A very Good Friday...

What a lovely days its been. All morning there were clear blue skies and only a little breeze with some warm sunshine. As it was a busy bank holiday and our coast roads are heaving with visitors (cheers Robson) we haven't been far. I resurrected the garden table and chairs after the winter sojourn and did some weeding, planting and pruning while keeping an eye open for garden visitors.

First though, a negative record. There are still no Chiffchaffs singing here. This is getting quite late now as last year we had good numbers from 10th March, but I suppose they will be coming to a willow near us very soon.

The moth trap has been ok this week with double figure catches most nights of the usual orthosias etc, and today we saw our first butterfly of 2016, a Small Tortoiseshell on the windowsill. Unfortunately it was on its toes before the camera could get focussed. The flowering currants in the garden are 'pinking up' nicely and were visited by a few Buff tailed Bumblebees with one Early Bumblebee today.

The area around the nestboxes was particularly busy with pairs of Tree Sparrows squabbling for squatters rights, whilst high overhead, a Skylark sang constantly. If only all spring days could be like this....

House Sparrow at the terrace....the opposite end to last year.

Trying to get both birds in the gap between the twigs was tricky. Tree Sparrows.

Twin-spotted Quaker

Red Chestnut

The Weekend...

This weekend has been a bit of a damp squib. After a glorious week of sunshine and proper spring temperatures while yours truly was stuck at work, as expected, the weekend reverted back to February status. It was cold, over cast, windy with some heavy rain, but, at this time of year we have come to expect such delights.

Howick - Our village from the back field....

A nice show of Red Dead Nettle in our neighbour's potato bed looks good for the early bees.

Yesterday was quite sunny, but the cold wind kept any thoughts of new migrants at bay, in fact the only summery thing of note was a Blackcap singing near the Hall gardens. The moth trap was ok though with 56 moths of 11 species, compared to today's paltry efforts with 11 of 3!

Red Chestnut

This morning was spent down at Patch No2, Warkworth,  with JWR, where he added four new species to the year list - Blackcap, Great spotted Woodpecker, Kittiwake and Sandwich Tern. One of the Short eared Owls was still quartering the dunes early on and I managed a heard only Willow Warbler near the village the only other highlights.

Rain set in at 11am calling a halt to things, but later in the afternoon the sun came out again, so I popped down to the Howick Cliffs for some Kittiwake photos. Its a bit embarrassing but I have no idea how many pairs nest here, a colony only 300 mtrs from my doorstep! In June I'll do a survey i think...

Cullernose Point, sometimes the haunt of Robson Green...

Note the bird second from the right is wearing a yellow unmarked colour ring...Many of the birds were ringed, I read one as E12408.

Above - Kittiwakes

A nice pre-spring day...

Clouded Drab

Red Chestnut

Quite a good early show in the moth trap today with 8 species caught, including two nice Red Chestnut and the first Clouded Drab of the year. Up until last year, Pine Beauty was a regular at this time, but the cold spring of 2013 resulted in a blank, and with none so far this year, its starting to get worrying.... 

After checking the moths, I headed off to Low Newton, alone, JWR working this morning. 

I covered most of the area, starting at the pool and scrapes, then Newton Point and Football Hole before finishing at the Long Nanny. I didn't see another birder.   

Goldeneyes displaying.

The scrapes had the usual wildfowl though most of the Greylags and the White-fronts from last week had gone, maybe just to fields to feed? There didn't seem to be anything new other than a drake Shoveler. Four Goldeneye were feeling very springlike today, the males pursuing two females all around the pond. 

There seemed to be a lot of Pied Wagtails in all areas with 8+ in the paddock opposite the Tin Church and 7+ on the beach with 7+ Rock Pipits, including at least one 'littoralis'. A Fieldfare was in the paddock too, with good numbers of Blackbirds, getting ready to head north to breed. 2 Siskins flew north overhead.

The point was quiet, but on a day as mild as this, I was half hoping for a Wheatear but it is very early for one up here. The highlight was a single Redwing in the compound and my first Lesser Celandines of the year in flower.

Down at the Long Nanny, a pair of Stonechats showed well [as they always do] near the tern wardens hut while 135 Curlew were on the salt marsh. While photographing the Stonechats I heard what I'm sure was a Green Sandpiper calling, high in the distance.  

Stonechat

Stonechat displaying, standing on tip-toes.

You may have noticed that I'm not getting about Howick as much as in previous years? Its lazyness really, birding here is difficult with little reward, so its nice to get up to Newton where even on a slow day there is a lot to look through...I must try and pick up the patch score though...

Mothing...

Another mild night with 7 degrees at midnight here, so as can be expected, a few moths were in the trap...

Taxa
1025  Tortricodes alternella  1 NFY
1926  Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria)  1
2139  Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa)  1 NFY
2187  Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)  1 NFY
2190  Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)  9
2256  Satellite (Eupsilia transversa)  1 NFY
2258  Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)  1 NFY

15 moths of 7 sp

I must get some new images at the weekend, weather and moths permitting, I've rolled these ones out before...

Tortricodes alternella

Red Chestnut

They're here...

Despite a white frost and temperatures dropping to zero last night, I still managed to catch 22 moths of 4 species.

Some of the catch above and one of the Red Chestnut.

2139 Red Chestnut 1
2187 Common Quaker 9
2188 Clouded Drab 1
2190 Hebrew Character 11

Mid morning we got a visit from Roger F who had kindly driven 50 miles to find me not one but two Black Redstarts only a few hundred yards from home...

We soon set off and within 15 minutes found them both, very flighty, on the boulder beach at the foot of Cullernose Point. A nice addition to the OFFH list but robbed from the self found aspect!  :)

But, I got an even bigger suprise later on. As we arrived back on our drive this afternoon from shopping, I noticed a movement in a small oak at the end  near the shed. A tiny silhouette, completely unidentifiable, until I saw a shivering tail! A BLACK REDSTART IN OUR GARDEN! 

I sneaked in to get the camera and managed a snap before it flitted onto our roof, then on to our neighbours chimney where it did some flycatching before dashing off into the gardens.

A fantastic garden tick, the weekend is made already.

 

There it is on our wall...

With another migrant new in along side...

Chiffchaff above our bird table.

OFFH List 109