted car in a cascade of droppings!  

I took a short video on my phone...

Alnwick...and around.

 Since last week's twitch, things have been back to normal around NE66.  

A few new birds have been moving through the patch as would be expected by now.  Siskins are daily seen passing over but only one male has been on my feeders. Two Bramblings on the return leg of their winter stay called in. A female with the Chaffinch flock on Wednesday then today I heard a familiar 'wheezing' note, like a Greenfinch but softer. As Greenies have a sad new status in these parts I paused and wonderd if it was a singing Brambling? Sure enough, there he was up a small tree singing away, still in winter plumage. Its a sorry state when a singing Brambling is almost as likely as a singing Greenfinch locally...

A bitterly cold NW wind on Saturday gave zero chance of summer land birds so I had an hour seawatch from Rumbling Kern. Its not as much of a point as Cullernose and is in the shadow of Boulmer but it can be ok for gulls and terns.

1600- 1710 - 

Red breasted Merganser 1 drake N

Sandwich Tern 5 N ( first terns of the season)

Razorbill 14 identified many auks too far out

Common Gull 98 N

Kittiwake 130 N

Gannet 50 N ( I don’t usually count Gannets and Kittis but early on there isn’t much else)

Fulmar 2 N

Shelduck 1 N

Common Scoter 4 N

Goosander 1 redhead S

Whooper Swan 2 N

Lesser black backed Gull 1 N

Shag 1 N ( rarely count these either, but there was only one today so for completeness)

Red throated Diver 1 N

Purple Sandpiper 15+ on the rock with 15+ Turnstones.

Sunday remained cold but very bright and clear so we checked some of our inland sites around Alnwick.

A circular walk along the new local railway and back into the industrial estate by the wooded Cawledge Burn turned up common woodland species with 15+ Chiffchaffs, 5 Great spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Redwing, 2+ Sparrowhawks and best of all, on a small drainage settling pond on the estate, a Green Sandpiper. A nice little find on the edge of suburbia. 

Disclaimer. This post might be a bit pic heavy...

As you can imagine a Green Sandpiper on a tiny pond, it was never going to end well so after about 30 seconds off it went calling on the way.

After a short stop for supplies at Greggs, it was time to get a little bit more rural, well, 5 miles more...

In the bright sun some typical moorland wildlife was seen but none of the hoped for Ring Ouzels or Wheatears yet...

A massive flock of Northern Golden Plovers looked great in this light. 

On last years Ring Ouzel field there was scarcely room for one as it was packed with Northern Golden Plovers. At least 700, possibly up to 900 birds present running everywhere and flying short distances making an accurate count impossible. We couldnt find a Dotterel...

Nearby a small Adder, 5+ displaying Redpolls, 1 Stonechat and more Chiffchaffs went into the book.

After a good stretch of legs with not much more to add, we came across a nice pair of Red Grouse.

Him n her Red Grouse. Not much compensation for acres of burnt moorland.

 Shortly after the grouse we rounded a corner to briefly meet the day's second highlight. On the wires, an adult male Merlin sat with an entourage of mipits and linnets keeping an eye on him, even providing outriders to escort him away from their territories as he flew off.

So, few migrants and no rares but we still enjoyed a very pleasing morning out . 

Male Merlin and his Mipit Mates. 

  

Another butterfly lifer...

...this time on the doorstep!

Lets go back to the 28th July and it was 28 degrees with full sun. ( Rain all day today).

When we were down in Fermyn Woods I was hoping to catch up with White Letter Hairstreak, a very elusive butterfly in Northumberland. Our luck was out and it remained as hidden as ever.

On our return, inspired by Iain Cowe's findings in the scottish borders only 30 miles to the North where he had located several spots for WLH up the Tweed catchment area, we decided to check elm trees locally.

Unsure how to go about this, I met John in Alnwick and we had an idea to cruise around and stop when we saw some elms, preferably ones along the River Aln as there river valleys seem to be good spots for the butterfly.

First stop was Canongate where some sucker elms were hanging over a tall stone wall. We stopped for tea and breakfast and scanned around. Across the road next to us was a mid sized bushy elm tree on a field edge. We were laughing about the hopelessness of it all when I noticed a movement through the outer branches. Tea forgotten, we scanned hard and there - a White letter Hairstreak! The first adult for VC68  after Iain had located eggs in February up on the borders.

We hopped into the field and sat down. In a few minutes, one WLH perched out on the lowest branches and gave great views. We finally saw two more here making three in total. A great result, in our home town too.

Surely this was a fluke? We drove across to the opposite end of town where the Aln runs east. Sure enough, a riverbank elm looked good so we gave it half an hour. Our luck was in, another 2 WLHs were flitting through the branches and landing briefly where good binocular views were had.

Two sites in an area previously unknown for this insect cant be bad...I wonder how many there are out there?