May begins..

 In the week since our paths crossed, there has been a flurry of wildlife sightings but not many birding highlights. Lately I've been subdued with my birding for some reason. Maybe its the cold spring ( again)? There is another niggling reason but I won't trouble you on here...

On this Bank Holiday weekend, I have been keeping an eye on the City Nature Challenge, North east, that was co-ordinated by the Great North ( Hancock) Museum Team to great effect.  The purpose was to carry out a 4 day bioblitz across our North East region, boosting records of natural history in all its forms via the iNaturalist platform. A bit of fun , with a purpose, so it seemed like a good idea.

Last year the North East ( I didn't join in as I didn't realise the North east is now a 'City' apparently) entered something like 1500 observations of 600+ taxa by 97 observers! Not bad in 4 days. Now fired up, I thought I might contribute something to the party...

Some observers went at it hammer and tongs recording all in their path, but I decided to be a bit more selective in my approach, trying to report a few things that might not be as obvious as Red Campion or Hawthorn. Over the challenge, I added some 70 records and species to the tally. Of these, my personal highlights were Palmate and Smooth Newts, Common Backswimmer, Mountain Bumblebee, Ring Ouzel, Cuckoo and Brambling the contents of my moth trap including a garden first, the long hoped for Lunar Marbled Brown, Engrailed and Eriocrania semipurpurella.

As this app runs by uploading photos so your peers can confirm the identity of the organism on show, I left out a lot of things, like the male Peregrine that flew over our pond on Saturday or the first House Martin and Whitethroats of the year in the village also on Saturday.  

Unbelievably, last years recording effort was well and truly trounced. This time over 150 observers submitted almost 4000 records or, wait for it...... 1,015 ish species! 

I used this weekend to trial the app to see if it would suit my purposes. It was very easy to use, and I'll continue to see if it matches up to iRecord. I was amazed at how the AI could identify the objects you have photographed even some quite complex species with ease. For example Grey Pine and Spruce Carpets posed no obstacle when I have to look at them twice! 

One of the funny sides was that no matter how crap your photography is, you can usually drag out something that will do to form the record, as you will see below...some shots are pretty much dire...

Of the 9 Smooth Newts seen, this male was netted and tanked up for a photo shoot, but was back in the pond in under 9 hours of captivity.

Now see this Palmate Newt. Sorry about the phone shot but I was lucky to find it at all as he was creeping through the grass near our village pond. Note, clean white throat, thread like tail tip, finer spotting and black hind feet. This is my first close up of this species, and its a blog debut.

Mountain Bumblebee Bombus monticola really fast, almost impossible to get a photo.

Engrailed

Eriocrania semipurpurella

Lunar Marbled Brown, a site and blog first.

Common Backswimmer

Grey Pine Carpet

Spruce Carpet very similar to the one above.

Ochreous Pug 

Purple Thorn

Small Phoenix

Streamer

Cuckoo

Ring Ouzel female

Brambling female

Knocking on the door...

Juvenile Chiffchaff in the front garden buddleia

Juvenile Whitethroat on the back drive rose.

Yesterday afternoon when I took Peggy for her walk, a bird call from high in the sky made me stop.

 A sound I've not heard here for a few months, maybe since we did the Lockdown Garden Birdrace? 

It took a short while to see the dots high overhead. A family party of 5 Lapwings 'peewitting' to each other as the adults guide this years young steadily down to the shore.

To them, this means little, but to the naturalist, it speaks volumes. In the language of wild things, it tells me that the breeding season, in the hills, that began for this family in March with the male Lapwing tumbling and stooping to the ground like a paper kite, is now successfully over for another year.

As I sit and work from home I get distracted and look out onto the garden. Young warblers and tits are passing through everyday, some fattening up for a longer journey.

The door is opening on Autumn. The Lapwings have returned to the wintering grounds on the 7th of July.

This morning I got up early to have a seawatch before work. It was mild and dull with a slight easterly breeze blowing so I wandered through the village, across Tommy's field and on to the coast path before settling down for an hour.

Whilst there weren't loads of birds moving, there was enough to make the sharp start worthwhile.

Manx Shearwaters 33 N in parties of up to 7 birds.

Shearwater sp, 2 distant low fliers had a very different jizz and I couldn't see pale on them. I am almost sure they were the first Sooty Shearwaters of the year but I just couldn't nail it so they went unrecorded. there'll be more.

Bonxie 2 big brutes casually flew past.

Arctic Skua 1 dark bird was close in moving N.

The two skuas are also patch year ticks.

A scarcer species twinkled into view as 2 Little Terns moved N. Although they nest only 6 miles away, it is a surprisingly tricky bird to get on my patch.

A few wildfowl made it to the list with 2 Common Scoter N, 2 Red breasted Merganser ( 1N, 1S) and 2 Goosander S.

Mediterranean Gull 1 fs N 

The common birds, Gannets, Auks, Kittiwakes and Fulmars were in steady numbers heading off to feeding grounds for the day. So not a bad morning though the edge was scuffed off slightly when Whitburn reported 2 Pomarine Skuas N and they were tracked up as far as Boulmer. I would have had them but work called.

Around the garden, our single young Swallow seems to have fledged and is flying around with the adults, while I photographed our local male Blackbird with a 'worm'. On the computer I was surprised to see that the worm had legs. It was a Smooth Newt! 

Fledged Swallow...

Amphibian eating Blackie...

Into the light.

After one of the worst late winters of my lifetime, it is so good to get rid of it and into some sunshine. As a consequence, birds seem to have taken a back seat and the moths have taken over.

Red Chestnut

Early Grey

Small Quaker

Clouded Drab

Agonopterix alstromeriana

Diurnea fagella

Early Tooth striped

Shoulder Stripe

Pale Pinion

Early Thorn

Acleris literana

Water Carpet

Xenolechia aethiops

I have saved the small black obscurity until last for a reason. Just because it looks like a fly, doesnt mean its boring. I struggled to identify this from our Northumberland Moths website, then Alan Fairclough came up with the solution. A new species for me and the garden so I was pleased, then our moth recorder, Tom Tams sent me this link that shows how rare this species really is. This one is only the 6th found in the UK since 1999! Oddly enough I get a few heather feeders in the garden despite the nearest moor being 10 miles to the west.

My patch, where the house has become the 'obs' has been interesting bird wise too with migrant warblers moving through the garden on a daily basis. A Lesser Whitethroat was very early for here on 14th showing down to 4 feet while the camera was in the house, 3 Blackcaps arrived together to fight over an apple, Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs can be heards singing daily and yesterday a Grasshopper Warbler was in full 'reel' behind our shed for 10 minutes. After that it wasnt seen or heard again, a migrant continuing his journey...

One of 2 male Blackcaps and a female.

Imm Smooth Newt visiting the moth trap the other night.

And finally, we have adopted 5 Hedgehogs for release in the garden from a rescue scheme. They didnt hang around either, open the boxes and they were off...

I must do more blog updates now the nights are lighter to get out and actually see stuff...