Seawatching....

Since my last post I have managed to get in a few short seawatch sessions at Craster at the north end of my patch. There are a few common species I can add to my year list if I persevere and am blessed with a little luck. My very reasonable targets were - Common Tern ( I've had Sandwich, Arctic, Little and Roseate!), Dunlin ( I live 300 mtrs from the sea yet this is a tricky species to get here due to the rocky coastline) and Arctic Skua.

You've guessed it. I am still waiting for them. Truth is I have managed a few Manx Shearwaters, lots of Puffins, odd flocks of Common Scoter, 10+ Turnstone in breeding plumage, 2-3 Whimbrel, 40+ Arctic Tern and a pod of 12 or so Bottle-nosed Dolphins.

Now many of you with landlocked patches will be salivating at these records ( especially the dolphins!) but really there is nothing there to get the pulse going. There were Gannets, Kitti's and Fulmars too, but they rarely make it into the notebook in summer or autumn unless there is some remarkable passage taking place.

I wont despair though, dolphins are always nice to see, even through fog (photoshop has removed this from the pics) and it wont be long before something of patch interest flies into view over the waves. After all its just the start of the seawatch season...

Despicable him...

Here is a little drab micro moth I caught the other night in the garden. Its 1365 Pyrausta despicata. Most of its relatives in this country are pink and purple with gold and black flashes, but here we make do with despicata. Even its name sounds poor.

Regardless of image, this little fella is a very rare species in Northumberland with only four records in total, the last away from my garden was in 1976. This is my second after one in 2013.

Rusty red and the mud hoppers.

My route to and from work drives right past a nice, medium sized, Northumberland estuary. Complete with mini mudflats and saltmarsh, the river Coquet at Amble is an excellent spot for migrating waders. Best of all, not having any hides, it hardly gets a look at by birders compared to the Druridge Bay reserves only a few miles south.

For me, this is its main attraction. You don't have to put up with 'birders' saying 'is the blackwit showing' or queues of cars waiting for the Barn owl to be papped a millionth time.

Right enough of that. Yesterday and this evening, on my way back from work I stopped for a quick scan of the mud for new arrivals. I've promised myself a White rumped Sand on here this year, even though its not strictly 'my' patch. I visit here with John regularly on a Sunday as he is doing a low key year list on the site. As he is busy elsewhere this week, I feel obliged to check the area on his behalf.

Last night there was a nice party of Dunlin, 40+ at least, all sporting neat black bellies and 11+ Common Sandpipers. Not earth shattering, for sure, but promising.

Tonight I only had about 20 minutes to spare, but straight away I could see the numbers had increased as the tide shuffled the birds backwards. Dunlin had upped to 80+ and a tidy Black tailed Godwit brightened things up. A very distant little wader scuttled through the Dunlin in a stint-like fashion so I left the car and walked a good 100 yards closer for a better look. No sign of anything resembling a stint, but Bingo! a lovely breeding plumaged Curlew Sandpiper stood heads above the Dunlin on the opposite shore. Occasionally the flock would lift and do a 'murmuration' around the edge before pitching in again. One stop had Common Sand, Curlew Sand, Dunlin, Redshank and Black tailed Godwit all in a line. Nice.

So, no sign of any peeps this evening but the one from arctic Russia was just as pleasing. Lets hope there are more nice waders over the coming weeks.

A hint of winter....

This afternoon I decided to brave the throngs of Robson Green disciples and head off down to Craster to see if I can add Common Tern to my flagging patch list.

I sat for a while in the sun overlooking a nice blue calm sea. A few Sandwich Terns, Fulmars and Kittiwakes loitered about while a Gannet or two passed by on their way back to Bass Rock.
The tide was full, making the long skeer off the harbour into an island. On here, a Whimbrel called briefly as it jostled for space with a few Oystercatchers, then a Common Sandpiper fluttered across the channel onto the the rock. Patch year tick No 1. As the waves lapped, a smaller bird appeared with the Eiders. A Goosander redhead. We get a few moulting birds in the area at this time, so this was Patch year tick No2.

As I casually scanned about wondering if the seawatching would be any good this year, a gull roosting on the rock caught my attention. An odd colour that, I thought, and went to get the scope from the boot. As suspected, it was a first summer Glaucous Gull roosting in the sun!  Not exactly what you want to be seeing in July, but its a full on patch tick, year tick No3 in half an hour, so it would be churlish to complain. Get on the list.

Now, where are the waders....

Thats it, bang centre. Click on it...

First summer Glaucous Gull, surprisingly, my first on patch since moving here 6 years ago. 

124. Common Sandpiper

125. Goosander

126. Glaucous Gull.

More Moths...

A good catch last night, the full list is on here, of 458 moths of 86 species.

More with one trap than  the night before's two! Best of the bunch was a new species for the garden and one I haven't seen for over 15 years, since we lived at Stobswood - Figure of 80. I like these moths, shaped like another fave of mine Yellow Horned. Lilac Beauty was also nice but it wouldn't really sit for a pic, whilst Cydia splendana  was new for the year Cydia fagiglandana was anew species for the garden, 2nd for VC68 and only the 4th for Northumberland. Thanks to Tom for spotting my photo...

Figure of 80

Cydia splendana fagiglandana

Moths last night.

For the first time, last night I ran two traps in the garden, my usual 125w Robinson plus one on loan from Roger Forster, a 125w Skinner.

Highlight last night was Evergestis pallidata, my second record here, and a Clouded Brindle.

Evergestis pallidata

Dark/Grey Dagger ( Do Dark Dagger really exist?)

A purplish looking Pale shouldered Brocade perhaps? Unsure....

Taxa

0018  Map-winged Swift (Hepialus fusconebulosa f. gallicus)  1

0464  Diamond-back Moth (Plutella xylostella)  1

1011  Pseudargyrotoza conwagana  3

1020  Grey Tortrix (Cnephasia stephensiana)  1

1021  Flax Tortrix (Cnephasia asseclana)  1

1076  Celypha lacunana  8

1201  Eucosma cana  2

1294  Crambus pascuella  1

1304  Agriphila straminella  2

1316  Catoptria falsella  1

1334  Scoparia ambigualis  2

1338  Dipleurina lacustrata  7

1358  Evergestis pallidata  1 NFY

1376  Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata)  4

1405  Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis)  1 NFY

1439  Trachycera advenella  1 NFY

1653  Buff Arches (Habrosyne pyritoides)  5

1708  Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)  1

1713  Riband Wave (Idaea aversata)  1

1713  Riband Wave [non-banded form] (Idaea aversata ab. remutata)  2

1732  Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)  1 NFY

1738  Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata)  3

1758  Barred Straw (Eulithis pyraliata)  6

1776  Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria)  1

1777  July Highflyer (Hydriomena furcata)  3 NFY

1809  Twin-spot Carpet (Perizoma didymata)  2

1862  Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)  1

1906  Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)  1

1922  Swallow-tailed Moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria)  2 NFY

1937  Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria)  1

1941  Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata)  1

1981  Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)  1

2003  Pebble Prominent (Notodonta ziczac)  1

2008  Coxcomb Prominent (Ptilodon capucina)  1

2057  Garden Tiger (Arctia caja)  1

2089  Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamationis)  22

2098  Flame (Axylia putris)  14

2107  Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)  82

2120  Ingrailed Clay (Diarsia mendica)  2

2122  Purple Clay (Diarsia brunnea)  4

2123  Small Square-spot (Diarsia rubi)  2

2126  Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)  4

2128  Double Square-spot (Xestia triangulum)  6

2158  Pale-shouldered Brocade (Lacanobia thalassina)  3

2160  Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea)  9

2173  Lychnis (Hadena bicruris)  1

2176  Antler Moth (Cerapteryx graminis)  1 NFY

2192  Brown-line Bright Eye (Mythimna conigera)  1

2193  Clay (Mythimna ferrago)  13

2198  Smoky Wainscot (Mythimna impura)  15

2199  Common Wainscot (Mythimna pallens)  34 2284x  Dark Dagger / Grey Dagger (Acronicta tridens/psi)  1

2306  Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)  3

2321  Dark Arches (Apamea monoglypha)  44

2322  Light Arches (Apamea lithoxylaea)  8

2326  Clouded-bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata)  1

2327  Clouded Brindle (Apamea epomidion)  1 NFY

2330  Dusky Brocade (Apamea remissa)  3

2334  Rustic Shoulder-knot (Apamea sordens)  1 2337x  Marbled Minor agg. (Oligia strigilis agg.)  9

2340  Middle-barred Minor (Oligia fasciuncula)  2 2343x  Common Rustic agg. (Mesapamea secalis agg.)  18

2345  Small Dotted Buff (Photedes minima)  1

2382  Rustic (Hoplodrina blanda)  15

2387  Mottled Rustic (Caradrina morpheus)  5

2434  Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis)  7

2441  Silver Y (Autographa gamma)  3

2443  Plain Golden Y (Autographa jota)  7

2450  Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita)  6

2477  Snout (Hypena proboscidalis)  1

421 moths of 69sp

A late post...

At last, a blog post in July!

What afew weeks we have had with IT problems here. It all started in June when the broadband connection collapsed for  week, then our PC was blown by a storm making it unsuable for a week, then the broadband dropped again for another week. What a performance. The trials and tribulations of contacting BT to get things fixed were up there beside climbing the north west face of the Eiger, or swimming the channel!

So here is a short, mainly photographic post from a couple of weeks ago.

John and myself took an unscheduled trip over the border into Scotland for a change where we visited Gordon Moss, near the Black Adder ( yes really).

Here we wandered for a good way seeing a good few butterflies in the process.

Small Heath

Red Admiral

Ringlet

Small Tortoiseshell

Meadow Brown

Small Pearl bordered Fritillary

 

A big hoverfly - Volucella bombulans

Heath Spotted Orchid

 Our next stop was up on the coast at Burnmouth where we saw good numbers of Northern Brown Argus, at least 10+.

Northern Brown Argus

Gold Swift.

A short walk this evening in our tiny village wood found 12 male Gold Swifts doing their pendulum display dance along the rides. There were two groups with 6 in each, but they didnt find me a female....This is a scarce moth here so I'm pleased to find them at this spot each year. It is only one or two hundred yards from my garden but I've never caught one in my trap...

No camera with me this evening so this is a pic from a couple of years ago...

Our Garden....#2

What a lovely day to sit around the garden today. Jane is away to Newcastle with friends so I've pottered around cutting the grass and taking some pics...

 Above - This is our 'no mow' bit of lawn, its full of Cats Ear, Clover, Daisies and some Bugle.

This Red tailed Bumblebee is doing a good job pollinating the flowers.

Above - Our hedge. We planted this from odds and sods and its coming along well. It has held Barred Warbler in the past ( have I mentioned that before?)

Above - This is the far end of the hedge in the other shot. Just planted a year ago, the dog roses are flowering for the first time this summer.

Above - The hebe is covered in bumblers, including Early Bumblebee ( above), Tree Bumblebee, White and Buff tailed Bumblebees and Common Carder Bee.

But a real exciting bit happened as I was cutting the grass. This Sparrowhawk dived through my neighbours shrubs and emerged witha juvvy Starling to eat on the lawn!

I was out of its line of sight behind the sweet peas so I dashed inside, grabbed the camera and stalked carefully back to get some shots before it flew off, taking its meal with it. Lovely!

Rain Flowers...

On Sunday I met up with John at the Warkworth Beach Car Park. First thing it was sunny and pleasant but this soon deteriorated into dull cool and some spots of rain.

A wander down the old water towards the estuary was very quiet for birds, the only highlight being a particularly violent Carrion Crow that caught and killed a juvenile Black Headed Gull, in flight, and 3 Little Egrets.

A few young birds were in the scrub, Chiffchaff, Robin, Mistle Thrush etc.

As it was slow going we decided to check out some flowering plants in the dunes, but even this was stymied by the overcast conditions. Will we ever get a summer I wonder?

Maiden Pink

Poppies in a low yield barley crop near the golf course.

Top - The adult Robin just peeps in....then finally delivers the goods.

A trip over to Mull...

Whenever we visit this part of Scotland we like to have a day trip over to Tobermory on the island of Mull. We take the small roll on roll off ferry from Kilchoan as foot passengers and have a stroll around the picturesque harbour at Tober.

Kilcoan is a very remote part of the world, so much so that a barman in Tobermory said to us, 'Its like London over here compared to there!' Maybe not quite, but Kilchoan is quite out of the way, its probably easier to do your shopping after this ferry trip than to drive over to Fort William.

On these trips we are generally lucky with the weather and this year was no exception, being sunny, but cool.

Almost as soon as we stepped on to the ferry, Jane noticed a bird coming from behind me and pointed it out. It was a nice adult White-tailed Eagle, very close. By the time I got the camera out, the bird was going in an opposite direction to the ferry, it was just a speck, but soaring right over where we had left the car! Bugger.

Tobermory

White-tailed Eagle over Kilchoan.

Harbour Porpoises

Well thats enough of the holiday snaps for one trip, what with small parties of Curlews arriving to the fields next to home, you know whats just a short few weeks away...

Ariundle Oakwoods, Strontian....

During the week away, we made a couple of visits up to Ariundle Oakwoods to look for butterflies. This is a lovely spot with some ancient atlantic oak wood still left hidden behind some younger forestry type planting. Unfortunately during the time of our visits, butterflies were quite scarce. It was sunny at times but often breezy and cool.

Ariundle Oakwoods, Strontian.

Above - The views along the Strontian River.

While checking a spot nearby for Marsh Fritillary, we came upona single Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth nectaring on Bluebells. It looked a bit like a Hummingbird Hawk-moth but the clear black lined wings on the orange and black striped body were very distinctive. Face on it looks like a mini red-legged partridge! 

Narrow bordered Bee Hawk-moth, near the Ben View Hotel, Strontian.

Down in the woods, there were no Pearl bordered or Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, but a couple of Chequered Skippers took advantage of sheltered sunny spots along the main path to forage. I see these nice little butterflies most times we visit the area but never tire of them. Great little things...
Along the path side, a few plants in flower including Cow Wheat, Bluebells, Stichwort and a new one for me, Marsh Violet.

Chequered Skipper. I couldnt get it to land on a bluebell this time.

Marsh Violet.

A Red Deer stag without antlers...

Back from me hols...(Edit)

[Hello all. If you have already read this edition prior to Sunday 14th June, please accept my apologies. This was a 'lazy' post, and I'm going to change it.]

We have just returned from a week away up to our regular haunt in Scotland, the Ardnamurchan. The house we have stayed on on four occasions now, again came up with the goods. We had a great week, filled with clear blue skies and sunshine, all be it, a bit cool, but as long as the rain stays away, its a bonus!

There are too many highlights to write about this week, so I'll let the photo's do the talking...

We arrived at Acharacle last Saturday afternoon in strong winds and heavy rain. The landscape looked about as uninviting as it possibly could, but the weather forecast for the next five days seemed to be improving slightly so we weren't too despondent.

Our cottage was just as we left it on our last visit in September 2013 and long may it stay so. It has an old fashioned quiet charm inside that instantly makes you feel at home in a peaceful, remote landscape.

Allt Beithe, Arivegaig, Acharacle. The view from the moss...

Allt Beithe.

We bought some bird seed and nuts a local shop ( I must bring my own mix next time as the stuff available locally was mostly corn rubbish) and stocked up the feeders at two bird tables, front and side. They were soon frequented by familiar garden residents, but family parties of Siskins and some wild Rock Doves and Hooded Crows indicated that we were further away from Northumberland than usual. A bit of small bird activity under the shade of some beech trees in the garden soon revealed the presence of a Chiffchaff nest with young.

One morning I got up and looked from the kitchen window to find a Red Deer stag standing on the lawn! I have no idea how he got in or how he left the scene as the land is well fenced and hedged off from the moss.

Siskin. Families regularly at the feeders.

Not a ring or scruffy black one amongst them. Rock Doves.

Chiffchaff breeding in the garden.

Each time we visit, we hope to catch up with the elusive Pine Martens that live nearby. In 2007 we had some nice views of two, in 2010 we had one glimpse and in 2013 no sight at all. We were not disappointed in 2015's showing.

From Saturday to Tuesday the jam and bread was removed from the bird tables and ground during the brief hours of darkness leaving us a tad frustrated. So, on Weds morning I got up at 5.30am to replenish the missing food, after only putting out a small amount on the evening previously to attract attention.

I sat glued to the kitchen window, camera in hand until by 9am a robin was developing a taste for raspberry jam. No sign of the mystery mustelid. It was time to let Bunty out into the garden for her morning ablutions. As she left the side door I heard and saw a scrabble of gravel on the drive and a tirade of yapping from the trusty dug. I jumped around the corned to see the Pine Marten legging it across the lawn, tail spiralling like a helicopter with Bunty in pursuit! A sharp yell from her master put paid to the chase and all I was left with was the rattling of rhododendron bushes as the poor creature escaped. It had been below the kitchen window all along...

Surely that was the end of our chances this week, no sensible marten would venture back in daylight after that happened....

I then thought I would try my luck by constructing a temporary marten table near the side bushes where he might sneak out for a sweetie snack in the knowledge that cover was a leap away. I replaced the bait at 10am and we went out for the day.

On return at 5pm the bread was still untouched, even the robin didn't fancy it. I just left it be thinking our mate would take it over night if at all.

By 8.30pm I wandered back into the kitchen for a top up and to do the dishes when I took a casual glance out the side window. No bread! Little sod had been in  while we were eating and taking the loot. Right, get some more out straight away.

I left it unchecked until about 9.15pm. When I looked I was over the moon to see a small pointed face peering out from the side of the bushes, and called Jane and Lillian ( my sister in law was staying with us for one evening) for a look...

This pattern kind of continued on Thursday and Friday too with the Pine Marten showing best on Friday at 8pm. What a star, even though he was only on show for a few minutes at a time, it was a great pleasure to share a meal with him. Tremendous, Pine Martens are just the dogs danglies....

Pine Marten. Same individual. Top two - 300mm f4 1/400th at ISO 3200, Bottom two - 300mm f7.1 at ISO 800 . 

Around the house is Kentra Moss and Kentra Bay (below). Its a great area for wildlife with Otter, Red Deer, Raven, Greenshank etc all seen.

Just down the lane, Kentra Bay.

Carnivores in the damp ditches. Butterwort...

and Sundew.

This Otter ran towards me and up a culvert under the track.

To be Continued...